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fandomhigh2012-10-24 09:22 am
givehimahand.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2012-10-24 09:22 am
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Sword & Shield: Tactics
"We're glad to see everyone is the right age this week," Jaime said, only amused because he hadn't changed at all this weekend. If he had, there would be far less japing about the subject. "Today we'll be discussing dissent from within the ranks."
“There are, of course, dozens of different reasons there might be dissent,” Steve said. “Some have a measure of validity--the ranks are becoming increasingly certain that the people in charge are insane, perhaps, or merely incompetent. Of course, that means someone has to think they can do better, which may or may not be true. And anyway, they have to succeed at mutiny, first.”
"Something that one might find difficult should the man in power retain enough loyalty," Jaime added. "One of the last great rebellions--" That did not feature any damned Starks. "--was that of the Blackfyres."
Yes, they needed that y in their name. It was edgy, okay?
"I've mentioned before the Targaryen dynasty," Jaime continued, eyes passing over Dany without pause as he looked at the class. "Today we discuss Aegon IV and his follies when it came to his successors. Upon his deathbed, Aegon legitimized his bastards. Now, this might not seem a terrible thing for those who aren't familiar with the rather-ah-prickly nature of succession, but rest assured that his actions would echo to this very day."
Ah, the Golden Company. Always lovely to have a mercenary army founded by some Targaryen bastard still making noise.
"Now, Aegon's heir was his son Daeron II who was, shall we say, a man of words instead of action. He went so far as to marry a foreign princess rather than a sibling--as was the Targaryen custom." JAIME WAS WELL AWARE OF THIS CUSTOM, YOU KNOW. "This lead to unrest at court, rumors that Aegon's sister-wife had also shared the affections of their brother so that the legitimacy of his claim to the throne was in question. Meanwhile we have Daemon Blackfyre, a legitimized bastard of Aegon who is a well known warrior and well liked leader. The fuse for this rebellion was the arranged marriage of Daeron and Daemon's sister to a prince of Dorne. Unable to take this slight against the honor of their noble sister, Daemon fled the city, gathering his forces to take the throne from his half brother."
The Targaryen were special, okay? Super special.
"Unfortunately for Daemon, Daeron's alliance with Dorne is what allowed him to crush the rebellion. The odds of a rebellion working when facing the already established forces of a ruling party are remarkably slim. In fact, there has only been one instance that I can recall it succeeding in Westrosi histories." Jaime smiled, nodding to Steve. "But I won't take up any more time from my companion here."
Steve nodded back to Jaime, then addressed the class. “During the Second World War, there was a plot in Nazi Germany to assassinate Adolf Hitler and dismantle the Nazi regime using his own failsafe plans for the reserve army, ending a war that some high-ranked members of the military could see had gone on too long, and on too many fronts. The failsafe plans they intended to use were known as Operation Valkyrie; if this sounds familiar, there was a movie made a few years ago starring Tom Cruise. I haven’t seen it,” since, perhaps not surprisingly, World War II movies were not his favorites, “so I can’t speak to its accuracy. The short version is that the bomb they had planted in a meeting room detonated, but Hitler wasn’t sitting where he was supposed to be and unfortunately survived. The plotters were executed, and the war and Hitler’s reign continued for another year. When the war did end, Germany was completely ruined and divided between American and Soviet control, exactly the fate the conspirators had hoped to avoid. If they had planned a little more carefully, or if Hitler had sat where they thought he would...well, who knows? In this case, it was really a matter of chance.”
"From these examples, what lessons would you employ should a rebellion be in your future?" Jaime asked. "If you wanted to succeed, that is."
“Which hopefully you would,” Steve agreed. “Consider how you would do things better than these people did.”
“There are, of course, dozens of different reasons there might be dissent,” Steve said. “Some have a measure of validity--the ranks are becoming increasingly certain that the people in charge are insane, perhaps, or merely incompetent. Of course, that means someone has to think they can do better, which may or may not be true. And anyway, they have to succeed at mutiny, first.”
"Something that one might find difficult should the man in power retain enough loyalty," Jaime added. "One of the last great rebellions--" That did not feature any damned Starks. "--was that of the Blackfyres."
Yes, they needed that y in their name. It was edgy, okay?
"I've mentioned before the Targaryen dynasty," Jaime continued, eyes passing over Dany without pause as he looked at the class. "Today we discuss Aegon IV and his follies when it came to his successors. Upon his deathbed, Aegon legitimized his bastards. Now, this might not seem a terrible thing for those who aren't familiar with the rather-ah-prickly nature of succession, but rest assured that his actions would echo to this very day."
Ah, the Golden Company. Always lovely to have a mercenary army founded by some Targaryen bastard still making noise.
"Now, Aegon's heir was his son Daeron II who was, shall we say, a man of words instead of action. He went so far as to marry a foreign princess rather than a sibling--as was the Targaryen custom." JAIME WAS WELL AWARE OF THIS CUSTOM, YOU KNOW. "This lead to unrest at court, rumors that Aegon's sister-wife had also shared the affections of their brother so that the legitimacy of his claim to the throne was in question. Meanwhile we have Daemon Blackfyre, a legitimized bastard of Aegon who is a well known warrior and well liked leader. The fuse for this rebellion was the arranged marriage of Daeron and Daemon's sister to a prince of Dorne. Unable to take this slight against the honor of their noble sister, Daemon fled the city, gathering his forces to take the throne from his half brother."
The Targaryen were special, okay? Super special.
"Unfortunately for Daemon, Daeron's alliance with Dorne is what allowed him to crush the rebellion. The odds of a rebellion working when facing the already established forces of a ruling party are remarkably slim. In fact, there has only been one instance that I can recall it succeeding in Westrosi histories." Jaime smiled, nodding to Steve. "But I won't take up any more time from my companion here."
Steve nodded back to Jaime, then addressed the class. “During the Second World War, there was a plot in Nazi Germany to assassinate Adolf Hitler and dismantle the Nazi regime using his own failsafe plans for the reserve army, ending a war that some high-ranked members of the military could see had gone on too long, and on too many fronts. The failsafe plans they intended to use were known as Operation Valkyrie; if this sounds familiar, there was a movie made a few years ago starring Tom Cruise. I haven’t seen it,” since, perhaps not surprisingly, World War II movies were not his favorites, “so I can’t speak to its accuracy. The short version is that the bomb they had planted in a meeting room detonated, but Hitler wasn’t sitting where he was supposed to be and unfortunately survived. The plotters were executed, and the war and Hitler’s reign continued for another year. When the war did end, Germany was completely ruined and divided between American and Soviet control, exactly the fate the conspirators had hoped to avoid. If they had planned a little more carefully, or if Hitler had sat where they thought he would...well, who knows? In this case, it was really a matter of chance.”
"From these examples, what lessons would you employ should a rebellion be in your future?" Jaime asked. "If you wanted to succeed, that is."
“Which hopefully you would,” Steve agreed. “Consider how you would do things better than these people did.”
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