Original subtitles

The Citadel of Old Town is the greatest center of learning in the world.

Not that it has much competition really.

Most lords think of books the way they think of younger sons.

Useful to have around, as long as they keep to the corners.

Back when House Hightower still ruled Old Town as kings...

...a crippled younger son sought solace in books and those who wrote them...

...and became the greatest patron of learning in his day.

Scholars of all sorts flocked to Old Town to debate and write...

...and debate.

After this Prince Peremore's death...

...his brother granted land to "Peremore's Pets"...

...as the wise men were called.

Though now, they're known as "Maesters".

Like the Night's Watch, The Citadel accepts any boy into its halls...

...be here lordling, peasant or bastard.

Merit, not birth determines advancement.

Once a novice proves adept in a field...

...he forges a chain link that signifies his skill.

Black iron is for ravenry, gold for sums and accounts...

...silver for healing, iron for warfare...

...Valyrian steel for the higher mysteries.

Magic. Though, nobody likes to say the word in the Citadel...

...or explain how dragons fly and dead men walk.

Once an acolyte has forced enough links to make a chain, he becomes a maester.

Should he continue his studies...

...he might rise to archmaester and be given a ring, rod and mask...

...forged from the appropriate metal for his chosen field.

The wisest or most ambitious of the archmaesters...

...might even be called to serve as a grand maester on the Small Council...

...responsible for the steering the king and the realm.

As well as keeping the Citadel informed of everything.

The heart of the Citadel is the library.

Which contains tomes from all over the world of every subject imaginable.

From the trivial to the essential to the...

...restricted.

If the world ended tomorrow...

...we could rebuild it with the knowledge contained in these books.

Theoretically.

Lets hope it doesn't come to that.

But as every novice learns, the Citadel is more than a building...

...more than a library, more than an order of maesters.

It is an idea that we may know the world...

...not completely, not in any one man's life time...

...piece by piece.

With each generation building upon the knowlegde of their prodecessors where they can...

...and preserving it where they can't.

And unfortunately for us all...

...forgetting it when they shouldn't.