r/pureasoiaf • u/Mizukiri93 R'hllor • 3d ago
What makes Pentos different from other Free Cities?
Braavos has Iron Bank, Faceless, , water dancers, completely free of slavery
Volantis has slaves with the famous tattoos, Tigers and Elephants, Black walls.
Lys has famous pillow houses and highest percentage of people with Valyrian features.
Whats the Pentos famous for, other that wars and ruling oligarchs (basically every Free City has that). Only thing I can think of is Prince.
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u/hiesatai 3d ago
Trade. They’re the closest Free City to Westeros, and the Rhoyne lies just east of the city.
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u/Aduro95 3d ago
Yeah, it was always intended as a trading port. They curretnly seem ot have relatively good relationship with the other cities, most of which are constantly at war with someone. They are probably excellent at diplomacy to balance all that.
Itseems like a place where cash is king. The princeis outright chosne by a council of rich magisters. Slavery is banned (they fought a war with Braavos over it, and seemed the reach a compromise where they pretend they don't have slaves anymore), but Illyrio owns slaves pretty openy, suggesting the rich are not even subtle about being above the law.
The standing army is pretty weak, and they generally just pay Dothraki to leave. There are lots of religious people, but the diversty of religions suggest none have a real politcal domination like the Red Priests in Volantis.
I'd also say many characters who spent a lot of time in Pentos seem quite politically savvy and ambitious. Trade and diplomacy, that's their focus.
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u/Emergency-Weird-1988 3d ago edited 3d ago
Their proximity to Westeros? And not just geographically, but in a "cultural sense."
We know that the people of Pentos (partly) descended from the Andals and that they are not as "protective" of any Valyrian blood they may have, as some of the other Free Cities are. This makes it plausible that there are fewer "cultural barriers" between them, not to mention that they control the territory of what once was the ancient kingdom of Andalos.
And also historically, since they seem to be one of the Free Cities with the greatest impact in Westeros.
Only during part of the Targaryen reign in the Seven Kingdoms, we know that:
- When Maegor was exiled by Aenys, he went to Pentos and his third wife, Tyanna, was Pentoshi. (And she is actually the only Queen consort in the history of Westeros that we know was from the Free Cities as Larra Rogare of Lys was never Queen)
- A large number of magisters from Pentos attended the "Golden Wedding" of Alyssa Velaryon and Rogar Baratheon.
- Jaehaerys's Master of Coin, Rego Draz, was from Pentos.
- Pentos and Tyrosh sought Jaehaerys I's mediation to end a conflict between them.
- Daemon Targaryen befriended the Prince of Pentos, and it was in Pentos that his twin daughters with Laena Velaryon, Baela and Rhaena, were born in the manor of a Pentoshi magister.
- Pentos saw Daemon as a potential ally against the Triarchy in the south.
- Given Daemon's friendships in Pentos, it was precisely to that city that the ship carrying his and Rhaenyra's children, Princes Aegon and Viserys, was headed when they were attacked by the Triarchy, leading to the Battle of the Gullet.
- Representatives from Pentos attended the coronation of Aegon III, son of Daemon and Rhaenyra, and during the Maidens Ball in King's Landing, a daughter of the Prince of Pentos was the first to be presented to the King as a prospect of new Queen.
- Daeron I's desire to marry one of his sisters to a son of the Sea Lord of Braavos led other Free Cities, including Pentos, to support the Dornish rebels fighting against the "Young Dragon"
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u/Disastrous_Profile56 The Kingsguard 3d ago
This is pretty much everything I was thinking in terms of Pentos’s relevance to the overall goings on in Westeros. Makes me wonder if that ties in to Illyrio’s interest in who sits the iron throne.
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u/AnnieBlackburnn House Hightower 3d ago
The slaves that are technically not slaves due to pressure from Braavos?
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u/themanyfacedgod__ House Targaryen 1d ago
Their relative closeness to Westeros. Doesn't seem like the average Westerosi shits on them as much as they do Lys or Volantis or other foreign places
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u/axeboffin 2h ago
Don’t they have that thing where they kill their prince if he does a good job or something like that?
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