Part One of our liveblog with @poorquentyn, @goodqueenaly, @racefortheironthrone, @ladycarolinemikaelson, and @wendynerdwrites!

Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4 Discussion Thread

The episode may have leaked early, but I’ve been (mostly) good; how ‘bout you? I’ll be doing the usual live-chat over on…

Were body doubles a thing used in Midieval/Renaissance period? If so, are there any surviving information on them?

Yes, William of Normandy used one at Hastings, at least in Shakespeare’s telling Henry IV used several at the Battle of Shrewsbury, etc.

I am having a really bad cold with fever spikes. Even with all our modern medicine i am still a mess. How would people deal with common cold’s in Westeros/Medieval times?

Herbal remedies and getting on with it, basically.

Same Anon about Twins and trade. Can you elaborate? I see the Kings Road but there is nothing there besides the road. Saltpans and Wickeden are miles and miles away to south where anyone could just easily move into through the west shore of the Green Fork and cross later in the South (like Rubi ford). This way a trader would meet a lot more towns and people to sell in his way. So, what do you think? Is there towns and keeps that map doesnt show?

Kingroad is a main trade route between North, Vale, Riverlands, King’s Landing, and Stormlands, you’re going to get lots of traffic up and down that road.

Saltpans and Wickenden might want to trade with the northwest, etc.

There’s the port at Seaguard, etc.

Maester Steven, do coastal castles typically lay near natural harbors?

Frequently, but not always. Even if there’s not a harbor, having your back to the sea makes you harder to besiege, so…

Apparently there’s this game run at A Forum of Ice and Fire called the Blood of Dragons MUSH. Elio and Linda were heavily involved in writing TWOIAF and it looks like the game aligns with canon but fleshes out characters/reigns/events/etc. Do you think GRRM will pull from that content when writing Fire and Blood if it’s sort of pre-canon or is it just a side game at this point?

I’ve talked to Elio about it, and he says the two are separate.

Have you read The Kingkiller Chronicle (The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear so far)? Still fantasy but extremely different compared to ASOIAF in terms of POV, magic, storytelling, and worldbuilding.

Read the first one, wasn’t super-keen on it.

What do you think is the total population of each region in Westeros? Because the north has mills, so if that’s an indicator of agricultural productivity then how many common folk live in each region?

Here you go.

Smallfolk make up about 90-95% of the population.

If one of the houses that claim to the reach was because of close decent from the gardeners had been made lord paramount by aegon, do you think said lord would have taken the name gardener to solidify his legitimacy?

Quite possibly, we’ve seen the phenomenon with Joffrey Lannister ne Lydden, so it stands to reason that a successor might well have reached for added legitimacy through a name change.