The Mountain's skull is an enormous human skull, said to be the skull of the deceased Ser Gregor Clegane.[1] The skull's brow shelf is thick and heavy, the is jaw massive. It looks as if it is grinning.[1]
Recent Events
[edit]A Feast for Crows
[edit]Ser Gregor Clegane slowly dies after having been poisoned with manticore venom by Oberyn Martell during their trial by combat, in which Gregor killed Oberyn.[2][3][4] Grand Maester Pycelle notes that maggots will not eat Gregor's mortified flesh, and leeches die after feeding on his infected blood.[2]
Queen Regent Cersei Lannister instructs Qyburn to bring her the head of the Mountain once he is dead, as Lord Tywin Lannister had promised it to Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne,[4] as recompense for the deaths of Elia Martell and her children, Rhaenys and Aegon Targaryen.[3] Qyburn has beetles strip the flesh from the skull.[5]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]
The alleged skull of Gregor is brought to Sunspear by Ser Balon Swann of the Kingsguard, contained in an ebony chest with silver clasps and hinges. A welcoming feast is prepared for Balon and his traveling companions, attended by Prince Doran Martell, Princess Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, a dozen lords of Dorne, Oberyn's paramour Ellaria Sand, and the eldest of Oberyn's eight bastard daughters: Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene Sand.[1]
Before the feast begins, Maester Caleotte opens the chest, and the the skull within rests on a bed of black felt. Areo Hotah observes the skull and thinks he has never seen a larger one. Doran commands that the skull be placed on pedestal, a column of black marble. Caleotte is too short to reach the top of the pedestal, so Obara grabs the skull from him and places it atop the column. A seven-course feast commences and continues late into the night, presided over by the grinning skull on its pillar of black marble. Spun-sugar skulls are served as dessert, which displeases Balon. After the feast is over, Doran retires to his solar to confer with his family, and Maester Caleotte follows behind his wheelchair, cradling the Mountain's skull as if it were a child.[1]
In Doran's solar, Obara takes the skull from Caleotte, who leaves. Obara wonders why Gregor's head was stripped to the bone, when it could have been preserved in tar. Nymeria suggests that tar would have ruined the box, and says that Cersei would have nothing to gain by deceiving them. If another eight-foot-tall man ever appears, Cersei would be exposed as a liar and a fool for no purpose. Doran notes that the skull is large enough to be Gregor's, and that all the reports he has received say that Gregor died slowly, in great pain. Tyene confirms that if the poison used by her father, Oberyn, broke the Mountain's skin, then Gregor is undoubtedly dead. Obara says she has never doubted her father, gives the skull a mocking kiss, and says it makes a start on their vengeance.[1]
This upsets Ellaria, who wishes it were an end, and says the Mountain's skull is no comfort for the loss of her lover. She disagrees with Obara, Tyene, and Nymeria's desires for vengeance, as it only results in an endless cycle of death. Doran comforts Ellaria, promising no harm will come to her daughters, and then continues the conference after she leaves.[1]
Quotes
[edit]
Qyburn: I am sorry that it took so long. Such a large head. It took the beetles many hours to clean the flesh. By way of pardon, I have lined a box of ebony and silver with felt, to make a fitting presentation for the skull.
Cersei: A cloth sack would serve as well. Prince Doran wants his head. He won't give a fig what sort of box it comes in.[5]—Qyburn and Cersei Lannister
A fine-looking box, no doubt, but many of those assembled here in the Old Palace of Sunspear might soon be dead, depending on what was in that chest.[1]
—thoughts of Areo Hotah
No one saw the Mountain die, and no one saw his head removed. That troubles me, I confess, but what could the bitch queen hope to accomplish by deceiving us? If Gregor Clegane is alive, soon or late the truth will out. The man was eight feet tall, there is not another like him in Westeros. If any such appears again Cersei Lannister will be exposed as a liar before all the Seven Kingdoms. She would be an utter fool to risk that. What could she hope to gain?[1]
Is that how it goes, round and round forever? I ask again, where does it end? I saw your father die. Here is his killer. Can I take a skull to bed with me, to give me comfort in the night? Will it make me laugh, write me songs, care for me when I am old and sick?[1]
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 38, The Watcher.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 72, Jaime IX.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 2, The Captain Of Guards.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 7, Cersei II.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 17, Cersei IV.