SeanF

Nobody likes Sweetrobin. And, following the show, quite a few people view Sansa as a kind of young Lady Macbeth.

Book Jon is ruthlessly pragmatic. He threatened to burn Gilly’s child. He's prepared to kill child hostages, if he has to. He puts his enemies in ice cells. Like any general, I can’t see him rejecting the use of fire in war, either, and I doubt if he’d have disapproved of the end of Master Kraznys. As to “types”, Ygritte was a murderer, but he remembers her fondly. What he did hate was seeing a man he came to respect (Mance), being subject to a cruel death. Would he have intervened if he knew it was Rattleshirt? That seems unlikely.

It's generally accepted that he was an officer in the KGB. His identification with the State goes a long way beyond simply supporting it at war.

A question. Paul may be considered as a villain, by some, for unleashing the Jihad. But, was he was just supposed to kill hinself, and the Fremen to accept eternal Harkonnen rule, as the alternative? And drawing parallels (as some do), with Daenerys’ anti-slavery campaign, in GOT. Is the message to oppressed peoples basically “Suck it up. You should count your blessings?”

Oh, they’re part of my faith. They just misunderstand it terribly, and/or else they make use of it as a flag of convenience. I’ll rephrase it slightly differently. Some of the wickedest people in the world are some of my co-religionists.

Nor am I. They're best described as bad Christians. Some of the wickedest people in the world can be found in the Churches.

Olives have a remarkable root structure, that enables them to regenerate very rapidly. But, it's plain that the river Skahadhazan irrigates an extensive area, and that a wide range of crops can be grown in its basin. Dany does actually promote agriculture, weaving, and building. Of course, none of those things offer the short term easy profit of buying and selling slaves. Nor can the masters just work the fieldhands to death and replace them with fresh slaves, any more.

Patriarch Kyril is one of the world's most unChristian Christians, as indeed are people like MTG and her allies.

I view him as more a fascist, running a mafia State. The completely arbitrary system of government, the absence of any real private property rights, or any limits to what the ruler and his henchmen can do to you, are things that mainstream conservatives would dislike (although, obviously, a lot of people who call themselves conservatives in the US are on board with these things).

MTG is a revolting woman. This love affair with Putin that exists on parts of the Right is just bizarre. Putin is in no sense a conservative, and he is very much a threat to US (and Western) interests.

That's a relief. 1.1 m shells will make a difference.

My impression is that there was more than one will at work, when Dany walked into the fire. She in turn, sensed that something miraculous was happening, without knowing exactly what. As to the O/P, I don’t doubt that human sacrifice was once common in the North, and likely still happens in some places. But what of it? Human sacrifice is a feature of all religions, other than the Seven.

I would like to see how the various cliffhangers in ADWD are resolved.

There are about 7,000 sellswords, serving with the Slaver coalition (of those, 2,500 switch sides, during the TWOW sample chapters). Then, there are 10,000 with the Golden Company. But, the population of Western Essos runs into many millions, so there must be thousands of sellswords still available for hire. How many men the North can field would depend in large part, on whether people are defending their home territory (in which case, a very high proportion of the adult male population will be fighting), or whether it's an expeditionary force, operating hundreds of miles away from their homes, in which case, the proportion of men who can be mobilised will be far smaller.

Overall, I’ve watched quite a few adaptations of novels on TV, that range from decent to very good indeed, like War and Peace, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Barchester Towers, The Woman in White. Granted, I think SFF/fantasy is harder to get right.

I expect poor Jeyne Poole will be exposed, and burned for treason, with only Theon to vouch for her.

An ending where Tyrion triumphs, Daenerys dies, Jon is broken, but Sam lives happily, would be a lot more bitter than sweet. Along with Bran and Sansa getting to live the dream, by treachery and manipulation, that’s the show’s ending. I’m coming to the conclusion that I would rather not get an ending.

If we ever get an ending, I suspect it will be one where evil wins. I expect Tyrion to persuade Jon to murder Daenerys, by persuading her she endangers his siblings. Tyrion’s motives will be base ones, but the author loves him so much that he triumphs.

Pretty well all Meereenese cultural activities - the Harpy, the tokar, the fighting pits, the elaborate hairstyles, the extravagant overconsumption of the elite - are about symbolising dominance and subjugation

I also agree with that.

My issue with the fighting pits is how “voluntary” is working in them. No sooner are they reopened, then Hizdahr is feedings dwarves to lions.

They got high on their own supply. They didn’t possess the writing skills needed to produce a tragedy, and they did not realise that they lacked those writing skills.

I think the Others are the ultimate Bad. No doubt, they have reasons which they believe justify their actions, but seeking to rule legions of slaves has to be viewed as bad.

But, Jon hates the Boltons, Freys, and Lannisters. That makes him evil.

The Pope is not exactly showing moral leadership, with his interview, in which he sees Ukraine should “show the white flag of negotiation.”