although it is debatable to what extent the dramatic events of 1230–1231 influenced alexander's break-up of galloway, alan's standing in the king's service diminished after 1231 and starkly contrasted that of the royal steward, walter fitz alan. as the lord of renfrew, north kyle and bute, and allied in marriage to the nearby earls of carrick and lennox, the steward was the most powerful scottish magnate in the clyde region after alan. whilst alan's career declined, the climb of the steward's steward's standing can be gauged with his reception of the office of justiciar of scotia and his continued consolidation of cowal. alexander, therefore, appears to have turned from alan to walter fitz alan, entrusting the latter with the task of imposing royal authority further west into argyll.