Goren Greyjoy

Goren Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke, ended the revolt of Lodos, the Second of That Name, with a large-scale attack on the islands where the pretender’s followers were strongest. By sending the defeated priest king’s pickled head to King’s Landing, Goren transformed a military victory into a religious victory as well, securing the removal of the Faith of the Seven’s missionaries from the Iron Islands.

Lord Reaper of Pyke

Goren ruled Pyke as Lord Reaper when Lodos’s rebellion gathered its greatest strength on Old Wyk and Great Wyk. Rather than allow the priest king’s supporters to remain entrenched there, he assembled a hundred longships and brought the fight directly to them. His campaign was decisive: thousands of the rebels were put to the sword, and Lodos was killed.

Victory and its trophy

After the fighting, Goren had Lodos’s head pickled in brine and sent it to King’s Landing. The grisly gift pleased King Aenys, who offered Goren any boon he wished. The gesture thus carried consequences beyond the battlefield: the head marked the revolt’s defeat, while the king’s offer gave Goren an opportunity to make a demand on behalf of the Iron Islands.

The religious concession

Goren asked for the right to expel all the septons and septas who had come to the Iron Islands after the Conquest to convert the ironborn to the Faith of the Seven. His request was framed as proof that he was a true son of the Drowned God. King Aenys had no choice but to agree. Goren’s victory therefore did more than suppress a rival priest king: it secured royal assent for ending the missionaries’ presence, making the rebellion’s aftermath a contest over worship as well as rule.