Well, the Tullys already have at least some riverrine navy – they send a bunch of ships after Jaime and Brienne.

Honestly, I don’t think it would take that long, especially since the Tullys have a lot of refugee peasants in desperate need of a living. Keep in mind, a riverrine navy has very different needs than an oceanic navy – it’s less about putting together a huge flotilla in one place (since the river isn’t really wide enough for anything like a Blackwater Bay scenario), than having a lot of fast-moving smaller ships that can respond quickly to prevent crossings, patrol potential trouble spots, conduct marine operations, etc. In other words, you’re likely looking at something closer to the longships of the Ironborn than the big 300-man warships of the Royal Navy for the most part, although you’ll probably need some of that to keep the mouth of the Trident/the Bay of Crabs clear.

Modern is going a bit too far – the word’s been used in reference to genitalia since the 18th century – but it’s definitely a post-medieval word.

To be honest, the word choice was less the problem for me than the tired Madonna/whore content of the line, the cringey flirtation between Nymeria Sand and Bronn, Nymeria’s really flimsy characterization, and the fact that the line didn’t really add anything to the scene.

Well, it’s just a guess. But given what happened on the show, and Darkstar’s generally caddish behavior, I wouldn’t put it past him. 

Well, let me count the ways:

1. Becomes Queen. 
2. Kills Robert.
3. Supplants his line on the Iron Throne.
4. Overthrows Ned Stark. 
5. Gets Tyrion convicted of treason.
6. Takes over the royal government. 
7. Gets Margaery thrown in prison.
8. Seemingly does it a second time after her Walk of Shame, given what we learn in “Mercy.”

She’s not triumphing over her destiny – Joffrey’s dead, Myrcella is probably dead (slow-acting poison on Darkstar’s blade, mebbe), Tommen’s def. going to die – and she has had some huge setbacks (Margaery getting bail, getting thrown in jail, Walk of Shame) but she’s accomplishing things in the process. 

In the future, there’s a bunch of stuff she might accomplish, anything up to burning the entire capitol to the ground. 

Long-term?  House Durrandon held the Riverlands for three hundred years, and House Hoare held it for three generations, and the Stormlands and Iron Islands aren’t quite as strong numerically as the North. 

Ultimately, it depends on what happens to the rest of Westeros. If Robb had fractured the Seven Kingdoms, and build a federation of the North, the Riverlands, the Vale, and the Iron Islands, and if the rest of the southron kingdoms were divided rather than united, it would be easy. The less Robb has to work with and the more the central authority has, the harder it gets.

In terms of how to hold it defensively, I think the key thing is to avoid trying to hold the whole of it. I differ from a lot of other writers in that I think the Trident itself is pretty defensible, as long as you hold Riverrun, the Twins, and a strong position at the Ruby Ford which may or may not be Harrenhal, and build a strong riverrine navy to maximize defensive multipliers and interior lines. The real problem is trying to hold territory south of the Red Fork, which lacks natural defenses. 

Well, I don’t think he believes any of them, given that there were only two witnesses against her, one has completely recanted and confessed to a conspiracy against Margaery, and the other has obviously been tortured.

I think the main thing for the HS is that the Walk of Atonement is directed at undermining Cersei’s legitimacy – Margaery isn’t the regent, so there’s no need for it. 

I’m not so sure it would be. Look back through the history feudal politics – even people with virtually unanimous reputation found enemies of their enemies, simply because their removal would upset the status quo, or empower someone that someone else didn’t like, or people felt it would set a bad precedent.

After all, if you can wipe out the Freys for being bad vassals, what does that mean for the Brackens or the Blackwoods? And I’m sure the neighbors of their neighbors don’t like the idea of rivals getting more powerful from dividing up the Frey lands. 

In both cases, because you’d take significant casualties while doing it, and in the end only make your realm weaker. (Although Robb has the added time pressure of needing to get south, relieve Riverrun, and save his father)

Also, vassals don’t like it when their liege lord exterminates a fellow vassal – it gets back to the “better feared than loved as long as you avoid hatred” thing. Vassals tend to call that kind of liege lord a tyrant, and that tends to lead to rebellions, assassination attempts, Lords Declarant, etc. the moment you suffer a setback.