seguemarran Asks:

How come that the boundaries of the old kingdoms and family lands in Westeros seem to be so unchangeable? Has there ever been something like a dynastic union in order to enlarge family dominions? If, for instance (not interested in this particular speculation), Sansa came to be the only heir to the North, the Riverlands and then married Robin Arryn, wouldn’t that make a huge kingdom then united by her children? Thank you!

I don’t think it’s accurate that the boundaries are unchangeable – the histories of the various kingdoms from WOIAF show the opposite, with the borders of the various kingdoms flowing hither and yon repeatedly throughout history. In addition to the gradual and often painful process of the unification of each of the Seven Kingdoms from the hundreds of petty kingdoms that once existed, we know of a good deal of back-and-forth. The Durrandon conquest of the Crownlands and the Riverlands, the Ironborn’s conquest of much of the west coast of Westeros and the Hoare King’s conquest of the Riverlands, Gyles III Gardener who conquered most of the Stormlands before falling prey to tall poppy syndrome, the North’s attempts to conquer the Sisters and the Fingers, etc.

As to your question about dynastic union, there’s plenty of internal examples: the Stark’s dynastic marriages to the Barrow Kings, Garlan II Gardener marrying into the Hightowers and gaining Oldtown for the Reach, the dynastic union that allowed Meryn III to successfully incorporate the Arbor into the Reach, and so on.

However, there is a Westerosi custom that says that one man shouldn’t control more than one great seat of power, both out of respect for the balance of power, and the feudal limitations of trying to administer geographically separate fiefdoms. That likely has limited the reach and extent of dynastic marriages.

Steven Xue Asks: Do lords normally sell food right before winter?

I did a reread of the Alynne spoiler chapter and I find the way the lords of the Vale are trying to sell off their gain reserves and doing it so eagerly as lord Grafton says “the lords are eager to sell” very baffling because winter is fast approaching. I find this really bizarre because I’ve always been under the impression that before the 19^th century, people had a tendency to stock up on food supplies before winter to ensure they had enough food to last the winter months.

In Westeros where winter can last for many years, I would have thought that right now the conservation of food would be considered a huge prerogative for both the nobility and the smallfolk (who should know that winter is just right around the corner). I suppose these lords are just trying to make a quick buck while the going is good, but even from a monetary standpoint it doesn’t make a lot of sense as Littlefinger points out that when winter is in full swing, he will then be able to sell their grain back to them at a higher rate.

With all this in mind I’m just wondering if it makes any sense at all for the lords of the Vale to be selling off their grain reserves right before winter and did this actually happen in real life?

I would disagree with “winter is fast approaching.” Autumn may be lingering in the fields of the Vale, but Jaime has seen snow falling in the Riverlands, which means winter is here.

And the lords of the Vale want to sell their food now because that’s what they (and the Reach) have historically done: exported their surplus so that the rest of Westeros can eat. While they’ll make a substantial profit due to higher prices – which is a significant source of their wealth and power – they wouldn’t dream of holding back supply from the market to maximize profit.

That would violate the honor code of noblesse oblige, their reciprocal obligation to their smallfolk. It would be precisely the kind of selfish and materialist action that marks one out as a merchant rather than a nobleman, who acts in a disinterested fashion.

What Littlefinger is doing is known as “Engrossing, forestalling and regrating.” He’s withholding goods from market and buying up other supplies to resell later, with the intended purpose of raising prices. And historically, this kind of monopolistic behavior was considered highly illegal, because creating artificial scarcities threatened social disorder (bread riots).

Matt Asks: House Guardsmen

This may have been asked before, but the Great Houses at least (Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, Arryn, ect) all have large bodies of Guardsmen (who I assume are the equivalent of men-at-arms at least) who seem a separate class from household knights.

Would these be the equivalents of personal retainers for these Houses, and do any ‘lesser’ Houses have them?

Pretty much all noble houses above the lowly position of Ser Eustace Osgrey have guardsmen – in fact, they’re obligated to have them, as part of their feudal contract to supply fighting men to their liege lord.

Take Rohanne Webber, for example. House Webber is a minor house, a vassal to a Lesser (though principal) House, with one modest castle and ~60 tiny villages worth of peasants. And yet Lady Webber can assemble 33 fighting men, including six knights and six squires (plus Longinch), a dozen mounted crossbowmen, and nine men-at-arms, without calling a general levy.

Steven Xue Asks: Was Tywin really a slaver?

You have criticized Tywin on numerous occasions of “breaking one of the oldest Westerosi taboos” which is slavery. Now I hate to nitpick on this issue because I am no expert in this matter but isn’t what he did in Harrenhal a form of state bondage in a time of war rather than actual slavery? Weren’t the captives at Harrenhal technically POWs? And usually in any war, don’t captured prisoners (whether they are enemy soldiers or civilians) get conscripted into doing forced labor without pay and had few if any rights at all during their time of involuntary servitude?

I don’t really see a distinction between “state bondage in a time of war” and “actual slavery,” I guess. At the end of the day, it’s still involuntary labor extracted through force and threat of force.

POW status is usually reserved for enemy soldiers, not civilians, and the taking of large numbers of civilian prisoners is highly unusual. And there really is no precedent for this in previous Westerosi wars – we’ve seen attacks on civilian populations before, but we haven’t seen peasants kidnapped and forced into servitude before.

The only thing that comes close is “Lord Lymond Hightower, the Sea Lion, who revived the practice of thralldom in Oldtown just long enough to set the ironmen captured during the battle to hard labor strengthening the city’s walls.” But even then, that’s enemy soldiers and temporary.

Matt Asks:

Not a ASOIAF question, but considering your avatar…Do you think Martellus is right when he claims that had the Baron proclaimed himself emperor instead of insisting on a lesser title that the Fifty Families of Europa would have played along?

I think there would have been less friction, but probably not a lasting peace. To take a similar example from world history: when Napoleon ended the Republic and proclaimed himself Emperor of France and married into the Hapsburgs, it made France more of a normal player in the politics of European monarchies.

But that didn’t mean that people stopped going to war with France – after all, the historical rivalries, geopolitics, economic conflicts, etc. were all still there. But the tenor of the wars changed a little, and occasionally France was able to get the Austrians or the Prussians or the Russians on-board for a while, which was less the case back during the Republic.

Teddyballgame Asks:

What were Griff and Young Griff up to for the 12 years before Tyrion joins them? Hanging out on the Shy Maid, aimlessly sailing up and down the Rhoyne?

Varys says at one point that “[Young Griff] has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers and mended nets,” so it does seem like Young Griff spent a good deal of time on the Rhoyne living and working as a fisherman while being educated. However, given his language skills, it’s quite likely that he spent a good deal of time working in the coastal trade around Pentos, Tyrosh, Myr, and Lys, although he seems to have avoided Volantis and Slaver’s Bay.

Warwick the Wild: Regional Nationalism in Westeros

Dornish nationalism gets a moderate amount of discussion, but are there other regions of the Seven Kingdoms where there is meaningful nationalist/proto-nationalist sentiment? E.g. the North or the Vale, or is it still too bound up with personal loyalties?

I’ve talked a bit about Northern nationalism here and here.

I can see some other sources of proto-nationalist sentiment – the Reach has it’s fixation with chivalry, the Vale has its snobbishness and emphasis on codes of honor, and of course there’s the toxic nationalism of the Iron Islands.

Steven Xue: How does the Night’s Watch get their Maesters?

One thing about the Watch I don’t get is how they receive their Maesters? We know that for Aemon, he already had undergone training as a Maester when he volunteered to join the Night’s Watch so I suppose in his case it made sense for him to take over when his predecessor died (assuming they had one at all at the time). He was a rather special case since he was already qualified but in other times I don’t think that is how the Maesters at Castle Black are normally replaced.

In any case I have no doubt that whoever becomes Maester to the Night’s Watch will have to be one of their comrades (eg Aemon). This makes me wonder if whenever the Watch needs a Maester they would just send the most learned of their order to the Citadel to be trained as one (as was the case with Sam) or like everywhere else the Citadel just appoints one for them who then gets initiated into their order.

I also wonder why despite his advanced age Aemon never took on an apprentice to take over in case he suddenly passes away. Even though he had stewards aiding him with his day to day duties, he didn’t seem to have an understudy until Sam came along. Did he expect the Citadel will send a replacement when the time comes?

I think it’s more common for the Citadel to just send a new one. Aemon is a bit of an unusual case – as you say, he was already a maester and volunteered, but he also lived an extraordinary long time, so there wasn’t a need for replacements in a long time.

However, I would push back on the apprenticeship point, because that’s not how maesters work. Remember, you have to build your chain by studying under different maesters and then be judged by an archmaester chosen by the conclave as an expert in that field. This way, the order as a whole controls the certification of maesters, and the loyalty of a maester is to the institution rather than to their former master.

Simon Rumble Asks: Cheesemonger

How rich is Illyrio? Where does it all come from?

Extremely rich, although less rich than Xaro Xhoan Daxos. But enough to become a Magister of Pentos and marry the sister of the cousin of the Prince of Pentos. So he’s definitely in the top 1% if not the .1%.

In terms of where the money comes from, he took the nest egg he and Varys built from their various schemes and invested it into “spices, gemstones, dragonbone, and other, less savory things.”

Anon Asks: Ironborn hypocrisy

In the distance, half a dozen of southron longships were racing back toward the Mander. Let them go, Victarion thought, let them tell the tale. Once a man had turned his tail and run from battle he ceased to be a man.

Isn’t it a bit hypocritical for Victarion to think that given he did the same thing at Fair Isle when he turned his tail and fled when he saw the battle was lost?

It’s hugely hypocritical. Because Victarion is an enormous hypocrite. Because the “Old Way” is riddled with hypocrisy.