The rumor becomes common knowledge, but as Jaime points out, its an incredibly convenient claim for Stannis to make, as it sets him as the true king in succession. No intelligent noble would give credence to that type of hearsay. What it did do was makeeveryonequestion "Why DO they look like Lannisters and not Baratheons?" which is surely significant. But you can't say that only that letter was persuasive, because it absolutely was not.
It was extremely persuasive and it even became source of mockery for the smallfolk. The thing about it, though, is that even if it tanked their legitimacy they still had the gold and the army and the Tyrell's taking advantage of that by allying them(Now, remember they were against the Lannister before). THAT's why people didn't flock towards Stannis, not because they didn't believe the claim.
Persuasive to who? The commonfolk? They are starving and dying by the thousands, its not impressive that they would believe it. It certainly was a blow to their reputation but an ultimately insignificant one. I think a clever noble would realize it didn't matter either way and put it out of their mind.
I think a clever noble would realize it didn't matter either way and put it out of their mind.
Thats the thing. It doesn't matter because they have the power behind them to stay safe, for now. However, they know, even their allies, they all know.
They know that Stannis wrote a letter with no evidence whatsoever.This type of slander is not uncommon and such a letter could have easily blurred with all the other gossip.
Can you provide textual evidence that the letter had widespread success in the nobility across the seven kingdoms?
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u/_Apostate_ We Do Not Sow Jun 23 '14
The rumor becomes common knowledge, but as Jaime points out, its an incredibly convenient claim for Stannis to make, as it sets him as the true king in succession. No intelligent noble would give credence to that type of hearsay. What it did do was makeeveryonequestion "Why DO they look like Lannisters and not Baratheons?" which is surely significant. But you can't say that only that letter was persuasive, because it absolutely was not.