Hi, I just read your meta defending Edmure Tully- it's succinctly honestly written! Thank you. What do you think the future will hold for Edmure? If Edmure is rescued & eventually resumes his post as "Lord of RR" how do you think he would help the Riverlands? Do you think Edmure can bring back order, justice & peace back to the Riverlands? How do you think Edmure's experiences post-RW will affect his personality & way of thinking? Thanks.
Thank you :) I have to be honest up front, I do not think the riverlands/Riverrun will get Edmure back (or vice versa). Why? Because some good guys have to suffer real consequences, and clearly Martin wants the Starks to have some form of revenge (“The north remembers”). So the Starks are going to get back at least a little of what they lost, in some way, I think. And therefore, I think that it will fall to the Riverlands (Accessory Good Guys to the Starks) to show that some change is permanent, world orders turn over, so on. Additionally some “bad guys” might also show this, like the Lannisters, but it would read as kind of overly convenient if only the bad guys lost what they had. I don’t think that Martin has the guts in the end to leave House Stark as totally disinherited and disenfranchised and whatever other dis- word I’m looking for at the end of the books, so, House Tully is (as always) the Butt Monkey. I think. We’ll see!
But if he did, then obviously it would give the people a semblance of continuity restored. They regard House Tully more fondly than the Freys, even before the Red Wedding, and probably associate them with stability and prosperity. So that could unite the different houses in joined patriotic fervor. Going by what we know of House Tully, Edmure would probably try to be a very gallant ruler, and given his bummer of a life latey, he might also temper that with wisdom. I think it’s very possible he’d be more likely to listen (sans pouting) to advisers, given that he would easily feel guilty about the fact that House Tully suffered under his watch. I don’t think he’d have a huge problem with “little issues” like who gets this sheep or that river. But he’d have to also back the right ruler and deal with unfriendly Lannisters, undoubtedly he’d have no choice but to put his safety into the hands of the crown’s law and order the way Hoster did, that’s just the geographical handicap the Riverlands have to deal with. It could play out that Edmure, if he’s ever going to get Riverrun back, would have to be offered it first by someone like Stannis or Daenerys in exchange for his support (which would in this scenario be valuable because of his figurehead status), and that would pretty much make that decision for him, ala Aegon the Conqueror and Edmyn Tully. Obviously if that happens then it’s not like he had to make the tough choice the way Robb did at the end of AGOT but, you know, what can he do, he’s a prisoner right now.
Bringing back order, peace, and justice is a big enterprise and it depends on a lot more than just Edmure and a lot more than what we know about Edmure from the books. Just because we have seen him doesn’t mean that we can predict, without any room for disagreement, how Martin would/should have him develop. But I will say that if he was ever going to be in charge of the Riverlands again, how he deals with House Frey will be huge. It’s the same issue Robert faced with Rhaegar’s children, Tywin with the Reynes, etc. I find myself not wanting Edmure to root out House Frey 100%, that’s a lot of innocent people, but if he has to kill some of them, then he risks inspiring revenge in their offspring and stuff. But if he leaves them to return to the Twins with their previous standing intact, they can just continue being shits, the way they have for years because they’ve never been punished for their (admittedly much smaller) previous offenses. It’s the same dilemma that House Stark might have faced with the Boltons I guess, if you assume that they would morally object to flaying but yet did nothing to stop it. Also, of course, his wife is a Frey. I guess Edmure would have to know which Frey to play off against which Frey, since there’s so much internal competition there, and I’d see a lot of hurried matchmaking going on too. The Twins might be given to someone more trustworthy, and the Freys might be moved to, IDK, Harrenhal? :D That might be actually not a good idea if they perceive it as a curse, but who knows, some Freys might like what a big castle it is. If it’s still standing that is. Also I don’t know if he’d want them in such a strategic place. Maybe it would be a good idea to take hostages too? It’s going to be a big personal test because they killed his sister and nephew and a bunch of his bannermen, he is going to be feeling his own share of a need for vengeance, and then of course the familes of those slain will demand justice from him. What’s going in his favor is that old Walder himself might die all on his own, and some Freys might kill each other off, and then he wouldn’t have to lift a finger in those cases. But I think that would be his first big test. If I were him I’d also invest in some long term peace guarantees with House Lannister or their more important bannermen, which he might have leverage to do if he ends up on the winning side and House Lannister ends up on the losing side.
Sorry that this was so rambly, I actually have never given this formal though before, but maybe that’s something to chew on? Is that the kind of answer you were looking for? I think Edmure would do well with some things, like being a figurehead, being likable, being basically just, but he’d have to be willing to listen to advice for some trickier issues he’s not familiar with yet. But that’s possible at this point given what he’s been through, the humiliation and regret.
