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Wyman Manderly's Masterplan | In Deep Geek | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Wyman Manderly's Masterplan
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Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbor is a master strategist in Westeros, meticulously using his public persona as a gluttonous and weak lord to orchestrate a deep-seated plan for revenge against the Freys and Boltons, and to restore the Starks to power in the North.
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The North remembers and Wyman Manderly
seems to be behind a lot of what's going
on in the North in A Dance with Dragons.
But what is his plan? Let's take a look.
Hi everyone, this is Robert. Welcome to
In Deep Geek. On this channel, we cover
A Song of Ice and Fire, The Lord of the
Rings, The Witcher, and other great
fantasy books and TV shows. Welcome. In
the absence of the Starks and with the
Boltons in the ascendancy, leadership of
the loyalist north is in something of a
vacuum as a dance with dragons starts.
Most of the great houses in the north
recognize that in the short term at
least, they need to acknowledge the
Bolton's new rulership. But most have
also lost loved ones at the Red Wedding
or find they have heirs or family
members prisoners of the Lannisters or
Freys. They aren't happy and that's
putting it mildly. They need to play the
game while winter is coming and the
North is struggling. B their time until
they know who is on their side and can
pull together a true northern alliance
of Stark loyalists. They need a leader.
Enter Wyman Manderly. It has to be
admitted Wyman Manderly is an unlikely
hero. Friend and foe alike note that he
is too fat to sit a horse. Instead, on
long journeys, he is carried in a litter
with plenty of breaks for meals and
other refreshments. He doesn't just have
a double chin. He has four. He moves
slowly, appears amiable and without firm
principles. A bit of a walkover
basically. Imagine Viceris I before the
start of the Dance of the Dragons. Liked
by many, but not famed for his iron
will. That rather portly figure and
flabby reputation didn't happen
overnight. Wyman overindulged for years
during the long piece of Robert
Baratheon's rule. If we were to defend
him, we would point out that he was head
of the only city in the north and
probably the richest house. White Harbor
and its citizens thrived under his rule.
Perhaps he had earned a little bit of
overeating. Anyway, as far as even his
loyal citizens were concerned, he was
Lord Lamprey. To others, Lord Lard or
even Lord Pig. The thing is, this is all
a front. Wyman Manderly is very aware of
his public image and uses it extremely
effectively to get what he wants as we
will see later in this video and he does
have principles is ruthless and brave
willing to put himself in danger to
achieve his objectives.
Taking a step back for a moment, let's
just acknowledge that House Mandly are
one of the most loyal houses to House
Stark in the entire North. Many northern
houses are only bannerman to the Starks
because at some point in the past the
Starks defeated them in battle. They
used to be kings of their own lands in
their own right and now have to accept
their diminished role. Not so the
Manderlys, who though I'll do their
whole history in another video, were at
their lowest eb, kicked from their lands
in the south when the Starks welcomed
them, allowed them to keep their own
culture and worship their own gods, and
gave them command of what became White
Harbor. House Manderly grew stronger and
richer and prouder than ever, and they
swore eternal loyalty to the Starks.
When Ned called the banners in Robert's
Rebellion, the Manderlyes were there.
When Rob called them again in the main
story, they were there again. It will be
a regular occurrence in these videos
looking at the Northern Alliance that
houses lost loved ones at the Red
Wedding. It wasn't just Rob and Cat who
were killed. Dozens of Northern houses
lost heirs, soldiers, and loved ones.
either killed by the Boltons and Freys
or captured. Yes, these houses we are
looking at are loyal to the Starks, but
they also have personal grievances
against the Boltons and Freys. Wyman had
two sons and sent both of them to
support Rob. Wendell was killed at the
twins and Willis captured by the
Lannisters in the Battle of the Fors of
the Trident. It was clear that Wyman's
priority was to get his remaining son
back alive and after that get revenge on
those who had wronged his family. Oh,
and restore the Starks to power if he
could. To get Willis back, he had to
persuade Tywin Lannister that he would
be loyal to them and the Boltons. He
starts with the obvious moves, replying
with an obfasticating letter to
Stannis's demand for feelalty, publicly
refusing to entertain Robert Glover's
attempts to raise forces for the clearly
stark loyalist Glover remnants, taking
down any Stark banners over the city.
Then, when three Freys arrive with
Wendell's Bones, he welcomes them while
clearly negotiating with first Tywin,
then Cersei for the release of Willis.
His chance to prove his absolute loyalty
came with the arrival of Davos Seaworth.
Stannis's Hand of the King in White
Harbor. That Davos chapter in A Dance
with Dragons is a wonderful read, and it
is clear that Wyman puts on a braver
performance in complimenting his fray
guests, dismissing Davos's please and
condemning him to death. Sure enough,
the next day, a head dipped in tar with
an onion in its mouth, and a hand with
shortened fingers appeared on spikes on
the walls of the city. It was enough for
Cersei to accept Wyman's loyalty.
Perhaps it might not have been enough
for Tywin, but we'll never know. And she
ordered the release of Willis Manderly,
who duly arrived back in White Harbor
sometime later. It seems that particular
deal cost Wyman Manderly 3,000 golden
dragons, the marriages of three close
members of his family to the phrase, and
a pledge of loyalty to the new rulers.
But he got back his son and clearly had
no intention of going through with any
of the rest of it. which is when we, the
reader, get to see everything Wyman had
been doing behind the scenes. We already
knew from Davos being observant that he
had been upping the defenses of the city
and was building ships out of sight.
Just as an aside, there were hints early
on that Wyman Manderly had more layers
than most people credited him with. Bran
notes in A Clash of Kings that Lord
Wyman dances gracefully despite his
size, and also that he looks at him with
less pity in his eyes than most other
lords. But now we get this. Davos had
obviously not been executed, but instead
held prisoner away from everyone else in
reasonable comfort. It has to be said.
Robert Glover had not been refused aid,
but instead brought into the inner
circle of confidants. Wyman himself
picks up the story talking to Davos.
I did not dare defy King's Landing so
long as my last living son remained a
captive. Lord Tywin Lannister wrote me
himself to say that he had Willis. If I
would have him freed unharmed, he told
me, I must repent my treason, yield my
city, declare my loyalty to the boy king
on the iron throne and bend my knee to
Roose Bolton, his warden of the north.
Should I refuse, Willis would die a
traitor's death. White Harbor would be
stormed and sacked, and my people would
suffer the same fate as the reigns of
Castmir. I am fat, and many think that
this makes me weak and foolish. Mayhaps
Tywin Lannister was one such. I sent him
back a raven to say that I would bend my
knee and open my gates after my son was
returned, but not before. There the
matter stood when Tywin died. Afterward
the phrase turned up with Wendell's
bones to make a piece and seal it with a
marriage pact, they claimed. But I was
not about to give them what they wanted
until I had Willis safe and whole. And
they were not about to give me Willis
until I proved my loyalty. Your arrival,
he says to Davos, gave me the means to
do that. That was the reason for the
discourtesy I showed you in the merman's
court, and for the head and hands
rotting above the seal gate. Even the
nature of that meeting between Wyman and
Davos shows the depths of Wyman's
deception. I have just come from the
high table, Lord Wyman went on. I have
eaten too much as ever, and all White
Harbor knows my barrels are bad. My
friends of Frey will not question a
lengthy visit to the privy, we hope.
Wyman Manderly is using his own
well-earned reputation for gluttony and
long trips to the privy to plot and
build alliances. A tactic he will
continue to use when in Winterfell. It
might not be pleasant to think about,
but it is next level deceptive, years in
the making and effective. Wyman Manderly
is a first rate player of the Game of
Thrones. Anyway, it emerges that he and
Robert Glover have been questioning Wex,
a survivor of the burning of Winterfell,
who told them that Bran and Rickon
survived. Bran is who knows where, but
Rickon is apparently on Skagos. Davos is
sent to Skagos to collect Rickon so the
Northern Lords have someone to rally
behind. In return, he will bend the knee
to Stannis. This is pure pragmatism from
Wyman, by the way. There's no indication
he particularly cares about Stannis or
his claim, but Stannis currently has a
large army in the north and is opposed
to the Boltons and is seemingly keen to
restore the Starks to Winterfell, the
enemy of my enemy, etc. Which is when
things get a bit dark. We leave Davos at
that point. We'll presumably pick up on
him early in the Winds of Winter, but
Wyman Manderly has been entertaining
three Freys, who brought back the bones
of his other son, Wendell, but his
loathing for them is clear. They
murdered his son and now he is supposed
to marry his own family to them and has
to pretend to be loyal and supplicant.
Just listen to him speak. Foes and false
friends are all around me, Lord Davos.
They infest my city like roaches, and at
night I feel them crawling over me. The
fat man's fingers coiled into a fist,
and all his chins trembled. My son
Wendell came to the twins a guest. He
ate Lord Walder's bread and salt and
hung his sword upon the wall to feast
with friends and they murdered him.
Murdered, I say. And may the phrase
choke upon their fables. I drink with
Jared, jape with Simmon, promise Rhaegar
the hand of my own beloved
granddaughter. But never think that
means I have forgotten. The North
remembers, Lord Davos. The North
remembers, and the Mama's far is almost
done. My son is home.
Something about the way Lord Wyman said
that chilled Davos to the bone. Sure
enough, Wyman soon accepts Roose
Bolton's summons to attend him at
Bariton and sets off very slowly. So
slowly that the three phrase Jared,
Simmon, and Rhaegar ride on a head on
horses given to them as a gift by Wyman
Manderly. It's a subtle point, but
probably important to Wyman Manderly. We
all know that giving a gift of bread and
salt was a sign and promise of
guestright, protection under your host's
roof. Giving a gift on leaving was an
official end to guest right. And those
three phrase riding their gift horses
disappeared. It's all a bit suspicious
and the more switched on phrase
acknowledge it. This is host Frey
confronting Wyman about it. Where are my
kin Manderly? Tell me that your guests
who brought your son back to you. His
bones, you mean? Manderly speared a
chunk of ham with his dagger. The road
has many dangers, sir. I gave your
brothers guest gifts when we took our
leave of White Harbor. We swore we would
meet again at the wedding. Many and more
bore witness to our parting. Many and
more, mocked Anes Frey, or you and yours.
yours.
What are you suggesting, Frey? The Lord
of White Harbor wiped his mouth with his
sleeve. I do not like your tone, sir.
No, not one bloody bit. Step out into
the yard, you sack of sew it, and I'll
serve you all the bloody bits that you
can stomach, Sir Hostin said.
Wyman Manderly ordered the deaths of
those three phrase, and everyone knows
it, though no one can prove it. And if
you're wondering, yes, Roose Bolton is
very aware that Wyman Mandley is only
feigning loyalty. Theon thinks that
Roose won't let Lord Mandley survive the
battle with Stannis. And Theon, even in
his current state, is surprisingly
insightful about these things. My fat
friend, Lord Wyman, plots betrayal, says
Roose, and Horsebane. The umbers may
seem simple, but they are not without a
certain low cunning. I've said many
times that the political situation at
Winterfell, when the Boltons and their
allies, real and otherwise, turn up, is
complex. And one aspect of this is that
whereas many lords arrive who may be
anti-Bolton and pro Stark, none of them
can be sure of anyone else's loyalties.
It's not just Wyman Mandley who has been
playing games. A later video in this
series will break down everyone's exact
loyalties, but it's clear that from the
start, Wyman Manderly is the main
convenor of opposition. But first,
perhaps we get his personal vengeance. I
said this would get a bit gruesome. And
at the wedding feast of Ramsay and the
fake Arya, Wyman Mandley presents Roose
and Waldder Bolton and the two most
senior phrase present with a slightly
odd wedding gift. Three huge pork pies
to match the three missing phrase. He
seems delighted with this gift. The best
pie you have ever tasted, my lords. Wash
it down with arbor gold and savor every
bite. I know I shall. He proceeds to eat
two slices of each pie, which seems
enough to convince Roose that they
aren't poisoned, at least. But still, he
seems very happy. Weirdly so. Barbrey
Dustin says to Theon that the best pork
pie we ever tasted, our fat friend would
have us believe. Have you ever seen a
fat man so happy he's almost dancing,
serving it with his own hands? All very
odd. Then on the way out, a clearly very
drunk Wyman demands the bard, Abel the
bard, sing about the rat cook. The rat
cook is a northern legend of a night's
watch cook who broke guest right, killed
a king's son, baked him in a pie, and
served him to his father. The clear
implication is that Wyman murdered the
phrase, and served them to their
relatives in revenge for the red
wedding. I said this would get gruesome,
but then Wyman has to return to the
serious business of building a
coalition, which meant meeting people in
secret, and sometimes building on his
reputation for long trips to the privy.
Roger Rizwell notes that he loves his
stakes and chops and meat pies, though
crowning the castle by dark would
require him to leave the table. The only
time he does that is when he seeks the
privy for one of his hour-long squats.
And before you know it, he seems to be
forming quite a coalition. The cryptic
snowmen I talked about a few videos ago
suggests that he has correctly
identified Hothor Horsebane Umber as a
fellow Stark loyalist, plus Lord Stout,
whose house has been eaten out of its
winter supplies by Ramsay, and maybe
even Barbrey Dustin, who hates Ramsay
perhaps even as much as she hated Ned.
What next? Well, the growing tensions
between the Freys and the Manderlys has
led Roose Bolton to send both out to
confront Stannis. Expect the Manderlys
to turn on the phrase. That battle won't
turn out how Roose or most people
expect. Willis Mandley was last seen a
broken man on his release from
Harrenhal, collapsing into a puddle on
the floor when told he would be going
home. Hopefully, he will make a
recovery, but him not going to
Winterfell means that White Harbor
remains strongly in Manderly control.
Wyman Mandley himself feels like a man
not expecting to live long. Perhaps
there is some foreshadowing in Devos
thinking that he looks like half a
corpse. He has got his son back, exacted
his revenge on the Freys and Boltons,
and set everything up for a great
Northern Alliance to rise up against
Roose Bolton and in favor of the Stark
candidate he has ordered found. What
else does he need? Wyman Madley is one
of the most underrated players of the
Game of Thrones. He has spent decades
building up a public image as a fat,
cowardly, weak leader. And now, in what
are surely the last few months of his
life, he is exploiting that image to the
maximum, taking bloody revenge where he
can, saving his family and inheritance,
and building an alliance that will bring
the Starks, his lege lords, back into
power in Winterfell. The North
remembers. Wyman Manderly remembers.
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and Fire videos, please click on the
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