The assassination occurred in broad daylight in the middle of a bustling city. The method was extremely violent and brutal, and the spectacle of the "dragon saving its master" at the end was even more eye-catching.
With all these factors stacked together, the news of Aegor's assassination quickly spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms, shocking everyone... The story of him fighting for his life and killing two assassins quickly evolved into versions such as "personally slaying several assassins" and "single-handedly defeating a dozen killers," each more outrageous than the last. With half of Oldtown's residents swearing that they had "seen it with their own eyes," this story was far more believable and credible than rumors like "killing a White Walker beyond the Wall" or "repelling the army of the dead in the North."
Thus, the title of "bravest man in the world," which had gradually been forgotten, was once again pulled out from the dusty archives and placed upon Aegor, adding another shining halo around his head.
However, as the person involved, Aegor had no time to bother with these boring street rumors at the moment.
After learning that Daenerys had been warned in time and changed her itinerary, and that no attack had occurred in King's Landing, he felt relieved. While directing the investigation into the instigators of the assassination, he began making amends by arranging the training of something that did not yet exist in this world, explosive detection dogs.
In this attack, he had lost more than a dozen close guards whose faces he recognized and whose names he knew. This number itself was not huge, but given how small his personal guard was, in some ways, his loss this time was even greater than in the epic battle outside Highgarden. However, while carefully selecting and replenishing his personal guard team, and before fully recovering from his injuries, he gritted his teeth and persisted with his work, proceeding with the next step of his reform of the Seven Kingdoms according to the original plan and pace.
This was the religious reform that Myrcella had previously been curious about.
According to the terms previously agreed upon, he elevated Lothar Frey, who had defected to his side, to the position of High Septon. This fulfilled his promise to an ally, which was called keeping faith. However, unlike what most people thought, the things he was about to do next had almost nothing to do with this High Septon.
Aegor intended to use the principle that "the Seven are merely seven faces of R'hllor" to control the Red God's faith, annex the Faith of the Seven, and completely absorb the influence of the Seven in Westeros. By merging the two religions, he would ultimately create a vast yet obedient new religion under his control, an excellent tool for governance.
Given the vast disparity in foundation and power between the two faiths on this land, the first thing Aegor had to do before officially starting was to weaken, and violently, mortally weaken, the Faith of the Seven.
To summarize the outline of the plan in one sentence: revolution first, reform later.
It was conceivable that the new High Septon, Lothar Frey, would never voluntarily participate in this action to weaken himself. Even if he were willing, a new leader parachuted in halfway with no real power could never command the entire Faith of the Seven to cut off its own flesh.
Therefore, Aegor's choice was to bypass the new High Septon first and directly launch this revolution.
...
Two days after the gunpowder assassination incident, the Oldtown court publicly tried the former High Septon on a series of charges, including blasphemy and embezzlement of the Faith's property, and sentenced him to exile beyond the Wall for reform.
After the verdict was announced, before the defendant was even led away, Lord Mace Tyrell, who was attending the public trial on behalf of the Hand of the Queen, stepped forward and publicly announced a decision, or rather, an order: to notify the Seven Kingdoms of the judgment and its outcome, to warn the world, and to carry out a "self-purification" across the realm. This meant searching septs and the personal residences of clergy in various places, inventorying and tallying the private property of the clergy, and conducting struggles and liquidations against personnel whose property did not match their legitimate income, expelling the black sheep from the Faith and restoring a clear and pious religious environment to the Seven Kingdoms.
As soon as these words were spoken, some citizens below cheered while others questioned, creating a chaotic scene, but the representatives of the Faith were already shocked and had leaped out of their seats.
Aside from the extremely pious ascetics who had given up all private property, who among those with even a little position and status in the Faith did not have some illicit gains? What counted as legitimate income? If it simply referred to the living allowances issued by the Faith, and all other income was deemed illegal, then ninety-nine percent of the clergy were guilty. As for struggles and liquidations, the room for manipulation there was far too great. If someone with ill intentions fanned the flames even slightly... it would quickly develop into an unstoppable wildfire.
This so-called "self-purification" initiated by Mace Tyrell, and by Aegor behind him, was clearly intended to destroy the Faith of the Seven.
After exchanging whispers, one of the two septons, with a solemn face, hurried toward Mace Tyrell to try to persuade him, while the other, in a panic, directly left the scene to return to the Starry Sept and inform the Faith.
But whether it was persuasion or warning, it was already too late. This was a case of acting first and reporting later, the kind where the sword had already been swung. The judgment on the former High Septon and the order for septs in various places to conduct "self-purification" had been sent to all regions that morning by raven, in the same form and at the same speed as military orders. The public trial in the afternoon was merely a formality to announce the news, meaning that whoever wanted to stop this religious revolution, by whatever means, was destined to fail.
The crushing and extermination of religious power by royal power would have caused fierce backlash and resistance at any time during peacetime. Only at this perfect moment, when winter and the continuous wars had just ended, the population of the Seven Kingdoms had been halved and everything was in ruins, Daenerys's tax exemption grace had just spread and won maximum public support, the people had no interest in taking up arms again for anyone or any reason, and the High Septon had just greatly tarnished the Faith of the Seven's reputation... only when all these favorable factors gathered together could it be pushed forward without concern.
Theoretically, it would have been more appropriate after defeating the Anti-Dragon Mother Alliance and completely ending the war.
But Aegor hesitated repeatedly and finally decided to strike while the iron was hot, taking advantage of the Faith's weakness to deliver a fatal blow... seizing the opportunity he had in Oldtown and not leaving the turmoil and trouble for tomorrow.
The direct purpose of this "Religious Revolution" was to break the Faith's bones, force it to its knees, and then compel it to accept the new doctrine and new path of "Seven as One," as well as the reform of merging the two religions.
However, looking deeper into its essence, it was about eliminating the vested interest class and making way for new elites and policies. Its nature of seizing positions and shares of the cake determined that the process would inevitably not be a pleasant feast, but one full of bloodshed, violence, and large-scale collateral damage and implication.
The members of the clergy harmed by this "Religious Revolution" could very well have moral standards far exceeding the average, while those who benefited might not necessarily be good people representing justice and kindness. Their different outcomes might simply be due to their positions in the process of this reform of the Seven Kingdoms, whether they were lucky enough to be sitting in the carriage driven by Aegor, or unlucky enough to be lying on the road in the direction the carriage was moving.
This was the true "wheel of history," crushing everything, regardless of whether you were willing or not, or whether it was beautiful or ugly, good or evil.
(To be continued.)