The Election of Septon Alfyn as High Septon

The Election of Septon Alfyn as High Septon was a contest over more than a vacant religious office: Jaehaerys sought a successor who would protect the Crown’s political peace and uphold Exceptionalism, while Donnel Hightower wanted the powerful office to pass eventually to one of his own kin. The election produced Alfyn, a committed Exceptionalist, through a bargain that joined the king’s immediate doctrinal priority to the Hightower family’s longer-term ambition.

Death and political stakes

The High Septon died in Oldtown after collapsing on the steps to his bedchamber in the Starry Sept. Bells rang throughout the realm, and the Father of the Faithful was buried in the sept’s crypts. His death set the Most Devout on course to assemble and choose a successor. Jaehaerys regarded the choice as a matter of public order: he believed the peace of the realm depended on the new High Septon continuing the policies of his predecessor.

The king initially wanted Septon Barth, one of his most trusted advisers, to take the crystal crown. Barth persuaded him that the idea was impractical. He was young, little known, unorthodox in his opinions, and not a member of the Most Devout; he had no realistic prospect of election. The king therefore needed another candidate who could advance the same essential goal while remaining acceptable to the Faith’s senior members.

Jaehaerys and the council were also determined to prevent Septon Mattheus from being chosen. Mattheus’s earlier tenure in King’s Landing had left mistrust behind, and the king had not forgotten his words at the gates of Dragonstone. The council discussed several ways to influence the outcome: Rego Draz joked about bribing the electors, while Daemon Velaryon and Qarl Corbray proposed using the royal fleet or an army to exert pressure. Albin Massey even wondered aloud whether Mattheus might suffer a sudden, mysterious death. Barth, Grand Maester Benifer, and Queen Alysanne rejected these proposals with horror, and Jaehaerys refused them. Instead, he and Alysanne went to Oldtown, presenting their journey as a visit to honor the dead High Septon.

The agreement in Oldtown

By the time the royal couple arrived, the High Septon had already been interred. Jaehaerys nevertheless delivered a eulogy before a large crowd of septons, maesters, and smallfolk. He then announced that he and the queen would stay until a successor had been chosen, ostensibly so they could ask for the new High Septon’s blessing. The announcement placed the Crown visibly in Oldtown during the election without openly declaring that the king intended to shape it.

Jaehaerys and Alysanne stayed in Lord Donnel Hightower’s apartments at the top of the Hightower. Their discussions with their host took place privately, without a maester present. Donnel had a clear interest in the succession: in 54 AC, his younger brother, two nephews, and six cousins served the Faith, and several of them belonged to the Most Devout. He wanted one of his relatives to become High Septon.

The king did not insist that the new High Septon come from a particular house or rank. His condition was doctrinal: the successor had to be an Exceptionalist, so that the Faith would no longer challenge the Targaryen tradition of sibling marriage. Donnel’s relatives had not yet spoken on the issue. After hours of discussion, the two men reached an understanding, which was sealed at a feast where Donnel praised the king’s wisdom and introduced him to his extended family. Meanwhile, agents of both Donnel and Jaehaerys worked among the electors at the Starry Sept, though most of the Most Devout did not know of their involvement.

Four ballots and Alfyn’s election

The Most Devout required four ballots to settle the choice. Mattheus led the first, as the king and council had anticipated, but failed to secure enough votes. His support fell with each subsequent ballot while other candidates gained ground. On the fourth, the electors broke with tradition and chose Septon Alfyn, who was not one of their own number.

Alfyn’s selection served Jaehaerys’s immediate purpose. He was the Seven Speakers’ oldest member and the realm’s fiercest champion of Exceptionalism. His previous service also connected him directly to the royal couple: he had crossed the Reach a dozen times in his litter on their behalf. At the time of the election he was at Ashford, and the journey back to Oldtown took him more than a fortnight. The choice was thus not simply a private agreement between king and lord; it required the Most Devout to cast the votes that made Alfyn High Septon.

The bargain’s consequences

The agreement extended beyond Alfyn’s appointment. Because he was old and legless, Jaehaerys believed the Stranger might claim him sooner rather than later. The king assured Donnel that, if the Hightowers firmly supported the Exceptionalists during Alfyn’s tenure, one of Donnel’s kin would succeed him. The immediate office went to the king’s preferred religious ally; the promised future succession gave Donnel’s family a reason to support that ally’s doctrine.

Septon Barth later recorded the bargain, while acknowledging that his account depended on what Jaehaerys told him years afterward. Barth did not dispute the arrangement, but regretted how readily the Most Devout could be manipulated. In his view, a choice made by the gods would have been preferable; in their silence, lords and kings made themselves heard. He also judged both Alfyn and the Hightower who eventually succeeded him more worthy of the crystal crown than Mattheus would have been.

The election therefore secured a doctrinally useful appointment without resorting to the coercive schemes the council had considered. Its method was quieter but still political: private negotiation, agents among the electors, and a promise linking future advancement to present support. Jaehaerys’s presence in Oldtown gave the Crown influence over the choice, while the four ballots left the formal decision in the hands of the Most Devout.