Do you think there’s magic in the Iron Throne given its “forged in dragonfire from the swords of enemies” thing, such that it cuts those that are “unworthy” to sit upon it? Or is it just a coincidence of it being a dangerous chair to sit on?

Or just GRRM’s dramatic license.

In-verse, do Westerosi people use Roman numerals? Are they just simply called something else?

@goodqueenaly reminded me that Maester Yandel uses such numerals for regnal numbers of various Targaryen monarchs, so there are in-universe examples.

Occam’s Razor suggests they’re called Valyrian numerals.

If raising Jon at Winterfell was such an unusual decision by Ned, what would a more conventional course of action have looked like? Sending baby Jon to be fostered with a bannerman? Never even taking him back North?

Never taking him back North – indeed, not even acknowledging him – would be the most common solution, but for an honorable man like Ned, sending him to be fostered would be the most likely. And we have other examples of Northern lords doing just that – Halys Hornwood sending his acknowledged bastard Larence Snow to foster with the Glovers at Deepwood Motte.

Do you think Renly ever thought of convincing Robert to wed Margaery to Joffrey, before the Sansa betrothal?

No.

Because Renly’s plan was to convince Robert to wed Margaery full-stop, and then disinherit Joffrey as the spawn of adulterous incest.

Godscast Issue 2 Gods as Brands

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Godscast Issue 2 Gods as Brands dives deep into the second issue from @kierongillen @McKelvie @imagecomics Get your deity on! #godscast #comics

Hosted by Steven Attewell and Chris Holcomb, Godscast takes you issues by issue through the hit comic series The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.

Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. Welcome to The Wicked + The Divine, where gods are the ultimate pop stars. But remember: just because you’re…

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Valyria being very much a slave society, how is it that the Targaryens did not impose that institution on Westeros upon conquest? It certainly wouldn’t be the only westerosi taboo that they would have broken….

Good question!

I would imagine the reason would be that the Targaryen supply was massively disrupted by the Doom of Valyria and the Century of Blood, that there was no demand in Westeros, and they were occupying a relatively small island which doesn’t lend itself to latifundi-style slavery.

How big do you reckon Bear Island and Skagos are? I was trying to come up with ways they might be modernised, but I realised I had no idea how much land I had to work with. I’ve been assuming Skagos is the size of Northern Island, but I can’t be sure.

Bear Island is around 100 miles long and 50 miles wide. Skagos is much larger, 250 miles long and 150 miles wide.

Rudimentary question, but I’ve been wondering anyway: why is The Reach called The Reach? The name is not self-explanatory like the monikers for most of the other kingdoms (except for Dorne, I believe).

Oh, I think it’s plenty explanatory when you think about the sigil of House Gardener…

Do we know if the others invaded essos during the long night ?

The legends of Azor Ahai/Hyrkoon the Hero/Yin Tar/Neferion/Eldric Shadowchaser and the existence of the Five Forts suggests yes.

For a Watsonian view of the ask about the Others’ timing, do you think that in the same manner that a lot of concentrated suffering creates a Thin Place or concentrated power creates a Hinge, the critical mass of world wide disunity might have helped create favorable circumstances for their return? And/or the return of magic? Like the maesters’ motivation to get rid of magic suggests it’s opposed to order, and as tensions build beneath stasis & stagnation, magic begins to leak back in?

Not really.
Since the Prologue of AGOT takes place about a year before Dany X of AGOT, the White Walkers’ return predated the return of magic.