Gareth Long

Gareth Long was a skilled swordsman and stern instructor whose appointment as master-at-arms at the Red Keep brought him into conflict with the young King Aegon III. Known for harsh discipline at Starpike, he was charged with training Aegon for knighthood by Unwin Peake, the king’s new Hand. The work exposed the limits of Gareth’s methods: the king could resist instruction simply by laying down his weapons and leaving, while punishment directed at Gaemon Palehair, Aegon’s close companion, proved far more effective in changing his conduct.

Appointment and Reputation

Gareth had served as master-at-arms at Starpike, where his reputation rested on demanding obedience from the boys he trained. Those who failed to meet his standards could be deprived of sleep, doused with cold water, have their heads shaved, or be beaten. When Unwin Peake took power at court, he installed Gareth in the corresponding position at the Red Keep and assigned him to teach Aegon III the arts of knighthood. The appointment was part of Peake’s wider effort to bring his own supporters and associates into royal service, placing a trusted instructor beside the king.

The transfer from Starpike to the Red Keep changed what Gareth could do. Aegon’s royal person was inviolate, and the punishments associated with Gareth’s earlier training were unavailable against him. The contrast mattered: Gareth retained his reputation and expectations as a strict teacher, but now had to instruct a monarch who could end a lesson by walking away. His authority came from his office and skill, not from an ability to compel the king physically.

Training Aegon III

Aegon was a sullen student with little apparent interest in swordplay or the practices of war. When Gareth addressed him too loudly or harshly, the king would throw down his sword and shield and leave. The gesture was a direct refusal of the lesson, made possible by the boundary around the royal person. Gareth could be severe with ordinary pupils at Starpike, but the king’s status made those same methods unavailable and left the instructor facing a student who could withdraw rather than submit.

The conflict did not mean Gareth lacked ability as a swordsman or instructor. His skill was explicitly recognized, and his strictness at Starpike had been well established. Rather, the Red Keep placed his usual severity in a setting where it could not be applied in its accustomed way. Aegon’s resistance therefore became part of the training itself: the young king could not be driven forward by Gareth’s voice, and the teacher’s formal position did not translate into control over his pupil.

Gaemon Palehair and the Whipping-Boy Arrangement

Aegon seemed to care for only one companion at court: Gaemon Palehair, his six-year-old cupbearer and food taster. Gaemon shared the king’s meals and often accompanied him to the training yard. Gareth noticed their closeness and asked Unwin Peake to make the boy Aegon’s whipping boy. Peake agreed, turning Gaemon’s position in the king’s daily life into an instrument of discipline.

Afterward, misbehavior, laziness, or truculence by Aegon resulted in punishment for Gaemon instead. The arrangement shifted the cost of the king’s conduct from the king himself to the friend whose company he valued. The account connects that consequence with a marked improvement in Aegon’s behavior in the yard: Gaemon’s blood and tears reached him where Gareth’s words had not. Yet the change in the pupil did not reconcile him to his teacher. Aegon’s dislike of Gareth deepened, even as his performance improved. The method thus achieved compliance at a personal cost to Gaemon and left the relationship between king and instructor increasingly antagonistic.

Later Improvement and the Limits of Gareth’s Success

After Aegon married Queen Daenaera, the king became more engaged with court life for a time. Gareth, still serving as master-at-arms, noticed a corresponding change in the training yard. He reported to Unwin Peake that Gaemon was being beaten less often than before and that Aegon, who had always possessed strength and speed, was at last displaying some skill. This later observation gives Gareth a measure of professional success: despite the earlier resistance, the king’s training had begun to produce visible results.

That improvement does not erase the earlier pattern or establish that Aegon came to trust Gareth. The record instead distinguishes between the king’s progress and his continuing dislike of the instructor. Gareth could recognize and report the change, but the gains in skill occurred within a relationship shaped by stern instruction, royal limits, and Gaemon’s punishment. His role at court therefore illustrates both the practical authority of a master-at-arms and its constraints when the pupil is a king: Gareth could teach, observe progress, and enforce discipline indirectly, but he could not command Aegon as he had the boys at Starpike.