ADDAM & THE SHEPHERD
*this is a repost with new additions*
Following up on my post about Addam and the Old Gods, I also wanted to write about another character whose story deals heavily with religious themes, the Shepherd. He is basically the anti-Addam, though their stories follow a similar trajectory. The Shepherd only emerges in Kingβs Landing after Addam is gone, and had Addam stayed, perhaps the Shepherd mightβve never shown himself. Unlike Addam, whose religious themes focus on the Old Gods, the Shepherd is written as a devotee of the Faith of the Seven.
Thereβs a shift in how GRRM writes about Rhaenyraβs reign from start to finish, in the lead-up to the Storming of the Dragonpit (orchestrated by the Shepherd in Addamβs absence, but nevertheless, Addamβs presence is felt all throughout). Indeed, F&B emphasizes that if Addam had been in Kingβs Landing, the Shepherd couldβve never taken power or attacked the Dragonpit. Itβs also worth pointing out that Rhaenyraβs reign at the start is quite prosperous. Despite the conflicts occurring elsewhere and the rising tensions within the city populace, everything still remains stable for the most part, until Addam leaves and the Shepherd arrives on the scene.
On Maidenβs Day in the year 130 AC, the Citadel of Oldtown sent forth three hundred white ravens to herald the coming of winter, but Mushroom and Septon Eustace agree that this was high summer for Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. Despite the disaffection of the Kingslanders, the city and crown were hers. Across the narrow sea, the Triarchy had begun to tear itself to pieces. The waves belonged to House Velaryon. Though snows had closed the passes through the Mountains of the Moon, the Maiden of the Vale had proven true to her word, sending men by sea to join the queenβs hosts. Other fleets brought warriors from White Harbor, led by Lord Manderlyβs own sons, Medrick and Torrhen. On every hand Queen Rhaenyraβs power swelled whilst King Aegonβs dwindled.
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And thus did betrayal beget more betrayal, to the queenβs undoing. As Ser Luthor Largent and his gold cloaks rode up Rhaenysβs Hill with the queenβs warrant, the doors of the Dragonpit were thrown open above them, and Seasmoke spread his pale grey wings and took flight, smoke rising from his nostrils. Ser Addam Velaryon had been forewarned in time to make his escape.
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All the while tales of the slaughter at Tumbleton were spreading through the cityβ¦and with them, terror. Kingβs Landing would be next, men told one another. Dragon would fight dragon, and this time the city would surely burn. Fearful of the coming foe, hundreds tried to flee, only to be turned back at the gates by the gold cloaks. Trapped within the city walls, some sought shelter in deep cellars against the firestorm they feared was coming, whilst others turned to prayer, to drink, and the pleasures to be found between a womanβs thighs. By nightfall, the cityβs taverns, brothels, and septs were full to bursting with men and women seeking solace or escape, and trading tales of horror.
βTwas in this dark hour that there rose up in Cobblerβs Square a certain itinerant brother, a barefoot scarecrow of a man in a hair shirt and roughspun breeches, filthy and unwashed and smelling of the sty, with a begging bowl hung round his neck on a leather thong. A thief he had been, for where his right hand should have been was only a stump covered by ragged leather. Grand Maester Munkun suggests he might have been a Poor Fellow; though that order had long been outlawed, wandering Stars still haunted the byways of the Seven Kingdoms. Where he came from we cannot know. Even his name is lost to history. Those who heard him preach, like those who would later record his infamy, knew him only as the Shepherd. Mushroom names him βthe Dead Shepherd,β for he claims the man was as pale and foul as a corpse fresh-risen from its grave.
The Dragonpit is a central location of this story, especially because the climax of the Dance takes place there. In the larger scheme of things, the Dragonpit has an inverse relation to the Wall in the North.
The core purpose of the Dragonpit is the protection of the dragons. More specifically, Addam was tasked with the duty to serve at the Dragonpit, to protect the city. The Shepherd claims to also protect Kingβs Landing, but he wants the dragons dead in order to accomplish his mission.
It had long been the custom for at least one dragonrider to reside at the pit, so as to be able to rise to the defense of the city should the need arise. As Rhaenyra preferred to keep her sons by her side, that duty fell to Addam Velaryon.
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It was the fear of dragons, and of their presence, that gave birth to the Shepherd. [β¦] Fear begat anger, and anger begat a thirst for blood. And when the Shepherd announced that the city would be saved only when the city was cleansed of dragons, people listened.
Interestingly enough, the main gates of the Dragonpit are described as made of bronze and iron (metals of the First Men). The Shepherd cannot pass through and has to find another way around to enter the building. In all likelihood, Addam passed through these exact gates as he escaped from the Dragonpit and made his way to the Isle of Faces. It would be quite the contrast if the Old Gods/First Men affiliated Addam can pass through the ancient gates but the White Walker coded Shepherd is prevented from doing so.
The Shepherdβs lambs smashed through the doors (the towering main gates, sheathed in bronze and iron, were too strong to assault, but the building had a score of lesser entrances) and came clambering through windows.
The trajectory of Addamβs story once he leaves Kingβs Landing appears to strangely mirror the Shepherd who takes up power in the capital. Both of them are driven by the will of the gods, so to speak. While Addam acts against the forces gathered at Tumbleton, the Shepherd begins his work in Kingβs Landing. They are similarly persistent in their efforts to build their army. In order to do so, both characters spread the message about what they see as the encroaching danger, like prophets spreading the word of their gods.
Many a battle and skirmish had already been fought in the lands watered by the Trident, and there was scarce a keep or village that had not paid its due in bloodβ¦but Addam Velaryon was relentless and determined and glib of tongue, and the riverlords knew much and more of the horrors that had befallen Tumbleton. By the time Ser Addam was ready to descend on Tumbleton, he had near four thousand men at his back.
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Whoever or whatever he might have been, this one-handed Shepherd rose up like some malign spirit, calling down doom and destruction on Queen Rhaenyra to all who came to hear. As tireless as he was fearless, he preached all night and well into the following day, his angry voice ringing across Cobblerβs Square.
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The Targaryens had escaped the Doom, fleeing across the seas to Dragonstone, but βthe gods are not mocked,β and now a second doom was at hand. βThe false king and the whore queen shall be cast down with all their works, and their demon beasts shall perish from the earth,β the Shepherd thundered. All those who stood with them would die as well. Only by cleansing Kingβs Landing of dragons and their masters could Westeros hope to avoid the fate of Valyria.
Each hour his crowds grew. A dozen listeners became a score and then a hundred, and by break of dawn thousands were crowding into the square, shoving and pushing as they strained to hear. Many clutched torches, and by nightfall the Shepherd stood amidst a ring of fire.
The Shepherdβs intentions are as clear as Addamβs: To destroy the dragons and their riders, who are their enemies. Incidentally, these two recognize the immediate danger posed by the army gathered at Tumbleton, and therefore, act to protect the city of Kingβs Landing. Though they obviously go about their goals in very different ways. Addam seeks to directly destroy the Green army and their dragons which are stationed at Tumbleton. He takes the battle straight to the heart of enemy territory. Meanwhile, the Shepherd leads his followers to riot, ultimately marching on the Dragonpit to kill the dragons residing within the city. He is operating under the belief that eliminating the dragons here will save them from being targeted by the Green army. Of note, they both wish to cleanse something sinful.
Tumbleton woke in the black of night to screams and shouts. Outside the town walls, the camps were burning. Columns of armored knights were pouring in from north and west, wreaking slaughter, the clouds were raining arrows, and a dragon was swooping down upon them, terrible and fierce.
Thus began the Second Battle of Tumbleton.
The dragon was Seasmoke, his rider Ser Addam Velaryon, determined to prove that not all bastards need be turncloaks. How better to do that than by retaking Tumbleton from the Two Betrayers, whose treason had stained him?
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Ser Addamβs night attack took them completely unawares. Before the men of Prince Daeronβs army even knew they were in a battle, the enemy was amongst them, cutting them down as they staggered from their tents, as they were saddling their horses, struggling to don their armor, buckling their sword belts.
Most devastating of all was the dragon. Seasmoke came swooping down again and yet again, breathing flame. A hundred tents were soon afire, even the splendid silken pavilions of Ser Hobert Hightower, Lord Unwin Peake, and Prince Daeron himself. Nor was the town of Tumbleton reprieved. Those shops and homes and septs that had been spared the first time were engulfed in dragonflame.
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That night Kingβs Landing rose in bloody riot.
The rioting began amidst the alleys and wynds of Flea Bottom, as men and women poured from the wine sinks, rat pits, and pot shops by the hundreds, angry, drunken, and afraid. From there the rioters spread throughout the city, shouting for justice for the dead princes and their murdered mother. Carts and wagons were overturned, shops looted, homes plundered and set afire. Gold cloaks attempting to quell the disturbances were set upon and beaten bloody. No one was spared, of high birth or low.
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βThe Stranger comes, he comes, he comes, to scourge us for our sins. Prayers cannot stay his wroth, no more than tears can quench the flame of dragons. Only blood can do that. Your blood, my blood, their blood.β Then he raised his right arm and jabbed the stump of his missing hand at Rhaenysβs Hill behind him, at the Dragonpit black against the stars. βThere the demons dwell, up there. Fire and blood, blood and fire. This is their city. If you would make it yours, first must you destroy them. If you would cleanse yourself of sin, first must you bathe in dragonβs blood. For only blood can quench the fires of hell.β
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From ten thousand throats a cry went up. βKill them! Kill them!β And like some vast beast with ten thousand legs, the lambs began to move, shoving and pushing, waving their torches, brandishing swords and knives and other, cruder weapons, walking and running through the streets and alleys toward the Dragonpit.
Addamβs signature dragon battle at Tumbleton is written with the symbolism of a Last Hero figure fighting the White Walkers. At the same time, the Shepherd reigns during a period known as the Long Night. As I mentioned above, the text describes the Shepherd as being like a dead man who has risen, furthering the Long Night connection.
During that long night, Septon Eustace tells us, the Shepherd held sway over half the city, whilst strange lords and kings of misrule squabbled oβer the rest.
The Velaryon soldiers who abandoned Rhaenyra, as a consequence of her decision to target Addam, go on to join up with the Shepherd. Interestingly enough, the supporters of the Shepherd are associated with rodents only in one instance (in every other mention, they are described as followers or lambs or flock), and thatβs to show the presence of the Velaryon soldiers who wouldβve been heavily armed. Naturally, the allusion to rodents brings to mind Addam who is described as a little mouse.
By ordering the arrest of Addam Velaryon, she had lost not only a dragon and a dragonrider, but her Queenβs Hand as wellβ¦and more than half the army that had sailed from Dragonstone to seize the Iron Throne was made up of men sworn to House Velaryon. When it became known that Lord Corlys languished in a dungeon under the Red Keep, they began to abandon her cause by the hundreds. Some made their way to Cobblerβs Square to join the throngs gathered round the Shepherd.
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The Shepherdβs rats were armed with spears, longaxes, spiked clubs, and half a hundred other kinds of weapons, including both longbows and crossbows.
The people of Kingβs Landing look with hope to the Shepherd to become their saviour, but the actual person who ends up saving the city is Addam. Even despite Addamβs death, his army carries on his legacy to protect Kingβs Landing.
The crowd, Septon Eustace says, was twice as large and thrice as fearful as the night before. Like the queen they so despised, the Shepherdβs βlambsβ were looking to the sky with dread, fearing that King Aegonβs dragons would arrive before the night was out, with an army close behind them. No longer believing that the queen could protect them, they looked to their Shepherd for salvation.
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The accused turncloak Addam Velaryon, born Addam of Hull, had saved Kingβs Landing from the queenβs foesβ¦at the cost of his own life.
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As the riverlords rode through the city, smallfolk cheered them from rooftops and balconies, and pretty girls scampered forward to shower their saviors with kisses (like mummers in a farce, says Mushroom, suggesting all this had been devised by Larys Strong).
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Orwyle spoke for them, hailing the riverlords as deliverers.
Most notably of all, Addam and the Shepherd are described as extensions of their gods. There are also songs about them in-universe that connect them to the divine. Addamβs arrival at Tumbleton begins with the mention of the Old Gods imagery. Likewise, the Shepherdβs involvement in the Storming of the Dragonpit presents him as an avatar of the Faith, specifically the Warrior. Another detail that connects them is their use of a specifically draconic weapon against their foe(s). Addam has his dragon, Seasmoke, while the Shepherd uses a sword thatβs clearly made of dragonsteel aka Valyrian steel (known for its distinctively smoky appearance).
Men may plot and plan and scheme, but they had best pray as well, for no plan made by man has ever withstood the whims of the gods above. Two days later, on the very day the Caltrops planned to strike, Tumbleton woke in the black of night to screams and shouts. Outside the town walls, the camps were burning. Columns of armored knights were pouring in from north and west, wreaking slaughter, the clouds were raining arrows, and a dragon was swooping down upon them, terrible and fierce.
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The dragon was Seasmoke, his rider Ser Addam Velaryon.
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Singers say Ser Addam had flown from Kingβs Landing to the Gods Eye, where he landed on the sacred Isle of Faces and took counsel with the Green Men.
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The tale most oft heard in Kingβs Landing named the Shepherd himself as the dragonslayer. As others fled, the story went, the one-handed prophet stood fearless and alone against the ravening beast, calling on the Seven for succor, till the Warrior himself took form, thirty feet tall. In his hand was a black blade made of smoke that turned to steel as he swung it, cleaving the head of Syrax from her body. And so the tale was told, even by Septon Eustace in his account of these dark days, and so the singers sang for many years thereafter.
I do believe that the Shepherd suffered from some sort of religious psychosis and thatβs what led him down a dark path to eliminate all the dragons. However, his aim was purely about saving the city. As misguided as the Shepherd may be, his intentions appear rather genuine. Unlike the other two monarchs during the Moon of Three Kings, the Shepherd is the only one who never claimed kingship for himself, even as he preached endlessly about killing the dragons to protect the city.
Addam is, at his core, a protector. That is his most defining characteristic from the beginning of his story to the end point. Similar to the Shepherd, he too looks to a higher power in his effort to save Kingβs Landing from the threat at Tumbleton. Itβs heavily implied that Addam wouldβve experienced some visions of the horrors occurring in Tumbleton and how that situation could worsen if itβs not stopped (presented through the Long Night symbolism in his story) and thatβs what prompted him to take action. Rather than returning back to Kingβs Landing with his army, he leads them further south to Tumbleton. In the end, the dragons die but Addamβs efforts to save the city are successful enough that it ushers in the period known as the False Dawn (the true dawn will only occur in the main series with the return of the dragons to Westeros and the resolution of the conflict with the White Walkers -> the War for the Dawn).
