Queen Margaery and the moon tea ???

[IlliferThePenniless]

I think it sort of comes down how smart we think Margaery is, or if her supposed accumen is largely due to her grandmother...

Assuming that Pycelle was telling the truth about the moon tea (not a completely safe assumption, though his reluctance to tell Cersei about it and desire to explain it away would tend to indicate that he is, in this case, telling the truth), then she's either a total moron or playing a deeper game then Cersei suspects.

It must be obvious to anyone paying attention at King's Landing that Pycelle belongs to the Lannisters (he was given back his place on the small council by Tywin to preempt a Tyrell maester the citadel was going to send to replace him). So, if we assume that Margaery is reasonably on top of things, she has to know that asking for moon tea from Pycelle won't long remain a secret. There are other maesters available and she could, presumably, send one of her many friends to procure the moon tea for her.

I'd like to believe that this all some part of an elaborate plot to get Cersei to over reach, but I don't think there's really that much textual evidence that Margaery is the brilliant player I'd like to imagine her. The Queen of Thorns certainly is, but I haven't seen much to convince me of her grand daughter.

Pycelle's sputtering that there's a different explanation for the moon tea (the one that Cersei, typically, has no interest in hearing) might indicate that there's less here then meets the eye. Maybe there's just some completely plausible and innocent explanation that will come out at trial and make Cersei look like a total moron (and significantly weaken the Tyrell alliance).

 

[thesoothsayer]

First thought that came to mind when I read about Margaery's request was that it was an elaborate setup by the Tyrells to snare Cersei and snatch control of the kingdom through Margaery's influence over Tommen. However, I'm not sure if they could have planned for Cersei to re-arm the Faith of the Seven and Margaery to be imprisoned by them instead of Cersei. If they did, then their planning would be quite outstanding and probably Taena was used to guide her towards that decision (just my speculation, don't remember any specific passages to that effect). If they didn't, then plans from both sides have gone awry and the machinations of Stannis, the ironmen, and Dorne will become more important since the Lannisters and Tyrells will be significantly weakened by this.

 

[TK-421]

Pycelle is a coward and I think he did tell the truth.