Editing Perkin the Flea (section)

==History==
===Dance of the Dragons===
During the [[Riot of King's Landing (the Dance of the Dragons)|riots in King's Landing]] during the [[Dance of the Dragons]], Perkin the Flea crowned his squire, [[Trystane Truefyre|Trystane]], declaring him a [[Bastardy|natural]] son of the late King [[Viserys I Targaryen]]. Perkin [[knight]]ed anyone who pledged to his cause, and thereby gathered hundreds under his command.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

When Ser [[Torrhen Manderly]] led one hundred [[White Harbor]] men down the Hook, they found [[Fishmonger's Square]] and [[River Row]] filled with Perkin's [[gutter knights]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

The so-called "[[Mudfoot]]" garrison joined Perkin, and Trystane's banner flew above the [[River Gate]].{{Ref|TPATQ}} Perkin's men overwhelmed the garrison of [[gold cloaks]] at the [[Gate of the Gods]].{{Ref|TPATQ}}

Less than half a day after [[Rhaenyra Targaryen]] abandoned King's Landing, Perkin and his gutter knights, which outnumbered the castle garrison, appeared before gates of the [[Red Keep]] demanding its surrender. Ser [[Garth the Harelip]] opened the gates, trusting to the mercy of the Flea. Ser Perkin, however, executed Ser Garth along with twenty other knights still loyal to Rhaenyra, including [[Harmon of the Reeds]]. He also had Lady [[Mysaria]] whipped naked through the city, promising that if she made it alive from the Red Keep to the [[Gate of the Gods]] she would be spared and allowed to leave, which she failed to accomplish.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

Ser Perkin spared Septon [[Eustace (Dance of the Dragons)|Eustace]], possibly to avoid provoking the enmity of the [[Faith of the Seven]]. He also freed all prisoners from the castle dungeons, including Grand Maester [[Orwyle]], Lord [[Corlys Velaryon]] and Queen [[Alicent Hightower]], who bore witness when Trystane mounted the [[Iron Throne]]. Ser Perkin's men also found the mutilated former [[master of coin]], Ser [[Tyland Lannister]]. The Flea also welcomed [[Larys Strong]], the Clubfoot, greeting him warmly after the [[master of whisperers]] emerged from hiding to take a place of honor at the side of the new "king", who styled himself Trystane Truefyre.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

While Trystane issued edicts and divided the coin of the royal treasury among his followers, Ser Perkin recruited scores of surviving gold cloaks, taking control of the [[Dragon Gate]], the [[King's Gate]] and the [[Lion Gate]]. In total he had four of the seven gates of the capital and more than half of the towers along its walls.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

===Reign of Aegon II===
After the death of Rhaenyra, the army of Lord [[Borros Baratheon]] reached the [[Blackwater Rush]] and was spied from the battlements of the Red Keep by King Trystane, Larys Clubfoot and Ser Perkin. The Clubfoot convinced Trystane to send him to parley. Along with Grand Maester Orwyle and Dowager Queen Alicent, the Clubfoot met with the [[Lord of Storm's End]] and reached an accord: Ser Perkin and his gutter knights would join the stormlanders in restoring King [[Aegon II Targaryen|Aegon II]] to the throne in exchange for a full pardon for all, except the pretender Trystane. "Taken and in chains", announced Ser Perkin when Lord Borros reached the Red Keep and asked about the pretender.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}}

Ser Perkin and his gutter knights then joined Lord Borros in arresting the [[Shepherd]]. While the stormlanders rode up Rhaenys' Hill from the west, Ser Perkin and his followers climbed the steeper southern slope of the hill from [[Flea Bottom]]. Later, Ser Perkin was placed in command of the City Watch to enforce a curfew decreed by Queen Alicent.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}}

Following the defeat of Lord Borros and his army in the [[Battle of the Kingsroad]], Ser Perkin joined the conspiracy to eliminate King Aegon II and his loyalists. Ser Perkin and six of his gutter knights barred the way into [[Maegor's Holdfast]]. When Ser [[Alfred Broome]] tried to enter to carry out the king's order to remove an ear from Prince [[Aegon III Targaryen|Aegon the Younger]], Ser Perkin shoved Ser Alfred off the drawbridges into the spikes below.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}}

===Judgement of the Wolf===
During the [[Hour of the Wolf]], Ser Perkin was among those arrested at the command of Lord [[Cregan Stark]] for the murder of Aegon II and sent to the dungeons. When passing judgement, Lord Cregan rejected the pardon granted to the Flea and sentenced him to death, not only for the death of Aegon II but also for rebelling against Rhaenyra, raising Trystane and then abandoning him to save himself. The Flea swore he had acted under the orders of Larys Clubfoot.{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}} Ser Perkin was the first of the condemned taken before Lord Stark during the morning of the executions, having drawn lots with the rest of the prisoners to see who would be the first to die. After being asked by Cregan if he had any final words, Ser Perkin declared he wished to take the black, with most of the condemned following his lead. Thus, he was spared,{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon III}}{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}} and travelled from the capital to [[White Harbor]] aboard Ser [[Medrick Manderly]]'s galley, the ''[[North Star]]'', before joining the Watch.{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}}