Ninye's TLA Essay
Ninye's TLA Essay
Ninye's TLA Essay
Ninye Mugambe
St. Andrew’s School, Turi
Abstract
1
In history, man’s governance has often been in the form of a monarchy. Where a head of state ruled
until abdication or death. This monarch had the highest authority in the state, and all final decisions
would pass through them. In history, however, it was often questioned whether it was the right form
of governance for people, as it was seen that most monarchs would be greedy, cruel, or
unconcerned with the wellbeing of their people. These monarchies saw famine, war, coups d’états
and plague, while those in higher power never seemed to suffer. A Song of Ice and Fire took the
question of whether an absolute monarchy, in which the ruler had supreme power, could ever serve
the realm well, leading viewers and readers to think about whether an absolute monarchy could be
the desired form of leadership in our times. It looked at King Robert Baratheon, who was too
occupied with his grief and personal desires to even sympathise for his population. It explored
Daenerys Targaryen whose family was forcefully removed from the highly coveted ‘Iron Throne’ and
dispelled into exile, and her journey to becoming the best ruler she could be and reclaiming the
throne that was rightfully hers. Through the nuances offered by George R.R. Martin about human
nature, destiny, willpower and empathy, a conclusion is eventually reached that while it may be
possible to have a benevolent leader rule an absolute monarchy in today’s society, the chances of
this are very slim. It is also likely that their values will be lost over the generations of their family.
Therefore, absolute monarchy cannot be the governance form of any nation in modern times.
2
Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
Important context.................................................................................................................................4
The rule of Robert Baratheon................................................................................................................5
Why Robert was unfit to rule................................................................................................................5
Consequences of Robert’s rule..............................................................................................................6
The War of the Five Kings......................................................................................................................6
Daenerys Targaryen’s beginnings..........................................................................................................7
The Downfall and Recovery of Daenerys...............................................................................................7
The Implications of Daenerys Targaryen’s character.............................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography...........................................................................................................................................9
3
Introduction
A Song of Ice and Fire is a novel series written by George R. R. Martin mainly about different groups
of people struggling for power and security in the fictional world of Westeros, one of three countries
that make up the setting. Adapted into a television series called ‘Game of Thrones’, the story is
centred around individuals, families, cultures and races that all either influence or are influenced by
an absolute monarchy. An absolute monarch is a single person who rules with undivided
sovereignty. Set in the mid to late Middle Ages in our timeline, Game of Thrones offers traditional
insights on monarchical leadership through the features it displays that can be applied to a modern
lens. The hereditary inheritance of power through lineages, the expected complete and utter
subservience of the population towards the leader they followed and of course power is completely
centralised to the royal family. Through the portrayal of carefully constructed and thought out
characters, Martin offers insights into realistic monarchical leadership. He highlights the successes
and shortcomings of the form of governance through measures such as economic welfare, growth
and development, quality of life and overall stability. The nuances provided by Martin, however, lead
viewers and readers alike to question whether it’s possible that monarchical leadership can be an
ideal form of governance in today’s society. My thesis is the only situation in which monarchical
leadership can offer a decent environment and quality of life for the population under it is if the
4
leader is completely dedicated to the task and is able to educate their offspring that will take their
place.
Important context
Game of Thrones begins with one clear king of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Robert
Baratheon, of the Stormlands. King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men is the first title
born by the monarch of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The King has a group of advisers called the
small council who aid him on matters of policy and their areas of expertise. The Seven Kingdoms of
Westeros include Dorne, the North, the Reach, the Riverlands, the Stormlands, the Vale and the
Westerlands. Currently, there are also two constituent regions. These are the Iron Islands and the
Crownlands. Aegon Targaryen, given the title ‘Aegon the Conqueror’ consolidated the seven
kingdoms under the rule of House Targaryen and the Iron Throne. The Iron Throne is the seat of the
Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Due to the size of his new kingdom, Aegon raised Great Houses in each
region who swore fealty to him. The lords were granted a degree of autonomy and given authority
over their ‘bannermen’ and ‘smallfolk’. Bannermen are vassals who owe military service to their
lords under the feudalism of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Smallfolk are the common people of
the known world. Robert became king after going into open rebellion against the last king of the
Targaryen dynasty, Aerys II. Aerys was known as the Mad King after his descent into insanity in his
later years. After his son Rhaegar abducted Lyanna Stark (of the Great House Stark of the North), her
father and eldest brother went to the capital city to demand that she was returned. They were
executed, and Aerys then demanded for the heads of Eddard Stark, Lyanna’s older brother, and
Robert Baratheon, her betrothed. Robert waged war with the king, ultimately killing Rhaegar in
battle and claiming the Iron Throne.
5
Seven Kingdoms, as he couldn’t both rule and engage in his pleasures. This is revealed in a
conversation in the television show he had with his current wife Cersei Lannister of the Westerlands,
the daughter of the former Hand of the King. Robert said, “You want to know the horrible truth? I
can't even remember what she looked like. I only know she was the one thing I ever wanted...
someone took her away from me, and seven kingdoms couldn't fill the hole she left behind.” (Kirk,
Game of Thrones, The Wolf and the Lion, 2011). This example given by Martin shows viewers and
readers alike that a monarch should not hinge all reason to rule on a single factor that can be
extinguished as quickly as it was realised. This is because due to human nature, the monarch will fail
to empathise with the population due to likely feeling a loss of purpose in life leading to self-pity and
indulgence in selfish desires. Applying this to modern day governance, if a monarch ruled a powerful
nation in a similar way to Robert due to a loss of purpose, the world would suffer dire consequences
due to the power vested in the absolute monarch and the maintenance of global trade and alliances
that depended on them. In Robert’s case, his loss of purpose and indulgence in his primal desires led
to a world of problems in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.
8
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite the moving example of Daenerys Targaryen, I don’t think it is possible that an
absolute monarchy can be an ideal form of governance in modern society. If someone who had
Daenerys’ archetype existed, they would probably be able to handle the weight of being a monarch.
The temptations of misusing power, the constant threats to their rule and most importantly, being
able to learn from mistakes and becoming a wiser, more empathetic leader as a result of those
mistakes. However, this would be an extremely rare person to come across in the world we live in.
Usually if someone is kind, compassionate and empathetic, they will be able to manage their greed
and absurd amount of power, but they may not have the determination needed to execute tough
decisions. These could range from having to increase income inequality in the country by subsidising
businesses in order to increase spending, or going to war with a country as a result of another
country breaking a treaty. Since those are the most important qualities an ideal absolute monarch
must have, there’s little point going through other scenarios, as since there are gaps in this one,
there will definitely be gaps in the rule of monarchical leaders that have fierce wills but no empathy,
kindness or compassion. Another reason is that if an ideal leader ever came through, and they tried
to spread their ideals and policies down to generations, there will come a time when the last
monarch will rule based on their own ideals, which may be selfish. Therefore, the successful ideals of
the past will have been forgotten, and the nation will go through a downturn due to a poor reign of
the monarch who forsook his predecessors’ ideals.
Bibliography
A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, 1996
https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Daenerys_Targaryen
https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Dothraki
https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Robert_I_Baratheon
https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Seven_Kingdoms
https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Slaver%27s_Bay
https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Small_council