Author: stevenattewell

How did an enemy having hostages affect feudal obligations? If you’re, say, Paxter Redwyne during WOT5K when one of the twins is held in King’s Landing, would you be considered deficient in your feudal obligations if you didn’t follow the Tyrells with Renly? Or would there be a (formal or informal) understanding that it was OK because of extenuating circumstances?

More of the informal understanding, although there were some astonishing instances of lords who fought despite having hostages taken. 

What is so unreasonable about ten thousand men taking high garden? The dornish sacked it during he gardener civil war and I doubt the dornish king who did that had more then ten thousand men

Because in that case there was an actual civil war, plus simultaneous invasions by the King of the Rock and the Storm King, plus another Dornish raid on Oldtown. 

Here, there’s no crisis dividing Reach forces – one modestly-sized army marches unimpeded across a seemingly empty Reach and takes a castle that should have had tens and tens of thousands of troops protecting it, given that Olenna had been in the process of mobilizing for war since the previous season. 

In regard of the Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion, had the Reynes or the Tarbecks asked for the king’s intervention, could Tywin face consequences for murdering a noble house? After all they did surrender in the end and they were vassals of the king as much as Tywin’s

Potentially he could have, but it would have depended very much on the king in question. The ailing Jaehaerys II or the young Aerys II would not have done anything. 

Is it me or Dany military strategy this season is terrible? Even if she wants to avoid a direct attack to KL, she should try to starve them out to try to instigate rebellion against Cesei, since she is quite hated. She has Dragonstone and 1000 ships, it should be easy to close access to KL by sea, and manpower enough (and 3 dragons) to close it by land. With the Lannister army at CR she could then movilize Tyrell/Martell forces to avoid an attack at KL gates. Is there something I am overlooking?

That was the original plan, but her plan to mobilize the Tyrells and Martells to put King’s Landing under siege on land and then the Greyjoys to do the same by sea got scotched when Euron smashed her fleet (might as well have been with a damn folding chair) and captured the Martell leadership, and then again when Jaime captured Highgarden. 

Since apparently there’s a chance Fire and Blood Vol. 1 might be published next year or in 2019, are there any specific kings/events you’d like to have fully fleshed out or that were lacking in TWOIAF (I think Vol. 1 is supposed to cover the Doom/the Dragonstone Targaryens to Aegon III)?

Well, I feel like we know a lot about the Conquest, the Dance, etc. but I guess I’d like to know more about the Great Council of 101, the Regency period, Septon Barth personally. And anything we can bank shot off of the Targaryens to learn more about the other Houses or Team Smallfolk is always useful grist for the mill. 

Are there any real world examples of Kings punishing their lords for failing to protect the commonfolk? Was this rare?

Depends on how you view the expansion of royal justice, which could involve royal judges and sherrifs pursuing criminal charges against noblemen for acts of violence including against smallfolk. And certainly when you get to the Late Middle Ages and you have royal attempts to restrain bastard feudalism, it becomes more common.

But earlier on, in the Raoul of Cambrai era, the kings lacked the capability to prevent private vendettas from harming the commonfolk. 

On the whole question of D&D’s decisions when adapting ASOIAF, I’ve heard it suggested that DD’s least favourite of the books was ADWD, and it makes sense to me, especially as it diverges the most from that book out of the others. Dany gets a lot of her darker scenes removed, Tyrion’s depression is snarked at by Varys and removed in one line, and a lot of the ‘newer’ characters and moments are either cut, changed heavily, or given to existing ones. Do you think so too, or is it more complicated?

No, I think that makes sense. ADWD really complicates the narratives of Jon, Dany, and Tyrion by having them struggle with leadership and fail in the case of Jon and Dany, and by having them struggle with some very ugly psychological ramifications of murder of loved ones in the case of Tyrion. And D&D have never been one for genuinely complicated character arcs.

To be fair, I can see how AFFC and ADWD together might seem like a huge challenge to adapt, because the cast is at its most dispersed (although one can see with TWOW how the characters are starting to arc back together, with the Starks beginning to move back to Winterfell and the Martells and the Golden Company converging on Storm’s End and then King’s Landing) and D&D are primarily in the business of shooting scenes with multiple leads interacting. 

Not that they’ve done a very deft job of managing that adaptation. 

How can the show maintain reasonable military tension when Dany still had the ability to levee troops from the cities she still controls in Essos? Or has she ceded that part of her empire?

warsofasoiaf:

I do not watch the show and as such cannot comment. For question of this nature, I suggest asking @racefortheironthrone, @turtle-paced, or @poorquentyn. All of these fine people like @wendynerdwrites, @goodqueenaly, and more can be found expressing their thoughts on the show episodes at @lowexpectationviewing.

-SLAL

I don’t think Dany can levy troops from Essos – my understanding is her Dothraki and Unsullied came over with her and that’s all she has. 

But then again, the show has never given a damn about military logistics, cough cough ten thousand men do not take Highgarden cough cough.