The Alchemists’ Guild is an order of pyromancers who thrived before the order of maesters’ creation. They claim to possess vast secret stores of knowledge and were incredible at creating forbidden forces like wildfire. The Guild of Alchemists lost its hold on Westeros after the creation of the Citadel, and the end of House Targaryen’s rule sealed their fate. With King Robert Baratheon’s reign, they retreated to the shadows. However, Queen Cersei Lannister brought them to light by ordering the destruction of the Tower of the Hand.
A full member of the Alchemists’ Guild is called a Wisdom. Like the maesters, the Alchemists had acolytes who trained in the many arts offered by the guild. However, when the order of the maesters became the prominent intellectual organization in the Seven Kingdoms, the alchemists lost most of their influence.
Organization
Before the dethronement of the Targaryens, the Alchemists’ Guild was the most prominent intellectual organization in the Seven Kingdoms. They enjoyed many benefits from the Iron Throne. However, the death of King Aerys II Targaryen led to their gradual extinction. Though they were renowned pyromancers, the Alchemists’ Guild were not the only ones capable of practicing the art of controlling fire, as there were others as far as the city of Asshai in Essos.
Besides controlling fire, the Alchemists’ Guild also claimed to be able to create living beings from flames and transmute metals. They also stated they had vast stores of knowledge hidden from the rest of the world. However, their claims are unverified. The leader of the guild is called the grand master.
Wildfire
Wildfire is a volatile and flammable liquid capable of burning for long periods. It is called the Substance by the Alchemists and has been used many times in King’s Landing history. Wildfire has a green hue and is said to be close in intensity to dragon flames. It has many names, including the jade demon, alchemist’s piss, and the pyromancer’s piss.
Wildfire comes from a cold labyrinth called the Guildhall on the Street of the Sisters, close to Visenya’s Hill. A lot of care gets put into wildfire’s creation. Trained acolytes usually prepare the Substance in bare stone cells to avoid anything catching fire, and immediately after a jar is ready, they hastily take it into the storage vaults.
History
There is no pinpointed date for the founding of the Alchemists’ Guild. However, they have been around since the Age of Heroes. The guild thrived for many years until Prince Peremore the Twisted, the second son of King Uthor of the High Tower, began inviting many wise men, teachers, healers, singers, and sorcerers to Oldtown. His interest in knowledge marked the creation of a new order, and after his death, his brother gave land to the remaining scholars in Oldtown, marking the beginning of the order of the maesters.
King Aegon IV Targaryen
Having dreamt of conquering Dorne, King Aegon IV instructed the Guild of Alchemists to build him dragons. The guild then created massive devices that spit wildfire. However, one of the engines went up in flames and destroyed the others; this led to a fire that destroyed a quarter of the Kingswood.
Daeron II Targaryen
During the Great Spring Sickness, Lord Brynden Rivers, the Hand of the King, ordered the alchemists to burn all corpses piled in the Dragonpit. By the end of the pandemic, one-quarter of King’s Landing had burned.
Aegon V Targaryen
After the tragedy at Summerhall, someone found pieces of writing about pyromancers from Gyldayn.
Aerys II Targaryen
The Alchemists’ Guild enjoyed an increased influence during King Aerys II Targaryen’s reign. As the Mad King was obsessed with fire, he gave more attention to the pyromancers. When he tasked the guild with driving off winter, the Wisdoms burned wildfires across the walls of the Red Keep.
As Aerys slipped into madness, he began killing his foes with fire. Among the people he executed were Lord Rickard Stark and Brandon Stark. When Aerys asked Lord Jon Arryn to hand over Rickard’s last son, Eddard Stark, Jon refused, and Robert’s Rebellion began. During the rebellion, Aerys tasked three Wisdoms, Lord Rossart, Belis, and Garigus, with creating enough wildfire to destroy King’s Landing, as he vowed to reduce the city to rubble rather than give it up.
When the Hand of the King, Lord Qarlton Chelsted, learned of the King’s plan, he confronted him. However, he burned, and Lord Rossart became the Hand of the King. When the sack of King’s Landing began, Ser Jaime Lannister killed Rossart and Aerys to prevent utter destruction. He later hunted Garigus and Belis and killed them.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Clash of Kings
The acting Hand of the King, Tyrion Lannister, learns about wildfire’s properties from Wisdom Hallyne. When Stannis Baratheon attacks King’s Landing in the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion uses the caches of wildfires discovered in the city for defense. He destroys most of Stannis’s ships, killing thousands of men. Later, the members of the guild report to Cersei that their magical abilities have become like they were during the time of the dragons.
A Feast for Crows
After Lord Tywin Lannister’s death, Cersei orders the guild to burn down the Tower of the Hand, as she claims it was a cursed place known to kill most of its residents.
Relevance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, the Alchemists’ Guild partook in one of the most jarring scenes in the show. After Cersei’s imprisonment and freedom, she concocted a devious plan to get rid of the Faith Militant. While everyone gathered at the Great Sept of Baelor to witness her and Ser Loras Tyrell’s trial, she ordered the destruction of the sept with wildfire. Her plan immensely succeeds as everyone dies, including Queen Margaery Tyrell.
The Alchemists’ Guild: A Lost Glory
Though they were a prestigious organization of intellectuals, the Alchemists’s guild fell from grace to grass. They became a shadow organization relegated to the depths of forbidden practices. The guild, though once possessing influence, lost everything. However, the current conflict in Westeros is proving to work in their favor as they are beginning to get noticed more by the Iron Throne.
