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game of thrones - Why is Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane still a knight?


In episode 6 of season 1, "A Golden Crown", the Hand of the King, Eddard Stark, declared Ser Gregor Clegane an outlaw and stripped him of basically everything, and sentenced him to death on top of that.




In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the first of his name, King of the Andals and the first men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm, I charge you to bring the King's justice to the false knight Gregor Clegane and all those who shared in his crimes. I denounce him and attaint him. (gasps, murmurs, and voices of outrage sound at court) I strip him of all ranks and titles, of all lands and holdings, and sentence him to death.



It looked and sounded like a final decision. Why wasn't this order executed, even after Lord Beric Dondarrion failed? Just because one attempt didn't succeed, doesn't mean the sentence is called off, and yet later The Mountain is seen doing what he did previously.



Answer



In practice, the reason is of course that he was still useful to the Lannisters, who hold King's Landing and the Iron Throne. Lord Tywin might allow his faithful dog to be killed for the sake of brokering an alliance with Dorne, but certainly not for the sake of honouring a decree made by one dead man on behalf of another, neither of whom had ever been very friendly towards House Lannister.


So how did they justify their decision to keep Gregor Clegane around, given that in theory they're continuing the succession from King Robert (even though in practice House Lannister essentially seized the throne from House Baratheon)? Well, the sentence might have been pronounced in the name of King Robert, but it was announced by Ned Stark, a man who shortly afterwards was executed for treason. The Lannister 'party line' is that Ned betrayed Robert by plotting to take the throne away from his son and heir. Given that, why should any announcements made by Ned, even supposedly in the name of the king, be considered valid? If challenged (and who would dare to challenge them?) the Lannisters could say something like:



"Well, sure, the late Lord Stark wanted to strip Ser Gregor of his lands and titles. That was part of his plan to take the throne for himself, you see; he knew House Clegane's loyalty to the king, so from his point of view, Ser Gregor had to be eliminated so that his master plan to cheat Robert's children of the throne could go ahead."



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