Sparrows

"They call themselves "Sparrows". Bloody fanatics! Religion has it's place, of course, but to a certain point. They never would have come to the capital when Tywin was alive."

- Ser Kevan Lannister to Cersei Lannister

The Sparrows are a religious movement that arose within the ranks of the Faith of the Seven. It is mostly composed of the lowest and humblest of the Holy Faith, and was formed in response to the suffering inflicted on the smallfolk of Westeros during the War of the Five Kings.

They are led by the so-called "High Sparrow", a travelling Septon.

Members

 * The High Sparrow promo pic.jpg [[High Sparrow]]
 * Lancel Lannister

Background
The Sparrows gradually formed during the early years of the War of the Five Kings, as a popular disgust movement by members of the Faith of the Seven, outraged at the suffering being inflicted on the commoners, and particularly the wanton attacks on members of the clergy when entire villages and towns were burned out in the war.

According to Kevan Lannister, the Sparrows only started to appear in King's Landing after Tywin Lannister died. Before that, Tywin had made sure that his soldiers would keep the more troublesome refugees out of the capital city. After Tywin dies, however, the Sparrows openly appear in King's Landing.

Season 5
Ser Kevan Lannister reveals to Queen Cersei Lannister that his son, Lancel, has joined the Sparrows. As a sign of his newfound piety, Lancel has taken to wear humble clothes, no shoes, and cut his golden hair short.

A group of Sparrows led by Lancel Lannister break into Littlefinger's brothel, where the High Septon is engaging in a blasphemous sexual roleplay with a group of whores. They beat Olyvar and scare the whores away while Lancel confronts an angered High Septon and accuses him of profaning the Faith. The Sparrows strip the High Septon of his clothing and parade him naked through the streets, beating his hands whenever he tries to cover his genitals.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the sparrows are so named because, just as the sparrow is the humblest of birds, they are the humblest of men. They are a reaction to the despoiling of septs and septries as well as the attacks and rapes on men and women sworn to the Faith. They march to the capital carrying with them the bones of the holy men and women killed in the course of the War of the Five Kings to lay them before the King and demand his protection.

In the novels, the religious protest movement known as the Sparrows were gradually introduced in preceding books - not necessarily called "the Sparrows", but precursors such as mounting widespread anger and disgust at the suffering of the commoners caused by the war the Lannisters started. Much of Arya and Brienne's storylines involved their wanderings through the Riverlands, witnessing the vast devastation inflicted upon the region - but most of these were omitted for time in the TV series. More discontent was also seen among the poor masses of King's Landing - though at least part of that was shown, such in Season 2's "The Ghost of Harrenhal" when Tyrion and Bronn see a street preacher declaring to an angry mob that Joffrey is a rotten king, a product of incest, and the high lords have forgotten the gods. This also culminated later during Season 2 in the Riot of King's Landing. These subplots, however, were condensed for the TV series, so the Sparrows suddenly appear in the Season 5 premiere, "The Wars to Come". Kevan, however, offers the explanation in that same episode that the Sparrows were active in the countryside for some time, just "off-screen", and that they simply haven't been seen in King's Landing before that point because they were wary of directly confronting Tywin Lannister while he was alive.

It is also of note that Lancel Lannister does not join the sparrows in the books, but a different religious organization, The Warrior's Sons. Though also sworn to The Seven and devoted to the protection of holy sites and people, membership in The Warrior's Sons is limited to noblemen unlike the Sparrows or its armed branch, the Poor Fellows. All these protest religious movements seem to have been condensed in the show for the sake of simplicity.