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Could you expand on why you think Arianne will marry Aegon? When reading Arianne II it seems that Elia Sand is the more likely to get involved with him, based on her defiant personality, impetuousness, and exploring her sexuality. Arianne is more consumed by maintaining her status as heir to Dorne and wondering if Quentyn’s return would change anything. And Connington would never allow it; Aegon’s hand needs to be kept open, so if it happens it’s probably in secret and done quickly.

Arianne wants to achieve her father’s ambitions of destroying the Lannisters – “my father entrusted this task to me” – Aegon has an army in the field and is marching on King’s Landing right now.

Arianne doesn’t like the idea of King Quentyn – “will I need to kneel to him” – marrying Aegon makes her Queen, just as Doran had intended with his marriage pact to Viserys, and cuts out Quentyn too. 

Connington wants to keep Aegon’s hand open for Dany, but Aegon might not agree. Aegon’s whole deal is that he’s aggressive and ambitious and isn’t willing to wait – here comes Arianne Martell who has armies now, not “one day.” He’ll overrule Connington, as he did with Storm’s End and with Rolly, and he’ll use Arianne’s spears to take King’s Landing, seemingly vindicated. 

And then Dany will show up. Aegon might offer her a tripartite marriage, but she’s not going to be interested in negotiating. 

Is the sustained Medieval-Rennaissance divide between Westeros and the Free Cities realistic given their geographical proximity and commercial interaction? Are their any similar situations in history?

It’s absolutely realistic – the Renaissance as an intellectual and cultural and economic movement overlapped with what we think of as the Late Medieval Age, which ran from 1301 to 1500. Michelangelo was 12 when the Wars of the Roses ended; Leonardo da Vinci was born two years before they started (and a year before the Hundred Years War ended) and outlived them. 

Edward III fought the battles of Crecy and Poiters with gold borrowed from the Bardi and the Peruzzi bankers of Florence, and his failure to repay in 1345 was one of the reasons why, a generation later, Contessina de Bardi married Cosimo de Medici, who used her family’s reputation to help make himself Florence’s “king in all but name.”

How is Harrenhal administered? That is, does it actually owe fealty to Riverrun, or is it sworn directly to the IT? I know it’s physically in the Riverlands, but it seems like there’s a lot of Iron Throne interference regarding who gets the castle, instead of leaving it to Riverrun (i.e. it seems to always be a reward to a family aligned with the crown; the only other examples I can think of, of the IT just giving a castle outside of the Crownlands to someone, were spoils taken from traitors).

It’s definitely sworn to the Riverlands, but it’s something of a special case because it used to belong to House Hoare until that line was cut off, Aegon the Conqueror has right of conquest over it, and he started a custom by giving it out as a reward to one of his followers, specifically Dragonstone’s master of arms, Quenton Qoherys. (Although he did give the Tullys of Riverrun the Lord Paramouncy and married them into House Qoherys)

House Qoherys ended with the death-by-gelding of Gargon the Guest in 37AC, who had no legitimate issue due to his preference for the First Night. And thus, it reverted back to the Crown. (House Qoherys = total of 37 years)

A few years later, Maegor gave it to Lucas Harroway (who had probably previously been the Lord of Harroway’s Town), who held it only until 44AC when Maegor had all of House Harroway executed for the crime of Alys’ supposed infidelity. (House Harroway = 2-7 years)

He then gave it to House Towers after a melee that killed 23 knights, including Walton Towers. The Towers’ line didn’t last that long, only going for two generations after Walton, and thus it reverted once again. (House Towers = maybe 60 years?)

Jaehaerys gave it to Lyonel Strong, who shared his learning, despite the scandal of his relative Ser Lucamore’s gelding. The Strongs seem to have held Harrenhal for about thirty years (assuming that 30 years = a generation, they would have gotten it around 100 AC), before they died out due to the fire and Cregan Stark. (House Strong = probably 30 years, but could be more, depending on how long the Towers lived)

Harrenhal then reverted to the Crown for about twenty years, when it was given to Lucas “the Pander” Lothston in 151 AC in exchange for marrying Aegon IV’s mistress (and later allowing said mistress and his daughter to have the grossest threesome of all time with Aegon IV in exchange for the Handship). The Lothstons are the longest-running owners of Harrenhal, possibly because they steered into the curse: Lucas survived until at least 178. He was succeeded by Manfryd o’ the Black Hood. (My theory about that name is that Manfryd had a sideline as a “mystery knight” who wore a black hood, and did some really nasty things while in disguise) Manfryd’s heir was (probably his son) Manfred, who betrayed Daemon Blackfyre in 196. He died sometime before 211, when Danelle Lothston took over. 

Danelle seems to have been the last of the line – which may be why the rumors of her sorcery all revolve around Bathory-like attempts to extend her youth and life  – and despite her previous loyalty to the Targaryens, was brought down sometime between 221-233 AC when her black magic became public knowledge. I’m guessing towards the end of that range, given that Ben Blackthumb smithed for Lothstons and is still alive in 299. (House Lothston = ~80 years)

For their part in bringing down Danelle Lothston, the Whents were given Harrenhal by Maekar I, and lasted ~70 years. Might have lasted longer, but Shella’s four sons all died before her, as did her husband. (House Whent = ~70 years) 

And then it reverted to the Crown again, and then was given to the Slynts, who lasted all of three months, and then to the Baelishes. 

Is it possible that the Dornish people’s long abiding love for spears rather than swords, axes, bows or any other weapon developed because of the importance of a spearwall in stopping the massed cavalry charges used by their ancient enemies of the Reach?

Well, the Dornish spearfighting traditions were largely a Rhoynish import, as the Rhoynish warriors had fought with spear and shield for thousands of years. 

From what we’ve read, the Dornish seem to emphasize highly mobile cavalry that act either as javelineers (similar to the Numidian cavalry who formed the core of Hannibal’s strength in the Punic Wars) or as lancers, so I don’t know to what extent the Dornish use spear-infantry.

If they do, it seems to be less about spearwalls per se – Nymeria speaks of “the spears would be falling thick as rain upon the marches now”, and we see throwing spears used when Areo Hotah ambushes the conspiracy. So maybe the Dornish use Zulu tactics? 

Why is it that the Gardeners were able to rule their Kingdom for thousands of years, despite the fact the Reach has the same geographical limitations of the unstable Riverlands?

I don’t think it does, actually. 

To the south, the Reach has the Red Mountains giving it a pretty solid border, or solid enough that strategically placed Marcher Lord castles at the few passes across the mountains can contain the Dornish threat, or at least hold them up until the rest of Dorne can mobilize. 

To the north, the hills of the Westerlands basically meant that the coast road was the only way that the Westerlands could attack (unless they were going to invade the Riverlands first), and the Reach has Old Oak, Red Lake, and Goldengrove to act as its first line of defense there. (It also helps that the Riverlands were a failed state for much of this period, and so the Reach only had to deal with them for a limited time). Remember, the Gold Road postdates the Targaryen invasion, so that’s not as accessible a route for invasion, plus it dumps the Westerlanders out into the Riverlands, so there’s an element of early warning there too. 

And while their eastern border is a bit more porous, it’s not easy to march an army through the Kingswood. And the Stormlands were the Reach’s least numerous regional rival for most of that period, so less of a threat there. 

But on top of all of that, you just had much more effective governance. The Gardener Kings of the Reach (aided and abetted by the fact that their blood ties with most of the major Houses of the Reach created a common affinity) were for the most part incredibly good at binding together the Reach into an effective unit. Garth the Great forged the northern defenses with treaties, Gwayne the Fat brought the Manderlys and the Peakes into the realm with judicial decisions, Meryn III and Garland the Bridegroom used dynastic marriages to bring Oldtown and the Arbor into the Reach (giving economic, cultural, and naval might), and John II established the kingdom’s eastern borders. 

And that’s just scratching the surface of a House that, IMHO, has the best track record of effective monarchs in all of Westeros. 

Compare that to the Kings of the Trident, who never really managed to unite their kingdom or extend enough influence to their borders to feel comfortable enough developing their economy by handing out charters. 

Graphic Policy Radio Discusses Captain America: Civil War LIVE this Tuesday

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Graphic Policy Radio Discusses Captain America: Civil War LIVE this Tuesday #CivilWar

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Graphic Policy Radio heads to the movies to discuss Captain America: Civil War. Joining hosts Brett and Elana to discuss the hit film is frequent guest and Graphic Policy contributor Steve Attewell. We’re discussing the film, the action, the political context, and if we’re #teamcap or #teamironman during the show. Listen in LIVE this Tuesday at 9:30pm ET. Steve Attewell is a political & union…

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If you’d like to hear me talk even more about Captain America Civil War, tune in Tuesday night!