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Discover the ancient origins and significance of a legendary Westerosi custom rooted in faith and combat. Following "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms", we delve into the culture of the Andals, their migration to Westeros, and the powerful Faith that shaped their society. From the seven divine aspects to the rare and dramatic seven versus seven battles, uncover the history and meaning behind this historic form of trial by combat.
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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,
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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.
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