Unpopular, Uncomfortable & Unwanted: What the last King in the North & Daniel Andrews have in common...

When today ends, it'll be our 30th day with zero recorded cases of COVID-19 in Victoria. Elimination of the virus, epidemiologists say...is 28 consecutive days without a new case - a feat we accomplished on Friday. We're completely virus-free.

As Victorians know what it cost us to get here, but few people realize the cost to our premier, Daniel Andrews. We're virus-free even when other countries are still struggling with the coronavirus. Getting here meant making extremely tough decisions; decisions that demanded the ultimate price from a leader.

Victoria and especially metro-Melbourne had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. It was difficult to ask us to live under those conditions, but we had just fallen into the second wave of outbreaks. The premier had to act fast. Their goal was to get the spread down to 5 cases a day by October 26th, but there was only one way there. Our best chance of getting COVID-free was a super-strict lockdown.

People got irritable. People complained, sent death threats, and bashed his decisions — but he didn't budge. His name got dragged through the mud, and all he could do was stand firm. By October 25th, we were down to 4.9 cases per day. Maybe there's a 0.1 human hiding somewhere, living it out on the beach.

The position he was in was between a rock and a hard place.

If he decided to do what we wanted, we'd be happy with him in the short term. Until our hospitals exceeded their capacity and the virus was running rampant.

The other decision was to make the tough decision, let us crucify him, so he could keep us all safe.

This scenario reminds me of another leader who had to make this sort of decision to protect his people. His name was Torrhen Stark, and he used to be known as the King in the North.

Ok, so we're in Westeros. It's at the time when a man with three dragons and a large army set out to rule the seven kingdoms of that land. His name is Aegon I Targaryen, or Aegon the Conqueror. Game of Thrones fans may have heard of him?

You could even call him COVID-19 since that's the point of this metaphor/story.

At this point in Westeros, there are 7 kingdoms, of which Torrhen Stark is the King in the North. As COVID-19 — I mean, Aegon sets out to conquer the 7 kingdoms, he demands fealty and torches all resistance. He burned down Harrenhal, the biggest castle of all the 7 kingdoms. Remember the black, charred ruins in the show?

He also massacred the Lannister-Gardener alliance that tried to resist him. He came at them with his army and 3 dragons; Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion, the full force. 

For perspective, the Gardener House isn't famous because Aegon made them extinct.

"It was the only time that Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion were all unleashed at once. The singers called it the Field of Fire."

—Tyrion Lannister

Torrhen, the King in the North, planned to strike early and strike hard. He thought Aegon was not yet ready for a full-on battle. He gathered some thirty thousand men to march down south to attack Aegon, hoping to outsmart him. But he was in for a surprise.

Aegon discovered his plan and assembled forty-five thousand soldiers. His dragons were ready. Another BBQ was on the menu. This one of House Stark.

Torrhen had to decide. 

His scouts reported that they had seen the remains of Harrenhal, and he had heard the stories of the Field of Fire. But the North was a proud people, and would never even consider bending the knee.

After all...their ancestors had fought back the Others, they'd built The Wall, and their Kingdom has lasted for thousands if years.

What's a couple of dragons?

But the lives of his people were at stake.

Some lords tried to nudge him to attack, but he stood firm. He would rather look weak than lead his people to extinction by trying to preserve their pride.

Other lords asked him to fall back to Moat Cailin. Moat Cailin was a stronghold built in a swamp that had protected the North for thousands of years. But would they get there in time? He couldn't take that chance, not with the dragons.

Even his brother offered to sneak over and kill the dragons. Torren knew that that decision, if it failed, would still mean a barbecuing.

That's very much like our premier's position against COVID-19; his own dangerous and powerful Aegon. The wrong move would cost thousands of lives. The right move was unpopular, uncomfortable and unwanted.

Well, Torrhen sent his brother with three maesters to discuss with Aegon all night. By morning, Torrhen crossed over and bent the knee to Aegon I Targaryen. He laid down his crown and swore fealty to him. For his surrender, Aegon named Torrhen the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. 

To the people of the North, he was the King Who Knelt. He was scared, he was weak, he was craven.

...He was Protector of the North.

Through his decisions, Daniel Andrews has suffered a similar fate.

He has become one of the most hated people in Victoria. But things began to look up, and on Donut Day, we celebrated the first day of no new cases and no deaths since June. And now we have eliminated the virus. Something nobody thought we could do.

But the mocking has stuck. Dictator Dan will be what a lot of people will remember Dan Andrews as.

As for Torrhen, Winterfell mocked him for being a coward and tarnishing their name. When he died, they buried him in the crypts with the other Stark leaders.

And as time wore on some began to think of him as a person who dedicated his life to protecting his people.

Making hard decisions as a leader means treating people's wellbeing above your own. Daniel Andrews and his team has executed, arguably, one of the best strategies and decision-making examples of all time. 

He had to navigate painful emotions. Public rejection and ridicule. Death threats from people whose lives he was protecting. He took it with a stride. He wasn't bitter, and he wasn't resentful.

It didn't come cheap, but he knew it was worth it.

We'll all find ourselves at the crossroads of tough decisions at some point in the future. Decisions will do not want to make. Here's hoping we address them in the same way the King who Knealt did. The same way Dictator Dan did.

That's leadership.

#Leadership #Coronavirus #GameOfThrones