He was raised in the High Septon's household. When the Faith Militant turned against the crown, he was the only man who could end it without a war. Set during the Faith Militant Uprising under Maegor the Cruel (~40 AC), The Faith's Sword follows Aldric of the Faith, 28, a Black man raised by the High Septon as a ward of the Faith — not a septon himself but a lay member of the Faith's household and its chief diplomatic representative. He is entirely Westerosi and entirely of the Faith's tradition: he speaks the Common Tongue and High Valyrian, knows the Seven's theology with scholarly precision, and has been formed by the Faith's ideal of justice. When the Faith Militant rises and Maegor the Cruel responds with dragon and sword, Aldric occupies the impossible middle: a man of the Faith who knows the Militant's grievances are legitimate, a servant of the crown who knows Maegor's response is brutal, and the only person either side will speak to. His relationship with Serafina of Oldtown — a maester's daughter and scholar whose neutral position mirrors his own — is the series' central love story.
E1 — The Risen Stars
The Faith Militant mobilizing. Aldric receiving conflicting orders from the dying High Septon and from King's Landing simultaneously.
E5 — The Terms
Aldric in a barn outside Oldtown, negotiating with both sides' representatives simultaneously in adjacent rooms. The series' most formally inventive episode.
E10 — The Peace of the Seven
Series finale: The uprising ends — not through Maegor's dragons but through the terms Aldric negotiated. He is credited nowhere in the official record. Serafina writes the true account.
