When handling the matter of Margaery, Cersei acted openly and righteously, even daring to bring the High Sparrow into the tribunal.
This was because the Tyrells had committed four grave crimes: betraying the sacred marriage oath, violating guest right, regicide, and husband-murder.
Four charges, yet all because of one person—His Majesty King Joffrey.
Joffrey's Purple Wedding and Robb Stark's Red Wedding are the two most famous "color-themed" weddings in A Song of Ice and Fire.
In a sense, the impact of Joffrey's Purple Wedding on the plot exceeds even that of Robb's Red Wedding.
Think of Tywin and Tyrion: if the two had remained in King's Landing and continued to control the situation, who else would have had any chance to act?
Robb's wedding is called "red" because of the sheer number of deaths that day, with blood serving as the event's primary color. Joffrey's wedding is called "purple" mainly because Sansa wore a purple crystal hairnet, and the poison was hidden inside one of those crystals.
Sansa was an innocent "poison mule." She had no idea what she was doing. Both the hairnet and the poison within it were planted by Littlefinger.
Once Sansa brought the poison into the wedding, the Queen of Thorns used the opportunity of "adjusting her hair" to remove the poison and quietly place it into Margaery's hand.
In other words, Margaery poisoned her own beloved husband.
The golden chalice from which Joffrey drank was the ceremonial wedding cup shared by the king and queen. Only Margaery could act personally to ensure she herself wouldn't suffer any collateral harm.
At the wedding ceremony (after the vows were completed and the marriage was legally sealed), the bride killed the groom with her own hand, violating the sacred marriage oath and committing husband-murder.
The Queen of Thorns was a guest, and Joffrey the host. A guest killing the host violates guest right.
Joffrey was the king, and the Tyrells were his bannermen. Regicide was unavoidable.
With crimes this severe, Cersei and the Iron Throne had every reason to strike at Highgarden.
Randyll Tarly was Hand of the Queen and the realm's chief judicial officer. Choosing neutrality and refusing to assist either side was already the limit of his duty as a Tyrell bannerman.
As for why Margaery confessed to such a deadly crime:
Cersei had always "known" that the Imp killed both Joffrey and Tywin, and that the Imp's greatest backer was House Tyrell.
By coincidence—almost purely by accident—she turned out to be partly correct.
After capturing Margaery, Cersei ordered "Master of Dark Arts" Qyburn to interrogate her. When Margaery learned that her family had been "wiped out," Cersei "wisely" deduced the truth. With a desire for revenge, she used the matter of Joffrey's murder to strike at the grieving mother who had lost her son. When she heard the real story, Cersei actually cried.
Ultimately, this was all Varys's fault.
Varys had at least two identities in the Red Keep: publicly, he was the spymaster, the "Spider"; secretly, he was the jailer of the Red Keep's black cells, known as Rugen.
Do not assume Rugen was a temporary disguise. Varys had played that role for over twenty years.
And do not underestimate the position of Black Cells jailer.
The Black Cells remain empty most of the year, holding only the truly dangerous or politically sensitive—much like the imperial prison of the Ming dynasty's Jinyiwei.
Daenerys's loyal Jaqen, Eddard Stark, Grand Maester Pycelle, and Tyrion all spent time in Rugen's cells.
On the night Tyrion escaped, Rugen disappeared as well. Then Cersei found a rare golden hand-coin in Rugen's quarters—a coin stamped with a hand, symbol of the "Greenhands," ancient currency of the Reach.
At that moment, Cersei, already suspicious of Tyrell meddling, believed she fully understood the chain of events: the Imp was merely the dagger; the Tyrells were the hand holding it.
This was one of the sparks that led Cersei to accuse Margaery of treason and adultery before the Faith.
To be honest, when Cersei learned Joffrey's death had nothing at all to do with her dwarf brother, she was utterly stunned.
She thought, "I've hated you for so long, so deeply, and this is what I get in return?"
Perhaps after the High Sparrow "returned," during her daily pious prayers to the Mother, there was a fleeting moment in which Cersei wondered whether she had been too harsh toward her "monkey-demon" brother.
But the very next moment, she mentally hurled the Mother all the way to Slaver's Bay and gnashed her teeth, her beautiful face twisting: "That little monster who deserves the seven hells is helping that false Aegon steal my throne. No amount of hatred is too much.
"I'll curse him ten thousand times a day before the Mother's statue!"
One must admit, Cersei's accidental tactic worked remarkably well.
First, Randyll Tarly was fully appeased.
Then, following the advice of her cousin Davon, Cersei held a "Great Trial of King's Landing," inviting numerous nobles and commoners to serve as jurors, and appointing the Seven's septon (not the High Sparrow) as chief judge. They publicly tried the Tyrells for the murder of King Joffrey.
Joffrey, who loved his people and was famed for his benevolence—King's Landing mockingly called him "the Mad King II"—truly had a terrible reputation. That much is true.
But no matter how many faults he had, at the Purple Wedding he was an innocent victim.
Margaery, beautiful and kind, beloved by the people, widely praised as the "Rose of the Mother," also indeed enjoyed great popularity.
But regardless of her virtues, the crime she committed during the Purple Wedding was shocking and intolerable to any sane person.
Her reputation collapsed completely, dropping to the same level as her mother-in-law Cersei.
The Tyrells went from victims of the "Treachery in the Reach" to sinners who fully deserved their fate.
Public opinion didn't flip instantly, but it was no longer favorable to them.
After all, this was a church-sanctioned trial, acknowledged even by the High Sparrow.
Afterward, Cersei pulled an even bolder move. At the council meeting, she declared:
House Tyrell, though guilty of terrible crimes, still had Margaery as the lawful wife of King Tommen and the sole heir of Highgarden. Acting as Queen Regent under the doctrine of the Mother, she would show the greatest mercy to this lost lamb.
Margaery would be spared the death penalty. Until King Tommen came of age and she bore an heir who would inherit both the Iron Throne and Highgarden, she would live under septa supervision in the Maidenvault, praying daily and repenting her sins.
During this period, the Iron Throne would temporarily assume governance of the Reach. This effectively granted Cersei both the title of "Protector of the South" and the authority of "Duke of the Reach."
Indeed, Olenna's "inflatable fish" family had three sons and one daughter. Willas and Garlan died on the Shield Islands, Loras had sworn himself to the Kingsguard, the "inflatable fish" himself had been secretly executed, and Margaery truly was the only surviving heir of House Tyrell of Highgarden.
Doesn't this feel familiar?
This was exactly how Tywin once dealt with Sansa and the Starks.
In any case, the Iron Throne's announcement managed to barely calm the irritable lords of the Reach.
After all, it was true that the Tyrells had plotted against Emperor Joe, and the Iron Throne still acknowledged the Tyrells' rule over Highgarden. At the same time, Euron's twenty-thousand Ironborn army had pushed deep into the Reach to intimidate anyone who did not submit.
The Iron Throne held the moral high ground, showed benevolence, and still possessed military might—this was the most important factor. The Reach, on the other hand, was nearly defenseless and had lost its leader.
The Tyrells were nearly wiped out, the fleet of Greenport Isle was destroyed, Hightower said nothing though everyone knew they had sided with the Dragon Queen, Tarly had become Hand of the King, and Florent had simply begun openly cheering for the Iron Throne.
With the five greatest houses of the Reach all crippled, what else could the smaller lords do except fall in line?
By taking Highgarden and controlling the lands of the Reach, the Iron Throne now also controlled the grain.
To the troublesome commoners of King's Landing, whoever could stabilize prices and keep them from starving was a saint. Rumor had it that in Queen Maegor Tower's chambers, a new small sept had been opened specifically to house a statue of the Mother. The "whore queen" had recently been praying before the Mother's statue three times a day, and people were starting to call her the "Mother Saint."Well, even a "Mother Saint" is still a Mother.
King's Landing gradually stabilized.
Of course, beneath this calm surface, dark currents were inevitable.
For example, Aegon, whom the people of King's Landing called the "False Prince."
Aegon's proclamations and the True Dragon Alliance's declaration spread far and wide, but his reputation had never been good.
In other words, few truly believed he was Rhaegar's son.
Everyone in King's Landing knew that Rhaegar's child had been smashed against a wall and reduced to a puddle of flesh.
But the commoners' opinions meant nothing to Aegon.
His betrothal to Sansa and the establishment of the True Dragon Alliance were far more convincing to the nobles than an uncertain claim of being Rhaegar's son, because these things represented strength. They also represented the recognition of five of the Seven Great Dukedoms— the North, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Stormlands, and Dorne—acknowledging Aegon's status as the True Dragon.
Recently, there had been an endless stream of lords secretly writing letters to pledge loyalty to the True Dragon.
Aegon was in high spirits at last, feeling what it meant to be a king.
And now, joy piled upon joy—he was getting married.
Today, in fact!
The wedding was held at the Eyrie.
Originally, Aegon, Sansa, and even ministers like Littlefinger planned to hold the wedding feast on Dragonstone, with the Dragon Queen personally presiding.
However, upon learning that the Dragon Queen had just taken a trip to Essos and was busy training a squadron of wyvern knights (Dany's excuse), they could only give up Dragonstone with regret.
After all, Dragonstone was the Dragon Queen's domain and had nothing to do with Aegon; his fief was now Storm's End.
Storm's End was an option, but it could not compare to the Eyrie, because the Vale had the highest number of Aegon's vassals.
It was like the Red Wedding, where Edmure Tully had to go to House Frey to be married.
However, the wedding was not held in the Eyrie itself, but in the Gates of the Moon at the foot of the mountain.
The Eyrie was built atop the highest peak in the Vale— the Giant's Lance. Just hearing a name like "Giant's Lance" made it clear how steep the mountain was, like a massive spear thrust into the Vale.
Thus, although the Eyrie was a stronghold, it was not large, accommodating only about five hundred people. And with winter upon them, the weather had turned bitterly cold.
You can imagine what it feels like to live on a mountaintop in the dead of winter.It was certainly not comfortable.
The Gates of the Moon, located at the base of the Giant's Lance, was enormous. Although it belonged to House Royce, every winter the Arryns would come down from the Eyrie to reside there.
As an extra note, House Royce and House Stark were "relatives from eight hundred years ago."
One of Ned's grandfather's sisters had married into the Gates of the Moon.
When Robb drafted his will naming the heir to the Kingship of the North, Catelyn had vehemently opposed making Jon the crown prince. She had instead suggested that her son choose a direct-blood Royce heir—What the hell?!This showed how much Catelyn hated Jon, and how foolish she was.
All right, back to the main subject.
There was another important reason: the Gates of the Moon had a Great Sept.
A king's wedding must be held in a Great Sept under the witness and blessing of the Seven Gods.
(ps: The next two chapters, titled "Sacred Marriage," describe Aegon's wedding and involve many Westerosi customs and rituals. They took a lot of time and effort to compile.
Honestly, they were harder to write than ordinary chapters, and very likely, not many readers are interested.
Therefore, here is a reminder: if you don't want to read them, feel free to skip the next two chapters.)
(End of chapter)
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