Fanfic / The Mountain's Range

The Mountain's Range is a A Song of Ice and Fire fanfic by BronzeStar. The central promise of the fic is that a person from our world is transported into Westeros shortly after his death into Gregor Clegane, the Mountain that Rides. Due to his mind being transported into Clegane at birth, this means that the atrocities the original Mountain never occur, and starting with the changes Gregor now makes in the world, the world of Ice and Fire would never be the same.

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Tropes that appear in The Mountain's Range include:

• Adaptational Heroism: Gregor, of course, what with turning one of Westeros' most infamous monsters into the Big Good of the setting. Quite a few characters who were nasty pieces of work or Antiheroes at best in canon also get more favorable treatments here, especially if they become members of the Legion Without Banners. It helps that Gregor has altered the course of history in a way where they don't become darker characters as a result. For example, Tyrion not marrying Tysha averted her canon fate, thus sparing Tyrion the punishment Tywin inflicted and not making him misogynistic. Another example is Sandor not having his face be burnt as a child which allowed him to be more well-adjusted and even having a more amicable relationship with his brother, though while he did receive those scars later on, it was when he was older and not caused by Gregor which allowed him to come to terms with it easier due to having a more loving family.
• Adaptational Villainy: Quite a few, but Hodor and Kevan Lannister in particular take the cake, due to also being people from Earth who use their knowledge of the series for villainous ends, the former attempting to ensure the Others victory and the latter attempting to gain as much power as he can and attempting to thin his opponents ranks by indirectly using the Army of the Dead. Another major case is Jon Connington, who was fairly sympathetic in canon yet plays a major role in one of the fic's Wham Episodes.
• Ancient Conspiracy: The Conclave (a group of maesters) attempt to guide the history of Westeros (as well as stamp down on innovation) by working behind the scenes; one of their nefarious plans was to provide the Targaryens with a poison that would make them mad (which only worked half of the time, but still).
• Anyone Can Die: Like in canon, with two major events underscoring this.
• Babies Ever After: The final chapter shows the later pairings of the story having settled down and had families together.
• Big Bad Wannabe:
  • Stephen Ward/Hodor is attempting to weaken the Westeroes for the invasion of the Night's King, believing that this will bring peace and harmony to humanity by eliminating all war and conflict. He does manage to kill some major characters, but is quickly captured, and later killed by a bigger villain without doing much to further his plans to help the Others.
  • Like in canon, Littlefinger wastes no time in beginning his schemes to worm his way onto the Small Council through manipulation of Lyssa Arryn and murder, while still having his eyes on the possibility of getting Catelyn back and killing Ned. Due to his knowledge of the story though, Gregor is fully aware of this and moves to stop Littlefinger's power play in its tracks before the man has even really gotten started with lethal force.
  • The Night's King himself, faces a much more unified, well-armed Westeros that could have defeated him somewhat easily if not for the actions of Kevan and Hodor.
  • Tywin Lannister tries to seize power while ordering the mass murder of sympathetic characters he sees as threats. He is quickly found out and dealt with though, and it later turns out that he was an Unwitting Pawn for Kevan, who gave him the plan in the first place, for the sole purpose of setting him up for a downfall.
• Big Good: Gregor, due to having the strength and resources of the Mountain but with much more benevolence and charisma, gets a spot on the Small Council as Master of Order that allows him to essentially become the realm's policeman.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Stephen/ Hodor spends quite a bit of time gloating to a captive Bran, filling him in on the nature of the world, who he came into it, and what his plans are.
• Boring, but Practical: Roger Dunn/ Mollander implements his change for the Westeroes by spending most of his life doing nothing to cause the timelines to diverge, but gathering information at the citadel that will bring down the Conclave of Archmaesters once he presents it to Gregor.
• Chessmaster Sidekick: While he is The Hero of the story itself, In-Universe, Gregor sets himself up to the Supporting Leader characters like Robert. Almost as soon as he's old enough to talk, he's working hard to use his knowledge of the future to prevent certain tragedies from befalling, or pushing people along certain paths which will prevent the War of the Five Kings and have the Westeroes prepared for the Long Night.
• Complexity Addiction: The most likely explanation for why Kevan/Alejandro acted the way he did. If he really wanted to be Lord Paramount of the Westerlands that badly, then he could've just killed Tywin before he had any children, rather than just acting as his loyal right hand for decades and prodding and manipulating Tywin to eventually do himself in. It's not like he was above kinslaying, as seen with his murder of Jaime and attempted murder of Tyrion, and while his foreknowledge would've been useless, he would have been smart enough to get around it. Of course, given that he suspected that there might be other people from Earth out there and indeed tried to seek them out, perhaps he worried that killing Tywin would alert someone who knew Tywin’s original destiny and would naturally look towards him as someone who profited from Tywins death and whose destiny had notably changed.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Used by several Faceless Men one of whom takes the face of Urswyck the Faithful, who had been tracked down and killed, in order to "confess" everything about the Pentoshi Bloodbath to the Royal Court and ensure the downfall of Jon Connington and Tywin Lannister, as well as by Melanie/Kinvara, who killed Melisandre, after coming to view her presence as dangerous and obstructive while going on to take up her identity and role in the story.
• Destructo-Nookie: Gregor and Dacey wreck their marriage bed on their wedding night.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Elia Martell survives The Sack of The King's Landing, only to die years later in the Pentoshi Bloodbath.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Oberyn Martell, Red Viper of Dorne, maybe has Really Gets Around mindset, but even he finds Petyr Baelish’s emotional manipulation of Lysa Tully Arynn distasteful.
  • Likewise, Victarion Greyjoy finds Petyr Baelish’s ambitions and limitless powermongering too reckless.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner The Tattered Prince gives one before he dies in battle
  The Tattered Prince: I was chased out of this city once. I will not suffer that disgrace a second time.
• Generation Xerox: In a sense. Allard Seaworth becomes the "everyman" POV, like his father did in the original timeline (although not here), something he lampshades.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Despite preventing the incident that caused it in canon, Sandor Clegane still suffers facial burns in this story, courtesy of Euron Greyjoy.
  • Viserys Targaryen still gets his "crown of gold" almost exactly as in canon, though with far more Westerosi around.
  • Jon and Daenerys still fall in love, though their romance is successful here, unlike the show.
• Irony:
  • Gregor Clegane and Oberyn Martell are good friends in this fic, exactly the opposite of their situation in the original story.
  • For even more irony, Elia Martell fell in love with Gregor after he rescued her and her children from Amory Lorch.
• It's Personal: Gregor tends to give people who committed crimes or other offenses in the fictional canon he remembers the benefit of the doubt an not hold their past crimes against them, trying to subtly mold them into better people, often with success. There are exceptions though, and while there were other, practical concerns, he admits that part of the reason he killed Ryman Frey was because, in the old timeline, he'd killed Dacey, Gregor's wife in this story.
• The Man Behind the Man: The penultimate chapter reveals that Kevan Lannister, of all people, was one. Not only did he suggest the Pentoshi Bloodbath to Tywin, he also informed the High Sparrow of Cersei and Jaime's relationship (which never really happened in this universe) to discredit them, as well as planting the Horn of Joramun beyond the Wall for the Others to use.
• The Matchmaker: Part of Gregor's machinations is helping arrange marriages to further bind the Great Houses of Westeros together. Some of these matches include Willas Tyrell/Rhaenys Targaryen and Robb Stark/Margaery Tyrell.
• Medieval Stasis: Enforced by the Conclave. See Ancient Conspiracy.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After Gregor helps get Jamie released from the Kingsguard to be the heir to Casterley Rock Tywin actually thanks him for it. A simple courteous action, but one that Tywin has never done before, to the best of Gregor's knowledge.
• Posthumous Character: Herman Lewis and Eugene Quinn, also known as Hizdhar zo Loraq and Yezzen zo Qaggaz both worked to try and change the timeline for the better after being reborn, but were both mysteriously murdered long before they would have had an opportunity to meet Gregor.
• Pretender Diss: Aegon VI Targaryen beats (and kills) "Young Griff!Aegon" in trial by combat.
• Second Love: Just like in the show, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, after the deaths of Ygritte, Khal Drogo, and their respective unborn children.
• Secret Test of Character: Maege Mormont subjects Gregor to one before giving him her blessing to marry Dacey. After getting his word that he would do anything for Dacey, Maege tells Gregor to cut off one of his fingers. Gregor ultimately decides not to, and Maege accepts the result; had Gregor gone through with it, she would have refused him, as his love would have gone into infatuation, while the fact that he considered it in the first place instead of dismissing it outright meant that he wasn't taking his word lightly.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The goal of Gregor and Melisandre with their knowledge from Earth.
• Spared by the Adaptation: House Stark, among other houses, manages to survive this fic unscathed.
• There Is Another: It turns out Gregor isn't the only Earthling to be reborn in Westeros. And some of them are working against our hero, too.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Tyrion Lannister and Ellyn Clegane certainly fit the bill.
• Token Good Teammate: Homeless Harry Strickland is the only Westerosi-descended member of the Golden Company not in on the Pentoshi Bloodbath, desperately pleading for his men to stop and not forsake their honor.
• To the Pain: Vargo Hoat, Roll Duckfield and Illyrio Motapis suffer this after the Pentoshi Bloodbath, with it being vowed that their leader Jon Connington will suffer far worse, which he does indeed after falling into the heroes hands.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: After finally getting their hands on Jon Connington, this is the conclusion Jon and Daenerys come to.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 63, The Obstruction. The Pentoshi Bloodbath, this universe's counterpart to the Red Wedding, happens when Jon Connington and his allies turn on the Legion Without Banners' forces led by Dacey Clegane. However, instead of a massacre, this is a far more equitable affair, though not without losses such as Loras Tyrell, Khal Drogo, Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, Elia Martell, Renly Baratheon, and Ygritte (who takes on the role of Talisa Maegyr from the show in being impaled through her pregnant womb).