Why are Dany's dragons not common knowledge?

[Syphon of Oor-Tael]

If the maesters do not heal the common citizenry, then who does?
I think, as has been said before, that the time difference is the most important problem here. Since not all chapters are synchronous or chronological we are looking at the characters at different points in time. Also, since the bulk of the "news" of Dany's dragons seems to come from sailors, it is not too strange to assume that the folks living inland will not hear of this.

 

[Werthead]

If the maesters do not heal the common citizenry, then who does?

Maesters are assigned by the Citadel to advise and help out the noble lords, not the smallfolk. If a farmer is ill, they might petition the lord for assistance and he might send his maester to help, but most of the time this is hugely impractical (since each lord or castle may have hundreds or thousands of families dependent on it, and only one maester on hand). If no maester is available, I imagine that help is usually petitioned from the Faith instead. I believe there is also mention of herbwives and basic practioners of medicine (effectively the Westerosi equivalent of the Wisdoms and Wise Women from Wheel of Time, but not backed up by magic).

I think, as has been said before, that the time difference is the most important problem here. Since not all chapters are synchronous or chronological we are looking at the characters at different points in time. Also, since the bulk of the "news" of Dany's dragons seems to come from sailors, it is not too strange to assume that the folks living inland will not hear of this.

Not to mention the folks living inland are also suffering the after-effects of a devastating two-year civil war. A guy pottering along saying, "Hey, dragons are back somewhere over the sea," is probably not going to get much attention paid to him by the farmers burying their families in the fields as he passes.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Also, healthcare wouldn't be that prevalent in this type of society from any source. It's highly likely the smallfolk would just suffer. That, and pray they didn't die.

Then there's the issue that most sailors, from which these stories are coming, spend their time onshore whoring and drinking, neither of which are activities that build credibility.

 

[Syphon of Oor-Tael]

You're saying whoring does not lend credence to someone? .... damn...

 

[TK-421]

Unless you're Tyrion of course.

 

[Delran Stark]

First of all, sorry for bumping in, I know I am new here, but there is an aspect here that you are missing - The Citadel.

In the last chapter of AFFC it says:

“Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords?” He spat. “The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons. Ask yourself why Aemon Targaryen was allowed to waste his life upon the Wall, when by rights he should have been raised to archmaester. His blood was why. He could not be trusted. No more than I can.”



[FONT=&quot]But say nothing of prophecies or dragons, unless you fancy poison in your porridge.[/FONT]


The Citadel has a strong interest in keeping the dragons out of Westeros. Their agents might kill all the rumors about them.

 

[thesoothsayer]

First of all, sorry for bumping in, I know I am new here, but there is an aspect here that you are missing - The Citadel.

In the last chapter of AFFC it says:

“Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords?” He spat. “The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons. Ask yourself why Aemon Targaryen was allowed to waste his life upon the Wall, when by rights he should have been raised to archmaester. His blood was why. He could not be trusted. No more than I can.”



[FONT=&quot]But say nothing of prophecies or dragons, unless you fancy poison in your porridge.[/FONT]


The Citadel has a strong interest in keeping the dragons out of Westeros. Their agents might kill all the rumors about them.

Welcome! Interesting first post. I completely forgot about that part.

I'm sort of new too, but through my insightful and thought provoking posts, I've made myself indispensable around here. Ahem.

I didn't notice the Citadel wielding great influence throughout the first four books. Is there more to the maesters than meets the eye?

Maybe it's time for my first re-read.

 

[devilsgrin]

the maesters would definitely wield significant influence throughout Westeros...they instruct the vast majority of the nobles as children after-all... ideas, latent and blatant prejudices, the maesters could easily pull the strings of anyone in westeros...though theirs would be a subtle power... similar to the Faith's. Teachers of any sort have huge influence on their students, and these Maesters are one-on-one (or perhaps one-on-five or so) and their influence would be huge.
Also recall that the maesters usually serve as the chief adviser to their lords...

 

[TK-421]

Indeed the maesters are a force to be reckoned with and someone hired Jaqen to infiltrate the order. But why would they send an idiot like Pycelle to King's Landing? While Pycelle can control other idiots like Cersei and Robert, he could not control Tyrion.

Now, are the Faith and the maesters working together to dominate Westeros? A sort of theocracy? Good old Sam may be the one to find out for us.

 

[Werthead]

There's a lot more to Pycelle than meets the eye. GRRM has said we'll get his backstory at some point and it's very deliberate that he's been held off at arm's length and appears to be everyone else's pawn without doing much himself.

As for the influence of the maesters, it is considerable but focused on the nobility. The maesters do not have a strong influence on the smallfolk and rarely interact with them. Their ability to stop rumours spreading amongst the smallfolk is limited and completely non-existent on the eastern continent. The lords and nobles might listen to their maesters' explanation for events, but rumours would probably spread amongst the commoners like wildfire.

The devastating impact of the war is much more likely to be a factor in this not happening so far.

 

[thesoothsayer]

We haven't seen any concerted effort by the maesters to influence proceedings in Westeros. All we've seen so far is individual maesters having some influence and responsibility over minor things, mostly administrative duties, for the lords they serve.

They are still an unknown, though. I thought they were just glorified clerks, tutors, and messenger boys, but I guess Samwell's visit to the Citadel may well show that they have been working, maybe for centuries, to subtly subvert the nobility and shape the way Westeros works.

Highly doubt they are working hand-in-hand with the Faith, though. Or they'll betray them if they are. They won't want to be playing second fiddle when a theocracy happens because they aren't of the Church. They'll want to have the centre of government based on the administrations of the Citadel.

Would be funny if a sort of republic is formed at the end of ASOIAF, with the nobility becoming politicians and having to share power with the Faith and the Citadel.

Any particular reason for maesters to give up their family names and allegiance after joining? I don't remember reading it from the books.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Because they are bound to serve; that's what the chains symbolize.

 

[Syphon of Oor-Tael]

I just don't think that the maesters are that insidious. From all accounts, the opening chapter of AFFC paints them as ineffectual people, and also, that old guy, the one who forgot his key, I think he symbolises it.

 

[Werthead]

Have people not read AFFC?

Spoiler

The maesters claim that they convinced Aegon III to kill the last dragon and that they have been working to suppress the return of magic to the world. Suppressing the news that the dragons have returned would seem to be logical as well.

The relationship between the Faith and the maesters is interesting and not something that has been clarified. We know that Leyton Hightower is a keen sponsor of both the Faith and the maesters, and that the Citadel and the Starry Sept have coexisted in Oldtown for over a thousand years with no problems. This is something I'd like to see GRRM expand on in future books, or the world book.

 

[Young stormlord]

On the side not (or the theme note, if you like), the way you present information is very important. In one of other threads, we discussed the way the dragon information was presented. Let's see if I remember...

By Varys: He started with boring, then easily believable, then completely unbelievable then dragons...
By Auran Waters: Guy said that sailors say something about dragons. No one believes sailors... Did I forgot about someone?