Small council

The small council is a body which advises the King of the Seven Kingdoms and institutes policy at his command. It is the inner (thus "small") council of the King, essentially forming the "government cabinet" of the Seven Kingdoms. Members are appointed to their position by the King; theoretically they can be dismissed at will by the King, however in practice this might lead to undesirable political fallout.

The king serves as the head of the council and takes note of its recommendations, but only the king can make the council's decisions into law. The Hand of the King is the leading advisor on the council and serves as the king's proxy when he is not present, in which case the Hand chairs the meeting. If the king is a minor, then by default the appointed Regent will act in place of the king on the council.

The small council meets at the capital city of King's Landing in the Red Keep, in the same building as the Iron Throne courtroom.

Composition
Members of the small council are appointed and dismissed by the King, in theory as the King wills. In practice, of course, appointments or dismissals may have undesired political consequences which the King must consider.

The small council usually consists of seven non-hereditary positions (possibly to reflect the traditions of the Faith of the Seven). Long vacancies sometimes occur for one of these positions, i.e. during time of war, though this is considered undesirable.


 * Hand of the King: chairs the small council, serves as the King's proxy during his absences.
 * Master of War: the realm's chief strategist and military commander. The title seems to be an invention of Cersei Lannister's.
 * Master of Coin: the realm's chief treasurer and bookkeeper.
 * Master of Whisperers: the realm's chief intelligence advisor and spymaster, supervising covert activities and information gathering, both at home and abroad.
 * Master of Laws: the realm's chief legal advisor, who also manages the Red Keep's dungeons, and supervises law enforcement.
 * Master of Ships: the realm's chief naval officer, supervising the Royal Fleet and coordinating the realm's maritime defenses.
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: the realm's chief military advisor, particularly in regards to land-based warfare. While the King personally appoints knights to the Kingsguard at his whim, once chosen they are lifetime appointments, which cannot legally be removed. In theory, however, a King may demote the Lord Commander back to being a regular member, and elevate one of the other six Kingsguard to Lord Commander (though it is unknown if this has ever happened).
 * Grand Maester: the maester assigned to the Red Keep, and thus to the realm. Like all maester assignments, the Grand Maester is appointed by the Conclave of Archmaesters at the Citadel, not the King. While controversial, the King and the Hand of the King have the authority to exclude the Grand Maester from the Small Council, and even imprison him, but cannot replace him as Grand Maester. This makes the Grand Maester unique as the only member of the council not specifically chosen by the King.

If the Regent of an underage King does not already possess one of these positions, then they are included in the small council as the King's proxy.

The Commander of the City Watch is not, strictly speaking, a position in the small council, however the Commander frequently attends small council meetings to report on conditions in the capital city. Janos Slynt is given an official seat on the council as one of his rewards for the role he played in the betrayal and arrest of Eddard Stark, though he was subsequently removed by acting Hand Tyrion Lannister.

The council may on occasion extend invitations to other lords to occupy a seat on the council, despite there being no actual "office" for them to fill (serving as advisors who function as ministers without portfolio).

Under Aerys II Targaryen
The positions and members of the King's small council under Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, included:


 * The Hand of the King: Lord Tywin Lannister served as Aerys's Hand for twenty years, during which he held the realm together during Aerys's spiral into insanity. Tywin resigned in protest some years before the end of Aerys's reign.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle.
 * Master of Whisperers: Varys.
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Ser Gerold Hightower, known as "the White Bull."

Under Robert Baratheon
The positions and members of the King's small council under Robert I are:


 * The Hand of the King:
 * Lord Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Lord Paramount of the Vale, and Warden of the East. Appointed to the position when Robert ascended to the throne, and retained it for most of Robert's subsequent seventeen year reign.
 * Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, Lord Paramount and Warden of the North. Chosen to replace Jon Arryn after the former's sudden death, serving during the last few months of King Robert's reign.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle.
 * Master of Coin: Lord Petyr Baelish, known as "Littlefinger".
 * Master of Whisperers: Varys, known as "the Spider".
 * Master of Laws: Lord Renly Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End.
 * Master of Ships: Lord Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone.

Traditionally, as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan Selmy would have had a seat on the small council. However, because Barristan had been a Kingsguard for Aerys Targaryen, Robert didn't like to include him in discussions of strategy, so he usually held small council meetings without him. Barristan didn't mind being left out, because he didn't enjoy politics.

King Robert was notoriously uninterested in matters of governance, letting his small council run the realm while he ate, drank, hunted, and whored. Robert's own two brothers served on his small council, but they were also annoyed at how little he paid attention to the council. His youngest brother Renly, as well as Pycelle, lamented that he ignored all of Jon Arryn's sound financial advice, ultimately plunging the realm an astonishing 6 million Gold Dragons in great debt. According to Tywin Lannister, Robert appeared at only three small council meetings in his entire seventeen year reign (though he might not have been aware of Robert's appearance at some of the more recent council meetings with Eddard Stark).

Under Joffrey Baratheon
The positions and members of the King's small council under Joffrey I are:
 * Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, King Joffrey's mother.
 * The Hand of the King: Lord Tyrion Lannister, serving as acting Hand in stead of his father Tywin Lannister.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle. Removed by Tyrion and imprisoned in the dungeons of the Red Keep. However, Tyrion did not have the authority to replace him as Grand Maester. The position was functionally vacant for several months.
 * Master of Coin: Lord Petyr Baelish.
 * Master of Whisperers: Varys.
 * Master of Laws: (Vacant)
 * Master of Ships: (Vacant)
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Jaime Lannister (in absentia.)

Joffrey himself barely came to meetings of his own small council, unless it was insisted upon. His mother Cersei, as Queen Regent, typically took his place.

With the departure of Renly and Stannis Baratheon, who declared themselves rival claimants to the Iron Throne, the offices of Master of Laws and Master of Ships were left vacant. Cersei and Joffrey either could not find suitable candidates or simply didn't bother to appoint replacements.

Cersei and Joffrey's first edicts were to name Tywin Lannister as Hand of the King, to unlawfully dismiss Ser Barristan Selmy from the Kingsguard, and to name Cersei's brother Jaime his replacement as Lord Commander. Tywin, however, did not assume the office for a full year because he was busy personally directing the war in the Riverlands. Because he could not go to the capital in person, Tywin sent Tyrion in his stead as acting Hand to try to rein in the royal court. Jaime did not arrive in the capital either, but was instead captured during the Battle of the Whispering Wood, after which he spent over a year as a prisoner of the Starks, and another year slowly making his way back to King's Landing through the devastated Riverlands. Jaime was technically Lord Commander during this time period but the position was functionally vacant. Moreover, Tyrion removed Pycelle from the council and imprisoned him in the dungeons of the Red Keep, after discovering that he was spying on him (albeit for Queen Regent Cersei, his own sister). Tyrion did not have the authority to appoint a new Grand Maester, so the position was also vacant for several months. Also, while the Commander of the City Guard is not a full member he usually sits at council meetings, but in disgust, Tyrion exiled Janos Slynt to the Wall. As Varys pointed out, for a time the "small council" was growing smaller by the day: four out of the seven main offices were vacant, the regent but not the king sat at most meetings, and the Hand was technically only an acting Hand.

After the Battle of the Blackwater, Tywin Lannister re-assumed his duties as the Hand of the King, and sought to restore order to the council. Petyr Baelish was rewarded by being named Lord of Harrenhal, and departed for the Vale of Arryn to woo Lady Lysa Arryn into a marriage-alliance and secure the Vale's loyalty to the Iron Throne. Tyrion Lannister, who had been relieved of his position as acting Hand, was then promoted back to Master of Coin to fill Baelish's absence. Cersei secured Pycelle's release from the dungeons before the battle, and afterwards Tywin reinstated him to the council. As a display of his dominance, Tywin decided to start holding council meetings in the Tower of the Hand, adjacent to his own chambers. The composition of Joffrey's small council after the Battle of the Blackwater is:


 * The Hand of the King: Lord Tywin Lannister, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Lord of Casterly Rock, and Warden of the West, King Joffrey's grandfather.
 * Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, King Joffrey's mother.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle. Reinstated by Tywin Lannister after the Battle of the Blackwater.
 * Master of Coin: Lord Tyrion Lannister.
 * Master of Whisperers: Varys.
 * Master of Laws: (Vacant)
 * Master of Ships: (Vacant)
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Jaime Lannister.

Under Tommen Baratheon
Following Joffrey's death, the composition of the small council remains mostly unchanged, except for Tyrion Lannister, who is imprisoned under charges of regicide. Tywin also offers a seat to Prince Oberyn Martell, the younger brother of Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne. Oberyn wasn't given a specific office, and wasn't interested in asking for one. Tommen's council members are:


 * The Hand of the King: Lord Tywin Lannister.
 * Queen Regent Cersei Lannister.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle.
 * Master of Coin: (Vacant)
 * Master of Whisperers: Varys.
 * Master of Laws: (Vacant)
 * Master of Ships: Lord Mace Tyrell.
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Jaime Lannister.
 * Advisor: Prince Oberyn Martell.

King Tommen's small council changes dramatically after the trial by combat of Tyrion Lannister, in which Oberyn Martell fights as his champion and dies, and the assassination of Tywin Lannister, which also results in Tyrion Lannister and Varys fleeing the city.

With most positions vacant, Queen Regent Cersei seizes control over the council, and stacks it with sycophants. She pointedly leaves the position of Hand of the King vacant until Tommen is older and decides otherwise, while sitting in the Hand's chair at meetings. The office of Master of Laws, empty since Renly left the capital, is still left vacant. Cersei makes Mace Tyrell the new Master of Coin, in addition to his current post as Master of Ships. Controversially, Cersei makes the disgraced former maester Qyburn the new Master of Whisperers, over Pycelle's objections, a blunt and disproportionate reward for displaying loyalty to her. Cersei also makes up the new title "Master of War" - basically at whim, and despite the fact that it contradicts the title Protector of the Realm - and offers it to her uncle Kevan Lannister. Kevan, however, refuses to become her patsy and goes back to Casterly Rock. As Kevan points out, Cersei is only the Queen Mother now, and technically doesn't have the right to do any of this: she is no longer even the Queen Regent, because Tommen has come of legal age, marrying Margaery Tyrell. Jaime Lannister remains as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, but he volunteered for a secret mission outside the capital to Dorne, which for the moment reduces the Small Council to only four people including Cersei herself. After all of this, Tommen's council members are:


 * The Hand of the King: (Vacant)
 * Queen Mother Cersei Lannister.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle.
 * Master of Ships & Master of Coin: Lord Mace Tyrell.
 * Master of Whisperers: Qyburn.
 * Master of Laws: (Vacant)
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Jaime Lannister.

After Cersei's imprisonment by the Faith, Grand Maester Pycelle sends a raven to Casterly Rock asking for Kevan to take the role of Hand of the King, to which Kevan agrees, reorganizing the small council as such:

In order to seal the alliance with Dorne, Jaime Lannister promises to have Trystane Martell, Prince Doran's heir, appointed to his uncle's seat on the Council. However, since Trystane has yet to leave Dorne, he has not yet taken up the seat.
 * The Hand of the King: Kevan Lannister.
 * Grand Maester: Pycelle.
 * Master of Ships & Master of Coin: Lord Mace Tyrell.
 * Master of Whisperers: Qyburn.
 * Master of Laws: (Vacant)
 * Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Jaime Lannister.

Daenerys Targaryen's Council
Once Daenerys Targaryen decides to rule over Meereen as its Queen and enforce her abolition of slavery on Slaver's Bay, she assembles her own ad hoc small council, composed of advisors and representatives of the various factions under her rule:


 * Advisor & General: Jorah Mormont.
 * Commander of the Second Sons: Daario Naharis.
 * Commander of the Unsullied: Grey Worm.
 * Advisor and Lord Commander of the Queensguard: Barristan Selmy.
 * Advisor, translator, and personal handmaiden: Missandei.

After being exposed as a spy, Jorah Mormont is exiled. Then, Daenerys decides to include a representative for each of the major factions in the population: the former slave masters and the former slaves. Hizdahr zo Loraq, a nobleman at her service, represents the former, while the latter are briefly represented by Mossador, one of the first Meereenese slaves to rise up for her:


 * Representative of the former Great Masters: Hizdahr zo Loraq.
 * Representative of Meereen's freedmen: Mossador.
 * Commander of the Unsullied: Grey Worm.
 * Commander of the Second Sons: Daario Naharis.
 * Advisor and Lord Commander of the Queensguard: Barristan Selmy.
 * Advisor, translator, and personal handmaiden: Missandei.

Soon afterwards, Mossador is executed for treason. Moreover, in the struggle against the Sons of the Harpy, Barristan Selmy is slain and Grey Worm sustains heavy injuries. In order to restore peace, Daenerys decides to reopen the fighting pits and marry Hizdahr zo Loraq. Eventually, Tyrion Lannister arrives from Westeros by Jorah, and convinces the Queen to take him into her service. Later in the fighting pits, the Sons of the Harpy led a massacre that results in the death of many, including zo Loraq. Currently, her council members are:


 * Representative of the former Great Masters: (Vacant)
 * Commander of the Unsullied: Grey Worm.
 * Advisor, Translator: Missandei.
 * Hand of the Queen: Tyrion Lannister.
 * Advisor: Varys

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the small council was the creation of King Aegon I, assembled to advise him and carry out policy. The small council is similar to a privy council in real-life medieval monarchies.

In the novels the council has an additional member: the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who advises the King on various matters, particularly military ones. In the TV series, Barristan Selmy is never shown to be a member, the reason is explained in the Season 3 episode "Kissed by Fire". The reason for this was apparently due to the decision to have Barristan openly reveal his identity to Daenerys Targaryen as soon as he meets her. In the books, he initially hid his true identity, and told her his name was "Arstan Whitebeard". Because Barristan did attend small council meetings in the first novel, he knew that Jorah Mormont had been spying on Daenerys for Varys and King Robert. Because he was hiding his identity, however, he did not reveal this information as soon as he met Daenerys. In the TV version, Barristan does reveal his identity to Daenerys as soon as he meets her, probably because it is easy to make such a narrative deception in a book but this doesn't translate well into the visual medium of television. This of course means that if Barristan knew of Jorah's spying from attending small council meetings (in Season 1), there would be no reason for him not to reveal Jorah's spying to Daenerys when he first meets her at the beginning of Season 3. The simple answer the writers apparently settled on is to say that in the TV continuity, Barristan rarely attended small council meetings, because King Robert didn't like having a Targaryen loyalist around when he was discussing the realm's strategies (specifically, to send assassins to kill the Targaryen exiles - in the books, Barristan objected to this along with Ned Stark).

The Commander of the City Guard is not technically a member of the council but often sits in on its meetings to report on conditions in the capital city. Janos Slynt was rewarded with an official seat on the council for his betrayal of Ned Stark. However, Tywin Lannister considers this preposterous when he hears of it due to Janos' common-born status, indicating that the Commander of the City Guard is still not quite considered to be a full council member. Indeed, one of Tywin's specific instructions to Tyrion when he sent him to King's Landing as acting Hand was to remove Janos from the council. In the TV series, it is implied that Tyrion's disgust at Janos' involvement in the purge of Robert's bastard children was the sole reason that he removed Janos, and no specific mention is made of Tywin's instructions. In the books, Tyrion was also disgusted at Janos' actions, but this just gave him greater impetus to carry out his father's instructions (either way, Tyrion removes Janos in the TV series soon after he arrives in King's Landing; in the books as well, he didn't kick him out immediately simply because he had other matters to attend to first).

Apart from Tywin, Varys was appointed Master of Whisperers during Aerys Targaryen's reign. Grand Maester Pycelle held his position even before Aerys ascended to the throne. Wisdom Rossart, a pyromancer, was made Hand of the King, during the final weeks of Robert's Rebellion. Varys and Pycelle would retain their positions after Robert Baratheon ascended to the Iron Throne. The World of Ice and Fire sourcebook (2014) finally revealed who the other three members of the Mad King's small council were: Master of Coin Qarlton Chelsted, Master of Ships Lucerys Velaryon, and Master of Laws Symond Staunton. After Tywin resigned, Owen Merryweather served as Hand of the King for a few years - an amiable sycophant who failed to quickly respond to Robert's Rebellion when it started, for which he was stripped of his lands and titles and replaced by Jon Connington, until Aerys exiled him as well after his defeat at the Battle of the Bells. Aerys replaced him as Hand by promoting Chelsted to the office, but he later had Chelsted burned alive for refusing to go along with his Wildfire plot. Wisdom Rossart was then made hand for the better part of two weeks, before Jaime Lannister killed him and the Mad King during the Sack of King's Landing. It isn't known what happened to Lucerys Velaryon and Symond Staunton.

After Robert became king, he pardoned Varys and allowed him to keep his position, as did Pycelle (who as a politically neutral maester was sworn to serve his castle's ruler, and was only doing his job when he stood by the Mad King - though he did later convince him to open the gates to Tywin's army). Barristan Selmy became the new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Jon Arryn became the new Hand of the King. Robert's brother Stannis was immediately named the new Master of Ships, but two other men initially served as Robert's Master of Coin and Master of Laws, whose identities have not yet been revealed. Renly was a child during the war, and he was only appointed Master of Laws some years later. Littlefinger also only became Master of Coin some years later, after his work as a customs officers at Gulltown increased port revenues tenfold and impressed Jon Arryn enough to take him to the royal court.

After Tywin Lannister resumes his post as Hand of the King after the Battle of the Blackwater, his dismisses his daughter Cersei from the small council. Technically as Queen Regent she still has some right to be there, and in practice Tywin does have her physically sit at several important council meetings when he is explaining his plans. However, Tywin makes it clear that he will not let Cersei wield power under him, and when she is present at the council it is just so she can hear Tywin's plans so she can quietly obey them: he doesn't let her take a leading role in the council's discussions. Similarly, in the TV series, Cersei is still shown physically sitting at small council meetings, but for the most part she sits silently as her father leads the discussion.

When Tywin resumes his position as Hand of the King, he also sets about reordering the rest of the small council, in particular, that Cersei and Joffrey embarrassingly left the positions of Master of Laws and Master of Ships vacant for over a year. He appoints his brother Kevan Lannister as the new Master of Laws, and Mace Tyrell as the new Master of Ships (as a reward for allying with House Lannister. In Season 5, Kevan reappears and states that he only just returned to the capital for Tywin's funeral, indicating that he was commanding Lannister armies in the field up until this point, and was never made Master of Laws in the TV version. Even after Cersei reorganizes the council upon her father's death, the office of Master of Laws remains vacant.

Cersei's Small Council
The Small Council was gutted after the loss in rapid succession of Littlefinger, and then Tyrion, Tywin, and Varys. Littlefinger returned to the Vale, while Tyrion was falsely arrested for allegedly poisoning Joffrey; Tyrion later escaped and fled Westeros, but not before murdering his own father Tywin; for his role in helping Tyrion escape, Varys also fled into hiding. Of the original Small Council when Joffrey seized power, only Pycelle still remained.

In Season 5's "The House of Black and White", Cersei restaffs the Small Council by stacking it with sycophants, to make its offices just puppets while she functionally rules as the actual monarch in all but name. In the fourth novel, Cersei's corresponding takeover of the Small Council and stacking it with incompetent cronies was a major running plotline affecting politics in the capital city. The TV version significantly condenses this, though keeping the general thematic points the same:

In the novels, Cersei appointed Harys Swyft (Kevan's own father-in-law) as the new Hand of the King, Orton Merryweather as Master of Laws, Gyles Rosby as Master of Coin, and Aurane Waters as Master of Ships. She appointed Qyburn as the new Master of Whisperers (spymaster) in both the books and TV series. Mace Tyrell was the Master of Ships under Tywin (because after the Royal Fleet got destroyed at the Battle of the Blackwater they need the Tyrell's large fleet), but Cersei grew so distrustful of the Tyrells that she removed him from the office and sent him to besiege Stannis's remaining garrison at Storm's End.

Given that these characters were not introduced in the TV series before and the audience wouldn't be familiar with them, Cersei's reshuffling of the Small Council in the TV version is condensed: Cersei isn't bothering to name a new Hand of the King at all, shockingly leaving the office vacant while functioning ruling over the council. In the novels, Cersei is technically still Tommen's Regent - but in the TV version, Cersei has lost the regency: Kevan specifically says that she is only the Queen Mother, and makes no mention of being a regent. A Queen Mother has no right to sit on the council if not a regent (though a king can in theory invite any advisors he wants onto his council - but Tommen isn't even present). Mace Tyrell is retained, and simply made both Master of Ships and Master of Coin. Qyburn is the new Master of Whisperers, and Pycelle remains Grand Maester. As Kevan was apparently going to point out, as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, her brother Jaime is also supposed to be a member of the Small Council, but he has left the capital, though as it turns out, he volunteered to leave, to deal with events outside the city.

In the TV version, Cersei offers to make her uncle Kevan Lannister his Master of War - even though there is no such thing as a "Master of War". The crown's armies are commanded by the "Protector of the Realm" (usually the king, unless he is underaged, incapacitated or chooses to bestow the title to a more competent figure), who in turn commands the four Wardens. This reflects a more complex development in the novels, in which Cersei basically starts making up titles on the Small Council, at her whim (which she technically doesn't have the right to do either). In an act of petty resentment, she comes to loathe the idea of anyone else calling himself "master" in his title on the Small Council, feeling this means a loss of control. Therefore, she picks new names based on a few titles from the Free Cities: the Master of Coin is renamed the "Lord Treasurer", the Master of Ships is renamed the "Grand Admiral", and the Master of Laws is renamed the "Justiciar". She offers Kevan to become the new Hand of the King, but he bluntly refuses her after she refuses to give up the regency, openly telling her that she failed as a mother to raise Joffrey, and demands that she yield over custody of Tommen. She refuses, and he returns to Casterly Rock. Essentially the same plot development happens in the TV version, though significantly condensing these characters and plotlines.

Reference
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