00:00What is a trial of seven?
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're explaining the historic trial of seven from a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
00:09In the name of the mother, I charge you to protect the young and innocent.
00:14The Andal's Origin
00:15Before we get into this religious justice system, we have to explain the culture behind it.
00:20The Andal's.
00:21A race of tall, fair-haired warriors.
00:23They attack with fire and weapons of steel.
00:26They originated in Essos thousands of years ago, potentially coming from the Axe Peninsula,
00:31then settling in Andalos, on the northern tip of the River Rhoyne.
00:34At its widest, a man in the center can't see ashore to either side.
00:39The Andal's had feudal social structures, creating knighthood and being ruled by kings, but also war chiefs and warlords.
00:46They were some of the greatest craftsmen of their era, building fortified settlements and impressive ships.
00:51Legend says their gods, the Seven, once crowned Hugor of the Hill as their first king,
00:56alongside promising them vast kingdoms in foreign lands.
01:00You may remember Tyrion calling himself Hugor Hill early in his Book 5 villain arc.
01:04It's easy to confuse what is with what ought to be, especially when what is has worked out in your
01:10favor.
01:11The Andal Migration
01:12They eventually migrated to Westeros sometime between 6 and 2,000 years ago, depending on who you ask,
01:18landing in the Vale.
01:19This is how justice is done in the Vale.
01:23This is a direct parallel for the real-life Anglo-Saxon invasions of England.
01:28It wasn't always violent, and they eventually allowed the locals to practice their old gods after initial opposition.
01:34Is that honorable, your grace?
01:36The gods will let us know.
01:38They established many new kingdoms, then gradually culturally integrated with Westeros.
01:43It was easy for them, given that they had iron tools, while Westeros' first men only had simple bronze.
01:48It's unclear why they came.
01:50It was partially due to the promise made to Hugor, alongside the growth of Valyria.
01:55The Valyrian Freehold was then in its prime, and they made the rest of Essos suffer with dragons and forced
02:01subjugation.
02:01The Giscari Legions attacked the Valyrians five times, but could never defeat them.
02:07Finally, the Valyrians marched on their capital, Old Gis, and obliterated it,
02:13turning its streets and buildings to ash with dragon flame,
02:17and wiping the Giscari people and their culture off the face of the earth.
02:21The Faith of the Seven
02:22With them, they brought the Faith of the Seven, the now-dominant religion in southern Westeros.
02:27As the High Septon of the Faith of the Seven, I give voice to the will of the gods,
02:31and am their foremost servant in this world.
02:34An insult to me is an insult to the gods.
02:37Of course, the North still practices the Old Gods, and the Iron Islanders the Drowned God,
02:42but all other Westerosi kingdoms primarily follow the New Gods.
02:45The ambiguity means you could argue that all gods in Westeros are the same entity,
02:50or that they're all fictional.
02:51Despite the name, the Seven are different aspects of the same god,
02:55but many people, both within and outside the universe, misinterpret this.
03:00Priests of the Faith are called Septons and Septas,
03:02with the High Septon leading the religion much like the Pope.
03:05Your grace, your grace, my lords, my ladies,
03:10we stand here in the sight of gods and men
03:13to witness the union of man and wife,
03:17one flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever.
03:21If you hadn't already guessed, it is clearly inspired by Catholicism,
03:26which similarly believes God has three aspects.
03:29The mother and the father.
03:31One of the more popular aspects is the mother,
03:33who represents motherhood and mercy.
03:35Mother loved you best, huh?
03:37You may assume she's gentle,
03:39but when someone needs protecting,
03:40she can be one of the ferocious aspects.
03:43Sir Duncan believes meeting Egg was the mother's doing,
03:46as a way of repaying the gods for Sir Arlen's kindness towards him.
03:49In the name of the mother, leave that boy me!
03:54There's also the father, who is the aspect of justice.
03:57The two come together for weddings,
03:59plus they each get their own special day,
04:01which is the case for all seven aspects.
04:04So if you need defending in battle,
04:06the father might be your deity of choice.
04:08If you want to protect a loved one, then choose the mother.
04:11The mother have mercy then.
04:12The maiden and the crone.
04:14The next aspect is the maiden,
04:16who represents maidenhood.
04:17From there to here, from here to there,
04:20all black and brown and covered with hair,
04:22he smelled that girl in the summer air,
04:24the bear, the bear, and the maiden fair.
04:26Most prayers to the maiden are made to help young women,
04:29as shown when Catelyn prays for Sansa and Arya's safety.
04:32Legends claim she brought the fabled Hugor of the Hill a bride.
04:36Then the mother made her so fertile,
04:37she birthed 44 sons.
04:39You're still fertile, you need to marry again and breed.
04:42I am Queen Regent, not some brood man.
04:44You're my daughter!
04:45This was foreseen by the crone,
04:47who is the polar opposite of the maiden.
04:49She's one of the lesser-mentioned aspects
04:51who is claimed to bring wisdom to her followers.
04:53The crone always gets depicted carrying a lamp,
04:56highlighting her nature as a guiding figure.
04:58The crone came to me with her lamp raised high.
05:01The warrior and the smith.
05:03Next up is the warrior,
05:04whose name tells you almost everything about him.
05:07In the name of the warrior,
05:09I charge you to be brave.
05:10People pray for him so they might become braver,
05:13with him being most popular before battles.
05:15In a trial by combat,
05:17he's the one you ask for courage.
05:19The smith is also pretty self-explanatory.
05:22He's always seen with a hammer,
05:23and represents not just blacksmiths,
05:25but any craftsmen,
05:26including farmers and fishermen.
05:28We ask the smith to strengthen our hands and our backs,
05:31so we may finish the work required of us.
05:33Supposedly, he's the reason they have horses.
05:36If you spot someone wearing an iron hammer necklace,
05:38there's a strong chance the smith is their favorite aspect.
05:42The adored Davos Seaworth is a massive fan of the smith,
05:45praying to him every time a new ship sets sail.
05:48Wasn't sure I'd find you.
05:50The stranger.
05:51Finally, one of the most interesting aspects,
05:53the stranger.
05:54Unlike the others,
05:55people don't like him much,
05:57and barely ever pray to him.
05:58We ask the stranger not to kill us in our beds tonight
06:01for no damn reason at all.
06:02He's their equivalent of the Grim Reaper,
06:04responsible for guiding souls to the afterlife.
06:06His identity is ambiguous,
06:09with him generally being considered only half-human.
06:11According to the Faceless Men,
06:13the stranger is one face of the Many-Faced God,
06:16who similarly represents all gods of death.
06:18It is all the same to the Many-Faced God.
06:21Unlike the Faith of Seven,
06:22the Faceless Men consider death a gift,
06:24so they view these death gods
06:26in a far more positive light
06:27than their Western counterparts.
06:28If one wants to engage a faceless man,
06:31one visits the house of black and white
06:32and pays the price.
06:34As for what that may be,
06:36those who have paid it rarely speak of it.
06:38Trial by Combat
06:39Now that we've got a solid grasp on the religion,
06:42we can discuss one of their most famous customs,
06:44the trial by combat.
06:45I demand a trial by combat.
06:51It's inspired by a real-life medieval practice
06:54established by the Germanic peoples.
06:56It's believed that if you won the trial,
06:58it was the gods showing your innocence.
07:00That the gods decide if he was right or wrong.
07:03Anyone on trial can request one,
07:05but only knights can't be denied the request.
07:08If you're not a skilled fighter,
07:09you can have someone else stand in as your champion.
07:12It can be anyone,
07:13as long as you're not a member of the royal family,
07:16then it must be a member of the Kingsguard.
07:18So if Cersei Lannister were on trial,
07:20her best bet would be Jaime.
07:22Or failing that,
07:23make a zombie join the Kingsguard.
07:25What were you thinking?
07:25I was thinking of us.
07:27Trial of Seven
07:28One famous but rare variation of the custom
07:30is the Trial of Seven.
07:32The Andals believed that if seven champions fought,
07:34the gods being thus honored,
07:35would be more like to intervene
07:38and see the guilty party punished.
07:40The regular trial by combat is a one versus one,
07:43but this is a seven versus seven.
07:45Six?
07:47There are only six?
07:48It's a possible Aryan has not found a seven
07:50to take up his claim.
07:51It's believed that having seven combatants
07:53increases the likelihood of divine intervention,
07:56therefore making the trial more valid.
07:58It began way back in Andalos,
08:00but the tradition is rarely practiced in Westeros.
08:03It ends if the accuser decides to withdraw their accusation
08:06or if they're instead killed.
08:08If, conversely, the accused dies or yields,
08:11they are considered guilty.
08:12An accused can also fail the trial
08:15before it even begins
08:16if they can't get six more men to fight by their side.
08:19Milord, I beg a moment, please.
08:22You have it.
08:23Before we continue,
08:24be sure to subscribe to our channel
08:26and ring the bell to get notified
08:27about our latest videos.
08:29You have the option to be notified
08:30for occasional videos or all of them.
08:33If you're on your phone,
08:34make sure you go into your settings
08:35and switch on notifications.
08:39Famous Trials
08:40Since Aegon's Conquest,
08:42almost three centuries before Game of Thrones,
08:44there have only been two known Trials of Seven.
08:46There hasn't been a trial of the Seven for a hundred years.
08:49I wasn't about to miss a chance
08:50to bloody up the King's Garden
08:51in pretty white gowns.
08:53The first came in 42 AC
08:54when the Faith Militant revolted against the Crown.
08:57One devout follower, Daemon Morrigan,
09:00a member of the Warrior Sons,
09:02challenged King Maegor Targaryen
09:03to a trial of seven.
09:04It was accepted,
09:05then ended with everyone involved dying
09:08except Maegor,
09:09who passed out for weeks after.
09:15The second noteworthy trial happened in 209 AC,
09:18but if you want to find out more about that,
09:20you'll have to catch up with the tales of Dunk and Egg.
09:23Oh, I'm egg.
09:24I can't eat hard salt beef.
09:26I just eat lovely food and grapes.
09:29And oh, I can't even drink a pint of ale.
09:32Oh, yeah, because it's disgusting.
09:35It's not disgusting.
09:36Yes, it is.
09:37Did you learn anything today
09:38or did you already know everything discussed?
09:40Let us know in the comments
09:41and maybe drop a fun fact about the Seven
09:44if you have any.
Comments