Alone In The World - TV Tropes

Alone in the World is a A Song of Ice and Fire fanfic written by Narea where Stannis Baratheon dies shortly after Jon Arryn, leaving his seat vacant. So King Robert decides to do his friend Eddard Stark a good turn... by naming Ned's illegitimate son Jon Snow as Lord of Dragonstone.

Can also be read here.

Tropes that that appear in this fanfic:

• Adaptational Explanation: The story provides one for what happened to Morning, the dragon of Daemon Targaryen's daughter Rhaena (a case of What Happened to the Mouse? in canon). Before Rhaena married Garmund Hightower, she hid Morning in the caverns on Dragonstone and placed her dragon into an enchanted sleep.
• Adaptational Karma: In canon, the Tyrells appeared to have suffered nothing from supporting the Mad King during Robert's Rebellion despite losing. Here, Loras squiring under Renly was intended to place him as a hostage not unlike Ned taking Theon to Winterfell after the Greyjoy Rebellion.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • In the books, it's unclear whether or not Renly is aware that Cersei's children are really her brother Jaime's offspring. Here, he definitely knows as he puts his plan to place Margaery into Robert's bed into action, albeit with Adaptational Sympathy since Renly believes he's next on the list if Cersei's conducting a purge after both Jon Arryn and Stannis died.
  • In the books, Petyr does not take direct action against the Starks aside from Lysa's letter implicating the Lannisters until Ned comes south to the capitol. Here, Littlefinger's pettiness towards the Starks extends to the entire North, as he's imposed an import duty on grain in winter which can be waived by the Faith, conveniently placing a stranglehold on the North. And then it's revealed that he's been participating in the slave trade.
  • It's implied that Grand Maester Pycelle deliberately worsened King Robert's wounds in canon as he suffers serious wounds from the boar but is still able to stand in this version while being treated by a second Maester.
• Adapted Out: Melisandre. The author states that since Melisandre didn't show up at Dragonstone until after Stannis returned there following Jon Arryn's death, she'd have no need to go there in this timeline because he's dead.
• Altar Diplomacy:
  • Margaery has known that she would be a pawn in her family's schemes to marry into the royal house as long as she can remember.
  • Ned is able to dissuade Robert from sending assassins after Daenerys by suggesting that the Narrow Sea lords be tied to the Reach by marrying Jon to Margaery, which would cut off their support.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's left to the reader to decide whether or not Jon knows Valyrian from his lessons under Maester Luwin or his memories as Daemon Targaryen.
• Ancestral Name: Jon learns that Lyanna gave him the first name Daemon, for Prince Daemon "The Rogue Prince" Targaryen.
• Ancestral Weapon:
  • Jon somehow finds Dark Sister, the Valyrian steel sword wielded by such illustrious Targaryens like Queen Visenya, Daemon the Rogue Prince, Aemon the Dragonknight, and Bloodraven, hidden at Winterfell.
  • The valyrian steel dagger used to attack Bran has a long history dating back to Old Valyria, having been taken to Dragonstone when the Targaryens left Valyria. The dagger was subsequently passed down the Targaryen family line until the Mad King Aerys II, who had it on his person when he was killed. Robert Baratheon subsequently put it in his collection upon becoming King.
• And Then What?: Ned realizes that Jon Arryn didn't seem to have any idea about how to handle the critical information about the Queen's illegitimate children; the most likely scenario would have been war between the Baratheons and the Lannisters as Tywin wouldn't have allowed his daughter's disgrace and his grandchildren's disinheritance, to say nothing of calling in the crown's debts.
• Anger Born of Worry: Ned is furious with Jon when he sees him in King's Landing and berates him for breaking his promise to stay away from the capital, but relents when Jon tells him what he knows.
• Armor Is Useless: Justified when Jon uses a Valyrian steel dagger to kill Gregor Clegane, with the higher-quality blade penetrating boiled leather and mail under his assailant's armpit.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Margaery Tyrell is primarily a supporting character in the King's Landing arcs in the books but is one of the main characters here.
  • Aurane Waters is a minor character whose appearances are mostly isolated to Book 4 but he has his own POV chapters viewing Jon's actions from an outsider's perspective.
• Asshole Victim: Nobody mourns Littlefinger's death at Robert's hands due to his corruption. The only person who raises a fuss is Ned, and mainly due to the coverup.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite how much Robert liked to needle Stannis, he is horrified when he learns the truth about "his" children and thinks that Stannis was murdered as part of the coverup.
• Badass Boast: Jon gives one to Ned before participating in the tourney melee.

  "Worry not, I say, my lord. This is not how I die. Gods have a grander, more terrible fate in mind for me."

• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work:
  • When Ned confronts Littlefinger about the slaves he's imported, King Robert suddenly seizes him and kills him in a rage.
  • When Ned, Robert, and Barristan go to confront Cersei when the former reveals the truth about "his" children, Jaime realizes that Cersei slept with Lancel and strangles her to death.
• Bait-and-Switch: The letter Jon receives in Chapter 43 implies that King Robert killed Queen Cersei after learning of her infidelity. It turns out that Robert did not kill Cersei, but Jaime did.
• Betrayal by Inaction: Varys dies because his little birds refuse to obey his commands to kill Jon.
• Blood from Every Orifice: Ned knows that Littlefinger is dead when blood and some other visceral fluid starts pouring out of his ears.
• Blood Magic: Rhaena Targaryen, daughter of Daemon the Rogue Prince, worked a blood spell to place her dragon Morning into an enchanted sleep. Subsequently, Jon Snow has to use a similar spell to wake the dragon up.
• Call-Back: In Chapter 13 Olenna Tyrell claims to Ned that Margaery looks like Lyanna Stark, similar to how Renly asked Ned the same question in A Game of Thrones.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Margaery invokes this by refusing to play along with her family's plan to set her up as King Robert's mistress (later wife), declaring that she is not Alicent Hightower.
• Cool Helmet: Tobho Mott suggests making a direwolf helmet for Ned that would be indistinguishable from a direwolf's head.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Reviewers have noted that had Littlefinger been honest with Jon and given him the money necessary for the fleet instead of hoarding it out of spite because he was a Stark, his embezzlement schemes might not have been discovered and he'd still be alive.
• Culture Clash: Cressen notes to Jon that due to the Braavosi inheritance laws, accessing the money in Stannis's account with the Iron Bank is impossible because while he's Stannis's successor, he isn't his heir.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Stannis Baratheon, his wife Selyse, and their daughter Shireen all drown when their ship sinks.
  • Jon kills Gregor Clegane at the Tourney of the Hand when The Mountain attacks Loras Tyrell.
  • Varys is murdered by Jon when he discovers him removing a little bird's tongue.
  • Littlefinger is smashed headfirst into the Small Council table when King Robert learns of his dealings in the slave trade.
  • Cersei Lannister winds up being strangled when Jaime discovers her affair with Lancel.
• Death by Irony: Jon winds up killing Gregor Clegane, the man who murdered his half-brother.
• Deconstruction: The fanfic takes apart the image of Margaery Tyrell as a master manipulator. It's made clear that she's a pawn, albeit an important one, in her family's ambitions, and just wants to be normal, or as normal as a teenage noblewoman in Westeros can be. Furthermore, as a teenager, she doesn't completely think things through and her own scheme to get out of her family's plans by getting herself married to Jon backfires in a way she couldn't have imagined when she becomes pregnant, forcing her to backpedal and find a quick solution through relying on Lord Stark's counseling Robert into Altar Diplomacy.
• Dramatic Irony: Lord Velaryon griping about how Jon Snow is not of Valyrian blood while he is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen.
• Elopement: Ned tells Jon that Lyanna consented to elope with Rhaegar, aided and abetted by Benjen, in an attempt to escape her Arranged Marriage to Robert.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Jon and Ned both briefly muse that for the Targaryens' incestuous ways, they never boasted about taking their siblings' virginity unlike Littlefinger.
  • King Robert is enraged by Littlefinger's involvement in the slave trade and kills him on the spot.
• Fainting: Margaery suddenly faints when The Mountain attacks Loras Tyrell. While the accepted explanation is that she suffered an attack of nerves from her brother being attacked, it's really because she's pregnant.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Littlefinger and his hatred for the Starks. First, he refuses to loan Jon money allegedly because of the Crown's debts, leading to Ned completely distrusting him from the outset after learning through Jon of Littlefinger's slander against Catelyn. With some help from Margaery, Jon starts investigating the accounts, discovering Littlefinger's involvement in the slave trade. When Littlefinger's involvement is revealed, he foolishly plays a word game with the king, who smashes his head in.
  • The Mountain has his famous temper, being so angry and fixated on attacking Jon that he gets distracted and doesn't notice the knife going for his armpit.
• Food as Bribe: Jon decides to see if he can lessen petty crime in Flea Bottom by giving out food, then if information can be exchanged for food.
• Foreign Cuss Word: After killing Varys, Jon starts muttering some curse words in the trade talk and is astounded when the little birds understand him, which clues him in that they're not from Westeros.
• Forensic Accounting: Jon discovers Varys and Littlefinger's independent dabbles in the slave trade by noting a shipment of lace from Lys. Lace almost never comes from Lys (lace more often comes from Myr) and certainly not in large quantities, meaning it is a cover for some other cargo. He passes his findings to his "father" Ned and Wyman Manderly, who intercept a shipment of pleasure slaves.
• Generation Xerox:
  • Margaery decides to emulate her grandmother Olenna and seeks a way out of her family's schemes by finding a bachelor who would be a suitable match for her, which is how she sets her cap at Jon Snow.
  • Like his father Steffon, Stannis Baratheon drowns during a storm along with his wife, in a situation that implies foul play.
  • Jon Snow learns that his true father Prince Rhaegar had eloped with his "aunt" Lyanna Stark so she could escape her match with Robert Baratheon. Jon meanwhile upended the plans of Renly Baratheon to marry Margaery Tyrell to King Robert, with Margaery being a young lady who is said to resemble Lyanna.
• Grand Theft Me: In Chapter 20, Daemon Targaryen briefly takes over Jon as he sees patterns developing with how Margaery was sent to court to woo the married King Robert, much like Alicent Hightower had been sent to do the same for Viserys I.
• HA HA HA—No: After a Spit Take, this is Ned's reaction when Olenna Tyrell asks if Margaery looks like Lyanna.
• Head Crushing: Littlefinger is killed by being repeatedly slammed into the Small Council table headfirst.

  Littlefinger could not call anyone anything as the king had him by the throat, squeezing as he smashed his head into the table again and again. He did not stop, even as there was a sickening crunch of bone. He did not stop until a queer liquid started to leak out of the man's ears, and he let go and backed away, clearly startled.

• He Knows Too Much:
  • While unconfirmed, it's generally agreed on by characters in-universe that Stannis Baratheon was murdered to keep him silent for one secret or another in the capitol; the Tyrells think Cersei had him killed to keep the secret of her children's illegitimacy spreading, while Jon believes Littlefinger had him silenced over the Master of Coin's corrupt practices, especially since one of the victims was Stannis's personal paymaster.
  • Varys attempts to have Jon killed by his little birds for catching him in the middle of removing one of their tongues. His orders fall on deaf ears however, and Jon kills him.
• Help, I'm Stuck!: Ned gets trapped under the passed-out King Robert when Jaime kills Cersei and Ser Barristan runs to pull Jaime off of her.
• Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Lord Velaryon insults Jon in High Valyrian, only for Jon to reveal he also knows High Valyrian and puts him in his place.
• Hypocrite: Margaery notes that for all Cersei lectures about a lady's duty to her husband, here she is, having committed treason by cheating on King Robert.
• I Have Your Wife: Loras squiring at Storm's End is explained as part of the Tyrells' penance for siding with the Targaryens during Robert's Rebellion.
• Impoverished Patrician: Jon discovers that despite Stannis's frugal ways, he was having a hard time with money because the Narrow Sea houses were dragging their feet when it came to paying taxes, he didn't trust Littlefinger (for very good reasons) and as a result had to pay for the royal fleet out of his own pocket. And the captains hadn't been paid for some time by the time Jon arrived because their wages had been on the ship that was sunk.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Despite Margaery being out of Cersei's hair through the former's marriage to Jon, the two still wind up butting heads.
  • It's briefly mentioned that Viserys Targaryen had a pot of melted gold poured on his head as in canon.
  • King Robert still gets gored by a boar, though this time he survives.
• Insult Backfire: Queen Cersei is clearly excited about ridding herself of Margaery, another "younger and more beautiful queen" who could take her position, by foisting a man of illegitimate birth on her. Margaery on the other hand had been planning on marrying Jon from the start, and is pleased that Lord Stark was able to arrange things for her.
• Internal Reveal:
  • In Chapter 20, Margaery reveals to Ned and Jon that Robert and Cersei's children aren't actually Robert's when Ned asks why there are plots surrounding Robert remarrying while he is still currently married.
  • Ned tells Robert about Barra in Chapter 25.
• Irony: The Tyrells wanted to marry Margaery to Prince Rhaegar's son Aegon. She winds up marrying Aegon's younger half-brother Daemon, better known as Jon Snow.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • On paper, Littlefinger's refusal to reimburse Jon for the money used to pay the royal fleet seems reasonable since the money can't be tracked any further... if Littlefinger wasn't hoarding the gold out of spite.
  • Grand Maester Pycelle is leading a coverup for Littlefinger's death, but it would be very bad publicity if the Crown was found to be involved in the slave trade.
• Make It Look Like an Accident:
  • If Stannis was murdered, the most likely method was sabotaging his ship and writing off the death as sinking in a storm.
  • After Robert kills Littlefinger, Grand Maester Pycelle wastes little time spinning a propaganda story that the man fell to his death.
• Malicious Slander: Littlefinger attempts to turn Ned against some of his allies by spreading lies about them. The first time he insinuates that Jon is a gambler, which Ned knows is untrue because Jon is there on his business to keep an eye on Catelyn, while the second time, he implies that Jory Cassel is looking for a whorehouse, which leads into revealing Barra to Ned.
• The Man Behind the Man: As in canon, Lord Mace Tyrell generally guides his family's moves, but his mother Olenna ultimately has the final word on which moves to take. Most significantly, the plot to have Margaery seduce King Robert is done with her approval.
• Missed Him by That Much: While contemplating Lady Catelyn's presence in King's Landing, Jon nearly stumbles on the true culprits in Jon Arryn's death, noting that the Lannisters had nothing to gain from killing an old man and were not in a position to have had Stannis killed (they would have been gone from the capitol when Stannis died), while Lysa Arryn, who presumably left the capitol on short notice, still had plenty of time to prepare a secret message.
• Mood Whiplash: After Jaime kills Cersei, the readers are treated to a scene of Ned trying to give orders while trapped under the unconscious King Robert.
• The Mourning After: Maester Cressen makes it clear that while he may serve Jon Snow, his heart will always mourn Stannis whom he'd loved like a son, as well as Stannis's daughter Shireen.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Ned notes that should he bring an accusation against Cersei with evidence provided by an unreliable source like Littlefinger, he'd be executed and with Robb still needing a regent, Littlefinger could take advantage of the ensuing chaos to ingratiate himself with both the Arryn and Stark families since their ladies are his childhood friends, which is exactly what happens in the books when Littlefinger's named Lord Protector of the Vale via his marriage to Lysa (whom he also murders) and seeks to place himself as the man behind Sansa if she reclaims the North.
  • Mace Tyrell's uncle Garth keeps being recommended and turned down for Master of Coin throughout the fourth book. He finally makes it this time due to Littlefinger's death.
  • The conversation between Ned and Jaime in the black cells where Jaime boasts that he was more faithful to his lovers than Ned, leading to someone realizing that Jaime tried to kill Bran echoes Catelyn's talk with Jaime in A Clash of Kings.
• The Nose Knows: Ghost smells Margaery's unborn child at the wedding.
• Not Me This Time: Jon dismisses the Lannisters as the perpetrators behind Stannis's death because they would have been too far away to order it.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Ned has to allow himself to be led along by Littlefinger to the brothel where Catelyn is staying, even though he already knows where she is.
• Obviously Evil: Jon notes that Littlefinger is clearly bad news by looking at how young maidens shy away from him.
• Oh, Crap!: Renly visibly pales when Ned suggests a marriage between Margaery and Jon because his plans for Margaery by marrying her to Robert are just about to go up in smoke.
• Old Retainer: Jon's steward had served at Dragonstone for many years previously under Prince Rhaegar but had been dismissed out of Undying Loyalty to the Targaryens when Stannis Baratheon became the lord. Despite being old, he was quick to resume his post when asked.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: Lord Velaryon notes bitterly that while he disliked Stannis Baratheon as the Lord of Dragonstone because he was the brother of the Usurper, he respected him on account of his Valyrian blood through his grandmother.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Stannis Baratheon was known for being prudent and frugal with money, so Jon realizes how serious events are because Stannis was moving money around, hiring troops for war.
  • Lord Mathis Rowan and Lord Lucerys Velaryon hated each other, so Aurane is surprised to see Lord Rowan looking to Lord Monford to wed Lord Rowan's daughter to take her off the marriage market.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Discussed. Ned realizes that should he die while in King's Landing, Littlefinger would be in prime position to take advantage of his friendship with Catelyn to act as a regent for Robb and hold power in both the Vale and the North.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Tywin outlives Cersei in this timeline due to Jaime learning she slept with Lancel and killing her.
• Papa Wolf: When Ned learns that Jaime pushed Bran, he nearly kills him before Jon stops him.
• Past-Life Memories: Jon has spent years dreaming from the perspective of Daemon Targaryen, following the man's life from childhood all the way up to his death. This gives him surprising insight in his own life, such as knowing the layouts of both the Red Keep and Dragonstone intimately, including the hidden passages and rooms, and realizing that Littlefinger is actually a terrible Master of Coin by comparing him to Lord Lyman Beesbury, to say nothing of Daemon's own experience in that position.
• Perspective Flip:
  • Chapter 4 has Margaery meeting Jon for the first time after an argument with Littlefinger. Chapter 7 has the same scene but from Jon's point of view after learning of the dire straits Dragonstone is in.
  • Chapter 27 has Jon bringing up a child missing its tongue to the Tower of the Hand, followed up in the next chapter by Jon revealing to Ned that he killed Varys for cutting out the tongue. Chapter 29 takes the reader with Jon as he investigates the dungeons and kills Varys.
• Plot-Triggering Death: Stannis Baratheon's sudden death before the first chapter winds up opening a hole in the lordships of the Crownlands which Robert attempts to fill by naming Jon Lord of Dragonstone. Renly thinks that Cersei is behind Stannis's death, so he arranges for Loras to bring Margaery to the capitol to woo Robert as a means of self-preservation.
• Politeness Judo: While being walked down the aisle for her wedding, Margaery gets a dig at her family's plan to marry her to King Robert by noting that Jon is at least in her age range.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: King Robert to Littlefinger after learning he's been using the crown's money on slaves.

  "Whores? What fucking whores? Slaves! Call them what they were!"

• Promotion to Parent: Aurane Waters muses on how his brother Monford had acceded to the lordship of their house as a boy and seemed more like a father than a brother.
• Put on a Bus:
  • Catelyn is headed back to the North as of Chapter 17.
  • Tyrion Lannister isn't waylaid by Catelyn while on the way home from the Wall because Ned sends her back home via Dragonstone, and is presumably still on the road for most of the story. He eventually makes it back to the capitol by Chapter 44 though as he's imprisoned after Cersei's murder. Even so, he isn't shown receiving any judgment from Ned for his actions while Jaime and Boros Blount are judged for their parts in assisting Cersei. Also counts as The Ghost.
  • Sansa and Arya are also headed back to the North after spending several chapters at Dragonstone in Chapter 44.
  • Robert Baratheon leaves King's Landing in Chapter 46 to lay siege to the Westerlands.
• Rank Up: Garth "the Gross" Tyrell is named Master of Coin to replace the deceased Littlefinger.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Jon gives a blistering chastisement towards Ser Rodrik and Lady Catelyn for neglecting Rickon and leaving Robb to his own devices while she went gallivanting halfway down the continent, staying with and believing the word of a man who has every reason to get her husband killed and has slandered her at court.
• Reincarnation: It's indicated that Jon is a reincarnation of Prince Daemon "The Rogue Prince" Targaryen.
• Related in the Adaptation: In the books, it was left in the air whether or not the Lord Lucerys Velaryon who served as Master of Ships during the reign of King Aerys II was related to Lord Monford Velaryon and his brother Aurane Waters. Here, he is stated to be Monford and Aurane's father.
• The Resenter: Sansa is shown to be envious of the attention Arya seems to receive from their father.

  "He got her a dancing master, and she doesn't even like dancing. They promised me I would have a music master here, that I could learn the high harp, but he forgot all about that and got her a dancing master instead. I lost Lady and Nymeria went free, and she is the one that gets everything!"

• Resignations Not Accepted: Inverted. Jon offers Maester Cressen the opportunity to resign as Dragonstone's maester and live out his remaining years with those whom he knows, but Cressen declines because everyone whom he loved is dead.
• Rip Van Winkle: In Chapter 15, Jon discovers Morning, the dragon of Rhaena Targaryen, hidden on Dragonstone under an enchanted sleep for almost 170 years.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After learning that Cersei cheated on him, Robert is determined to make the Lannisters, and the Westerlands by extension, suffer for her treachery.
• Sadistic Choice: Catelyn is put in one by Ned via Jon: drink moon tea and prove she hadn't slept with Littlefinger, stay on Dragonstone with the boy she's resented for as long as she's known him until she menstruates, or be Locked Away in a Monastery.
• Scam Religion: Jon sets up worship for the Valyrian god the Merling King, which he uses fish to feed Morning.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: The elderly Olenna Tyrell is as sharp-tongued as ever, befitting her nickname the "Queen of Thorns". Just ask her daughter-in-law Alerie Hightower.

  Alerie: [Jon] was legitimized, mother.

  Olenna: Do not call me that. I did not birth you as far as I can remember and neither did Lady Stark this one.

• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Most of the staff at Dragonstone under Stannis Baratheon returned to their respective home keeps by the time Jon arrives to take possession, leaving him with a mostly clean slate aside from Maesters Cressen and Pylos and the cooks.
• The Scrooge: Stannis Baratheon was frugal with money due to both his frugal personality and simply not having a lot of money to draw on in the first place. This makes his preparations for war stand out.
• Secret-Keeper: Alerie Tyrell is the only one who knows that Margaery's baby is Jon's.
• Shipper on Deck: Both Sansa and Arya are shippers for Jon and Margaery, Sansa because she Thinks Like a Romance Novel and thinks that Margaery wants to marry Jon and Arya wants a riding companion with whom she doesn't have to act like a lady with.
• Shotgun Wedding: Jon is quickly married to Margaery Tyrell when Ned learns she's pregnant. In fact, King Robert insists on it happening quickly lest the Tyrells try to worm out of it.
• Slasher Smile: The Mountain gives "an evil grin" when Jon fumbles drawing his sword.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Jon and Ned discover that Varys and Littlefinger have separately been using the Crown's gold to buy slaves, the former buying children as his "little birds", the latter buying pleasure slaves.
• Small Role, Big Impact:
  • Stannis's paymaster has no name and doesn't appear on-page, but his death and the loss of the payments for the Royal Fleet force Jon to travel to King's Landing to (unsuccessfully) negotiate with Littlefinger to pay the captains, leading him to meet Margaery Tyrell and strike a relationship.
  • Janos Slynt only appears once, but his request for more help in the City Watch causes Jon to volunteer himself and his men. Jon discovers that some of the children have their tongues cut out, which leads to Varys being killed by Jon and his spy network being dismantled.
• Smug Snake: Littlefinger thinks he can talk his way out of any problem, which bites him in the ass when Ned finally confronts him about using the crown's money to buy pleasure slaves. Littlefinger replies that he's been buying whores for the King and doing who knows what with them to line his own pockets, which gets him killed by the irate King Robert.
• Social Climber: The Tyrells, as the youngest and least prestigious of the Great Houses, want to see a King with their blood on the Iron Throne one way or another. They wanted to wed Margaery to Prince Rhaegar's son Aegon before he was murdered by Gregor Clegane and then later tried to have Margaery seduce King Robert to become his mistress and later wife, though they have to "settle" for Jon's marriage to Margaery.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • Jon winds up placing a massive dent in Renly Baratheon and the Tyrells' plans to place Margaery as Robert's mistress and later wife when he strikes his own relationship with Margaery and impregnates her.
  • Robert himself winds up complicating things for Renly as he doesn't move from his quarters once returning to King's Landing, preventing Margaery from seeing him let alone catching his eye.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Since Ned has Catelyn sent home where she doesn't encounter Tyrion and doesn't resign the Handship because he's able to stop the assassination attempt on Daenerys, Jory Cassel winds up surviving at least a little longer. He does still wind up taking a trip to the brothel with Ned, where Littlefinger told him how to find Barra.
  • Since Jon kills The Mountain and therefore he cannot be sent to Rape, Pillage, and Burn in the Riverlands, this means that Beric Dondarrion will likely survive.
  • King Robert survives his wounds from the boar.
• Spit Take: Ned does one when Olenna tells him that Margaery looks like Lyanna.
• Stout Strength: King Robert is an Adipose Rex, but he can still execute a Neck Lift and throw people as Littlefinger finds out the hard way.
• Succession Crisis: Westeros is barreling towards one even faster than in canon. As in canon, Robert has no legitimate children because who he thinks are his children are really his wife's illegitimate children, but this time around Stannis and his daughter are dead, leaving the unmarried Renly as the last possible heir.
• Sucksessor: Jon sees Littlefinger as an inferior Master of Coin compared to old Lord Beesbury due to letting King Robert's spending spiral out of control; at least part of this is corruption.
• Teen Pregnancy: As usual for the setting, Margaery is 15 or 16 when she has her first child with Jon.
• Tell Me How You Fight: Margaery contrasts Loras's fighting style with Jon's. Both are graceful swordsmen, but Loras is flashy and likes to show off while Jon is efficient and pragmatic, seeking for a killing blow with every strike.
• Their First Time: Jon and Margaery have their first tryst in Chapter 11 in a cove just outside the city.
• Unconventional Wedding Dress: The wedding dress Cersei has commissioned for Margaery to wear for her wedding to Jon.

  The dress was of a simple cut yet pretty, almost entirely made of light green silk that left her feeling almost naked, and she hated the immodest deep slash in its bodice almost to her belly button with an uncommon passion. The only allowance for gold had been the almost sheer Myrish lace that filled the slash, and it chaffed at her breasts, making her squirm, with every movement. There had been no place for a shift under the light silk and the near transparent lace.

• Unexpected Inheritance: Jon goes from being a bastard unlikely to inherit anything from his father to becoming a principal vassal in the Crownlands.
• Unstoppable Rage: King Robert is truly a terror when angered. His reaction to learning he's been bedding slaves is to smash someone's head in and when he learns that his "children" aren't actually his, he gets up with assistance, despite being partially gutted, and makes his way to Cersei's bedchamber as fast as he can.
• Victory Through Intimidation: Jon cows his vassals in the Narrow Sea islands by revealing that he knows High Valyrian, making Hiding Behind the Language Barrier a useless venture.
• Wham Episode: Due to Perspective Flip, multiple successive chapters can account for a single incident.
  • Chapter 15: Jon discovers Morning, the dragon of Rhaena Targaryen.
  • Chapters 19 and 20: Jon and Ned learn the truth about King Robert's children and of the multiple conspiracies surrounding the brewing Succession Crisis. On top of all that, Margaery is pregnant.
  • Chapters 29 through 31: Jon discovers the human trafficking schemes run by Varys and Littlefinger independent of each other. The resulting fallout results in the two biggest conspirators in King's Landing winding up dead.
  • Chapter 44: King Robert is wounded by the boar but survives, while Jaime murders Queen Cersei in a fit of rage when he discovers her affair with their cousin Lancel.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: According to the author, Ser Davos Seaworth is still alive but unaccounted for.
• Why Are You Not My Son?: Sansa and Margaery each have a moment where they wish for the other as a sister. It winds up coming true when Jon marries Margaery.
• Would Hurt a Child: Jon discovers Varys removing the tongue of one of his "little birds".
• You Didn't Ask: Inverted when Margaery talks about the tongueless children at dinner. Ned chides her because Arya is there, but Margaery responds that he did ask.
• You Don't Want to Catch This: Ned and Wyman Manderly issue the seizure of any cargo coming out of Lys under pretense of quarantine. Unlike typical applications of this trope, the threat of disease is used to stop illegal cargo coming in, in this case slaves.