Sybell Spicer
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 Sybell Spicer by Amuelia | ||||
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| Alias | Sybell Westerling[1] | |||
| Title | Lady of the Crag | |||
| Allegiances | ||||
| Culture | Westermen | |||
| Born | Westerlands[2] | |||
| Spouse | Lord Gawen Westerling | |||
| Issue | ||||
| Books |
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Sybell Spicer, also known as Sybell Westerling, is the wife of Lord Gawen Westerling and is the Lady of the Crag.
Contents
Appearance
Sybell is a handsome older woman[3] with a stern face[4] and a thin neck.[4] She can be polite[3] but also proud and domineering.[4]
Lady Westerling has a gown of green velvet and a necklace of golden seashells.[4]
History
Sybell's grandfather was a lowborn trader in saffron and pepper, her grandmother a woman he had brought with him from the east; the people of Lannisport called her Maggy the Frog.[5] Sybell's father was a wealthy merchant raised to be a petty lord by Lord Tytos Lannister.[6] Sybell wed Lord Gawen Westerling, whose family has lost much of their wealth.[5]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
Ser Rolph Spicer serves as castellan of the Crag, where his sister Sybell is lady of the castle. With Sybell's husband, Lord Gawen Westerling, a captive at Seagard,[7] Rolph yields the castle to Robb Stark, King in the North, during the storming of the Crag. Jeyne Westerling, Sybell's elder daughter, treats Robb's wounds after the battle, and the two youths sleep together after Robb learns of the alleged deaths of Robb's younger brothers, Bran and Rickon, at Winterfell. Robb marries Jeyne to preserve her honor. This breaks Robb's alliance with House Frey, however, as Robb had promised to wed a Frey.[3]
Sybell and her kin are part of King Robb's entourage when he returns to Riverrun from the westerlands.[3] Sybell is terrified of Grey Wind, Robb's direwolf.[3] Sybell provides a posset to Jeyne every morning, claiming it will make her daughter fertile.[8]
Sybell remains at Riverrun with Jeyne, Eleyna, and Rollam Westerling when Robb goes to the Twins for the wedding of Lord Edmure Tully.[9] Robb is betrayed and murdered by the Freys and Boltons at the Red Wedding.[10]
In the aftermath of the massacre, Sybell is pardoned by the Iron Throne and Rolph is named Lord of Castamere.[11] According to a semi-canon source, Rolph and Sybell had conspired with the Lannisters to trick Robb into marrying Jeyne, thereby breaking his alliance with the Freys.[2][12]
A Feast for Crows
Jeyne fights her mother when Sybell takes the little crown given to her by Robb, leaving a scab on the girl's forehead.[4]
Sybell and her three surviving children are kept inside Riverrun during the siege of the castle by House Frey and Ser Daven Lannister. Lord Gawen Westerling worries his family will be killed in response if the Freys were to hang the captive Edmure Tully. After arriving at the siege to resolve it, Ser Jaime Lannister offers to exchange Edmure for Sybell and the children, but the offer is refused by Ser Brynden Tully.[1]
After Edmure negotiates the surrender of Riverrun to Jaime, Sybell sits with Jaime. Having discretely negotiated with Lord Tywin Lannister, her liege and Jaime's father, she made sure there was no heir from her daughter's union. Sybell states she had been promised matches for her sons and daughters. Jaime explains that Jeyne can wed after waiting two years, thereby preventing any child of hers from possibly being Robb's.[4]
Pleading ignorance about the Red Wedding, Sybell asks about her eldest son, Ser Raynald Westerling, who accompanied Robb to the Twins. Tywin had told Sybell that Raynald "should have joy of him" with a bride from Casterly Rock. Jaime assumes this to mean his cousin Joy Hill, and Sybell is offended at the idea of a Westerling marrying a bastard.[4] According to a semi-canon source, Joy being Raynald's promised bride is a misunderstanding on Jaime's part[13] as Tywin already arranged for Joy to marry one of Lord Walder Frey's natural sons.[14]
Jaime makes his contempt for Sybell plain and warns her to stay out of his sight for the remainder of her time at Riverrun. When Sybell leaves with her husband and children the next morning for the west, Jaime orders Ser Forley Prester to have Jeyne killed if she attempts to escape.[4] After the Westerlings depart, Jaime learns that Raynald is assumed dead after falling into the Green Fork during the Red Wedding.[4]
Family
| Maggy the Frog's husband | Maggy the Frog | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| House Spicer founder | Unknown wife | Sibling(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rolph | Sybell | Gawen Westerling | Samwell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raynald Westerling | Jeyne Westerling | Robb Stark | Eleyna Westerling | Rollam Westerling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quotes by Sybell
Sybell: She would not give up the little crown the rebel gave her, and when I tried to take it from her head the willful child fought me.
Jeyne: It was mine. You had no right. Robb had it made for me. I loved him.[4]—Sybell and Jeyne Westerling
Sybell: You want a Westerling to wed a bastard?
Jaime: No more than I want Joy to marry the son of some scheming turncloak bitch. She deserves better. Your daughter is worth ten of you, my lady.[4]—Sybell and Jaime Lannister
Quotes about Sybell
The Westerlings were old blood, but they had more pride than power. It would not surprise him to learn that Lady Sybell had brought more wealth to the marriage than her highborn husband.[5]
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
Jeyne Westerling is her mother's daughter, and Robb Stark is his father's son.[5]
Jaime had to wonder how much Lord Gawen knew about his wife's scheming. How much do we men ever know?[4]
—thoughts of Jaime Lannister
Behind the Scenes
Sybell's name is once misspelled as "Sybelle" in A Feast for Crows.[1]
Theories
It has been speculated that Sybell was actively involved in Robb Stark sleeping with her daughter Jeyne by providing the king with a love potion. Sybell's grandmother was Maggy the Frog, a reputed sorceress who used to be visited by the people of Lannisport for "cures and love potions and the like", according to Kevan Lannister.[5] This background, in combination with Sybell's demonstrated knowledge of herbs and potions,[8] make it plausible she is aware of how to make a love potion and slipped one to Robb while he was recovering from his wounds at the Crag.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 38, Jaime VI.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Sybell Spicer.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 14, Catelyn II.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 44, Jaime VII.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 19, Tyrion III.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 36, Cersei VIII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Appendix.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 20, Catelyn III.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 45, Catelyn V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 72, Jaime IX.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Rolph Spicer.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Joy Hill.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 53, Tyrion VI.