Well, well, well. Look who gets a POV now! It’s old Jon Connington who has been hinted at for quite a while.
Jon: Yes, it is I. And we are now presently docked at Volon Therys, where we plan to meet with the Golden Company.
Septa Lemore: I don’t think we should reveal “Young Griff’s” identity to those sellswords. They are mercenaries who can’t be trusted. The plan was to not reveal his identity until we reached Dany. I mean maybe we could have trusted them when your old friend, Myles Toyne, was in charge of them. But this new guy who look over… Harry Strickland… I don’t know about this guy.
Jon: Yeah, that USED to be our plan. When we thought Dany was coming west. But her butt is just sitting in Meereen now, not moving. We have to change things up. *sigh*
Connington thinks back to the Battle of the Bells at the Stoney Sept, which has indeed been referenced before.
Jon: If only I had killed Robert then. Rhagar would still be alive as king and so much bloodshed could have been avoided.
Lemore: Stop getting whimsical about the past. We need to be smart about the present. Illyrio’s plan was to—
Jon: —Illyrio had a lot of stupid plans that have wound up not working. It’s time to call an audible. I will not fail Rhaegar’s son like I failed him.
Halfmaester Haldon then returns to the ship after some chores that included gathering horses.
Jon: Oh, well well well. Look who has returned. Haldon the idiot who let Tyrion Lannister escape from us at that whorehouse.
Haldon: Everyone makes mistakes, dude. I don’t know what happened to him. I thought the dude just wanted to get laid. How was I supposed to know he’d run away from us? It’s weird. He totally seemed invested in the journey with us and wanted to go see Queen Dany. I have no idea why he would have fled our company.
Aegon: Griff! Griff! Why won’t you let me wash this dye out of my hair to show my beautiful, white Targaryen locks of hair. I’m tired pretending being this boy.
Jon: We are not ready to reveal you yet. But soon, I promise.
Aegon: Can we trust these mercenaries? Yollo / Hugor Hill / Tyrion told me not to trust anyone.
Jon: Yes, that’s good advice, especially coming from the little imp who ran away from us. But we must not let healthy caution turn into paranoia. We will ride to the Golden Company’s camp and make our assessment of whether to reveal your true identity there.
And so they get on the horses and ride to the camp of the Golden Company. For a rag-tag group of mercinaries, Connington notes that their camp is in pretty good order under Strickland.
Ser Franklyn Flowers: Ah, “Griff.” Greetings, I hope you have been well.
Jon: Yeah, just keep calling me “Griff.” I used to be part of the Golden Company and everybody knew me as Jon Connington. But that seems like it was ages ago now. Most probably won’t recognize me. I allowed myself to be exiled from the company in disgrace as a cowardly drunkard. It was all part of Varys’s plan. He said that heroes are long remembered, but cowards forgotten and left for dead. I had to ruin my entire reputation in order for Varys and Illyrio’s plan to work. And so here I am. Fucking Varys. I’ll pay him back one day for that slight.
Flowers: Whatever, dood. Nobody wants your life story. Come on, let’s meet Strickland.
They go into Strickland’s tent.
Harry Strickland: Ah, greetings.
Jon: Hey Harry. Let me introduce the Golden Company to my young son, Griff. Ahh… you know what? Fuck it! Everybody. This is MOTHERFUCKING AEGON TARGARYEN! The rightful heir to the Iron Throne!
Everyone in the tent is silent.
Jon: Is this an “everyone in the tent is in awe and shocked” kind of silence, or is it more of a “yeah, we already knew” kind of silence?
Harry: The latter.
Jon: Oh, wow. Geez man, this is like the worst kept secret in the world.
Harry: My men had to know that the boy was Aegon Targaryen, or else they would have never followed this plan to ally with you and Queen Dany. There were many contracts we had to turn down to take this job. Rich contracts from Yunkai. My men would have questioned why we were refusing such splendor for a boy and a Queen who has enemies on all sides. By knowing that the child is Aegon, and that our ultimate goal is to return home after over 100 years of exile to take the Iron Throne… well… that is worth refusing a few contracts.
Golden Company Spymaster, Lysono Maar: My spies tell me that Queen Daenerys has not left Meereen, as she should have. She is surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Tristan Rivers, of the Golden Company: We cannot reach her by sea, as there is a blockade.
Harry: Hrm. Then it would seem we would have to go by land. The demon road. But that is too dangerous.
Jon: Too dangerous? Are you a coward, man? This is supposed to be the world’s greatest mercenary company!
Harry: And mercenary companies stay in business by only accepting contracts to fight in fights that they can WIN. Dead men can’t use the money they made.
Aegon: ENOUGH! I have a proposal… an alternate plan!
This time there is silence again. But it’s more of the “shock” type of silence.
Aegon: Let Dany take care of Dany. She was supposed to come west, but she didn’t. I don’t need her to claim the Seven Kingdoms. I can claim them on my own. Let us sail to Westeros now!
Harry: What? No! We need Dany for the people of Westeros to accept your claim. But more importantly, we need her army of Unsullied, Dothraki, and dragons to join our forces.
Jon: You know what? It wasn’t my plan to propose this. This seems to be the boy’s idea on his own. But the more I think about it… he’s right! It’s a bold move. Now might be the time to strike.
Tristan: I agree! Robert Baratheon didn’t need dragons to take the Iron Throne. Neither do we.
Harry: What? No! It’s crazy talk! If we invade now… we will be it. You will have nobody to support your claim other than the Golden Company. We need a bigger force.
Jon: You show your cowardice again, Strickland! Besides, we will have a bigger force as soon as we land. If we land in Dorne… all of Dorne will rally behind Queen Elia’s trueborn son, Aegon!
Aegon: Yes, this is my wish. And you know what? I’m your King. So what do you say? Are you with me?
Harry: Hrm. *internally contemplates whether or not he actually knows that Aegon isn’t Aegon, but is instead a Blackfyre descendant, and hence why the Golden Company really supports him*
The men of the Golden Company start bowing down.
Tristan: I pledge my sword to you, King Aegon!
Soldier: As do I!
Other Solider: And I!
Jon: Wow, I can’t believe Aegon proposed this plan. It’s a side of the boy I’ve never seen before. His idea is not prudent… but I am tired of being cautious. The boy is right. Now is the time for the boy to claim the Iron Throne… and for me to reclaim my honor!
Connington then looks down at the nail on his middle finger, which has turned jet black.
Yeah, he touched one of the Stone Men when he dove in to save Tyrion from the water. So there you go. Jon Connington gets it in the books. Not Jorah.
Jon: I’m not sure how long I have left. A year? Two? Five. Some men who get Greyscale can live up to ten years before they become Stone Men. That’s more than enough time to put Rhaegar’s son on the Iron Throne!
Aegon: Hey Griff, what are you whispering to yourself over in that corner?
Jon: Uhh… nothing.
Jon: Yes, it is I. And we are now presently docked at Volon Therys, where we plan to meet with the Golden Company.
Septa Lemore: I don’t think we should reveal “Young Griff’s” identity to those sellswords. They are mercenaries who can’t be trusted. The plan was to not reveal his identity until we reached Dany. I mean maybe we could have trusted them when your old friend, Myles Toyne, was in charge of them. But this new guy who look over… Harry Strickland… I don’t know about this guy.
Jon: Yeah, that USED to be our plan. When we thought Dany was coming west. But her butt is just sitting in Meereen now, not moving. We have to change things up. *sigh*
Connington thinks back to the Battle of the Bells at the Stoney Sept, which has indeed been referenced before.
Jon: If only I had killed Robert then. Rhagar would still be alive as king and so much bloodshed could have been avoided.
Lemore: Stop getting whimsical about the past. We need to be smart about the present. Illyrio’s plan was to—
Jon: —Illyrio had a lot of stupid plans that have wound up not working. It’s time to call an audible. I will not fail Rhaegar’s son like I failed him.
Halfmaester Haldon then returns to the ship after some chores that included gathering horses.
Jon: Oh, well well well. Look who has returned. Haldon the idiot who let Tyrion Lannister escape from us at that whorehouse.
Haldon: Everyone makes mistakes, dude. I don’t know what happened to him. I thought the dude just wanted to get laid. How was I supposed to know he’d run away from us? It’s weird. He totally seemed invested in the journey with us and wanted to go see Queen Dany. I have no idea why he would have fled our company.
Aegon: Griff! Griff! Why won’t you let me wash this dye out of my hair to show my beautiful, white Targaryen locks of hair. I’m tired pretending being this boy.
Jon: We are not ready to reveal you yet. But soon, I promise.
Aegon: Can we trust these mercenaries? Yollo / Hugor Hill / Tyrion told me not to trust anyone.
Jon: Yes, that’s good advice, especially coming from the little imp who ran away from us. But we must not let healthy caution turn into paranoia. We will ride to the Golden Company’s camp and make our assessment of whether to reveal your true identity there.
And so they get on the horses and ride to the camp of the Golden Company. For a rag-tag group of mercinaries, Connington notes that their camp is in pretty good order under Strickland.
Ser Franklyn Flowers: Ah, “Griff.” Greetings, I hope you have been well.
Jon: Yeah, just keep calling me “Griff.” I used to be part of the Golden Company and everybody knew me as Jon Connington. But that seems like it was ages ago now. Most probably won’t recognize me. I allowed myself to be exiled from the company in disgrace as a cowardly drunkard. It was all part of Varys’s plan. He said that heroes are long remembered, but cowards forgotten and left for dead. I had to ruin my entire reputation in order for Varys and Illyrio’s plan to work. And so here I am. Fucking Varys. I’ll pay him back one day for that slight.
Flowers: Whatever, dood. Nobody wants your life story. Come on, let’s meet Strickland.
They go into Strickland’s tent.
Harry Strickland: Ah, greetings.
Jon: Hey Harry. Let me introduce the Golden Company to my young son, Griff. Ahh… you know what? Fuck it! Everybody. This is MOTHERFUCKING AEGON TARGARYEN! The rightful heir to the Iron Throne!
Everyone in the tent is silent.
Jon: Is this an “everyone in the tent is in awe and shocked” kind of silence, or is it more of a “yeah, we already knew” kind of silence?
Harry: The latter.
Jon: Oh, wow. Geez man, this is like the worst kept secret in the world.
Harry: My men had to know that the boy was Aegon Targaryen, or else they would have never followed this plan to ally with you and Queen Dany. There were many contracts we had to turn down to take this job. Rich contracts from Yunkai. My men would have questioned why we were refusing such splendor for a boy and a Queen who has enemies on all sides. By knowing that the child is Aegon, and that our ultimate goal is to return home after over 100 years of exile to take the Iron Throne… well… that is worth refusing a few contracts.
Golden Company Spymaster, Lysono Maar: My spies tell me that Queen Daenerys has not left Meereen, as she should have. She is surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Tristan Rivers, of the Golden Company: We cannot reach her by sea, as there is a blockade.
Harry: Hrm. Then it would seem we would have to go by land. The demon road. But that is too dangerous.
Jon: Too dangerous? Are you a coward, man? This is supposed to be the world’s greatest mercenary company!
Harry: And mercenary companies stay in business by only accepting contracts to fight in fights that they can WIN. Dead men can’t use the money they made.
Aegon: ENOUGH! I have a proposal… an alternate plan!
This time there is silence again. But it’s more of the “shock” type of silence.
Aegon: Let Dany take care of Dany. She was supposed to come west, but she didn’t. I don’t need her to claim the Seven Kingdoms. I can claim them on my own. Let us sail to Westeros now!
Harry: What? No! We need Dany for the people of Westeros to accept your claim. But more importantly, we need her army of Unsullied, Dothraki, and dragons to join our forces.
Jon: You know what? It wasn’t my plan to propose this. This seems to be the boy’s idea on his own. But the more I think about it… he’s right! It’s a bold move. Now might be the time to strike.
Tristan: I agree! Robert Baratheon didn’t need dragons to take the Iron Throne. Neither do we.
Harry: What? No! It’s crazy talk! If we invade now… we will be it. You will have nobody to support your claim other than the Golden Company. We need a bigger force.
Jon: You show your cowardice again, Strickland! Besides, we will have a bigger force as soon as we land. If we land in Dorne… all of Dorne will rally behind Queen Elia’s trueborn son, Aegon!
Aegon: Yes, this is my wish. And you know what? I’m your King. So what do you say? Are you with me?
Harry: Hrm. *internally contemplates whether or not he actually knows that Aegon isn’t Aegon, but is instead a Blackfyre descendant, and hence why the Golden Company really supports him*
The men of the Golden Company start bowing down.
Tristan: I pledge my sword to you, King Aegon!
Soldier: As do I!
Other Solider: And I!
Jon: Wow, I can’t believe Aegon proposed this plan. It’s a side of the boy I’ve never seen before. His idea is not prudent… but I am tired of being cautious. The boy is right. Now is the time for the boy to claim the Iron Throne… and for me to reclaim my honor!
Connington then looks down at the nail on his middle finger, which has turned jet black.
Yeah, he touched one of the Stone Men when he dove in to save Tyrion from the water. So there you go. Jon Connington gets it in the books. Not Jorah.
Jon: I’m not sure how long I have left. A year? Two? Five. Some men who get Greyscale can live up to ten years before they become Stone Men. That’s more than enough time to put Rhaegar’s son on the Iron Throne!
Aegon: Hey Griff, what are you whispering to yourself over in that corner?
Jon: Uhh… nothing.
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