Fanfic / Zero Requiem

Lelouch dreamed about the past glories of his Valyrian family, when they'd held great keeps and their fleets ruled the Narrow Sea. But some nights, he dreamed of a life that wasn't his. He dreamed of an empire, war, and tyranny. Most of all, Lelouch Velaryon dreamed of revolution.

Zero Requiem - Lelouch in ASOIAF by Halt.CPM who also writes The King Is Dead is a Code Geass/A Song of Ice and Fire crossover that has Lelouch Lamperouge reborn as the heir to House Velaryon during the War of the Ninepenny Kings.

Links are here and here.

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This fanfiction contains examples of:

Tropes: # to M

• 0% Approval Rating: Not even the Golden Company likes Maelys and he's well aware that the only way he can hope to rule Westeros is through respect and fear.
• Above the Influence: Lelouch has no attention to spare for seductive noblewomen or Essosi whores. It's because he's just that in control of himself and focused on his goals.
• Accidental Misnaming: Maz Aleximar thought "Seafyre" is Lelouch's actual name and continues to refer him as such.
• The Ace: Lelouch's feats in the War of the Ninepenny Kings is nothing short of spectacular. King Jaehaerys remarks that House Velaryon is indeed deserving of all they received and more but politics requires him to hold back and give consideration to all the other houses when doling out rewards.
• Achilles in His Tent : Lashare spent most of the war holed up in Myr waiting for which side would emerge victorious so he could throw their lot with them.
• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. Thanks to Lelouch growing up in the medieval society of Westeros, he’s forced to practice more martial activities like swordsmanship, but he doesn’t enjoy it, is rather average in skill, and finds excuses to avoid it whenever possible. So while he’s no longer a physical weakling like in his home series, he’s far from a personal challenge in a fight, much like his Knightmare piloting; and indeed every direct fight he gets into outside a spar, would have seen him killed if not for someone always saving him.
• Adaptational Personality Change: King Jaehaerys II in canon was described as being a rather weak-willed and personally unremarkable king. In this story he’s as wise and as politically savvy as his namesake.
  • Prince Aerys II is also far more calm and personable, while in canon he was noted to not be the most stable of personalities and couldn’t focus on one thing for very long, even before his imprisonment by the Darklyns sent him over the edge into paranoid-fueled pyromania.
• Affably Evil :
  • Lashare is relatively polite and friendly despite being a scheming opportunistic bastard.
  • The sorcerer in Lys is also courteous to Cici and Corwyn. Mind, this is the same guy who is willing to castrate the young Varys for a magic ritual.
• Altar Diplomacy: A reality for noble sons and daughters that dictates a lot of the actions in the story:
  • Alarra is sent to Summerhall to catch Prince Aerys' eye, though that plan is scuttled after the place explodes and she is maimed.
  • Noble sons all try to outdo each other in proving worthy of Princess Rhaella's hand in marriage.
  • Lelouch has a conversation with Rhaella about this early on when she's still pining for Bonifer Hasty.
  • Rhaella later speaks with her Aunt Rhaelle about the importance of duty, but how it doesn't mean that the marriage needs to be without love. Lelouch speaks with her again about this at the victory feast.
  • It's hinted that Genna might be married off to Hoster Tully, to both help secure Riverlands-Westerlands relations and to spite Walder Frey.
  • Tywin is set to marry Amerei Crakehall, in gratitude to Marthew Crakehall for saving his life, to check the growing power of the Reynes and Tarbecks, to secure the Westerlands' south and to spite Walder Frey even further.
  • A few of the smaller Crownlands houses ask about Donnall for their daughters as, even though he is a bastard, he is Lelouch's cousin and right-hand man and an accomplished knight besides.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Jaron has a habit of acting like this whenever Lelouch's successes is brought at court. When Lelouch was appointed as a co-Commander of the Westerosi fleet, Rhaella compares Jaron's smile to Joanna's when she was kissed by Aerys to give an example and Lelouch at another point needs to stop himself from eyerolling at his father's antics.
• Arch-Enemy: Liomond Lashare for Lelouch, after the former takes Adamm Velaryon hostage during his takeover of Myr.
• An Arm and a Leg:
  • Alarra Velaryon loses a hand, among other things, when she's caught in the Tragedy of Summerhall.
  • Hughes of Hull, a Velaryon man-at-arms, loses a hand in the escape from Myr.
  • Tywin loses a foot in the final battle against Maelys Blackfyre.
• A Father to His Men: Lelouch tries to be this, mostly for pragmatic reasons. Similarly is Maelys to the Golden Company, though since he was with them for his entire life they might as well be his family.
• Arranged Marriage: How most of the marriages in Westeros were decided. Lelouch noted how the smallfolk think marrying for love as the highborns' privilege while the highborns think of it as smallfolk's privilege instead.
• Artificial Limbs: Tywin has one to replace his lost leg made from pine, though originally he wants one made from gilded steel.
• The Atoner: Invoked by Lelouch. He convinces King Jaehaerys to let him immediately start fighting the Blackfyres in the Stepstones by claiming he wants to redeem his family name for siding with the Blackfyres in the first rebellion.
  • He then asks that the pyromancers be allowed to do the same to make amends for Summerhall. This is not what he intends to let happen.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Lelouch tracked down the Kingswood Brotherhood in about a day by mapping out the attack locations and through careful observation of the people in the likeliest villages.
• Awful Wedded Life: Lelouch's uncle Adamm and his wife Eunice.
• Badass Army: The Golden Company are considered to be the best army in the world in both skill and discipline. Lelouch believes that if he was leading them, he would be able to defeat any other force, no matter their numbers.
• Batman Gambit: Lashare figures out Lelouch and the magisters plan to escape from Myr and after changing where Adamm is being held prisoner, allows them to carry most of it out before ambushing them. This allows him to declare their escape attempt to be treason against Myr after give legitimacy to his rule over the city.
  • After Lashare’s attempt to switch to Westeros’ side is rejected, Lelouch pulls this on him, by sending Cici with a message to Maelys about Lashare’s betrayal. Predicting that Maelys is sick of Lashare’s duplicity, and counting on Lashare’s opportunism to further anger Maelys, Lelouch conspires with Maelys to set Lashare’s forces against his own, with Maelys promptly betraying Lashare in turn. It succeeds, and Lelouch kills Lashare as a result. It’s also implied Lelouch pulled this on Maelys, by knowing what sort of strategy and formation of forces Maelys would need to take in setting Lashare up, the Westeros army could set up the right counters needed against the rest of the Band of Nine’s forces. The Golden Company and all of the Nine’s forces get annihilated.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Allara is badly scarred and disfigured after Summerhall.
• Betrayal by Inaction: Maelys murders his cousin Daemon due to believing Daemon had committed treason against House Blackfyre by advising his uncle against taking the opportunity to try and claim the Iron Throne during Lyonel Baratheon's rebellion.
  • Lashare also pulls this on Maelys for most of the war; having conquered Myr at the start, but not sending any real aid afterwards. Maelys sees through this immediately, but is stopped from retaliating, partly because Lashare’s excuses are just plausible enough, and that he has bigger concerns dealing with the Westerosi army.
• Big Brother Instinct: Lelouch as usual. Tywin, Marthew Crakehall, and Varys also have this.
• Big Damn Heroes: The Lannisters save Lelouch and his men from certain death at the Battle of Naqes and cause the Golden Company to retreat.
• Big Storm Episode: The Battle Beneath the Storm.
• Blatant Lies: Lelouch claims that it was a complete coincidence that the Kingswood brotherhood was found while he was out hunting, and he just ran into and joined up with the knights while he was in the forest. Lord Wendwater is impressed enough with Lelouch's results that he's willing to play along.
• Bling of War: Every soldier in the Golden Company has his armour adorned with huge amounts of gold.
• Blood Knight: Ser Rolan Redmoore, the master-at-arms for House Wendwater. He loves fighting and killing so much that one could swear he's related to Gregor Clegane.
• Boomerang Bigot: The madames in Lys are very reluctant to release the girls who are more or less tricked/coerced to Indentured Servitude in their brothels, even though most of said madames were emancipated ex-slaves whose circumstances were hardly different. Similarly Magister Glossos is also later revealed to be a former slave himself while being a very ardent supporter of slavery.
• Brains and Brawn: Lelouch and Donnall.
• Butterfly of Doom: Lelouch's mere existence throws canon completely out the window. Because of him, when Jenny of Oldstones brought the Ghost of High Heart to court, she never gave the prophecy of the prince that was promised to Jaehaerys. So Aerys and Rhaella weren't forced to marry, Rhaegar was never born and the Westeros' political landscape was completely altered.
• Butt-Monkey: The Stepstones pirates. Lelouch bullied them to support him in his war against the band of nine. Ormund used them as deniable privateers and potential scapegoat during the war. Even worse, the Westerosi later planned to drive them out of the Stepstones altogether to solidify their control over the islands, though at least they planned to reward those pirates who fought for them. The one exception being Lysandro, who had the fortune of being the first captain from the islands that Lelouch met and grew quickly in wealth and power as a result.
  • House Frey in general, and Walder Frey in particular, also earn nothing but grief during the course of the story. Emmon Frey gets killed during the Battle of Naqes, depriving the Freys of a Lannister marriage through Genna; whom Tywin sees engaged to their Lord Paramount Hoster Tully just for added insult. When Walder looks to also wed Marthew Crakehall’s sister into the Freys, she then gets engaged to Tywin as further spite. Lastly, after the war the King "gifts" House Frey the poorest and smallest Stepstone island as both a stealth insult and a massive financial burden for their lackluster contribution to the war.
• Chastity Couple: Lelouch and Cici. Absolutely everyone assumes that he's sleeping with her no matter how much he denies it. For his part, he tells Rhaella that he does love Cici, but they are aware of the political realities.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder : Lashare's biggest issue. He betrayed his homeland Myr. He betrayed his ally Nine Eyes who had helped him take Myr in the first place. Later he also tried to betray Maelys to the Westerosi, until it was clear that the Westerosi wouldn't have any of it and he switched back to Maelys, who's predictably already tired of Lashare's duplicity.
• Combat Pragmatist: Adamm makes it clear to Donnall, when training him and Lelouch to fight at sea, that the only thing that matters in a fight is not dying and that spears and knives are better weapons on a ship than swords.
  • Lelouch demonstrates this lesson when he defeats Steffon Baratheon in a duel with the aid of pocket sand.
• Continuity Nod: Here and there between Lelouch and Cici such as him remembering her former immortal status, while she recalled Charles being able to implant memories and how Lelouch once destroyed worlds and created them anew.
• Cool Big Sis: Myriah Martell acts as this to Rhaella, due to being over a decade older and a lot more worldly than the rest of her friends.
• Cool Sword: Blackfyre, finally returned to the Targaryen after the Sacred Struggle was won.
• Cool Uncle: Adamm Velaryon to Lelouch. Lelouch is probably closer to Adamm than he is to his own father. When Adamm's failed escape attempt from Myr ends with him getting captured by Lashare, rescuing him is Lelouch's driving motivation throughout the entire war. Sadly, Lelouch fails and Adamm is given as a slave to the Dothraki.
• Conspicuous Consumption: Lelouch would prefer that his tent be functional and spartan during war, but social norms force him to fill it with expensive ornamentation or face mockery for perceived poverty. He does make a point of only displaying wealth and items that can be quickly and easily packed and moved, so even this he balances with pragmatism.
  • Essosi magisters are even worse about it. Zoutos adds saffron and macadamias to his porridge, just for the sake of making it expensive, even if there's no one there whose judgment he cares about.
  • The Lannisters in general also have this problem in spades. Ser Jason Lannister brings several potteries, tapestries, and decorative suits of armor in his war tent. Meanwhile Tywin was planning to make his prosthetic leg from gilded steel, and only convinced otherwise by the maesters because it might stunt his growth.

• Cultural Posturing : Both the Essosi and Westerosi think their culture is superior than the other one. The Essosi look down on Westerosi culture as backward and barbaric while Westerosi look down on Essosi culture as soft and dishonorable.

• Curb-Stomp Battle: Pretty much every battle where Lelouch is given command.
  • The Battle of Naqes is the first one the Westerosi suffer. Maelys kills or wounds 10,000 of them in exchange for less than 800 dead on his side.
  • The battle against Volantis is also this, to the point that the narration glosses over them.
• A Day in the Limelight : The interlude chapters.
• Death by Adaptation: Jon Arryn and Emmon Frey die in the war. Before that Ser Bonnifer Hasty was among those killed in Summerhall.
• Decapitated Army: Maelys attempted to do this at Naqes by trying to kill Aerys which would remove House Targaryen's only male heir and destroy the Westerosi army's morale. Luckily, Lelouch's defence and the arrival of the Lannisters made this too risky and Maelys retreated. He later tried it again during the Battle of Three Armies and, learning from his previous experience, committed himself fully to either kill Aerys or die trying.
• De-power: Lelouch no longer has his Geass and Cici can no longer grant Geass to others and has lost her immortality. She is still a witch though and can perform some kinds of magic.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Steffon is dismissive towards the idea of democracy and he's probably not the only one among the Westerosi.
• Determinator: The Golden Company. At Bloodstone Lelouch had them outnumbered seven to one with no hope of rescue, no food and nothing to drink but rainwater for a week. Not a single one of them tried to run or surrender.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Jason Lannister dies but in the Battle of Three Armies rather than on Bloodstone.
• Dirty Old Man: Walder Frey is as lecherous as ever.
• Distressed Dude: Adamm was taken prisoner by Lashare early in the story, with Lelouch making it his number one duty to rescue him and taking revenge on Lashare a close second. Adamm's situation becomes much worse later on when Lashare sold him to the Dothraki before Lelouch could rescue him.
• Double Entendre: Everytime Lys is mentioned you can bet that someone is going to make one of these, including the narration.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Or her in Old Mother's case. Lelouch's men simply finds her and her men's corpses trampled with nobody knows how exactly did she die.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Lelouch does this when he hears his uncle is already sold to slavery.
• Due to the Dead: Played With. While Lelouch does care about his dead men and always try to dignify them as best as he can, the bodies of his enemies don't always share the same treatment. After he takes Pryr, one of the things he does is throwing corpses in wells to make it harder for the city to recover. Corwyn finds this act to be Lelouch's most objectionable one in the war.
• Dwindling Party: Of the three magisters that escape Myr with Lelouch, only one stays around long enough to enjoy the retaking of their city. The first one, Rasporos, bails out of the whole affair altogether after he chafes under Westerosi laws and Lelouch sics a pirate on him. The second one, Glossos, is poisoned by Varys and Zoutos after he makes known his intent to bring back slavery. Zoutos, being the only one of his peers willing to change with the times, becomes Archmagister of Myr.
• Earn Your Title: Lelouch's epithet of "Seafyre" originally comes from the name of his ship with Lord Neleus Royce being the first man who uses that epithet in mockery. It becomes a genuine nickname after the Battle of Seafyre where Lelouch wins his first glorious victory using plenty of fire.
• Engagement Challenge: Of a sort. Many lordlings seek to prove themselves in the war to gain the king's favor and consideration for Rhaella's hand in marriage. Lelouch wins in the end.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Maelys loved his cousin Daemon and thinks of the two of them as being as close as brothers. This did not stop Maelys from tearing his head off.
• Every Man Has His Price: Defied. Lelouch claims this when trying to buy Cici but Rasporos refuses to consider it.
• Evil Counterpart: Liomond Lashare proves to be this to Lelouch fairly early in his conquest of Myr; showing himself to be skilled in several disciplines of military, politics, economics, and theatrical performance, much like Lelouch. When bartering with others, he even admits that they should trust in his self-interest if not himself personally, just as Lelouch often notes when dealing with people. Difference is Lashare is motivated by nothing but his self-interest, which causes him to betray every ally he makes as soon as it’s beneficial, while Lelouch acts out of duty and loyalty to family than just himself.
  • Maelys muses if he is this to Lelouch after comparing Aerys to Daemon.
• Exact Words: Lelouch reassures Aerys and the king that the Myrish on Driftmark "are as free as they are in Pentos." Which if you examine it closely is not very.
• Face Death with Dignity: Nine Eyes is very cooperative when Lelouch captures him and immediately sells out the rest of the Band on Nine in exchange for a quick, immediate beheading.
• False Flag Operation: Nine Eyes and his Jolly Fellows put Myr under siege forcing the city to hire his co-conspirator Liomond Lashare to defend them which gives Lashare the opportunity to seize power in the city and have them make common cause with Maelys.
• Famed In-Story: As word of his feats spreads, Lelouch's name becomes well known throughout the Seven Kingdoms and even the Free Cities. Meanwhile some characters such as Ser Gerold are already famous at the start of the story.
• Foil: Donnall to Corwyn. Both of them are young Velaryon boys who're dreaming of becoming knights. However while Corwyn is aspiring to be a Knight in Shining Armor, Donnall already had shades of Knight in Sour Armor long before he was actually knighted. Corwyn is loyal to both the Kingdom and to the Velaryons as a whole, Donnall is only loyal to Lelouch personally. Corwyn is a trueborn son who's well regarded by his families, birth and foster alike. Meanwhile Donnall is a bastard whose relationship with the rest of his family can be charitably described as "strained". Even their fighting style foiled each other, with Corwyn being the better rider and jouster while Donnall is the better swordsman.
• Food Porn: The author did a good job of imitating GRRM's food porn.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Steffon rarely ever interacts with Lelouch despite ostensibly being part of the same group of friends since Steffon never quite forgave lelouch for his treatment of Rhaella and Lelouch is fully aware of this fact. Later proven to be more serious on Steffon's part as while deep down he does acknowledge Lelouch's accomplishments, he also fears that he can't compete against him and is slowly being replaced among Aerys' circle of friends.
• Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: Lelouch realizes that this is the dynamic between King Jaehaerys and his Hand Ormund, with Ormund asking the uncomfortable but necessary questions and Jaeherys presenting himself as the more moderate figure and protecting Ormund from reprisals.
• The Ghost: Aegon V and Ser Duncan the tall were both still alive at the start of the story and occasionally mentioned by the other characters. They never made any appearance however and by the time Lelouch visited King's Landing Summerhall had already happened.
• Gilded Cage: When Myr is besieged by the Jolly Fellows and no one is permitted to leave the city, Lelouch and his men are accommodated in Rasporos' luxurious manse. They're well aware that they're still prisoners.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Lelouch plays the good cop when interrogating a member of the Kingswood Brotherhood, trying to convince them to confess in a friendly manner while the sound of Redmoore torturing another thief can be heard in the background.
• Good Shepherd: The current High Septon. A humble and pious man who willingly blesses a bastard, care for the needy and try his best to oppose slavery.
• Hammerspace: Cici can produce slices of pizza that have no visible source.
• Handing Over the Crap Sack: After the war with Maelys is over, and Westeros looks to take official control of the Stepstone Islands, King Jaehaerys gifts most of the bigger and more profitable islands to Houses that distinguished themselves in the war. The smallest and poorest island, however, is given to House Frey; saddling them with a financial burden as a subtle punishment for their contributing a mere 100 men for the whole war.
• Head-in-the-Sand Management: King Jaehaerys and the rest of the Small Council have been trying to ignore what Maelys has been up to and ignoring Jaron and Lord Sloane's warnings. They change their tune once Lelouch brings them proof of the scale of what they're up against.
• Heroic Bastard: Donnall is Lelouch's bastard cousin and closest friend. His Loyalty to Lelouch is completely unshakeable. Purposely Invoked, as Donnall wants to disprove the stereotype of traitorous bastards.
• Hold the Line: At the battle of Naqes, Lelouch and his men hold off a surprise attack from the Golden Company, enduring extremely heavy losses, to keep Aerys safe and buy time for reinforcements.
• Hot-Blooded: Steffon Baratheon is this.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Maelys' justification for his many horrible actions is that they were all necessary to put House Blackfyre on the Iron Throne and secure his rule over Westeros. He appears to genuinely believe this and expresses sadness at murdering his cousin Daemon and while he never shows any reluctance when doing evil, he is never shown to enjoy it either.
• Impaled Palm: Lelouch gets his hand maimed twice. Once when escaping from Myr and again during his fight with Lashare.
• Implausible Deniability: When Lelouch tells Cici not to eat pizza on his bed she denies doing any such thing once she finishes eating.
• Impoverished Patrician: Downplayed for House Velaryon. They are by no means poor and are still in good standing with the Targaryens, but their wealth, power and influence are far from what they were before the Dance. Returning his house to its former glory is Lelouch's goal at the start of the story.
• Ineffectual Death Threats: Jaehaerys warns Aerys against making these, when Aerys suggests threatening the lords who are trying to avoid coming to war with execution if they don't hurry up. When Aerys admits he wouldn't follow through on it, Jaehaerys tells him not to make threats he won't carry out as otherwise people will feel free to disobey him.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Despite all the differences to the canon War of the Ninepenny Kings, Maelys is still killed by Barristan.
  • It happens in Lys instead of Myr but Varys still gets castrated by a sorcerer. He has a different fate afterwards, though.
  • Brynden Tully still get his "Blackfish" epithet, although from different circumstances.
  • Even back at the early part of the story, despite the fact that the woods witch never gave her prophecy and Rhaella remained unwed with Aerys, the Summerhall incident still happened.
  • By the end of the war with Maelys, Alequo Adarys is again the only member of the Ninepenny Kings to survive after it ends.
• I Owe You My Life: It is hinted that Tywin will marry Amarei Crakehall in thanks to her brother for saving his life.
• It's All My Fault: Lelouch blames himself for condemning his Uncle Adamm to slavery when he spurns Liomond Lashare. His father and cousin tell him otherwise.
• Karmic Death: Lelouch arranges for the pyromancers to be killed by their own wildfire, in revenge for Summerhall.
  • After imprisoning and selling Lelouch’s uncle into slavery, and constantly betraying every ally he makes, Liomond Lashare gets his arm cut off by Donnall, and throat slit by Lelouch after Maelys sets him up to overextend in battle (and have his elephants crash through Lashare’s forces for good measure) for his duplicity.
• Kill It with Fire: At Bloodstone, Lelouch lures the enemy ships into a wildfire trap similar to the one Tyrion used. He made sure the pyromancers were still on board when the fire started. Cici jokes that Lelouch solves too many of his problems this way and should try branching out into using water next time.
• Knighting: Lelouch suggests knighting Aerys to help the army's morale after the Battle of Naqes. Lelouch also gets knighted by Aerys immediately afterward.
• The Lancer: Donnall and Cici share this role for Lelouch. The former shows more loyalty to his cousin than his own father. He later dismisses the prospect of becoming a Kingsguard knight, a childhood dream of his, and even turns down an invitation to meet his birth mother because they would mean he has to leave Lelouch's side. The latter shares with him a bond they carry from their past lives and so knows his thoughts best, leading to her being the person he confides in the most and regularly undertaking critical missions on his behalf.
• Leeroy Jenkins: When the Golden Company withdraws at the Battle of Naqes the Reach knights mount an unsupported cavalry charge against the prepared Golden Company. Unsurprisingly they can't break through the shield wall and are shot to pieces by the Golden Company's archers. Maelys is astonished by their stupidity.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: In the Free Cities there are supposed to be strict rules for how "disputes" are conducted. Such as not burning fields or cities or not killing too many peasants. They tend to look down on Westeros for its barbarity in not having such customs.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Once they realize they both remember their past lives, Lelouch and Cici fall quickly into their old dynamic to the utter bafflement of everyone around them.
• Love at First Sight: Lelouch's father fell in love with his mother as soon as he saw her after he was shipwrecked on Tarth. For her part, when he came back to ask her to marry him she didn't even remember who he was.
• Made a Slave: Lashare sells Adamm Velaryon to the Dothraki after Lelouch speaks against making peace with him.
• Marry for Love: Averted. Rhaella knows that as a princess, she'll never be allowed to and is rather bitter about it. Her aunt Rhaelle tries convincing her that although she can't be totally free in who she marries, her choice between her various suitors is one that her parents will listen to and shouldn't be ignored.
  • Played mostly straight for Aerys and Joanna, even if it was done for political reasons.
  • Lelouch comments that despite the romantic notions of the nobility, smallfolk usually marry for reasons just as materialistic as they do, just smaller in scale.
• Meaningful Rename : After the taking of Lys the young Darys whose name means "king" changes his name to "Varys" which means "all men".
• Might Makes Right: Nine Eyes' desire of taking Pentos despite having zero claim to the city is based on this principle. Oddly enough he's aware that the inverse is true as well and agrees with it too just fine. Once he lost all of his power base and taken as prisoner he simply accepts the fact and is surprisingly a good sport about it.
• Military Coup: Lashare stages a successful one when his sellsword company is hired protect Myr from the Jolly Fellows and the Golden Company.
• Mistaken for Romance: Literally everybody thinks Lelouch and Cici are sleeping together, mainly because it's the only context where their relationship makes any sense to the Westerosi.
  • This misconception actually benefits Lelouch's pursuit of Rhaella, as the idea that Lelouch can love another person that way humanizes him to her. Though once they get engaged, it becomes more of a problem.
• Morally Bankrupt Banker: Alequo Adarys was an officer of the Iron Bank before pursuing a career in tyranny.
• Morton's Fork: Ormund Baratheon tries to put Lelouch in one by asking if he expects a place in the war tent for strategy discussions. Lelouch would come across as arrogant and immature by saying yes and gives an excuse to be shut out if he says no. Lelouch takes a third option by saying he wouldn't presume to demand a place and gives reasons why it would be a good idea to allow him in.
• The Musketeer: When it comes to personal combat, Lelouch is primarily an archer who is also proficient with the spear. With the sword, he is merely passable.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Lelouch has a minor one after seeing Emmon Frey's corpse after the battle of Naqes. After ordering hundreds of his men to their deaths to mount a defence, Lelouch realises that he was happy to arrange the death of someone who, as far as he knew, had done nothing to deserve it.

Tropes: N to Z

• Naïve Newcomer: Lelouch's brother Corwyn is a fresh, young squire who is still unacquainted with the harsh realities of politics and war. He shows potential, however, and Lelouch aims to train him up to rule Driftmark in his stead for when he gets appointed Master of Ships.
• Named by the Adaptation: Doran, Elia, and Oberyn's canonically still unnamed mother is named Myriah here. Their father is also named as Manrel.
• Necessarily Evil: How Maelys justified most of his actions, though in his case it was closer to necessary actions in general than simply necessarily evil. That said he still lamented his increasingly dubious actions and some of them such as his slaying of Daemon kept haunting him to the end.
• Never Mess with Granny: Lelouch muses on how dangerous Old Mother has to be, to be a pirate queen at her age and with her gender, when she began her career with no resources to speak of.
• No Honor Among Thieves: No member of the Band of Nine holds the slightest loyalty to the others and will betray them in a heartbeat if they feel it's in their best interests.
• Non-Indicative Name: The Battle of the Three Armies. It was actually two different battles and neither of which involved all three armies. Presumably the In-Universe reason for the name is because it sounds cooler that way.
• Non-Action Guy: King Jaehaerys, thanks to his frail health. This is why he entrusts his Hand Lord Ormund to lead the army. On the Band of Nine's side Alequo Adarys is also this, who as far as we know is the only one among them who never fights or even leads his men in any battle. Makes sense, while the other members of the band are pirates and sellswords Adarys is a former banker turned bureaucrat.
• Noodle Incident: Young Lelouch used to have some odd, pie-in-the-sky ideas. Apparently he used to entertain the thoughts of colonizing Sothoryos, among others.
• O.C. Stand-in: A necessity, since majority of the canon characters featured here are barely Bit Characters in canon. Chiefly among them are Ormund, Jaehaerys, and Gerold.
• Odd Friendship: Lelouch manages to get along well with Llewyn Martell and Quellon Greyjoy despite their families' histories. The former approached him because he wanted House Martell to find friends outside of Dorne, while the latter appreciated the advice on how to approach the conquest of Lys in a way that will give the Ironborn long-term benefits.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: While the story focuses on Lelouch and his exploits, every now and then the author would mention someone else's accomplishments in passing as a reminder that other characters also have their share of glories and adventures, even if the details are scarce.
• Oh, Crap!: Adarys' reaction when he heard that Maelys thought he was betraying the Band of Nine. He immediately put all efforts into winning an alliance with the Westerosi out of fear of what Maelys would do to him.
• Omniglot: Cici is capable of speaking all languages on both sides of the Narrow sea and some. She even knows a bit of more obscure language such as Sarnori.
  • Lelouch is also this, albeit to a much lesser extant than Cici. He’s mostly fluent in the languages of Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys (with some knowledge of low and high Valyrian), but individuals from all three Free Cities note that he speaks so perfectly, they’d think he’s a native if they didn’t know better.
• Original Character: Lelouch's entire family is this, as we have no knowledge of any Velaryons in this era. There are also some other OCs, such as the three magisters of Myr and occasional others.
• Overnight Conquest: The taking of Lys, which took about one day and perhaps zero casualty on the Westerosi side. That the city was already in a massive riot by the time the Westerosi reached its shore might've something to do with it.
• Outlaw Town: Saintsport on Bloodstone is a city filled with almost nothing but pirates and other criminals and has been destroyed on at least 16 separate occasions.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Maelys' opinion regarding Ser Mooton. A fine enough warrior, but a dissappointment compared to Ser Gerold. Similarly, Aerys' opinion of Triarch Yraedor Vaegyr. He wasn't a terrible commander, but still nothing special compared to Lelouch or Maelys.

  Maelys: "Was there any greater curse than being just good in the era of great men?''

• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: How all negotiations in Essos were done, apparently. During his peace talk with Tyrosh Lelouch notices that Adarys purposefully gives his lackey the title Master of Ships, the same title Lelouch's father hold to imply that Lelouch is even less important than Adarys's lackey and later spends an entire day disputing titles just to rile him up. This is simply their introduction by the way. The Volantenes also try a similar trick during the negotiation with Ormund and Aerys, though Aerys doesn't give a shit about it either.
• Past-Life Memories: Lelouch has had dreams of his previous incarnation all his life.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Lelouch manages to escape from Myr but his men sustained heavy losses, Adamm remained a prisoner and his escape lets Lashare cement his hold over the city.
• Realpolitik
• Reasonable Authority Figure: King Jaehaerys. A wise ruler who listens to well-meaning advices and strives to reward his supporters fairly.
• Red Baron: After his victory at the Stepstones, friends and foes alike start calling Lelouch "Ser Seafyre".
  • Later on Lelouch received more nicknames, such as "The Stormcaller" after the Battle Beneath the Storm and "Champion of the Seven" at an unspecified time. "Seafyre" remains Lelouch's main epithet however.
  • "Blackfish" is also this in this fic rather than an Appellation like in canon since Brynden got his nickname after his numerous night raids against the Volantenes rather than from his brother's disparaging remark.
• Refusal of the Call: They can't outright refuse but many of the lords of Westeros don't take the threat of the Blackfyres seriously and repeatedly delay and make excuses for not bringing their armies to King's Landing when war is declared.
• Reincarnation: Lelouch and Cici are both reborn in The World of Ice and Fire. How exactly this happened for Cici has not been made clear.
• Related in the Adaptation:
  • Varys and Serra, Illyrio's second wife in canon, are siblings here, as well as members of House Blackfyre.
  • Spotted Tom is a Santagar's bastard in this fic while in canon we almost have no idea where he comes from beyond somewhere in Westeros.
• Relationship Sabotage: Lelouch takes any opportunity he can find to screw over Rhaella's other suitors. Such as challenging Ronnel Arryn to a rigged drinking contest and upstaging Ormond Yronwood's gift to Rhaella of a tapestry looted from Lys by sending similar tapestries to almost everyone Lelouch knows.
• The Resenter: Steffon Baratheon is deeply jealous of Lelouch for gaining far more glory in the war and for supplanting him in Aerys' social circle.
• Restaurant-Owning Episode: Cici and Omorfia, Zoutos' granddaughter, go into business together and establish a pizza franchise in Westeros.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After taking Myr, Lashare dawdles and refrains from supporting the Golden Company, citing an incoming Dothraki horde but is really only waiting to see how to take advantage of recent war developments. He even tries to flip to the Westerosi. When he comes crawling back to Maelys' side, the latter has him take the brunt of the initial assault, moves the lines back and has the Golden Company war elephants crash right through his "ally".
• There Is Only One Bed: Cici usually stays in the same cabin or tent as Lelouch and is implied to even share his bed as well. Small wonder everyone assumes she's his mistress.
• The Rival:
  • Jaron Velaryon and Ormund Baratheon are the leaders of the two main political power blocs in King's Landing and never miss an opportunity to snipe at one another.
  • Lelouch pegs Denys Darklyn to be his primary post-war rival for prominence in the Crownlands.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Lelouch's motivation throughout the war is to get brutal revenge on Lashare and his conspirators.
  • Lelouch's retaliation toward the pyromancers, for maiming Allara is swift and appropriate.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: A standard protocol in Westeros. Aerys is certainly eager to prove his worth by joining in the campaign and fighting along with his men since it's his family's throne at stake. The other lords are more doubtful of this arrangement though, as Aerys is the sole male heir while Jaehaerys' health is far from the best.
• Running Gag:
  • Cici's appearing and disappearing out of nowhere.
  • People assuming that Lelouch and Cici are exchanging familiarities.
  • Tapestries.

• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Lelouch repeatedly tries to correct people about the nature of his relationship with Cici with absolutely no success. Not even Donnall believes him.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Jaron fervently ships Lelouch with Rhaella, though it was mostly for political reason than personal ones. Aerys also seemed to ship them occasionally.
  • Tywin tried to ship Lelouch with his sister Genna, at least until it was clear that Lelouch would win Rhaella's hand.
  • Lelouch, for his part, does a bit of low-key Aerys-Joanna shipping.
• Shout-Out:
  • In chapter 8 Lelouch called the Iron Throne the worst chair in the history of chairs, maybe ever.
  • In chapter 10 Lelouch said "I am inevitable".
  • The "ample dowry" remark in chapter 18 is an almost certain reference to a different but similar term in a famous medieval movie.
  • "As far as I'm concerned, the house is free real estate" in chapter 23.
  • There is a House Wells on Driftmark with the motto of "Deep Wells, Deep Deeds" the name of Paladinus' fic about a Northern House of the same name.
  • Lys was on fire, and it wasn't Lelouch's fault.
• Silent Scapegoat: Ormund Baratheon takes responsibility for the failure at Naqes, telling Aerys that the lords will be clamoring to blame someone and, with the commander of the sentries dead, the fault must lie with him so that it cannot be attributed House Targaryen. He then hands over command of the armies to Gerold Hightower and returns home to muster more levies.
• Skewed Priorities: In Donnall's opinion at least. When he informs Lelouch that Cici has stowed herself away in Lelouch's cabin, Lelouch's only objection is that Cici is eating pizza on his bed.
• Slashed Throat: How Lelouch kills Lashare.
• Slave Liberation: When Lelouch felt that most of Westeros' lords are slow to muster in the face of the upcoming Blackfyre Rebellion, he gets the High Septon's help in framing the fight as this trope (called a Sacred Struggle) and it is successful in getting them to hurry up. It's mostly for appearances sake as actually enforcing the abolition of slavery throughout the Free Cities would be nigh impossible, but Tyrosh is made to take the Pentoshi solution (abolition in name only) while Myr and Lys get upended and made to take more effective changes.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Lelouch exploits Westeros' belief in this to motivate and shame the lords of Westeros to help fight the Blackfyres by convincing with the High Septon to declare a crusade against the institution of slavery in the Three Daughters.
• Smart People Play Chess: As you might expect, Lelouch is a keen cyvasse player. Tywin Lannister is one of his favourite opponents.
• Spanner in the Works: Jaron repeatedly bemoans Lelouch's tendency to screw up Jaron's plans with his own schemes.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Ormund Baratheon makes it through the war alive in this timeline.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Cici's specialty.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy: Defied by Magister Rasporos who warns Lelouch that should the trade deal that Lelouch is offering start losing him money then he will immediately cut his losses and let Lelouch pick up the pieces.
  • Lelouch reminds Rasporos and Zoutos of this to convince to cut their losses and leave Myr when Lashare is in the middle of taking over.
  • Zoutos also contemplates this when he ponders whether slavery is worth enough to risk Lelouch's ire or Volantenes' meddling. Ultimately he choose Myr's safety and independence over slavery and cut his losses.
• Survival Mantra: "Being born with two faces did not afford Maelys with the luxury of self-deception."
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • The Baratheons, both Ormund and Steffon, aren't too fond of Lelouch after he snaps at Rhaella over Alarra's condition following the Tragedy of Summerhall. This is mostly gone in the aftermath of the Battle at Naqes when Ormund agrees that Lelouch should take command of the crownlanders after the Hand takes responsibility for the army's disastrous showing and steps down.
  • Gerold and Ormund dislike each other as well due to political differences. However both are loyal to the Targaryen's cause and willing to work together against a common enemy. Ormund is even willing to entrusts Gerold with the command of the army after he steps down.
  • The tigers and elephants of Volantis who usually squabble with each other unanimously agree that the Westerosi is a threat and they need to act accordingly to stop the sacred struggle. Some characters note how Out of Character this is.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: A house-wide version. After Jaehaerys indicates his intention to induct Reynard Reyne into the Kingsguard, Lelouch tells Joanna that House Lannister has his support if they want it, to which she replies that they need to settle it on their own.
• Token Good Teammate: Downplayed but Maelys the Monstrous is this compared to the rest of the Band of Nine. Unlike the rest of them he is motivated primarily by a sense of duty rather than lust for power and holds his conspirators in contempt for their lack of loyalty or honour.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Pizza for Cici naturally. She makes a point of introducing it wherever she goes so she'll always have someone capable of making it for her.
• Tragic Villain: Maelys, the society he lives in is exceedingly cruel to a deformed man. His own mother considered him a monster. He was also indocrinated with the Blackfyre dogma and it caused him to kill the cousin he loved.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Essosi introductions are extremely long. It takes the herald over a minute to say Lelouch and Adamm's assorted titles (including the names of every ship in their fleet) when introducing them to Rasporos.
• Ultimate Authority Mayor: Cici appoints herself as the mayor of the Myrish exiles and effectively leads them like a noble.
• Universally Beloved Leader: Having learned from his previous life, Lelouch strives to have this with his subordinates. His charitable acts have given him an excellent reputation among the smallfolk of Driftmark but his cerebral nature and lack of ability or interest in martial pursuits have given him a far shakier reputation among his noble bannermen.
  • This comes to a head in Myr, when after Lelouch and his uncle disagree over how to escape the city, two in three men side with Adamm and abandon Lelouch.
  • By the end of the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Lelouch has achieved this as much as it’s possible for someone in Westeros; having won major and critical victories in battle, saving many knights and lords (if not the whole Westeros army) during the ambush at Naques, endearing himself to the Faith of the Seven with his personal crusade against slavery, and generosity to both slaves and small folk, and making personal friends with both the crown prince and a number of major regional lords. The only ones whom Lelouch doesn’t fully win over by the end are either direct political or personal rivals, and even they can’t help but respect him.
• Uriah Gambit: At Lelouch and Tywin's urging, Ser Jason Lannister has Emmon Frey assigned to his van to get him killed off.
• Variant Chess: Cyvasse. GRRM never detailed the rules in his book, so The author made up their own rules. It's a surprisingly complex and flexible game.
• Villain Respect: Maelys towards Lelouch due to later making him struggle and his belief that struggle burned away weakness.
• War Is Hell: Every battle in the War of the Ninepenny Kings is a brutal, painful affair.
• Weather of War : Lelouch utilized the storm against Tyrosh in the aptly-named Battle Beneath the Storm. He tried to do something similar during the earlier Battle in the Bloodstone Strait, though the storm had been late at the time.
• We Have Reserves: This is Westeros' biggest advantage over the Band of Nine. No matter how much more skilled and disciplined the Golden Company are, they are horribly outnumbered, and Westeros can easily replace any casualties they suffer. Within the Westerosi warhost, this is a quality of the Reach; even after staggering losses from both the ambush and their disastrous charge at the Battle of Naqes, they still outnumber the contingents from the other kingdoms.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Hughes chews Lelouch out for not telling him about his plan to find the Kingswood Brotherhood because if it failed Hughes would have been executed for allowing Lelouch to attempt it. Lelouch apologises for this and promises to have Hughes knighted after their next battle in recompense.
• Wicked Stepmother: Adamm's wife Eunice towards Donnall, in much the same way Catelyn Stark is to Jon Snow.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Aerys and Lelouch's brother Corwyn are both deeply shocked by the realities of war.
• Worthy Opponent: Maelys has a great deal of respect for Lelouch, for both his skill as a commander and his willingness to sacrifice and make hard decisions.
• You Can Keep Her!: Lashare couldn't care less when Lelouch takes Nine Eyes hostage.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • Once the pirates and sellsails Lelouch allies with at Bloodstone get tired of besieging the Golden Company and try to assault their camp, Lelouch has his archers fire on both sides while they're fighting. This prevents the pirates from posing a problem for him later if they change sides and he doesn't have to share as much of the loot.
  • During The battle of Three Armies, Maelys uses Lashare's men to keep Lelouch's army in place before ordering his elephants to go through both of them. An arguably justified case too, as Lashare's trustworthiness is very dubious and Maelys considers this as defeating two enemies in one move.

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