Northern Sword

Joffrey's biggest influence is his mother. So, I'd say his attitude comes directly from Cersei's influence. On top of that, I agree Renly was one of the few who could get away with not hiding his disdain for Joffrey. Which would send both Joffrey and Cersei into a fit. One of my fav scenes is after Arya throws Joffrey's sword into the river, with Renly's following commentary and guffaw. Eddard 3 GOT When she got to the part where she threw Joffrey’s sword into the middle of the Trident, Renly Baratheon began to laugh. The king bristled. “Ser Barristan, escort my brother from the hall before he chokes.” Lord Renly stifled his laughter. “My brother is too kind. I can find the door myself.” He bowed to Joffrey. “Perchance later you’ll tell me how a nine-year-old girl the size of a wet rat managed to disarm you with a broom handle and throw your sword in the river.” As the door swung shut behind him, Ned heard him say, “Lion’s Tooth,” and guffaw once more.’ If all you ever saw of Joffrey and Renly was this. It explains everything.

At this point, I'll take anything new. Love Dunk & Egg, but I really enjoyed Fire and Blood too. Hmmm. #1 WoW #2 D&E #3 F&B

I respect Ned. Always liked his honourable ways. Yet, he was limited in his understanding of politics. If he had stayed in the north as a Lord Paramount, all would have been well. But, he was not well suited for Kings Landing and the Game of Thrones. He could not adapt. His honour got in the way. It restricted his movement and choices. Which ultimately led to his death. Robb, was from the same mold, which led to the same result. I personally don't see Robb's legacy being tarnished if he had done the "smart thing" in certain situations, even if slightly less honourable. Situational awareness never hurt anyone. But lack of situational awareness led to his and his Dads death. I basically see it as: there is the way you want it to be, and then the way it is. It is dangerous to mix those up.

Your story checks out

Damn spelling mistake, Aotu correcct has ruined me. Thanks for pointing it out... lol. This is the same reason Ned is Dead. Honour, while important will be your downfall in the game of thrones if followed rigidly. Just like everything else. There has to be a logical middle ground. Discipline also doesn't have to mean execution. Good guy or bad guy, you play to win. In Rob's case, he didn't even want to be a King. He was proclaimed by his lords. Aerys II Targaryen was a true king. So what does a "True King" even mean. For example, think of what being a True King meant to say Aegon the Conqueror, I'm guessing it is far different then what it would have meant to Jaehaerys the Conciliator. Being a true king, is what you determine it is for yourself. Or at least by what you need to accomplish. I do get the point you are making of him living up to his own(Neds) idea of what a true and honourable king should be. This is a self imposed Ideal and led to both of their deaths. He easily could have washed his hands by sending him to the wall. He was in a precarious position and chose the wrong course of action imo. Not that this act was the make it or break it tipping point. But still. Also, I'm Canadian, we spell Honour like the Brits, not Honor like the Americans, just incase you thought it was a spelling mistake and were going to point it out.

I like your optimism.

I am in complete agreement here. The speculation will never die. It is a coping mechanism for all of us who are waiting for the next book. Haha, It give us something to do as we wait. The consolidation of POVs will start in the next book and Winterfell will be where a lot of them will end up imo. I am eagerly waiting on info on House Dayne, but the rest of Dorne isn't as interesting to me. I like the wrench that Aegon is throwing into the story though. He has to be a Blackfyre in my mind... but a dragon is a dragon.

Agreed, Maybe a reward for services to the crown should be talked about. Arya is cleaning up the streets.

Plus, if you trained with it your whole life. It would become normal. Especially with the reduced weight.

Doesn't matter. It isn't like this is a regular occurrence where you have to stamp it out. This is a one off. You can still reprimand him. But to execute a loyal lord and relative, who also has a fairly substantial amount of troops deployed with your army is both a strategic and tactical mistake. It weakened his army and moral while in hostile territory during a war. Self inflicted wound.

Rob did very well for a 15 year old. He was winning the battles, but his problems started and ended off of the battlefield. To me, clearly his worst mistake was Theon. He thought he could trust him and Theon, in spectacular fashion, betrayed him. Additionally, I would not have executed Rickard Karstark. Right or wrong from an honor perspective. Terrible decision. Not that I'd characterize any of that as a sin though.

Not sure how you can call it a misconception, then use the same number I did, and then cherry pick the exception. (infant mortality and life expectancy isn't that bad if you survive to 5... haha, come on, that's not how it works) History is littered with examples of high born people losing 1/2 of their kids before adulthood. It was much worse for the common people. And, yes. For woman, childbirth was a killer. But you cant forget the reason Life Expectancy was so low because of conflict, disease and famine contributing to this as well. Men/boys were dying in wars as teens. Everyone was dying of disease, and famine was always a threat for the poor. And the term child bride in this series, and the way I am using the term is of a teenager(teenagers are kids to me). Teenage marriages were common, they were the rule, not the exception. Above I provided links to 3 different eras that state this. Also, important not confuse marriage and consummation. The arrangement of marriage was done by the bride and groom’s parents. In the middle ages, girls were typically in their teens when they married, and boys were in their early twenties. https://www.medievaltimes.com/education/medieval-era/marriage# Only the most fortunate lived to 60. Survival to this age was like a standard deviation of 2 or 3. Again the exception and not the rule.

I was also lumping the the betrothal stage. But even still. In a time when average life expectancy was 25-30, and they were having a dozen kids due to infant mortality. They started pretty young. Lots of info out there on this. It was common. 1)Antiquity The beginnings of this marriage pattern might be found as early as the time of the Roman Empire. ...In addition, Anglo-Saxon women, like those of other Germanic tribes, are marked as women from the age of twelve onward, based on archaeological finds, implying that the age of marriage coincided with puberty.[29] Source: Western European marriage pattern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_European_marriage_pattern 2) In the middle ages Girls were typically in their teens when they married, and boys were in their early twenties. Source :Marriage | Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament 3)About 1140, Gratian established that according to canon law the bonds of marriage should be determined by mutual consent and not consummation, voicing opinions similar to Isaac's opinion of forced marriages; marriages were made by God and the blessing of a priest should only be made after the fact. Therefore, a man and a woman could agree to marry each other at even the minimum age of consent- fourteen years for men, twelve years for women- and bring the priest after the fact. Source: Western European marriage pattern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_European_marriage_pattern

We all have our favs, all for our own reasons. I can appreciate your point of view, but I look at all of this from an entirely different POV. To me Cersei is just a complete train wreck and not in any way interesting. She is a genuine POS. From being a shit mother & sister, to a horrible friend, to a horrendous Queen. Selfish, arrogant, and petulant. It is so over the top, I don't find her interesting in the slightest. Also... by Keeping with your "incest weirdos" she has her brother and a cousin on her list. There are probably more, we just don't see it on page. She is the poster child of incest weirdos. So not sure how you resolve that. Jamie started in the same position in my mind, but once he was captured, a sense of self awareness became apparent. Step by step, he consciously wanted to become a better person, by thought and deed. One of my favorite chapters is when he is reading the White Book, reading of the deeds of his predecessors (and betters). The point where he gets to is own page and his internal monologue in that chapter is better(to me) than anything about Cersei on any page of the entire series. For me anyway, it isn't even close. Even Tyrion, The lecherous, drunk dwarf has far more complexity to him. As for the Baratheon's, are you on team Stannis ? I kind of like bitter and brittle Stannis. I don't think he will live all that much longer, but his interactions with Jon and the Onion Knight are fantastic. I do think he will have a gloriously and grisly end. But for me, The Baratheon's are one of the least interesting Great houses. At least in the present story. During the Conquest and the Dance they were a bad ass . Entirely different imo. Targ's >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Baratheon's. The godlike, dragon riders from an extinct race on the brink of being destroyed themselves.... again, not even close. I think the child bride thing is a bit over done as well, but I see it as a nod to how things actually were for a good chunk of human history. Like it or not, Pre Industrial Revolution and even into the 19t century, it was the norm.

Wow, are you and I different people. I disagree with everything you just said. lol Cersei, the best Lannister sibling... Sounds weird saying it. Doesn't make sense thinking it. Troubles me as I type it. Jamie, I started out hating, as he threw a kid from a window(not sure how that is a good starting point), now to the point where I'm cheering for him(at least to survive) As for the story, you ARE reading a story about the Baratheon's fucking up. You don't get to a war of 5 kings because things were going great. And them being better then the Targ's, Come on. Stop it.