Alliser Thorne - Tumblr Posts

Alliser Thorne's Return

I know there's not much love for Allister ('cause he's got no chill and a rivalry with a teenager), but something I'm really intrigued by is his potential reaction to Bowen Marsh's mutiny...

And I really hope he (begrudgingly) "takes Jon's side".

I've been looking at The Adaptation and how wasteful it was with its characters (as was its wont). But then I got to thinking how interesting the execution of Bowen Marsh and the conspirators would be if it was Alliser performing it. The returning master-at-arms can, like his friend Glendon Hewett at Eastwatch in the absence of Cotter Pyke, take command of the castle.

He then learns of Marsh's detention/ascension to command, the means by which this came about, and his reasoning for doing what he did. And what does Alliser think of that?

Well, he's a man who continued to support the Mad King through all of Robert's Rebellion, up to and through the Sack of King's Landing, by which point his cause was obviously doomed. But better that than betray his superior. And so he condemns Marsh, potentially (if he reasoning were articulated out-loud for the POV) comparing Marsh to Jaime Lannister, and thus drawing parallels between Jaime's betrayal of Aerys with Bowen's betrayal of Jon.

And so he executes them, before moving on to deal with the Lord Commander's corpse and perhaps organise a new election. What happens after that is dependent too much on other plots to really imagine in a vacuum, but that one scene - the set piece of Alliser and Bowen, united in dissatisfaction but divided in willingness to enact change - would be fun to me.

The ruby at Melisandre’s throat gleamed red. “It is not those foes who curse you to your face that you must fear, but those who smile when you are looking and sharpen their knives when you turn your back. You would do well to keep your wolf close beside you.”