CRT For HOTD: The Valyrian Black Caucus Recaps 'House of the Dragon' S3, E02
We sat in as the Seven Kingdoms' Black Small Council recapped the second episode of season three.
Each week, ContrabandCamp’s CRT for HOTD will recap HBO’s “House of the Dragon” from the perspective of marginalized groups in the HOTD cinematic universe.
Shortly after episode two, “Queen’s Landing,” we sat in on an emergency meeting of the Seven Kingdoms’ Black Small Council as they discussed the second episode of season three.
The emergency meeting of the Black Small Council was called to order at eventide on this seventh moon of the annum. The group opened the meeting by singing the Seven Kingdoms’ Black national anthem (“Lyft Ev’ry Voyce and Syng”), followed by an unusually long prayer from Lord of the Tides, Master of Driftmark, Rocker of Boats, Corlys LaMonte Velaryon.
Unlike white Seven Kingdomers who worship the Faith of the Seven, the Black Caucus acknowledges six gods (King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Alpha, Omega, Bright, and Morningstar—the seventh deity is kinda racist). After the Sea Snake came to the six gods (Not Drake) as humble as “we know how,” Lady Baela Targaryen called the roll. Members present included:
Lord Corlys Velaryon (Basileus)
Lady Baela Targaryen (Keeper of Records)
Maester Orwyle Carson (via ZoomRaven)
Adam of Hull
Alyn of Hull
Mysaria Harris
A quorum was declared, and the first order of business was to welcome the two newest members, Adam and Alyn of Hull, with a brief history of the organization.
Commonly known as “The BLACKS,” the Black Leaders & Aristocrats of Color in the Kingdom of Seven), is a secret society founded in Old Valyria shortly after the cataclysmic event that historians call the “Doom of Valyria” (Black people call it “the colonizer arrival”). Not to be confused with Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Black Council, BLACKS members are selected by giving potential members a black marble (in Old Valyria, blackballing is a good thing).
The Black Small Council serves as the executive board and meets once a month to discuss the seven goals of the BLACKS agenda:
Political power: Ensuring that whoever holds the Iron Throne has equal representation on the small council, in the vassal houses and on the Kingsguard.
Social equality: The BLACKS Upward Bound Summer Program is the realm's only training program for aspiring dragon pilots, while the after-school STEM initiative is preparing the next generation of Black maesters.
Criminal justice: Black Westerosians are 2.5 times more likely to be beheaded, receive 39% of all trial-by-combat sentences and are disproportionately killed by City Watch officers.
Economic opportunity: The BLACKS supports equal access to shipbuilding jobs, increased funding for Historically Black Citadels and Maestercare-For-All.
Equal representation in media: Ensure equal access to tournament games for Knights of Color and protect Black artists from having their work stolen, like the breakout hit “The Rains of Castamere.”
Reparations: Restorative justice for redlining in Old Westeros, excluding the Unsullied from the GI Bill and 400 years of unpaid labor from the Night’s Watch.
The whitefolks: Stop them from destroying the world.
After the history lesson, the group heard the following reports:
