History Fanfic / SongOfANorthernSorcerer

* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance [=/=] AgeLift:

* BaitAndSwitch: While Garlen is walking through the Northern Camp, a knife is pointed at his back by someone looking to rob him, [[spoiler: who turned out to be Karsi, who straddles and kisses him]].

** Ser Barristan realizes that if he is to fulfill the spirit of his oaths and [[spoiler:the late King Robert's will disinheriting Joffrey]], his best course of action is to [[spoiler:quietly accept his dismissal from the Kingsguard and hand over his copy of Robert's will to the Lannisters]].

** Slavery is illegal in Pentos due to orders from Braavos, but the Magisters get around this by arranging for their servants to be heavily indebted to them. When Daenerys sees how much Doreah owes Illyrio, who bought her from a pleasure house in Lys, she notes that not even a noble or wealthy merchant would be able to pay it off.

** [[spoiler:Domeric gets exiled to Essos after the failed coup against the Starks, even though he didn't know anything about it]]. Downplayed, [[spoiler:as Ned acknowledges that Domeric isn't to blame for his father's role in the coup and is mostly doing this to prevent House Bolton from ever rising up against the Starks in the future]].

** [[spoiler:Grand Maester Jeorge personally witnesses Robert disinheriting Joffrey on the latter's deathbed but decides to serve Joffrey after the latter seizes the throne, declaring that the Grand Maester only advises the king and does not declare succession]].

* NeverMyFault: Hearing Myrcella praise Nyra's beauty causes Cersei to be reminded of Maggy's prophecy that someone younger and more beautiful than her will cause her downfall. She then impulsively strikes her daughter across the face, and while she's privately horrified by what she'd done, she convinces herself that Nox somehow made her do it through his powers.

** Robert finds it increasingly odd that Stannis, who constantly talks about the importance of duty, would hole himself up on Dragonstone and ignore all summons from King's Landing. He eventually sends Shireen to investigate.

* PromotedToLoveInterest:.

** The mother of the Stark children's direwolves survives giving birth and is given the name "Winter" after being taken in by the Starks.

** Any respect Daenerys may have had for her father Aerys and her late brother Rhaegar vanishes after she learns the real reason the Rebellion against her family occurred, which is completely different from what Viserys had been telling her over the years. She later develops a similar view of her brother Viserys, with the last bit of familial feelings for him dying when she realizes he only ever saw her as a means for him to gain power after he threatens to kill her unborn child.

** Catelyn thinks this is happening when she sees Robb with a girl with darker skin, fearing that her son is falling for a Dornish woman, just like his father did for Ashara Dayne. She quickly learns that's not the case, though: the girl, Talisa Maegyr, is actually from Volantis.

** House Stark is loyal to Robert, appreciating his desire to improve, even as the potential issue of Jon Stark's parentage looms over Ned and Robb's head, which not helped by Jon [[spoiler:hatching Archon]]. However, on top of their own history with House Lannister, Joffrey attempted to have Robb framed and executed for murdering a Septon at the Tourney at Harrenhal (without a proper trial, no less), meaning that Joffrey is owed none of the loyalty his father engendered, even if he were legitimate. The North has also made many enemies as it has risen to become the technological and political power of the Seven Kingdoms, with their embrace of sorcery inflaming religious tensions as well, and their general distance from and aloofness to the South, combined with their new gains in wealth and power, leaves them dangerously poised to secede altogether from the sovereignty of the Iron Throne.

** Upon seeing [[spoiler:Anna, who he doesn't yet know is his niece]], Jaime believes that given the awful life she's given, killing her would be a mercy. Subverted when he ultimately doesn't go through with it.

* ProperlyParanoid: Mirri Maz Duur offers to treat Khal Drogo's wound, which Dany accepts. But Dany, unable to read her intentions, has Doreah (who knows the healing arts better than anyone Dany knows) watch her closely. Given what Mirri does to Drogo in canon, Dany is right to have her watched.

** Soon after arriving at Winterfell, Nox learns that the Lannisters' wealth comes from the gold in their lands, which have been mined since before the Lannisters even came into power. He deduces that since their supply of gold is naturally finite, their mines have to be close to running dry by now, if they haven't already. Sure enough, Tywin is later revealed to be struggling to find new gold veins and trying to find new sources of wealth for his family.

** Nox tries to have a standing army created in the North but it doesn't work for several reasons: Given the feudal setting the story takes in, the mentality isn't going to simply change because of one man's arrival and the money and resources to maintain it is costly.
** While Drogo seemingly suffers a flesh wound against Mago, while his opponent dies a gory death, Daenerys realizes that his wound could become infected and calls for a healer to treat it.

** During a fight against rogue Free Folk, Garlan is nearly killed by Harma due to his decision to [[WouldntHitAGirl spare her life because she's a woman]], even though she had been fighting against him fiercely just moments ago. Only Karsi's timely intervention saves him, and both she and Harma call Garlan out on what a stupid move that was.

** This is naturally the case for anyone whom Nox decides to mentor in the Force.

** [[spoiler:Nyra is attacked at her own wedding to prevent her giving birth to the Sorcerer's spawn]]. [[spoiler:While Sansa managed to save her life, she and Nox lose their unborn son]].

** Khal Drogo just stares at Danerys when her brother draws his blade and points it at her pregnant belly, something that's strictly forbidden in Vaes Dothrak. Nevertheless, the moment Dany gives her approval, he immediately moves to execute Viserys, maintaining his indifferent expression the whole time.

** Cersei also eventually becomes convinced that Nyra intends to supplant her as queen and is the younger and more beautiful individual Maggy's prophecy said would cause Cersei's downfall. In truth, Nyra has no such intentions.

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Maester Cressen isn't even aware of the Order of the Guiding Hand's existence, but he accidentally helps them identify their next target to stamp out when he writes to the Citadel of Shireen's displays of magic]].

* ProperlyParanoid: Mirri Maz Duur offers to treat Khal Drogo's wound, which Dany accepts. But Dany, unable to read her intentions, has Doreah (who knows the healing arts better than anyone Dany knows) watch her closely.

* Nox tries to have a standing army created in the North but it doesn't work for several reasons: given the feudal setting the story takes in, the mentality isn't going to simply change and the money and resources to maintain it is costly.
* While Drogo seemingly suffers a flesh wound against Mago, while his opponent dies a gory death, Daenerys realizes that his wound could become infected and calls for a healer to treat it.

* AccompliceByInaction: Ned points out to the older among Craster's wives that by standing aside and doing nothing while the man raped the younger ones and sacrificed his sons to the White Walkers, that makes them equally responsible for his crimes.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Moments before his death, Viserys starts pleading with his sister to save him, calling her "[[AffectionateNickname Dany]]". She remains unmoved.

** The Maesters are flat-out scared when they have to meet the Sorcerer. [[spoiler:The Order of the Guiding Hand, an extremist and secretive faction among them, outright attempts to murder Nox at ''his own wedding'' and slay the Stark family as a whole to prevent the resurgence of magic.]]

** Any respect Daenerys may have had for her father Aerys and her late brother Rhaegar vanishes after she learns the real reason the Rebellion against her family occurred, which is completely different from what Viserys had been telling her over the years. She later has a similar case with her brother Viserys, with the last bit of familial feelings for him dies when he reveals he sold her to gain power for himself and threatens to kill her unborn child.
* TheCharmer: As always, Robert has his natural gift of being able to turn his enemies to friends with barely a few words spoken. Val, who is not easily impressed with anyone, has a hard time keeping her face straight.

** [[spoiler:Rickon Stark, who is still alive in the books, is murdered at Nox and Nyra's wedding]].

* FedToTheBeast: [[spoiler:After the Maesters' conspiracy is exposed, revealing, among other things, that they deliberately ensured Joanna Lannister's death in childbirth, Tywin has both of Casterly Rock's maesters carved up and fed bit by bit to caged lions, with the butchers being specifically instructed by Tywin to keep them alive during the process for as long as possible]].

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: As far as the Lannisters are concerned, Gerion is the foolish to Tywin's responsible, though Gerion begins acting like a more responsible parent to his daughter Joy after returning to Westeros from Valyria. In a twist on the usual application of the trope, the foolish sibling is the more sympathetic one. [[spoiler:Their roles might soon reverse, however, with Gerion being far more vocally opposed to Joffrey's Exalted March against the North than Tywin is]].

* GreenEyedMonster: Viserys is this towards Daenerys for being more beloved by the Dothraki than he is. Overlaps with ItsAllAboutMe.
-->'''Viserys''': Him, a King, was given a tent that would barely pass for a servant's tent! He'd seen Dany's tent: the gold, the jewels, the fine bedding. No, this was just...wrong! She'd done nothing! Nothing! And they gave her everything he deserved! He was the one who brokered the deal for his sister's hand! He was the one who would be King! He was the one who would lead them into war! He was the one who had the greatest dynasty resting on his shoulders! Not her! And yet...And yet he was given these shabby accommodations. Forced to eat at the back of tents. Forced to sit back and watch as his sister received praise and reverence for simply doing her womanly duties!

* IAmAMonster: Averted. After watching Viserys dying and doing and feeling nothing about it, Dany calls herself as a monster. Jon firmly disagrees with that. See YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre below.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: In a rare moment of intelligence, Viserys realizes that killing Jorah and running away with the eggs would be a bad idea as the man would have time to call out before he died and he would be caught with blood on his blade in Vaes Dothrak. He gives up, deciding to try another time.
** After Daenerys disappears into the Red Wastes with her khalassar [[spoiler:and newborn son]], Robert Baratheon reluctantly decides to give up on assassinating her, admitting it's not worth the effort when they have bigger problems to deal with in Westeros.
* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:Following the execution of the Winterfell coup's conspirators, Domeric is the only trueborn Bolton left, and he's soon exiled to Essos; his bastard half-brother Ramsay Snow is revealed to be alive, though]].

** Viserys loathes his sister's status with the Dothraki, while being shunned by them. It doesn't occur to him that they don't like him is because of his spoiled, foolish, abusive, entitled and conceited behavior while Dany is the exact opposite of those traits.

* OffendedByAnInferiorsSuccess: Discussed. Baelish fools Joffrey into thinking everyone is afraid of the latter's greatness and potential, claiming it's why Robert killed Joffrey's lion and Cersei and Tywin have done next to nothing about it. The truth, of course, is that Joffrey's a monster without much greatness to fear.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: During his trial, Robb sees apparitions of Torrhen Stark, Theon Stark, and Bran the Builder, all of whom call him a pathetic disgrace to their line. Robb fires back that the three of them all did unimaginable things to protect the North and that he will do so as well, though his way. He also adds that while he may be Andal through his mother, he is also a Stark and will accept all the responsibilities that come with it, regardless of any nervousness he may have.

* SmarterThanYouLook: Robert Baratheon may come off as just a LazyBum and DumbMuscle of a king, but he's actually a fairly competent ruler and savvy politician when he really tries. He counsels Ned [[spoiler:from his deathbed]] on how to secure enough alliances to prevent Tywin Lannister from seizing power and reveals [[spoiler:he's already figured out the parentages of his "trueborn" children and Jon Snow]].

* TemptingFate: After Jon's parentage is revealed, Catelyn tells Ned that she needs time to process everything. Ned understands and tells her to take all the time she needs and that he'll be waiting. Guess what happens next?
** As the Northern party is travelling to Harrenhal for the tournament, Ned prays to the Old Gods that his children won't suffer the horrors of War as he was forced to. Fans know that's exactly what's going to happen.

** Viserys ''really'' shouldn't have gotten drunk, come up to Khal Drogo, demands that he invade Westeros to "give him his crown", draws his sword in Vaes Dothrak (which is forbidden) threatens his own sister and threatens to kill his unborn nephew if he doesn't get what he wants. Guess what happens to him?
* TookALevelInBadass: Nox's various accomplishments and adventures inspire Robert to be a more competent king. [[spoiler:The reveal that the White Walkers are returning further motivate him to get back into shape for the upcoming war]].
* TheToothHurts: Oberyn gets one of the treacherous Sunspear Maesters to talk by, among other things, prying his teeth out one by one with pliers.

* TranquilFury: Despite Stannis's calm face, Jon senses this upon the former learning that [[spoiler:the Order of the Guiding Hand apparently caused his parents' deaths at sea and tried to kill his daughter by infecting her with greyscale]].

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: After Dany confesses that she did nothing as she watched Viserys die, feeling nothing for his death, thinks of herself as a monster for it. Jon gently but firmly points out that a monster would've relished watching such a act and not feeling remorseful over it. Jon tells her of how he felt satisfaction over the Maesters being killed for what they did to him and his family. He asks Dany if that makes him a monster? When Dany says no, Jon says that neither is she.