About an AMA Thread with his "Uncle"

[bullamongstags]

... He's wrong. He's got to be.

There's no way that I could do it. Step forward and claim the Iron Throne? I'm a bastard! Bastard's don't win thrones, we get ignored and forgotten about and try to live out a normal life for as long as we can. I can't just... I can't just expect people to fight for me because my blood relates me to a dead King that just grew fat on the Throne, and slept with more women than his own wife.

They've been fightin' too long as it is. Fightin's almost over - they don't need a new round startin' up. The dragon stories are that - stories! An' the Whitewalkers...

How could he ask me to do it? Make a claim for the Throne? I couldn't...

But they've taken over the North now. And the North will fight to win itself back, that's what he meant, right? And then there's some... girl from a family that they fought against because te king was mad and wanted everyone dead but now the girl's coming back and...

Seven hells.

I might... I might have to do this, mun.

How the hells does that even work?

Comments

[stonebird]

What girl are you referring to?

[waterdancer_ofwinterfell]

What are you talking about? What girl is coming back and what about the Whitewalkers?

[bullamongstags]

Some... Targaryen? Daughter of the Mad King?

An' apparently Whitewalkers are real an' might be marching on us.

[Yeah, he's still confused by all this information]

[bullamongstags]

A Targaryen. My... I was told that the story of her havin' dragons might not be a story.

[stonebird]

I had heard tales about her. (So it is true.

Great. Like Westeros isn't scary enough.) So you would pit yourself against her and her dragons?

[bullamongstags]

I ... might have to? [He looks unsure about it, because frankly he is unsure. He's just been told all this information and well, it's a lot to process] I don't know. Someone has to. Usin' dragons against people... that's taking back to the bad times, isn't it?

[stonebird]

I think you're very brave. (Or maybe he doesn't know much about King's Landing...?) I feel I should warn you, however. King's Landing isn't filled with people who want to do what is right or just. I'm sure there are some, but -

I haven't seen them sitting on the Iron Throne.

[bullamongstags]

I'm not brave. I'm just... stuck. [Being informed you're the only member of your "House" (who knew he had one of those) left and that means you've got to go do this stuff... Yeah, stuck fits]

[stonebird]

How? (Her brow creases.) Unless you feel some obligation to -

(Oh. Now the pieces fall into place and she pales.)

You won't only face the Targaryen and her dragons. There are the Lannisters to contend with too.

[bullamongstags]

I know.

I don't know how I'm meant to do this, but apparently I've got to. Honour, or some daft reason like that. This is what comes from wanting to know your family.

[stonebird]

(She almost smiles.) Families are...complicated. I met King Robert and honor did seem to matter to him.

(When he wasn't drunk and/or ignoring the woes of his court.)

[bullamongstags]

Yeah? All I ever saw was a fat bastard who like drinkin' and sleepin' with any woman who weren't his own wife.

[stonebird]

... (Quietly looking away now. Is it disrespectful to speak so of the dead?) He did like his drink.

But, from what I understand, he wasn't always like that.

[bullamongstags]

Whether he was or wasn't, I've nothin' to thank him for. An' now I'm stuck an' don't know what to do. But someone's got to do something.

[stonebird]

It depends on what you value most. Is your honor of importance to you? Do you care for the seven kingdoms?

[bullamongstags]

I care for people I know, an' there's not a lot on that list to start with. I get angry at the way the high-borns swan around, actin' like they're carin' but all they're doin' is trying to win points...

[stonebird]

...not all of them.

[bullamongstags]

So there's a small amount who don't. Don't cancel out the ones who do, considerin' most of them hold the power.

[stonebird]

(She can't argue that and she feels sickened by that fact.)

What is your name?

[bullamongstags]

Gendry, m'lady.

[...and then he remembers what his Uncle did]

Of, er, House Baratheon. I suppose.

[He doesn't look convinced.]

[stonebird]

You're not certain? (Or maybe he's embarrassed? Sansa has a feeling he's one of the few Baratheons who has the right reaction to his family.) You look more like King Robert than Joffrey ever did.

[bullamongstags]

Well, I only found out recently that I wasn't just a bastard, but a royal bastard. Then I was talking to... I suppose my Uncle, an' he gave me the name, 'cause he says I've got a right to claim the throne, or something like that an'...

All I knew of the old king was that he was a fat drunk who liked eating an' whorin'. An' everthing I'm getting told about being a king... No one outside of the high-borns gives a rat arse who sits on that throne, as long as they've got enough food an' drink, an' the summer continues. Got more to worry them than the problems of a bloody throne.

But I'm suppose to go an' try to fight for it because of 'honour'.

[Then, with a groan]

I'm related to that prick.

[stonebird]

(It would be terribly rude to laugh - or even smile - but she is sorely tempted. It isn't that she thinks him foolish; on the contrary, he's the first clear-headed Baratheon she has encountered. But she does feel bad for him.

In a way he reminds her of her brothers. There's that sense of right, wrong and where he fits into the big picture. The last time she saw her brothers - Jon included - they had been at that same precipice.

Carefully, she lays a hand on Gendry's arm as a comfort.)

It's your choice. Your Uncle can't make that decision for you and he can't force your hand. (Which isn't entirely correct. Stannis could make life very miserable for him.) Keep yourself well-hidden until you are certain.

[bullamongstags]

Where can someone hide when a Red Witch can find them, even if they live in the frozen wastes? Thank for you for the advice, m'Lady, wise as it is, but I don't think it's something that I can do.

[stonebird]

Sansa. I'm Sansa Stark. (She gives him a little curtsy, looking confused.) This...Red Witch...what can she do?