Marghaz zo Loraq
Marghaz zo Loraq is a cousin of King Hizdahr zo Loraq, a member of the ancient and noble Loraq line of Meereen. When Hizdahr ascends to the throne following his marriage to Daenerys Targaryen, one of his first acts is to consolidate his power by replacing the men he does not trust with his own kin. The most prominent of these changes is the removal of Skahaz mo Kandaq, the Shavepate, from command of the Brazen Beasts, the city watch. In Skahaz's place, Hizdahr installs his cousin Marghaz, a plump and pasty man whom Ser Barristan Selmy quickly sizes up as a weak and boastful fool, blind to the dangers around him and too proud by half.
Appointment and Character
Marghaz zo Loraq is described as a fat man who wears a muscled breastplate and a lion's mask, his heavy legs poking out beneath a skirt of leather straps. Ser Barristan Selmy, observing him at court, immediately forms a healthy contempt for the new commander. The old knight reflects that he has known Marghaz's sort before in King's Landing: men who are fawning to their superiors, harsh to their inferiors, as blind as they are boastful, and too proud by half. Marghaz's appointment is a political move by Hizdahr to secure the loyalty of the Brazen Beasts, but it is a fatal miscalculation, as the Shavepate has already boasted that the Beasts are still his.
Role in the Conspiracy
Marghaz proves to be utterly outmatched by the conspiracy forming against his king. When Skahaz mo Kandaq and Ser Barristan Selmy plot to arrest Hizdahr, Skahaz dismisses Marghaz as a non-threat. "Marghaz knows what I want him to know. The Beasts are still mine. Do not forget it," Skahaz tells Selmy, revealing that the Shavepate's influence over the watch remains intact despite his official dismissal. Skahaz assures Selmy that they will have Marghaz in chains before he can make any mischief, underscoring the new commander's impotence. Marghaz is a figurehead, a placeholder whose authority is a hollow shell, and he is swept aside without resistance when the coup unfolds.
