136 AC

136 AC was marked by an unprecedented gathering of nobles in King’s Landing, summoned to settle the government of the underage Aegon III. The assembly was never formally a Great Council, but its attempt to choose regents and a Hand laid bare the old grievances that still divided the realm after the Dance—and, after weeks of discord, produced a government that the king approved.

The Lords Gather in King’s Landing

As the old year waned and the new one began, lords arrived in response to the king’s summons. It was the largest assembly of nobles in the Seven Kingdoms since the gathering at Harrenhal in 101 AC. King’s Landing filled almost to bursting, a political concentration that also brought a surge of business to the city’s innkeepers, merchants, and sex workers.

The company reflected the reach of the summons. Lords came chiefly from the crownlands, riverlands, stormlands, and Vale. Alyn Velaryon and Samwell Blackwood arrived after forcing the Vale’s rival claimants and their followers to recognize Joffrey Arryn as their liege. Johanna Lannister sent a cousin and three bannermen to represent the west, while Torrhen Manderly sailed from White Harbor with forty knights and cousins. Lyonel Hightower and Samantha Hightower came from Oldtown with a retinue six hundred strong.

Unwin Peake brought the largest following: a thousand of his own men and five hundred sellswords. His force stood out even among an assembly already made imposing by its size. The gathering was not simply a meeting of leading lords; the strength and composition of each retinue made the political weight behind competing interests visible in the capital.

Choosing Regents

The lords met beneath the shadow of the empty Iron Throne. Aegon III did not attend, and the nobles spent more than a fortnight trying to agree on regents who would govern until he came of age. They made little progress. Without a king present to direct proceedings, old disputes resurfaced, and the wounds left by the Dance began to open again. Powerful lords had too many enemies, while lesser lords were disparaged for their poverty or lack of influence.

With agreement seemingly out of reach, Grand Maester Munkun proposed that three regents be selected by lot. Prince Viserys supported the proposal, and the lords accepted it. The lots fell to Willam Stackspear, Marq Merryweather, and Lorent Grandison—men described as inoffensive and undistinguished. The procedure ended the immediate deadlock not by reconciling the factions, but by avoiding a choice among their most divisive candidates.

The Hand and Other Appointments

The selection of the King’s Hand carried greater weight, and the assembled lords would not leave it to the new regents. Some, particularly those from the Reach, urged the return of Unwin Peake, but Prince Viserys argued that Aegon would prefer a younger man less likely to fill the court with traitors. Alyn Velaryon was proposed, but judged too young; Kermit Tully and Benjicot Blackwood were rejected on the same grounds.

The lords instead chose Torrhen Manderly, Lord of White Harbor, whose relative unfamiliarity south of the Neck meant that he had few enemies there. Manderly accepted the office but said that he would need a capable financial officer to deal with the Lyseni and their bank. Alyn Velaryon then proposed Isembard Arryn, the Gilded Falcon of the Vale, for the role.

Other offices were settled alongside the principal appointments. To appease Unwin Peake and his supporters, Gedmund Peake was named lord admiral and master of ships. Ser Raynard Ruskyn became Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Ser Adrian Thorne was chosen to command the gold cloaks. Thorne was the only one of Lucas Leygood’s seven captains not accused of involvement in the plot against the king.

The King’s Assent and the Trials

The settlement required Aegon III’s seal. He gave it without objection the following morning, then withdrew again to the solitude of his chambers. His assent completed the appointment process, even as his absence from the assembly had left the lords to negotiate without his direct guidance.

The new Hand’s first task was to judge those accused of poisoning Gaemon Palehair and plotting treason against the king. Forty-two people had initially been implicated; sixteen had fled and eight had died, leaving eighteen to stand trial. Thirteen had already confessed to some involvement. The other five maintained that they had joined the plot believing it to be Unwin Peake’s, and that they meant to save Aegon from the Lyseni they thought were conspiring to kill him.

The trials lasted thirty-three days. Prince Viserys attended throughout, often with his pregnant wife, Larra Rogare, and their son Aegon. Aegon III appeared only three times, on the days judgment was delivered for Gareth Long, George Graceford, and Septon Bernard, and showed no interest in the remaining cases. Queen Daenaera did not attend. The contrast between the crowded political gathering and the king’s retreat from its aftermath marked the limits of the settlement: offices had been filled and trials begun, but the work of government proceeded with the young king largely apart from it.