Going through your Riverlands essay again and I have to wonder if its really so surprising Bernarr II could lose to the Ironborne, especially when he was provoked into attacking them at the end which presumes he got dragged into the Ironborne’s arena at sea and how he was later sentenced to death by drowning. The Riverlands have never had a naval tradition and your previous explanations a few weeks ago went over the difficulties of kingdoms building and maintaining a navy.