Into the Reach

The Citadel: City of Oldtown.

_****

Archmaester Marwyn, also known as Marwyn the Mage felt concerned and excited in equal measures as he paced through his personal study. His heartbeat racing, he started to analyze the implications of everything he had seen as the images faded from his extremely rare mirror.

It had taken him two months to find something truly new and valuable in the Ruins of Valyria. Two moons fraught with peril at every turn. Normally, the Citadel wouldn't have sanctioned his scholarly expedition to the doomed heart of the ancient civilization, but he figured Archmaester Vaellyn convinced them that this would be an excellent opportunity to get rid of his stubborn self without actually having a hand on his demise.

It was so satisfying to see the looks of displeasure in their wrinkled faces when they realized he had said not today to the God of **** the entire time. And while he could tell they had wanted to take over his mirror made of Valyrian Steel for analysis or worse, lock it in a vault until he died, he reminded them that as the only living Archmaester of the Higher Mysteries it was his prerogative to be the first to study this rare artifact. And for all their distaste of his craft, the Conclave still tended to follow their own dictates more often than not.

And so he had begun experimenting. He was sure that the opaque crystal within the metallic frame must have been enchanted by the Valyrians long ago to work in conjunction with its magically-forged blades. He just wasn't certain of their purpose. But eventually, after several maddening nights where he conducted every viable experiment he could think of that involved the Higher Mysteries, he finally had a breakthrough.

The Citadel had acquired magical Glass Candles from Old Valyria over a thousand years earlier. They used to burn with magical fire and it was claimed by the Valyrians that when they burned, their sorcerers could see across mountains, seas, and deserts, giving men visions and dreams and allow them to communicate with one another half a world apart. Some even believed that if one channeled enough power into their spellwork, one could glimpse beyond the veil of the future and observe its possibilities before choices and circumstances narrowed them down; like the so-called dragon dreams of the dragonlords of old.

Of course, as magic potency waned across the world, the embers died out and it wasn't until recently that they barely started to burn again. While it was never made public, Marwyn long suspected that this was due to the return of the dragons by Daenerys Targaryen.

So, he decided to tie the obsidian candles he had found on his expedition around his head before facing the enchanted mirror in order to see if he could actually see far-flung places on its surface.

He hadn't expect to see visions like that, however.

"So, the revived Jon Snow will become King of the North," The Archmaester said slowly. "And in the process, he will lead us through the next Long Night while becoming the most powerful Sorcerer King the known world has ever seen."

He took a deep breath as he contemplated the enormity of what he had seen. Then he realized he wouldn't miss this for the world. Not even if his rivals went on their knees and begged him to become the next Grand Maester.

"Winterfell will need a Maester with extensive training on the higher mysteries because of what is to come," He thought with conviction. "I better start making the arrangements so I can get there shortly before the Starks reclaim their home. And I will need an assistant. I suppose that new initiate, Samwell Tarly, would make a good apprentice, and since he came from Castle Black, he probably knows this future King already. Yes, he will do."

Then Marwyn started packing without a second thought. He was so focused on his task that he paid no mind to an extremely brief vision of a potential future on the mirror that he had literally missed in a blink. If he had, he would have realized that a knight with greyscale was coming to the Citadel.

And the Archmaester had just decided to bring with him the one person that would have saved him.

A/N: For those that don't know, Marwyn the Mage is a character from the books that didn't make it into the show. If you must rationalize his new involvement, assume that he would have still been trying to figure out that Valyrian Steel mirror during the events of Season 7 & 8 but Jon's ascension to godhood flared up magic across the world enough to accelerate his breakthrough. And now, his future will change as a result.

Arc two will be finished in the next chapter. Then we are back to Jon and Sansa. Hope you enjoyed it.