In your Laboratory of Politics series, you say that “Essos and Westeros were unrealistically uninvolved in the other’s political conflicts”. What involvements did you have in mind?

Well, keep in mind that I wrote that before the World of Ice and Fire came out.

But, using historical interactions between the British Isles and the European continent, it is quite surprising that we only got First Men, Andal, and Rhoynar migrations to Westeros, or that Targaryen kings mostly stayed out of Essosi politics (seriously, not one of that crazy bunch tried to rebuild the Valyrian Empire? Moreover, after Aegon the Conqueror, the importance of a balance of power on the continent seems to disappear as a foreign policy objective), or that outside of the Triarchy and the Rogares there seems to be little Essosi involvement in Westerosi politics (especially during the various civil wars). I’m certainly a bit surprised that there aren’t more Essosi merchants and artisans living in King’s Landing or the other major cities.