"Clang~"
It wasn't until the poor Archmaester Runetell fell stiffly onto the cold stone floor that everyone reacted to Daenerys's rapid-fire condemnation of the Archmaester.
Jaehaerys had always believed Daenerys was a Dreamwalker, so he instinctively thought Daenerys must have discovered some secrets of the Citadel, which was why she was now particularly wary of it.
The other Small Council members, however, thought Princess Daenerys had learned of some unspeakable purposes of the Citadel through the Royal intelligence system, and today she had lost her composure and exposed them.
But as some of the few clever people in the Seven Kingdoms, these individuals, by coincidence, thought of many, many things from Daniella's few words.
In this magical dimension of the world, the Citadel appears to be a rather rational existence, dedicated to cultivating intellectuals in Westeros who are proficient in various disciplines. Here, people do not discuss religion or politics; adhering to the principle of scientific supremacy, it seems to be a paradise for knowledge.
However, the Citadel, located in Westeros's largest and oldest port—Oldtown—exudes an eerie atmosphere everywhere.
Strictly speaking, the Citadel is not a city, but a complex of buildings. It is located in Oldtown, along with Westeros's tallest building, the Hightower, and the Starry Sept, the residence of successive High Septons before the Conqueror's War.
The origin of the Citadel also dates back thousands of years to when the Hightower Family were Kings of the Hightower. It was gradually established by a prince named Peremore the Twisted, the second son of King Uthor of the Hightower.
This crippled yet knowledge-seeking prince invited countless wise men, teachers, priests, doctors, singers, and even sorcerers, alchemists, and mages to Oldtown. After Peremore's death, his elder brother, King Urgon, granted a large tract of land by the Honeywine River to "Peremore's pets," and the Citadel was built upon this foundation.
Like the Roman Curia we are familiar with, the Citadel has its own governing body—the Conclave. All meetings of the Conclave are confidential, held only within the Citadel, and participants are limited to high-ranking Scholars who have obtained the "Doctor" title, which is similar to the cardinals of the Roman Curia.
However, the Citadel does not have an absolute leader like a "Pope"; instead, a "Steward" is chosen by lot from all Doctors each year to manage the Citadel's affairs. Many Doctors believe that the Steward's duties hinder their studies and research, and they try to shirk this heavy burden in various ways.
Of course, not everyone who comes to study at the Citadel can become a Scholar; after all, this is a meritocratic system based on intelligence. If one consistently fails exams, they can only abandon the path of a Scholar and return to where they came from. Additionally, there are cases where individuals are stripped of their Scholar title for various reasons, such as Qyburn, who served Cersei during the Game of Thrones period; he was expelled from the Citadel for engaging in vivisection and human experimentation.
The general life path for a man sent to study at the Citadel (the Citadel only admits men) under normal circumstances is roughly as follows: first, he becomes an apprentice, then after studying and passing exams, he becomes an Assistant Scholar. He continues to study and acquire the links on the Scholar's chain that represent different disciplines. When the number of links reaches a certain amount, the Assistant Scholar is promoted to a full Scholar.
Scholars are sent to castles and lordships, pledging loyalty to their masters there. If a Scholar's mastery in a certain field reaches a master level, he will be granted the title of "Doctor," not only receiving a special ring, scepter, and mask, but also the right to attend the confidential meetings of the Conclave. In addition, every Doctor has an ancient key that can open all doors within the Citadel.
It is worth noting that the Citadel is not an expensive private school; it provides nearly free education. Therefore, supporting so many intellectuals who only study and do not work would undoubtedly require a large amount of financial support.
Behind the Citadel is indeed a major patron—the Hightower Family, one of the oldest families in Westeros. They invested in building the Citadel and have always been its greatest protectors and sponsors.
In addition to training Scholars for various families throughout the Seven Kingdoms, the Citadel also has two important public functions:
First, to select the "Archmaester" for the Iron Throne's Small Council; the Archmaester serves the King directly but can only be appointed or dismissed by the Citadel's Conclave.
Second, to monitor the changing seasons; once a season changes (for example, when winter is coming), the Citadel will dispatch white ravens to notify the Seven Kingdoms.
Ancient Oldtown has always been Westeros's most important port, a trade hub where sea and land transport converge. Anyone familiar with world geography knows that port cities are usually very prosperous and far more open than inland regions, because not only goods and money converge here, but also, more importantly, information and ideas. The Hightower Family's choice to build the Citadel in Oldtown has its own profound meaning.
It can almost be said that without the Hightower Family, there would be no Citadel and no "Scholar System" that is now prevalent throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Yet, such a great family, throughout the entire history of Westeros, except for the later Dance of the Dragons period, has always maintained a very low profile.
The Hightower Family's greatest skill is discretion.
The Hightower Family is one of the oldest families in Westeros, with a lineage that can be traced directly back to the First Men. Unlike the Stark Family, who are also descendants of the First Men but are isolated in the North, the Hightower's territory is in The Reach in the South. This coastal geographical location means that the Oldtown area is always the front line for foreign invaders landing in Westeros.
The Hightower Family is not as stubborn as Dorne; they are unwilling to engage in battle. Therefore, whether it was the invasion of the Andals thousands of years ago or the more recent Conqueror's War, the Hightower Family adhered to one principle—peace through surrender.
Under such a appeasement strategy, Oldtown was able to maintain its glory as "Westeros's First Port," and the Hightower Family naturally benefited greatly, not only maintaining their privileged status for thousands of years but, more importantly, preserving the enormous wealth brought by Oldtown's prosperous trade.
If history can teach us anything, I think one lesson must be that "wealthy people need to be discreet."
While everyone in Westeros is chanting "A Lannister always pays his debts," no one knows how much wealth the Hightower Family has accumulated over thousands of years. But a family that could build and fund the Citadel to its current status would likely make the Lannister's efforts of digging up all the gold mines in the Westerlands seem insignificant in comparison.
So, what exactly does the extremely wealthy and unassuming Hightower Family want?
To answer this question, we only need to look at what the Hightower Family has been doing besides making money. For thousands of years, the Hightower Family has been steadfastly doing three things—funding the Citadel, funding the Faith, and guarding the Hightower.
The Hightower is the Hightower Family's ancestral castle, and its English name is the Hightower Family's surname, Hightower. It is the tallest building in the world of Ice and Fire, considerably taller than The Wall. It is said that on a clear day, one can directly see The Wall from the top of the Hightower.
The residents of Oldtown and seafaring ships regard the Hightower as a lighthouse, but for the Hightower Family, why did they build such a tall structure? To showcase family status? This does not align with the Hightower Family's discreet nature. To strengthen defenses? Oldtown is not the Eyrie; it does not have an easily defensible geographical attribute, and during an escape, just running down from such a tall building would be exhausting.
As a trade center, Oldtown naturally gathers merchants from all continents of the Ice and Fire world. These people, sailing to Oldtown, inevitably bring news from various places. At the same time, the Citadel trains Scholars who serve all the lords of Westeros, the Faith's influence spreads throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and coupled with the unrivaled view from the Hightower, the Hightower Family can be said to have information about the Ice and Fire world, or at least Westeros, completely in its grasp. This also aligns well with the Hightower Family's expertise in trade; merchants typically rely on information asymmetry to accumulate wealth.
In Westeros, Scholars have far less presence than knights, and becoming a Scholar means being stripped of one's surname, seemingly with no political future. Yet, Scholars are indispensable to every lord's household. They are doctors, political advisors, fully manage external communications (ravens), and serve as tutors for the next generation of lords.
Such a multifaceted identity can be described as a complete infiltration of the lordly families. And the Hightower Family, over thousands of years, has made the entire Seven Kingdoms accept, and even depend on, the "Citadel Scholar" system they single-handedly established, to the point where a custom like "only the Conclave can appoint or dismiss the Archmaester serving the King" is actually permitted by the Iron Throne, which is almost unbelievable.
Time is the arbiter of all success and failure.
Thousands of years later, those rulers who once made the Hightower Family kneel have all perished, while the Hightower Family still stands peacefully behind Oldtown and the Citadel, like the Hightower itself.
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