The Best Small Council in Game of Thrones History 

I would argue that Bloodraven would still be preferable to Varys for the simple fact that he probably isn’t trying to overthrow the crown.

Tywin visibly angry but silently happy since the lannisters have the most positions

Ser Pounce for Hand of the King, obviously

Personally I think Stannis is the best master of ships seeing as he rebuilt the royal fleet after it was destroyed during Robert’s rebellion and was one of the best naval commanders in Westeros who destroyed the iron born fleet and made way for the invasion of the iron islands, plus he is fiercely loyal to you once he picks you as his lord despite all his grievances with his brother Robert he was loyal to him till the end, plus he is an amazing general as well as admiral and he notices the dealings and is weary of little finger and Varys. Overall Stannis is an amazing general, admiral and loyal small council advisor.

Viserys is a good pick for hand of the king, but I do feel like not mentioning Septon Barth feels harsh.

9:54 It's actually hilarious how "Tyrek is a horse" is pretty much canon everywhere in the ASOIAF fandom by now. 😁😁

Cersei changes the names of all the "Master" positions - in the style of the free cities (if I remember correctly) - so there would be no "masters" above her in the council

The maesters examined Aerea’s infected body and diagnosed her with “holy shit that’s nasty”

I think I remember Cersei saying she didn’t want any “Masters” on the Council because she wanted everyone to remember they report to the king (and her as his proxy) and they all serve him, being masters of nothing.

I nominate Rego Draz as the best master of coin. Sure Tyland was a huge asset to the Greens, but it was for 2 very specific things outside the normal duties of the offices (dividing the treasury, and not buckling to torture. And really, was it in the realm's best interest that Greens be allowed to prolong the war?). Rego on the other hand, served for much longer and brought economic stability to a a realm recently torn apart by Maegor with policies that were more just to the common folk and allowed King Joe to fund his many progressive projects. He died in a riot due to his vanity during a period of famine/plague/winter outside of his control, but if anything the famine likely would've hit much worse if not for Rego's work.

That's a surprising choice for Master of Coin, I had heard a lot of buzz about Lyman Beesbury.

I will say, even based on what we know from Fire & Blood, Lyonel Strong would still make a great master of law because he was known as being exceptionally intelligent, had six links from the Citadel and unlike a lot of people in Westerosi history actually studied for the job he had since the book notes he was an expert at law and understanding how to read legal matters. He was kind of a full package for the Small Council- intelligent, competent, highly capable at war and fighting, tactful, and honest. Master of Laws or Hand of the King would very much suit him well as it did in his life.

It has to be Tyrion. He had a best selling single written about him. Hands of Gold. The B side had a rap: Where do whores Go. Epic. It is known.

I’d have Davos as hand of the king. Always a voice of reason and he puts people in their place and brings them down a step in a geordie accent.

The question now is, which small council was the best in history? You have to take the good with the bad, IE with Varys and Stannis comes Littefinger, Renly and Pycelle.

My list: - Hand: Viserys II (Tywin and Barth also close behind) - Whisperers: Bloodraven - I disagree that having a sinister reputation in this job is bad for his king; in fact, it deflects blame from the king; Varys doesn't have that great of a reputation either. Plus he did both this job and that of Hand at the same time. - Coin: Rego Draz - one of Jaehaerys's masters of coin who help him develop and enrich the realm, especially with the kingsroads project and expanding King's Landing. - Laws: Prince Aemon, Jaehaerys's oldest son - he would have made a fine king, and no doubt helped his father craft laws during his service; - Grand Master: Benifer for sure - Ships: Alyn Oakenfist (yes Corlys is up there, too) - Alyn defeating a Braavosi fleet is an accomplishment that I don't think another Westerosi has achieved; he was just as adventurous as Corlys, he defied Unwin Peake and helped his young king, and probably would have defeated the Red Kraken, too. - LLC: the White Bull - besides a protector, the LLC also serves as military advisor, and in times of need he does lead armies to war; that is exactly what the Gerold Hightower did during the War of the Ninepenny Kings after the Hand was killed; he took overall command and the war was won.

idk i'd stick with Aurane Waters because he's kinda hot

Loved the video! My ideal small council list: Master of Laws: Aemon (Son of Jaehaerys) Alysanne thought Aemon would be an even better King than Jaehaerys. So he seems to be the obvious pick for me, despite having relatively little information on what he did in his position. Kingsguard Lord Commander: Dunk the Lunk of course (I liked what you said about him being a voice for the smallfolk on the council) Master of Ships: Stannis the Mannis (While Corlys is the better sailor, I do not think we get any specifics on how good he was of a naval commander. Whereas Stannis is among the best of the best of strategists and tacticians. Also, since the position of Master of War is show-only, and there are no Kingsguard who are standout generals, I would want Stannis on the council who could do double-duty and be a commander for a land army as well) Grand Maester: Benifer (only real choice) Master of Whispers: Bloodraven Bloodraven is both more effective and more loyal than Varys. And if he is relegated to the position of spymaster, who are always shady, I do not think he would create bad PR for the crown. Bloodraven only started creating problems when he became Hand. Master of Coin: Tyland (I agree Tyland is definitely the best, rebuilding the economy and infrastructure after the Dance. Rego Draz is another good contender if the embezzlement accusations were false, and Martyn Tyrell is a safe pick, but I still think Tyland is better than either) Hand of the King: Baelor Breakspear (I agree that Viserys II is probably the better administrator, but with such a stacked Small Council, I think you can sacrifice some brains for heart, and have the Hand be the moral leader of the council, guiding policy towards the common good of the realm and the smallfolk. And for that purpose there is no one better than the true knight Baelor Breakspear. And he was also clearly very wise and intelligent and by all accounts a more than able Hand. And he was a skilled politician/diplomat, rallying the Stormlords to the Targaryen cause when they should have been natural supporters of the Blackfyres. The greatest king who never was) I really enjoyed the video though! Are you going to do a Worst Small Council video?

I don't understand how you could justify Varys given his loyalty was for a usurper, he constantly sowed chaos (when he could get away with it), and killed Kevan (your pick for Master of Laws). Seems nonsensical to pick him.

Was thinking Septon Barth as Hand, if only for the fact that he held that position the longest.

3:45 it is explained in the book that she "doesn't want any other masters" in the government besides her. She also renames "master of ships" to "grand admiral" and "master of coin" to "lord treasurer" or something like that (I don't remember the specific names).

Also Cersei rebranded all the offices because she felt threatened by anyone except her being called "master" of anything and thought it was a direct threat to the throne (i.e. her) and thus wanted to remove that implication from the title (basically its all pettiness).

You bought tears on eyes with this list, (Tbh i was chopping onions hahaha), I enjoy your work, thank you for very much for finding such juicy stuff.

We all know who really should be master of coin 🐝🐝🐝

I’m quite stung you didn’t choose Lord Beesbury for any position of high honor

5:43 I agree with Corlus but I’d say that you could maybe make an argument for his grandson/ maybe son Alyn Okenfist. But I still think the sea snake takes the cake

Love Tyland! Great video as always

This was fun to think about. Ty for the content.

@quinn okay now do the best blunt rotation

Great video as always man

I love me some Tyland Lannister, but I'd go with Rego Draz as Master of Coin. Dude was Littlefinger without the debt.

Jingle Bells as Master of Ships is a no brainer*, being the drowned god an all.

I'd replace Tyland Lannister with Rego Draz. He turned out a bankrupt and indebted realm, and helped make it prosperous. I'd also not have Varys there. For the entirely of Robert's rule, he has sought to subvert it over the long term. Even if he believes that Aegon VI is the best possible king, he's still on Robert's council. He's not necessarily wrong, but working against the throne should disqualify him. In sheer ability, he's the only one close to Bloodraven (who you make a good point against). But I'd take the sinister but loyal Bloodraven over Varys. Clubfoot wasn't bad at the job either (while Tyanna, Mysaria and Qyburn haven't done much yet)

In Feast Cersei changes all of the Titles of office. Master of Laws becomes Justiciar, Master of Ships becomes Grand Admiral, Master of Coin becomes Lord Treasurer. She borrowed the titles from the Free Cities so that there would be no Masters at court besides herself of course.

The best Master of Laws would obviously be Lord Quinn himself. Sidenote: In the show there is also the position of Master of War which is interesting.

Renly as master of law was quite ridiculous.

Jaehaerys is the greatest king in Westerosi history since the Conquest, hands down. But neat idea for a video, fun listen.

I strongly support Tyland as best master of coin, I love this character

I always thought the Master of Laws as a combination of the offices of Attorney-General and Chief Justice. Like, the officeholder is supposed to oversee most of the realm's criminal and security matters; manage the King's laws to ensure a proper, non-conflicting, and codified set of laws govern the realm (cause even the King needs to make sure he doesn't contradict himself); and act as the King's main legal advisor, interpretor, and adjudicator of the codified laws (of course the King is the ultimate adjudicator of justice and he has final say).

I know he'd be hard to control but I would be curious about a Dagon Greyjoy master of ships. I feel like a lot of masters of ship are very defense minded so I would curious what an almost purely offence minded master of ships with the skills and charisma to make it work would do.

the best king of westeros video is just three seconds long: "Jahaerys, the end"

This video is slander against the greatest master of coin, Lord Gyles Rosby of Rosby. He was in charge of the crown’s coffers, a role he performed with great consistency. No man was more suited for the role.

An excellent line up. But I must ask, which king would they advise to have the most stable and prosperous realm? Also good luck with finals.

Patchface for master of ships easy

I love your videos! I'm not sure if you did a theory on this yet or not, but the suspicious death of Viserys II really caught my attention recently. Viserys and Tywin are parallels to one another, and we know how Martin loves his historical parallels (ex: Ned honorably too Dawn back to House Dayne while Tywin took Ice for himself). Tywin was killed by his Son, though not by poisoning but there's speculation for that. By all accounts Viserys was old, but still healthy. Would this mean he wasn't killed by his son? Than by who? Many agreed Viserys had it him to be a 2nd Conciliator, so it wasn't political. I suspect it was the maesters, as the world book immediately points towards Aegon IV as the culprit (a perfect scalegoat). What did Viserys know that the maesters couldn't risk getting out? Or was it to further destabilize the dynasty faster under the reign of the Unworthy? Or was there something more going on? This is where I'm getting tinfoil hat on. What if Baelor actually gave into his lust and slept with Daena, fathering Daemon? (Perhaps the real reason for his 40 day fasting). So the next question is why Aegon IV would claim Daemon as his own? We're never told outright but it seems Aegon thought very highly of his cousins (naming his first trueborn son Daeron and returning the Dornish hostage he was sleeping with to Viserys after Baelor got hurt on trip back home). Perhaps he never told anyone to preserve Baelors imagine. Viserys, king at this point, probably caught on but got killed before he could abigate the throne. Aegon probably wanted to abigate himself, but him and all his vices wanted his cake and ate it to, leaving his will legitimatizing "his son" trying to do right by his cousins. Anyway im done rambling but it's interesting to think about😅

I think Bloodraven's devotion to his royal half-brother, Daeron, & then to Daeron's sons makes it pretty clear that his loyalty was to the stability of the realm - he made hard decisions at a hard time (he's essentially the sole reason the '2nd Blackfyre Rebellion' is more an honorific for the abortive fizzle-out that it was, rather than becoming another actual conflict, like the first or later ones); Daeron trusted him, Aerys I trusted him even more- & Maekar might not have liked Bloodraven (& was jealous of him being Hand) but he did trust him to hold his positions of Hand & Master of Whisperers once Maekar became King- & when Maekar died, Bloodraven was Lord Protector of the Realm - at that point, he could have arguably *forced* his control of the realm & become King or de facto king- but he didn't, & (in my head-canon) ensured the right person became King, as soon as he could, without giving way to the biased politics of other factions. It's my head-canon that he also arranged his exit-strategy, as a means of giving Aegon a fresh start (with a healthy dose of fear, to keep his subjects in line for a while)- & to get him where he needed to go, without drawing any attention to it...

Nice to see some Tyland Lannister recognition!

While the Small Council is undoubtedly essential - what do we know about how any of the positions function? In the books (less in the show), we see just *how **_many_* under-positions & functionaries the Master of Coin controls, for instance -- & it appears that LF has manipulated other positions, possibly outside his direct control (Keepers of Keys)... Also, HotD has introduced under-positions for the Master of Whisperers, with Larys Strong being a confessor before his elevation. Edited: word

I think two notable Hands are Baelor Breakspear and the Ned. Ned is the guy you can completely trust to do his duties, put him in an ideal small council and it's great. Baelor showed how good of a man he was in Dunk and Egg.

Daemon in his time as master of laws singlehandedly remade the city guard and created the gold cloaks, I think that does count for something

I really don't know what the master of laws would do that isn't a responsibility contained by the king or local nobility. Is it more adjudicating or legislating?

In AFFC, Cersei renames more than just master of laws including master of coin (which you said she should) Master of Ships becomes Grand Admiral and Master of Coin becomes Lord Treasurer. This is a Free Cities thing, I think it was because she didn't like the idea of them being masters, wanting them to be completely loyal to her. I really love the title Justicar btw.

I would pick: Master of Whispers - Bloodraven Master of Ships - Alyn Oakenfist Master of Coin - Rego Draz The rest of your picks are solid.

If I remember correctly, the idea with Cersei renaming all of the offices on the Small Council was that she didn't like the idea that there were "masters" on the Council and in government besides her, so she renamed the offices in the tradition of Essos with titles like Lord Justicar, Lord Treasure, and Lord Admiral. She had a temper tantrum and renamed 300 year old offices to sooth her ego.

Cersei’s inner monologue says she “will have no masters in King’s Landing but her” so she changes the names of all the council positions

Is it really that bad Barristan made a coup against Hizdar? For all we know, he wasn't the most supportive of Daenerys' reign and policy. Sure, at face value it IS bad for the Lord Commander of the kingsguard to betray his king (Ser Goldenhand the Just, I'm looking at you), but that's the thing. Hizdar isn't Selmy's king. He is sworn to Dany. If the king consort to his monarch is (supposedly) plotting against your queen, would you stand by and let him wreack havok on her things? The guy did urge Dany to eat the locusts, and wasn't against killing Drogon. Now, I would justify Barry being a bad kingsguard when he bent the knee to Robert and served him for 15 years. Only after Joffrey dismissed him for being old, the guy got pissed and went in search of Viserys and Dany. Only after this did he consider being loyal to the house he served for more than 20 years. And if we are to say he's just, then why did he stay silent when Cersei disregarded HIS OWN KING'S decree? He did nothing when they condemned Ned Stark to death. Fickle loyanties this man has.

My picks would be Hand of the King- Viserys Targaren (Honorable mention to Septon Barth, honestly maybe an advisor from the faith could be created allowing him in or simply as an advisor) Grand Maestar- Benifer (Honestly Geradys was decent if we are taking Rhaenyra's council into consideration. Also ) Master of Coin- Rego Draz Master of Laws- Aemon Targaryen (If we take the show as canon, I loved Lyonel Strong like you and would probably pick him) Master of Ships- Corlys Velaryon Master of Whisperers- Bryden Rivers (Honestly the hardest choice. Larys Strong and Varys are good but plot to much. Mysaria is a great choice honestly) Lord Commander of the Kingsguard- Duncan the Tall (If we are talking about the Lord Commander being an advisor Duncan is a great moral compass and insight into the smallfolk like you said) (We know to little of Aemon Targaryen and how he may advise a King)

Varys turned Aerys against Rhaegar, plotted with Illyrio to bring a Dothraki army against Robert’s realm, and set the Tyrell’s and the Lannisters against each other under Tommen. By contrast, Bloodraven was responsible for alerting Daeron of the first Blackfyre rebellion, killing several Blackfyre heirs, putting down two further Blackfyre rebellions (including aborting one while magically disguised). Explain to me how Varys is better again?

This is a truly goated small council!

I can understand the reasoning behind all of them but I could see a problem regarding representation. You basically have 3 people who derive from Essos (Viserys, Varys and Corlys), one from Kings Landing (Duncan), one Maester and two Lennisters. Even though each member (maybe except Varys) is loyal I can see some of the other Kingdoms being jealous of the Lennisters for having two members while all other Kingdoms basically have nobody representing them. This might cause problems.

Similare video idea: What would be the best setup or great lords for a prosperous realm? So which Stark, Lannister, Tyrell etc. from history was the best

Going to say this... every Master of Whispers we know nothing about did a better job than Varys, Rivers, or Strong... why? We know nothing about them, that's why. They did their stuff, kept things quiet, and faded into the background.

no mention of Gerald Hightower the White bull is kinda crazy

You’d disqualify Bloodraven because there’s a chance he’d try to overthrow his liege and then pick Varys who has literally been plotting against his liege (and previous lieges) from the start?

Hand of The King: Ser Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers Grand Maester: Hareth Master of Laws: Ser Kevan Lannister Master of Coin: Rego Draz Master of Ships: Alyn “The Oakenfist” Velaryon Master of Whisperers: Qyburn Lord Commander of The Kingsguard: Ser Criston “The Kingmaker” Cole Advisor: Nymeria Sand Advisor: Ser Torrhen Manderly Advisor: Mathis Rowan

If I remember correctly cersi changed the names in a deranged attempt at curbing any ambitious members I.E. "you are *Master* of nothing I AM THE QUEEN"

There isn’t a perfect analogy to medieval England, but I’ve always guessed the Master of Laws was in charge of the system of courts at the king’s level and at the local levels. The other options lead back to the power of the Small Council or Hand of the King (chief justiciars / chancellors / curia regia / et cetera). Just a guess, though.

Aemon and Baelon (sons of Jaehaerys) and Baelor Breakspear all deserve consideration for their fine council work during their fathers' reigns

Thats a good choice. Although i would switch Tyland with Rego Draz. Two Lannisters in a small council seems a bit excessive,i would imagine the realm would grumbling about it. 🤣

I would replace Kevan with Stannis for Master of Laws. I also think this move allows you to have Bloodraven as your Master of Whisperers. The fear of bloodraven might be overshadowed by a Stannis who would enact Justice on those identified as problems to the crown. Just my thoughts

Didn’t Cersei also change the name of the master of ships? Also a best possible council made of people who haven’t already done it would be a great video!

Is having two Lannisters on the small council wise? Nothing to say about their competency, but giving House Lannister too much power over affairs might give them ideas, and might also cause some jealousy among other houses who weren't picked. For this reason, I'm giving master of laws to Lyonnel Strong. I don't care if his competent protrayal was show only; he was master of laws during one of the most peaceful times so he must have been at least somewhat competent.

I think master of law is a between congressman and supreme judge. He makes laws, supervises other judges and dispenses justice.

8:12 Having Varys as master of whisper is such a shit idea. The most important thing about a spy master is trust and you can't trust Varys. Bloodraven is the only master of whisper to have proven is loyalty which is worth the bad kinslayer reputation plus most of the bad press he gets is when he become hands through one of the most troubled times in Westeros and it's clear he is use as a scapegoat.

I don’t know if Dany will have the best small council but she’ll definitely have the most interesting Tyrion as hand Barriston as lord commander Victerian as master of ships Marwin as grand maester

Correct me if I’m wrong, but if I remember right Cersei renames a bunch of if not all the positions and uses Essosi names instead of the traditional “Master of” ones, and I think her justification is that she will have “no masters” on her council. Might be misremembering but that’s what I recall.

What I love about Game if Thrones is that basically all of the first small council member shown are actually really, really competent men who know what they're doing, including Pycelle despite what he's trying to show and maybe excluding Renly. Had they shared their interests the kingdom would be in its golden age, but as it stands Robert's council was just a snake den with each snake having it's own ambition.

Surprised the Lannisters got two spots. That’s 1/2 of all the spots they could have gotten

Master of Laws: Septon Barth Master of Ships: Lord Stannis Baratheon Master of Coin: Prince Viserys Targaryen (the future king, brother of Aegon III) Master of Whisperers: Lord Larys Strong Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Ser Aemon Targaryen (the Dragonknight) Grand Maester: Maester Aemon (of the Night's Watch) Hand of the King: Lord Tywin Lannister

I don't think it's pronounced "justa-car". I think it's more like "jus-TISS-ee-ar". . .

Isn't there also meant to be a Master of War or am I imagining that?

Good list, but rego draz as master of coin was at least worth a mention

I am rewatching GoT currently as I never finished watching it. THIS time I am paying attention to the props and lighting, etc. Holy SHITE! It is changing the entire show-making it SO much better. Even the first seasons! Look at that tapestry behind them-you get different parts of it lit up in different scenes and it is playing out wtf happened at the Trident. Look at the Hands symbol-it is a Garth hand holding a wreath of green fire when you see it in stained glass in the Tower of the Hand. Look at the shadows of the characters! Soe of them have 2 some have none and some of them have shadows going in ways they should not due to the CLEVER use of lighting and blue filtered night. Arya has the sound of crickets and locusts playing for her lowkey even during the day-it is ALWAYS night for her. Sansa has the sound of birds lowkey in her scenes. Dany has the cricket night sounds during the daytime as well. House of the Dragon is doing the same thing so i went back to look at GoT and I think I was wrong-there is a chance the show was SUPER brilliant good shit. What they are doing is the coolest crossover from OLD theater to modern screen I have ever seen. The Masters-text and show, Essos or Westeros-masters are in a ton of danger once named as masters.

This video is to remind the King that his network is his net worth.

Rego Draz would be a better overall naster of coin in my opinion. He had a solid career as master of coin. Also Tyland to things were not typical duties of the master coin.

Doesn't pick bloodraven because he's not good for the monarchs he's served ... Goes on to pick VARYS!?

The Hooded Hand!

cersei doesn't change the name of the office out of nowhere!! she clearly states that the only master in the council should be herself hence the name changes for every 'master'.

Thumbs up for the TWD reference.

Tbf if stannis and ywin where on roberts it would be pretty great

I think we interpreted Master of Laws differently. I never saw him as a judge, that's the Hand's job, and I never saw him as a legislator, that's the council/king's job. I always saw it as more of an enforcer of the King's laws. I think I recent holder is a good example: Randyll Tarly. He's out enacting the King's Peace, one of the most important laws there is. I saw him more

Sandoq the shadow for the kings guard position.

What around Rego Draz as master of coin?

Best hand of the king- bloodraven Best master of whispers- bloodraven Best master of coin- bronn Best master of ships- stannis Best master of laws- daemon Best lord commander- barriston selmy Best grand maester- qyburn

She also changed the title of master of ship's to lord admiral not just judiciary

Ah yes! The Grand Medicine Person. Key member in the council.

Not picking bloodraven is criminal, even if people were scared and revolted he would take care of them just like with the blackfyre rebellions.

3:48 she rename the SC offices just for ego as far as I remember, to have no other masters on the council besides her

Now we need a video on the worst Small Council

Didn't Cersei rename the master of laws because she didn't want there to be so many "masters" around because the title implied power greater than hers or something? Idk though, I don't really remember