Without waiting for Daenerys or the dwarf to question him, the great raven shook its head and said, "Don't ask me why I think or say this. I am also drifting along in the river of fate."
"You're not trying to mystify things and fool us with words we can't understand, are you?" Tyrion said suspiciously. "Let me tell you, I stopped using tricks like that after I was twelve. They're far too low-level!"
"I am a greenseer. Do you understand what the old gods mean to a greenseer?" The great raven looked at the dwarf, its red eyes filled with solemnity. "I swear to all the old gods, every word I speak today is true."
The dwarf fell silent, conflicted.
At that moment, the Blackfish, Brynden, spoke. "Bran, you said the fate of House Tully was also a judgment of destiny. Why?"
The great raven did not answer immediately. Instead, it hovered in midair, sweeping its gaze across everyone present—nobles, commoners, and the queen.
"On this day when the Long Night descends, it is truly rare for everyone to gather together so completely. In the future, there may never be another opportunity like this.
"So I believe today is not only Arya's day of judgment, but also the grand council and grand trial that the Dragon Queen has planned for many years.
"I am a greenseer, the guardian of this generation of Westeros. Perhaps I cannot stop the coming of the Long Night, but I know everything that has ever happened in Westeros.
"In my eyes, you have no secrets. Westeros has no secrets!"
At that moment, the great raven's red eyes shone with a dazzling crimson light. Everyone seemed to see fleeting images flash within those eerie eyes. Though unclear, they felt strangely familiar, as if—
A thought flashed through their minds, and they realized with horror: those were the secrets buried deep within their hearts.
The crowd was shaken.
In the next instant, the red light vanished, and they found themselves once again in the trial hall.
Nothing had changed—the people and the surroundings were the same—but their state of mind, and the way they looked at the great raven, had completely changed.
It wasn't lying. It knew everyone's secrets. Terrifying.
"What do you intend to do?" Daenerys asked in astonishment.
"To do what you have always wanted to do." The great raven landed back on Arya's shoulder and turned to the Blackfish. "We are all guilty!"
"Guilty of what?" the Blackfish asked blankly.
"Betraying the oaths between lord and vassal," the raven replied.
Daenerys's expression turned strange. Was Bran planning to expose his own family's secrets?
"You mean the War of the Usurper?" the Blackfish argued. "That was because King Aerys cruelly murdered your uncle. He was Tully's son-in-law."
"The Tully family motto is 'Family, Duty, Honor,'" the Blackfish emphasized.
No matter what others thought, he and his nephew Edmure had done their utmost to live by those words.
Bran sighed. "Avenging my uncle came later. When my mother was only four or five years old, the alliance between the direwolf and the trout had already begun. What was its purpose?"
"Self-preservation!" the Blackfish blurted out. "The Mad King's actions were insane. All the nobles feared for their lives. The Riverlands is a land of constant warfare. We needed alliances to protect ourselves."
"Is that what your father told you? It's not entirely wrong. House Tully had no ambition to claim the throne. They only wanted to preserve their power and perhaps expand it."
"The Riverlands connect the Crownlands, the Vale, the North, the Westerlands, and the Reach. It is truly a battleground on all sides. But at the same time, if strong enough, it is also the easiest place from which to expand outward.
"Before Aegon's Conquest, the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms often emerged from the Riverlands."
"Aerys ruled for twenty years, and only in the last few did chaos arise. If alliances had been formed then for self-preservation, it would be reasonable. But when the Starks and Tullys first planned their marriage alliance, it was only the tenth year of Aerys's reign.
"If you carefully examine the marriage ties among the great houses before the War of the Usurper, you may understand something."
Bran paused, allowing everyone to think.
Even Daenerys seemed thoughtful.
Before learning the history of the Seven Kingdoms, she had never thought there was anything unusual about the intermarriages of great houses. After all, it was only natural for equals to marry.
But looking at the previous generation of the so-called rebels:
In the North, Rickard married his cousin. Ned's parents were both Starks.
In the Westerlands, Tywin married his cousin.
In the Reach, Lord Tyrell chose House Hightower, the strongest vassal within his domain.
In the Crownlands, the Mad King married his sister.
In the Vale, Jon Arryn's first wife came from House Royce.
In the Stormlands, Robert's mother was from House Estermont.
In Dorne, Doran Martell's wife came from a great noble house in Norvos across the Narrow Sea.
Although Doran's marriage was for love, it still served political purposes.
House Martell was different from the others. Like Brandon the Builder founded House Stark, House Martell originated from Nymeria of the Rhoynar, who came from across the Narrow Sea. Thus, the Martells had always maintained close ties with powerful families in the Free Cities.
But here was the key: among the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms, none had spouses from another region. Yet their children told a different story.
Tywin sought to marry Cersei to Rhaegar.
The Starks arranged for Brandon to marry a Tully and planned for Lyanna to marry a Baratheon.
Dorne hoped Elia would marry Jaime.
Jon Arryn fostered heirs and later married Lysa.
Rhaegar married Elia.
Even the Reach, seemingly stable, would likely have married Margaery to Rhaegar had she been born earlier.
Comparing the marriages of parents and children revealed how explosive the political situation had become in the later years of the Mad King's reign.
It was like a warehouse filled with barrels of gunpowder.
Once everyone grasped this, Bran continued, "In the three hundred years since Aegon unified the Seven Kingdoms, cross-regional marriages were rare, especially between direct heirs of ruling houses.
"So when House Stark and House Tully formed their alliance, the other great houses became wary.
"The political atmosphere under the Mad King created insecurity among the nobles, forcing them to imitate this behavior.
"Dorne initially sought an alliance with the Westerlands, but Tywin preferred the royal family. Aerys rejected him and chose the weaker Dorne instead.
"The betrothal between Baratheon and Stark surprised everyone. They had no prior ties.
"That was the work of the maesters.
"It was fate that led my ambitious grandfather to encounter the radical faction within the Citadel.
"Once the alliance of wolf, fish, and stag formed, House Arryn joined them. No matter who sat on the Iron Throne, such a coalition would not be tolerated.
"That was when fate's punishment of House Stark began, through the Mad King.
"Later, the punishment fell upon the Targaryens. Fourteen years later, it reached the Riverlands, the Vale, and the Westerlands in turn."
Under the stunned gazes of those around him, Bran said coldly, "No one can escape the final judgment. That is fate.
"You may not believe in fate, but it stands above all, whether you believe or not."
Tyrion asked blankly, "Bran, are you serious? The scheming of radical maesters and the ambition of Duke Rickard—are they real?"
"Why would I lie to slander my own grandfather?" Bran replied, then turned to the Dragon Queen. "Your Grace does not seem surprised."
"You claim to know everything. You already know what I know," Daenerys said.
Silence followed.
Bran was silent. The Blackfish was silent.
The revelation was too shocking for them to process.
Everyone in the hall fell into silence, digesting the truth that seemed to rewrite the history of the Seven Kingdoms.
"Why did it turn out this way…" the Blackfish murmured in confusion.
Everyone silently asked the same question.
"Stark… the root of all evil," Princess Arianne suddenly said. "The disasters of the Seven Kingdoms over the past decades all seem to stem from the Starks.
"The War of the Usurper originated from Stark ambition.
"The direct cause was Lyanna's escape from her betrothal, and Benjen Stark's silence.
"In the War of the Five Kings, Lady Catelyn's kidnapping of Tyrion was at least the spark.
"And now, the Night King is a Stark. Even the fall of Casterly Rock traces back to them."
The crowd fell silent, then their gazes toward the Starks changed.
Under the weight of countless accusations, even the usually composed Jon and Sansa felt uneasy, and even Arya shrank back slightly.
(End of Chapter)
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