Wasn’t he executed by Brienne?
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I’m going to name this corollary to the Peter Principle the Dinklage Principle. You rise to the level of your own Murder.
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Yeah… immediately following his defeat in battle, wasn’t it?
If nothing else, one of the firmest obstacles weighing down my suspension of disbelief about this world is just how barbaric and violent it all is. The twenty-one deaths I just listed all took place within a couple of years, and as I said, involve pretty much everyone (other than Cersei and Jamie and Tyrion) who have gotten within spitting distance of the Iron Throne. When I look at the beautiful architecture of the Sept of Baelor, the Red Keep, the castles of Riverrun and Casterly Rock and Harrenhal, even the monumental Wall, and most especially the Citadel in Oldtown, I have to wonder how anyone ever accomplished any of that. Everyone’s so busy fighting and dying. How does any culture grow and flourish to the point of laying two bricks atop each other in the middle of all that?
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Strife comes in waves?
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That’s one hell of a wave. But yeah. There’s a reason why this book series (and TV series) takes place when it does. It’s not the Song of Peace and Prosperity it might have been before the Targaryens showed up.
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I see it largely in the vein of the Silmarillion/LotR–the long slide into mediocrity, brutishness, and destruction. The grand works of their enlightenment happened thousands of years previous, and greatness has been beaten out of them.
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I seem to remember that happened to the Old Republic as well. Plus the Pre-Foundation Empire.
And the Forerunners.
And the Protheans.
I sense a trope.
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Also relevant: The Cycle of Empires, Decadent Court, Crapsack World.
And many, many others, I’m sure.
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So maybe GoT is set a long, long time after a long, long time ago and Westeros is the forest moon of Endor long after the Jedi Plague, and the Children of the Forest (turns out Ewoks had compatible DNA!) are fighting to save the planet from the unknowing plague bearers?
And the White Walkers are a failed last-ditch attempt to fight the midi-chlorian plague using nanobots, and a wight is just something dead reanimated with their nanobots?
And Hot Pie’s a genius. All this revenge and iron throne stuff is for the birds. Not related but I thought it was worth mention.
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Your show theory gives me nightmares, but I’d totally watch The Hot Pie Cooking Show.
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Ooh! Anyone here played Star Control II back in the day?
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The key feature of GoT is that it portrays a world that is subject to a cyclic transition from low fantasy (no magic) to high fantasy (lotsa magic) and back again.
Civilisation builds and collapses in cycle with the “seasons”. And, as they say, Winter is Coming.
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Which would make this a sort of harvest time, and then a time to get together with the relatives because they might not be there next winter, right?
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Nerd!
Yes! Pkunk FTW!
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The whole Jon Snow King of the North thing is still bothering me. Felt like a cheap plot device to give Sansa an alternative to the Littlefinger situation. Problem is I don’t think it would have happened that way. Here is a guy who has twice been losing battles (admittedly, one of those was not his fault, but the other entirely was) and had to be bailed out. He demonstrated political skill while lord commander, but only by doing something that made him unpopular enough to kill. So here is somebody who has, from the POV of Northern lords, demonstrated neither skillful politics nor skillful battle commanding. Yet here they are declaring, not just some level of alliance but he’s promoted to King, just like that? I could buy it as a way of sending a message south that the north is united and won’t kneel for the Lannisters, but that would have required a little planning, and the show made it look entirely spontaneous, that Lady Mormont guilted/inspired them to do so on the spot. I’m not buying it. Unless Lords really are that capricious with their loyalty.
I’m also curious to see what happens when everyone finds out Jon is not Ned’s son- while he still has Stark blood, Lady Mormont specifically called out him having Ned’s blood as enough for her, and he’s technically a Targaryen. Would Northern lords have knelt for a Targaryan? And what will people think when/if Bran shows up? He’s still technically Lord of Winterfell ahead of Jon? Not that they would be rivals or that the Lords would declare for someone so “differently abled”. His special powers would make him a great leader but it seems they are used to more warrior-ly leaders. Still, it’s the fluidity in succession that makes things interesting…
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I wasn’t actually joking about this. I didn’t find myself with HBO and an inclination to watch until about half way through series 4. So I only know a bit of what I’ve ended up reading on wikis and plot summaries to help me make sense of some of the later stuff.
So now I’m seeing it all as an extended flashback. Which is odd.
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SHE IS SO GOOD! WHERE HAS SHE BEEN FOR THE PAST UMPTEEN SEASONS!
Eating paste for at least a few of them?
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