Holding the Seven Kingdoms

[King Aerys the Just]

I think Westeros is simply too large to rule as a single kingdom. The Targaryens could do it because they had dragons, but think about how goddamn huge this continent is. The northern part seems to be almost in permafrost, while the southern is a schorching hot desert. Lesser lords like the Redwynes and Hightowers can raise armies and fleets that would have put most medieval kingdoms to shame, and the Lord's Paramount are even mightier. The amount of troops the Tyrell's can muster for a campaign is about the size of the entire Byzantine imperial army, and they rule over a relatively small region of Westeros...

Given the huge numbers of troops the Seven Kingdoms can raise, and how much of the land still seems to be quite sparsely populated and undeveloped, Westeros must be absolutely enormous. I remember some excerpt saying that it was about the size of south America, which might make sense. In that case the logistics should simply be too hard for ruling with a medieval technology level (unless you have dragons). The Romans at least had the advantage of having an ocean in the middle of their empire, making transports and travel easier. Westeros on the other hand is just a huge blob of a landmass, and sailing doesn't seem too practical in regards to making journeying across the continent easier. How is Lannisport even an important harbor by the way? It's isolated from all the important regions and countries, literally on the backside of the world. Who do they trade with?

I believe that any monarch attempting to rule Westeros would eventually end up being bled dry by rebellions and uprisings he wouldn't be able to contain, on account of the logistical distance. It doesn't help that several kingdoms have almost cartoonishly good natural defenses, such as Moat Cailin, the Bloody Gate or the Dornish deserts.

[Last of the Darklyns]

Given the huge numbers of troops the Seven Kingdoms can raise, and how much of the land still seems to be quite sparsely populated and undeveloped, Westeros must be absolutely enormous. I remember some excerpt saying that it was about the size of south America, which might make sense. In that case the logistics should simply be too hard for ruling with a medieval technology level (unless you have dragons). The Romans at least had the advantage of having an ocean in the middle of their empire, making transports and travel easier. Westeros on the other hand is just a huge blob of a landmass, and sailing doesn't seem too practical in regards to making journeying across the continent easier. How is Lannisport even an important harbor by the way? It's isolated from all the important regions and countries, literally on the backside of the world. Who do they trade with?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/westeroseurocompar.jpg/sr=1

That's how big Westeros is.

As to Lannisport, the River Road, Sea Road, and Gold Road all meet there, and it is the only port for exporting Lannister gold. Other than that, I don't know who it trades with. I suppose that Lannisport ships up goods from the Reach and Dorne and supplies them through their roads to the Westerlands and the Riverlands, in addition to maybe the North.

Really, a similar question could be asked of Oldtown, which is only geographically close to the Summer Isles.

[Castel]

Ruling Westeros as a single kingdom requires levels of bastardry both magnificent and otherwise that are hard to fathom. You have to weaken all your opponents, in the way that Kevan suggested to Cersei, making their most powerful vassals more loyal to you than them and making it harder for them to rebel. In an ideal situation you do what Tywin and the others did with Littlefinger and Bolton; create lords that depend on you for the majority of their strength, unpopular lords that'd have trouble raising the armies of their lords, especially if you can claim to be a reasonable man. You have to magically keep everyone dissatisfied without letting them rebel outright. Good luck.

Then of course, you have to maintain this when you die. Again, best of luck.

[Batman]

Blackwood and Bracken are too dangerous - while I don't want the Riverlands to unite, I don't want them to fight, either. A fighting ground in the middle of the kingdom wouldn't be good for the economy or stability of the country.

I guess Mallister would rule the Riverlands North, and Darry for the South. New houses would be less likely to inspire loyalty, though I would tear down and rebuild Harrenhal and give it to someone loyal to keep Darry in check (and come to rule if Darry rebels - then it would be seen as the normal choice, as the Harrenhal lords would be the next most powerful). I would keep House Frey of Riverrun (weak rulers, and I would take away a lot of their land to lower their power), but strip House Frey of all its lands and reward the Twins to someone loyal - I wouldn't want to marry off my daughter to access the North, and I don't want the Freys troubling the Mallisters.

The Rickon idea is too dangerous - the possibility of the armies of the North and the Riverlands joining isn't a good prospect - each kingdom needs to be kept isolated from the rest.

They would be out of their mind to fight a war with each other. A royal decree stating that both Houses will lose all lands, ranks, holdings and titles if either side attacks the other should be enough to keep them from going to war.

On the other hand there are other ways to keep the Riverlands from uniting against the King. I personally wouldnt want any Frey's in seats of power. Edmure chose to fight once the Lannisters attacked, I would have no issue with him regaining his title as Lord of Riverunn and Paramount of the Riverlands. To safe guard against any attempts strong lands and keeps in the Riverlands would be granted to loyalists. Harrenhal (rebuilt), the Twins (removing the Freys) and Darry (restored lands) all lack lords and are the strongest seats in the Riverlands. Those three houses alone would be enough to give the rest of the Riverlands a fight while the royal force are brought up to deal with the rebels.

The Starks are loyal to Kings who treat them well. I assume the King would not want to cook, kidnap or behead the Starks so I dont share great concerns over them. The new Kingdom you propose is strong enough to deal with the others combined. The important thing is to keep good relations with at least one opther kingdom. Have the lord of the Westerlands as hand or marry the lord of the Vales daughter, the king should keep at least one other Kingdom on side just in case.

[Last of the Darklyns]

They would be out of their mind to fight a war with each other. A royal decree stating that both Houses will lose all lands, ranks, holdings and titles if either side attacks the other should be enough to keep them from going to war.

On the other hand there are other ways to keep the Riverlands from uniting against the King. I personally wouldnt want any Frey's in seats of power. Edmure chose to fight once the Lannisters attacked, I would have no issue with him regaining his title as Lord of Riverunn and Paramount of the Riverlands. To safe guard against any attempts strong lands and keeps in the Riverlands would be granted to loyalists. Harrenhal (rebuilt), the Twins (removing the Freys) and Darry (restored lands) all lack lords and are the strongest seats in the Riverlands. Those three houses alone would be enough to give the rest of the Riverlands a fight while the royal force are brought up to deal with the rebels.

The Starks are loyal to Kings who treat them well. I assume the King would not want to cook, kidnap or behead the Starks so I dont share great concerns over them. The new Kingdom you propose is strong enough to deal with the others combined. The important thing is to keep good relations with at least one opther kingdom. Have the lord of the Westerlands as hand or marry the lord of the Vales daughter, the king should keep at least one other Kingdom on side just in case.

I guess Bracken and Blackwood could be used.

I still wouldn't want to risk the Starks. Who knows how their character will change over the course of a few centuries? Most people don't have the same character as their ancestors, and the Starks wouldn't be an exception.

[Quentyn Baratheon]

They got great Goldsmith in the Westerlands. If the Warden order that the stuff can be only sold and/or exported through Lannisport, the sheer price of the stuff, can probably give you great incomes and taxes AND avoid middlemen. Also, they are probably the only safe port on the west of Westeros. The Narrow Sea sinks boats whatever season, the Stormlands are quite infamous for breaking ships.

Oldtown is weird. it's very famous for the Citadel thus has probably great connection with Westeros as a whole. But I don't remember any product besides agriculture for the Reach. Wine and his business of export is probably in the hands of the Redwyne and the Arbor.