Royal sept

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The royal sept[1] or castle sept[2] is a sept located within the Red Keep, the castle in King's Landing. Also located in the city is the larger Great Sept of Baelor.

Layout

The sept is located across the yard from the Red Keep's stables,[1] above the castle's serpentine steps.[3] The Maidenvault is found behind the sept.[3]

Fragrant candles burn inside the sept,[1] which can smell of incense.[4] Crystals in its high windows turn sunlight into rainbows.[4] There are rows[2] of benches for worshipers.[4] It has altars of pale marble for each of the Seven,[5] and the marriage altar is located between the Mother and the Father.[6]

History

Hundreds of people crowded into the royal sept to pray for Princess Aerea Targaryen after the sick girl returned to King's Landing.[7]

Septon Eustace served in the royal sept during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen.[8] According to Eustace, Ser Arryk Cargyll prayed in the sept before sailing to Dragonstone during the Dance of the Dragons.[9] Some of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's companions prayed in the sept for deliverance amid the Storming of the Dragonpit.[10] After refusing to abdicate in a small council meeting, a fatigued King Aegon II Targaryen asked Ser Gyles Belgrave to bring him to the castle sept; Aegon died of poison en route.[11] During the Lysene Spring, Prince Aegon Targaryen was anointed by Septon Bernard in the royal sept.[12]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Septa Mordane prays in the sept after Arya Stark goes missing while exploring the Red Keep.[13]

After the death of King Robert I Baratheon and downfall of her father, Lord Eddard Stark, Arya steals two candles from the empty sept when she makes her escape from the castle.[1] The captive Sansa Stark is allowed to visit the sept to pray for her imprisoned father.[14]

A Clash of Kings

In the darkness of the sept, Ser Lancel Lannister reveals to Tyrion Lannister that Queen Cersei Lannister intends for Prince Tommen Baratheon to be taken to the safety of Rosby. After Lancel leaves, Tyrion lights candles at the altars of the Warrior and the Stranger.[15]

King Joffrey I Baratheon awards the white cloaks of the Kingsguard to Ser Balon Swann and Ser Osmund Kettleblack within the crowded castle sept, and the High Septon leads them through their vows.[2]

Once the royal fleet of Stannis Baratheon is spotted before the Battle of the Blackwater, songs begin to be sung in the packed sept. Sansa Stark lights a candle at each altar of the Seven, and she sings hymns with the gathered attendees. Sansa departs for the Queen's Ballroom when a septon prays for Joffrey's protection.[4] After Cersei holds a feast in the Queen's Ballroom, many guests depart for the sept.[16]

A Storm of Swords

Sansa sings in the sept with her new friends, Margaery, Megga, Alla, and Elinor Tyrell.[17]

Sansa is forced by the Lannisters to wed Tyrion in the sept.[6]

Sansa often prays in the royal sept, lighting candles to the Mother, the Maid, and the Crone.[18]

The body of King Joffrey rests on a bier within the sept after his death. Osmund is on guard at the door when Ser Jaime Lannister arrives. Jaime and Cersei have sex on the Mother's altar.[5]

A Feast for Crows

King Tommen I weds Margaery in the castle's sept in a modest ceremony.[19] Taena Merryweather tells Cersei that her maid, Senelle, reveals secrets about Cersei to Margaery's cousins while pretending to pray in the sept.[19]

Margaery brings Tommen to pray daily in the sept after Ser Loras Tyrell is wounded in the siege of Dragonstone.[20]

Quotes

Sansa had never seen the sept so crowded, nor so brightly lit; great shafts of rainbow-colored sunlight slanted down through the crystals in the high windows, and candles burned on every side, their little flames twinkling like stars. The Mother's altar and the Warrior's swam in light, but Smith and Crone and Maid and Father had their worshipers as well, and there were even a few flames dancing below the Stranger's half-human face ... for what was Stannis Baratheon, if not the Stranger come to judge them?[4]

—thoughts of Sansa Stark

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 50, Arya IV.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 49, Tyrion XI.
  3. 3.0 3.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 6, Sansa I.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 57, Sansa V.
  5. 5.0 5.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 62, Jaime VII.
  6. 6.0 6.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 28, Sansa III.
  7. Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
  8. Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
  9. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
  10. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown.
  11. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II.
  12. Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
  13. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 32, Arya III.
  14. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 57, Sansa V.
  15. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 44, Tyrion X.
  16. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 60, Sansa VI.
  17. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 16, Sansa II.
  18. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 53, Tyrion VI.
  19. 19.0 19.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 12, Cersei III.
  20. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 39, Cersei IX.