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| “ | Dragons were unnatural creatures, the Shepherd declared, demons summoned from the pits of the seven hells by the fell sorceries of Valyria, "that vile cesspit where brother lay with sister and mother with son, where men rode demons into battle whilst their women spread their legs for dogs." The Targaryens had escaped the Doom, fleeing across the seas to Dragonstone, but "the gods are not mocked," and now a second doom was at hand. "The false king and the whore queen shall be cast down with all their works, and their demon beasts shall perish from the earth," the Shepherd thundered. All those who stood with them would die as well. Only by cleansing King's Landing of dragons and their masters could Westeros hope to avoid the fate of Valyria. | „ |
| ~ Archmaester Gyldayn's account of the Shepherd's preaching against dragons. |
| “ | There the demons dwell, up there. Fire and blood, blood and fire. This is their city. If you would make it yours, first you must dstroy them. If you would cleanse yourself of sin, first you must bathe in dragon's blood. For only blood can quench the fires of hell. | „ |
| ~ The Shepherd instigating the Storming of the Dragonpit. |
The Shepherd is a major character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. He is a one-handed prophet, preacher, begging brother, and a strong follower of the Faith of the Seven. He is well-known in history as the instigator of the Storming of the Dragonpit during the Dance of the Dragons, which resulted in the deaths of all the dragons inside.
A street in King's Landing, Shepherd's Way, is named after him.
Appearance[]
The Shepherd is described as a bare scarecrow of a man (meaning he is skinny) who wears a hair shirt and roughspun breeches. He has a begging bowl around his neck. He lost his left hand for reasons unknown.
Personality[]
In his lifetime, during the Dance of the Dragons, the Shepherd was a wandering brother of the Faith of the Seven and is both religious and insane in personality.
Biography[]
The Shepherd's origins and past are a complete mystery. Grand Maester Munkun suggests that he is one of the outlawed Poor Fellows, a military order of the Faith Militant, while Archmaester Gyldayn believed that the Shepherd was a thief who lost one of his hands for thievery. As his real name is lost in history, he is only referred to as The Shepherd.
Dance of the Dragons[]
As tales of the first battle of Tumbleton spread terror, fear, and paranoia throughout King's Landing, it was in this dark hour that the Shepherd made his presence known. In Cobbler's Square he began to preach and rant against dragons in a loud and angry voice, stating that dragons are demons summoned from the seven hells by Valyrian sorcery and that by cleansing Westeros of all dragons all would be saved from suffering the same fate that Valyria had went through during the Doom. As the hours passed, the Shepherd's preaching drew thousands of smallfolk, who flocked over to listen.
Later, when word of Queen Helaena's sudden death began to spread, people began whispering among themselves that she was murdered by Rhaenyra Targaryen, who had usurped the Iron Throne from her brother, King Aegon II Targaryen, and Grandmaester Munkun believed that the Shepherd is responsible for spreading the story as thousands had heard of his decry on both Helaena's "murder" and Rhaenyra. However, the Shepherd was unaware that Helaena had actually committed suicide.
As rumors that Rhaenyra or the city watch commander Ser Luthor Largent was responsible for Helaena's death, King's Landing rose in riot with many demanding justice for Helaena and her murdered sons while the Shepherd called down the wrath of the Seven on Rhaenyra. When a local septa begged him to save the city he tells her that only the Mother, an aspect of the seven-faced god, may save her but that she drove her out because of her avarice, lust, and pride, and because of that, the Stranger, the seventh aspect, will come. When Ser Luthor Largent and the City watch arrived to disperse the mob, hundreds of smallfolk fled while thousands remained, who proceeded to resist and shout out curses. When Luthor roared out that he and the gold cloaks only came for the Shepherd, things immediately descended into anarchy while the Shepherd was escorted to safety, allowing him to escape.
Storming of the Dragonpit[]
As night falls, the Shepherd reappears and continues his preaching in Cobbler's Square. He proceeded to frenzy the mob when he proclaimed of all the dire threats that they will face and he orders them to kill the dragons in the dragonpit. Now unruly and out of control, the Shepherd's flock, which is what the rioters were called, proceeded to march to and storm the dragonpit where they slaughtered most of the dragons inside, though hundreds of smallfolk were also killed. The last dragon, Dreamfyre, lost an eye to an archer and this caused her to bring down the roof of the dragonpit, crushing herself and most of the mob.
Moon of the Three Kings[]
After Rhaenyra fled King's Landing with her last surviving son, Aegon the Younger, the Shepherd and the mob seized power over a part of King's Landing and he ruled from the ruins of the dragonpit, which is on the hill of Rhaenys. There, inside, he continued preaching amongst the heads of the dragons that had been slain. Even though he seized control over much of King's Landing, the Shepherd never stylized himself as king but rather a simple son of the Seven. His influence eventually began to wane overtime and he began to lose many of his supporters. When Lord Borros Baratheon and his army arrived in King's Landing, the Shepherd ordered his flock to prevent him from crossing the Blackwater Rush, however the mob continued to grew less and a few obeyed.
Arrest[]
The Shepherd as he suffers a burning death.
After being forewarned of the fate of Gaemon Palehair, one of the three monarchs ruling King's Landing at that time, the Shepherd ordered his army, the Barefoot Army, to assemble and defend the Hill of Rhaenys. Less than three hundred took the call but they were easily defeated by the approaching Baratheon army and the Shepherd himself was captured. As he was being brought to the Red Keep in chains along with Gaemon Palehair and Trystane Truefyre, the latter being another proclaimed monarch, to await the return of King Aegon II, the Shepherd cursed Lord Borros.
Death[]
| “ | We shall meet in hell before this year is done. | „ |
| ~ The Shepherd to Borros Baratheon and Aegon II Targaryen. |
When he was brought before King Aegon, the Shepherd refused to repent and just cursed him instead. This result in the removal of his tongue and he was sentenced to death along with his followers. While chained to a pole amongst the heads of the dead dragons, the Shepherd suffered a burning death, in which he was set alight by the king himself. Thus with his death, all the dragons that were killed in the Dragonpit are avenged.
Legacy[]
Following the burning of the Shepherd and his followers, Hill Street became known as Shepherd's Way. During the Hour of the Wolf, when Lord Cregan Stark seized power over King's Landing and arrested people who were suspected of poisoning King Aegon II, as he was mysteriously found dead in his litter, fear once again took over King's Landing; it was rumored by some smallfolk that Cregan planned to have Prince Aegon the Younger, one of the last surviving sons of Rhaenyra, marry one of his daughters (this is obviously false as Lord Stark had no trueborn daughters at the time). As the Shepherd had predicted, both Borros Baratheon and Aegon II Targaryen died by the end of the same year.
Believing that Cregan Stark is both a usurper and a traitor, others believed that he wanted to execute Prince Aegon and then marry King Aegon II's daughter, Princess Jaehaera, before seizing the Iron Throne for himself. It was declared by septons of the Faith that Cregan's men would burn the capital's septs and force all of King's Landing to return to worshipping the Old Gods. Cregan was even whispered that he has a wildling wife and had his enemies thrown into a pit full of savage wolves, who feasted on them as Lord Stark he watched.
Taking advantage of the fear the smallfolk, an unnamed man, who claims to be The Shepherd reborn, appeared from the gutters of the capital. However, unlike the first and original Shepherd, The Shepherd reborn didn't look anything like his predecessor and had two hands, while the first Shepherd only had one. Hundreds of smallfolk came over to listen to the Shepherd reborn as he preached against the Northerners, calling them "godless" for their worship of the Old Gods. His preaching was short-lived, however, as he was captured by the Gold Cloaks who then removed his tongue.
External Link[]
- The Shepherd on the Villains Wiki
- The Shepherd on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
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 Heroes
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