I'd like to bring up two things that I noticed weren't getting the attention they deserve.
First off, this little line in the last Davos interlude:
but that did not mean he was blind to the faults of the new Lord of Storm's End
It seems that Fenly finally got his affairs in orders and abdicated, so Stannis is finally Lord of Storms End. This came with surprisingly little fanfare. You'd expect rumors rampant about this when you consider how the rumor mill was on fire when Stannis returned but stayed at Storm's End.
And second this.
"She can't answer the first beyond the fact that he is on the Usurper's Small Council..."
This is
extremely concerning. If you think Cersei's megalomania is a boon, then reconsider that the Mastermind behind corrupting the Coins in White Harbor is sitting on the
Small fucking Council.
This is somebody who had the idea to corrupt coins in order to spread Hell's influence across the land, and he is sitting in the ruling council of the seven kingdoms, which considering how little Robert cares to actual rule, and how Jon Arryn considers day-to-day administration to be below nobility, this means that the councilors have enormous influence right now since there's no oversight.
Let's check the positions again.
Hand of the King - Chief-Enforcer of the King and his regent. For all intents and purposes a second King. Or the actual king if the official one does not bother involving himself in rulership.
Grand Maester - The King's own Maester. Responsible for the health and well being of the court as well as managing communication via ravens. Educates the royal children and most likely pages, squires or other minors. Seeing as they serve for life, it is likely that Pycelle still holds this office.
Master of Coin - The realms chief-steward. Responsible for the treasury and the realms finances. An aspect most often overlooked is that the master of coin also has the power to appoint people who oversee the realm's financial administration, meaning that the Master of Coin has essentially full control over people such as taxmen, toll collectors, harbormasters, customs sergeants,
coin minters etc. The Master of Coin has essentially full control over all coin that flows through the realm. According to the wiki, at this time Baelish should already be sitting in this chair.
Master of Laws - Supposedly in charge of enforcing the realms justice, but considering the decentralized nature of the Seven Kingdoms this is mostly a symbolic duty. The true power lies in their responsibility over the Watchmen in King's Landing and the Dungeons. This means that they are the de-facto highest power in the city of King's Landing proper. The current holder of the office is unknown. Considering that Renly was at Storms End when he ransomed Stannis, it is unlikely he ever held the office.
Master of Ships - The commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy, simple as that. Previously held by Stannis, but it's possible Robert revoked the seat as he was unhappy with Stannis' failures against Damphair and us.
Of these I think we can discard both the Hand and the Grand Maester as being the conjurer. Jon Arryn is supposedly leading the faction of pious lords at court and known to be suspicious of magic for a long time. We know that Mammon wanted the Corbrays to gain influence within the piety. This would not be necessary if they already had Jon Arryn in their pocket.
As for the Grand Maester, we know that Pycelle is a base creature in Tywin's pockets. Would not surprise me if he was elected as Grand Maester by the Conclave of the Citadel exactly for his own lack of ambition or initiative. Too deep in Tywin's pockets to approach by anyone.
This leaves the Masters of Coin, Laws and Ships. Of these three, Ships is the most harmless. The job does not come with any authority that could be of significant use for the Devils. The remaining two offices however do.
The Master of Laws has control over the Dungeons and the City Watch. While the former does not sound particularly useful, keep in mind that medieval justice basically consisted of "lop their hand or their head off". This means that a Conjurer as Master of Laws would have a steady stream of human sacrifices whose disappearances he was a number of easy justifications or excuses ready. By controlling the City Watch they could also make sure that certain the Guards are far, fare away of any Devil activity, leaving them free reign over King's Landing. They can also censor or reject any complaints or reports regarding devil activity to the King. Remember the Alchemist's Guild. Nobody even suspected a devil plot, and they were
two days from summoning a Nemesis or something capable of dooming the entirety of King's Landing.
As for the Master of Coin, we've already seen what a Conjurer can do with access to the official mints. It would not be unreasonable to suspect that White Harbor was merely a proof-of-concept, with the actual target being the royal mints.
This however is merely the danger a conjurer could do on their own, ignoring the danger that their close proximity to other powerful characters represents. Cersei is twice as proud as Tywin while being only half as smart. Tywin thought that a few flayed Imps would deter Hell from messing with him. Imps. Deter. Hell. What would Cersei do if a charismatic Conjurer would approach here, telling her of she could terrify Devils into serving her? How a few shows of force would be enough to intimidate the power of Hell to do her bidding? Have a few devils cower before her and she would buy it hook, line and sinker. Her narcissism allows nothing less. This would only get worse if she were to become desperate, like, say if the Dread Sorcerer Targaryen were to invade with his Legions of Doom. She could easily be convinced that House Lannister would need its own Legions from Hell.
In conclusion, a Conjurer, who is actively working with Hell, on the Small Council is a tremendous risk. Using the powers afforded to them, they can greatly support and protect any Devil Covens in Westeros. This is only exacerbated by the ineptitude and ignorance of the current regime, which gives the Conjurer practically free reign since nobody is even looking out for devil supporters. The ignorance regarding the capabilities of Devils and magic in general could also cause a number of fools to give aid to the conjurer, if not outright official patronage, in their arrogance that they can keep the powers of Hell in line. Alternatively, they could simply take rumors as fact and assume that the Targaryens make ample use of devils, thus justifying their own summoning of Devils.
This has the potential to enormously spiral out of control, if not escalating into the creation of a proper foothold for Hell in the Prime Material. We should contact Stannis, and maybe Stark about the fact that the Small Council has a Devil collaborator inside. Another possibility is to merely propagate the rumor of a cultist in the Small Council across the Seven Kingdoms and force the regime's Hand.
