Death visited the court again a short time later, when Grand Maester Mellos collapsed one night whilst he was climbing the serpentine steps. His had always been a moderating voice in council, forever urging calm and compromise whenever issues arose between the blacks and the greens. To the king’s distress, however, the passing of the man he called “my trusted friend” only served to provoke a fresh dispute between the factions.
Princess Rhaenyra wanted Maester Gerardys, who had long served her on Dragonstone, elevated to replace Mellos; it was only his healing skills that had saved the king’s life when Viserys cut his hand on the throne, she claimed. Queen Alicent, however, insisted that the princess and her maester had mutilated His Grace unnecessarily. Had they not “meddled,” she claimed, Grand Maester Mellos would surely have saved the king’s fingers as well as his life. She urged the appointment of one Maester Alfador, presently in service at the Hightower. Viserys, beset from both sides, chose neither, reminding both the princess and the queen that the choice was not his to make. The Citadel of Oldtown chose the Grand Maester, not the Crown. In due time, the Conclave bestowed the chain of office upon Archmaester Orwyle, one of their own.
King Viserys did seem to recover some of his old vigor once the new Grand Maester arrived at court. Septon Eustace tells us that this was the result of prayer, but most believed that Orwyle’s potions and tinctures were more efficacious than the leechings Mellos had preferred. But such recoveries proved short-lived, and gout, chest pains, and shortness of breath continued to trouble the king. In the final years of his reign, as his health failed, Viserys left ever more of the governance of the realm to his Hand and small council.
Fire and Blood (George R. R. Martin)
It's nice Viserys likes to honour rules and traditions (especially if it means the responsibility would fall on someone else), but how likely it is his new Grand Maester will be impartial? Being sent from the seat of Hightowers?
His ability to ignore brewing troubles, and leave Rhaenyra to her own devices is almost astonishing.
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Death visited the court again a short time later, when Grand Maester Mellos collapsed one night whilst he was climbing the serpentine steps. His had always been a moderating voice in council, forever urging calm and compromise whenever issues arose between the blacks and the greens. To the king’s distress, however, the passing of the man he called “my trusted friend” only served to provoke a fresh dispute between the factions.
Princess Rhaenyra wanted Maester Gerardys, who had long served her on Dragonstone, elevated to replace Mellos; it was only his healing skills that had saved the king’s life when Viserys cut his hand on the throne, she claimed. Queen Alicent, however, insisted that the princess and her maester had mutilated His Grace unnecessarily. Had they not “meddled,” she claimed, Grand Maester Mellos would surely have saved the king’s fingers as well as his life. She urged the appointment of one Maester Alfador, presently in service at the Hightower. Viserys, beset from both sides, chose neither, reminding both the princess and the queen that the choice was not his to make. The Citadel of Oldtown chose the Grand Maester, not the Crown. In due time, the Conclave bestowed the chain of office upon Archmaester Orwyle, one of their own.
Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, pg 387-388
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Kiran is luck itself. And that luck is causing problems in FEH, an analysis. (Part 1!)
(Disclaimers first. One, I’m drop kicking my Kiran is a deity theory from this post, but elements of it will pop up bc it’s hard baked into the game now. Two, my understanding of Norse mythos is very limited and I might get some stuff wrong. Am doing my best, but if there’s any hiccups I apologize ;; also Part 2 is here.)
Luck in FEH is a big big thing.
It's in gacha, which is the core mechanic of the game, but it's in the story too. And I think this luck is causing massive fucking problems as time goes on, but specifically to Kiran as well.
In the original Norse mythos, Odin/Alfador knows the future to come. His best buddies are Loki and Thor, who together make up the Norse Trio. Surtr is meant to bring about Ragnarok, and end the world.
But something is weird in FEH's story, and we can safely say now that Ragnarok is averted or subverted after the events of Book 2 and everything that has gone on since. FEH's story has derailed so hard from Norse mythos that we can't predict anything anymore, and it's thanks to 1 Summoner allying themself with Alfonse & co.
Bc see, Kiran's real power is half from their ability to summon heroes, and other being their incredible fucking luck. In fact, here’s a brief overview of how each book was won in Askr’s and their allies’ favor real quick. (Feel free to skip over this segment under the read more if you don't need a refresher.)
Book 1: Kiran gets dropped into the world of FEH after Alfonse & co seeks out the legend behind Breidablik. Their situation immediately turns around from being helplessly invaded to invasion repelled. OoH gets fully established as a result of Kiran’s presence. Lucky them!
Book 2: OoH travels to Nifl then to Muspell, fighting against a tyrant named Surtr who is unkillable due to his Rite of Flames. Helbindi intervenes by removing the sacrifice needed for the rite, and the Order drop kicks his ass into the aether. Lucky for everyone!
Book 3: Hel invades Askr, but one of her generals, Lif, turns out to be an Alfonse from an alternate world who wasn’t so lucky and everyone died. Passing that dead Kiran’s Breidablik to our Kiran, we luckily gain the power to kill that which cannot be killed, Hel.
Book 4: Freyja seems to be keen in trapping Kiran in the dream world through a bluff, but Kiran decides not to believe in the bluff and kills her and wakes up to find that Alfonse is actually still alive. Lucky them!
Book 5: Reginn is the luckiest here, in that finding out she’s the real successor to the throne of Niðavellir. By accepting and allying herself with the OoH, they do the difficult task of killing her brothers and taking out Eitri to bring peace to Niðavellir.
Book 6: Thanks to Kiran preventing Alfonse from cutting down Bruno all the way back in Book 1, Bruno eventually pulls off the ultimate sacrifice and helps Askr and Embla achieve peace. Lucky, but tragic.
Book 7: The Kiran we know happens to pick up a glowing Breidablik which has been +1’d and can break everyone out of a perpetual time loop. Lucky them, since the other Kirans did not make it.
So. Kiran is not winning necessarily by having incredible power. They are winning by being in the correct place, with the correct people, under the correct conditions, and having the correct power-ups.
And even if you want to argue it's about raw power, the ability to summon powerful heroes is also dictated by luck in the gacha mechanic.
In short, Kiran and whoever allies with them is surviving by sheer luck.
The problem here is that, despite preventing Surtr from causing Ragnarok, Kiran is now... effectively causing Ragnarok.
OKAY to be fair it's more like preventing a meteor from impacting the earth directly by shattering it into a billion pieces, but having to deal with the small bits and aftermath. The Ragnarok was the meteor, and while Surtr was going to be the trigger, a lot of things were already in motion long before Kiran's arrival. Askr and Embla's 'feud' for example. Taking out Surtr only seems to change the trigger and cause smaller explosions instead.
Kiran is definitely helping, but in doing so have gone from being a curious insignificant interloper to a outright formidable entity in the world of FEH. In fact, the more they seem to fix, the more things change, and the more the world reacts to their actions and accepting their presence. And also, drawing attention to them and theirs.
Which. Causes problems. More so for one guy who knows everything. Alfador.
If I were Alfador, I would be interested in paying super close attention to this cryptid the moment they landed, more so because they don't fully belong in the world of FEH.
There's some evidence of this. Loki and Thor immediately puts them on a watchlist as early as Book 1. As part of the trio, they would know some things about the prophecy, especially Loki. Since Loki LOVES chaos and fun, it's entirely possible she's very invested in Kiran's ability to fuck shit up.
Loki even seems to give Kiran and co a chance to break fate in Book 2 by letting them mess with Surtr's Rite of Flames. And once that they've proven they can, and again in Book 3 by killing death Herself, all bets are off.
Kiran. Can. Kill. Gods.
Which then kind of makes sense for what happens in Book 4. From what I can understand, it seems like 4 was a whole ploy by Freyja to keep Kiran trapped in the dreamworld through a bluff. In Book 4 chapter 15:
Freyja: I don't suppose you CAN remember what happened... If you could recall, the dream would likely collapse. Be that as it may, the truth is that this mortal you care so much for, Prince Alfonse, defeated death... And with that, He Who Created Everything, Alfaðör, has decided... Prince Alfonse could no longer be allowed to exist. A decision made by the Creator is absolute. His will is truth—and as you know, truth is inescapable. Yet here you are, fleeing... Soon you will have no choice but to accept it. Prince Alfonse is gone. You will never see him again!
The bluff itself is very interesting, since it's the first time we see the name Alfador be dropped directly in Kiran's face. It's also a hint that Freyja and Alfador may be working together, since Freyja doesn't have a real gain out of trapping Kiran in the nightmare realm aside from for the hell of it otherwise. (And maybe also to kill her brother. Is she in on it?)
PLUS, Alfador in FEH is the CREATOR. Which adds to Kiran being something he did not create, and seriously does not bloody belong in the world of FEH!
AND now in Book 7 Gullveig seems to have been brought into existence because of Kiran in... a way. It's ambiguous here but that luck works, in weird messed up ways sometimes.
So to reword this in another way...
Kiran's superpower is LUCK itself. And they are actively breaking fate with it, in doing so causing ripple effects which drastically alters events. Alterations which one Alfador may or may not like.
And the more they survive, the more gods die, the more things change, the more aggro Kiran will draw unto themself and their allies. Which means, Kiran could become a Surtr replacement in the worst case scenario, but will likely crawl out of the carnage. Through luck. Again.
So in summary....
Alfador has high blood pressure now.
Edit: a part 2 has been written!
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