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SPOILER WARNING
This page includes content relating to the Dance of the Dragons, and therefore contains potential spoilers for future seasons of House of the Dragon, as revealed in George R.R. Martin's writings. Anyone wishing to remain completely spoiler free for this prequel series should avoid any pages displaying this tag. |
"King's Landing"[3] is the first short of the eighth season of Histories & Lore. It is the hundred and sixteenth short of the series overall. It was released on December 3, 2019 in Game of Thrones: The Complete Eighth Season. It was narrated by Conleth Hill as Varys and written by Dave Hill.
Premise[]
Varys details the capital city of Westeros, from its founding by Aegon the Conqueror to its current populous state.[3]
Narration[]
Varys: King's Landing is both a city and a curse. Aegon the Conqueror was the first king to land there. His first conquest, a tiny village at the mouth of the Blackwater River, where he raised a wooden fort.
When it became clear that Aegon would earn his title, people flocked to the fort and renamed it "King's Landing" in his honor. The ploy succeeded, and Aegon chose King's Landing for his capital over older and more beautiful cities like Oldtown and anywhere else.
The currying of royal favor thus became the foundation of the city, and blood its bricks. Maegor the Cruel, Aegon's son, completed the city's famous Red Keep to hold the trappings of power: the royal family, the Kingsguard, and the Iron Throne.
To maintain the new castle's secrets, Maegor murdered all its masons and craftsmen at a feast, which he catered with the new castle servants, who soon found all its secrets for himself.
When the Faith Militant challenged his rule, Maegor razed their Sept of Remembrance to the ground with them inside at prayer and erected the Dragonpit on the ashes. But the great dragons it housed were attacked by the very lowborn people they were meant to terrify.
Thousands of people died in the attempt, but hundreds of thousands lived in King's Landing, and now the only dragons in the city are golden.
Like most kings, Aegon and Maegor missed a central truth – that a king lands is less important than what he lands on. The people, who will never visit his Red Keep, or his Dragonpit, or any of his noble monuments to nobility, because they're too busy holding up his realm.
Without the slums of Flea Bottom and the poor and desperate folk it produces, who would fight the king's wars and cook the king's meals and admire him as he rode past at speed?
Without its winding dark alleys and pot-shops, where would the Red Keep empty its sewage? Of all kinds.
Without the Street of Flour, the king would have no bread.
Without the Street of Steel, the king's armies would have no swords, armor, or victories. Without the Street of Looms, the king would go naked, and without the Street of Silk, he wouldn't enjoy it.
Without the Street of Sisters, the king would have no humility; it leads from the ruin of the Dragonpit to the ruin of the Great Sept of Baelor, where the Targaryens and Baratheons buried their kings until Cersei Lannister unburied them.
Now those kings are ashes, scattered on the wind, and nobody marked where they landed. A palace without people is a tomb. A realm without people is scenery.
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- King Aegon I Targaryen
- King Maegor Targaryen
- Balerion (shadow)
- Queen Visenya Targaryen (mentioned indirectly)
- Queen Rhaenys Targaryen (mentioned indirectly)
- King Baelor I Targaryen (mentioned indirectly)
- Queen Cersei Lannister (mentioned)
Houses[]
- House Targaryen
- House Baratheon of King's Landing (mentioned)
- House Lannister (mentioned)
Organizations[]
Religions[]
Locations[]
Events[]
- Aegon's Conquest
- Faith Militant uprising
- Dance of the Dragons
- War of the Five Kings (mentioned)
- Destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor (mentioned)
Miscellaneous[]
Cast[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Dan Selcke (November 25, 2019). New History and Lore videos explore Maegor the Cruel, the Blackfyre rebellion, and more. Winter is Coming. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ↑ Histories & Lore: Season 8, Short 1: "King's Landing" (2019).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Game of Thrones: The Complete Eighth Season (2019).
- ↑ Vanessa Cole (July 22, 2017). Game of Thrones writer Dave Hill gives a behind the scenes look at the creative process. Watchers on the Wall. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ↑ Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season (2017).