Greg B

You may be subconsciously repressing that "It was Littlefinger all along" plot twist (to use the term generously). I do that sometimes. But this is the same Petyr who, it turns out, instigated the murder of Jon Arryn by his wife, Lysa Arryn, and then persuaded her to write a letter to the Starks implicating the Lannisters in her husband's death, specifically to incite conflict between the houses when Ned was inevitably named as the replacement for the guy Petyr conspired to murder.

Wow, I'm not even certain we'll get books! I've thought a bit about how Martin could fill this hole, and I really haven't come up with anything plausible. That doesn't mean Martin couldn't, of course, if he were inclined to do so. But setting everything else aside, there had to have been a point when Rhaegar and Lyanna were together, after Rickard and Brandon were dead, presumably after Jon Arryn has refused the king's order to execute Ned and Robert, and it's clear what is about to come. And at that point, Rhaegar leaves his new bride and rides off to kill what's left of her family, and Lyanna remains silent all through the war, knowing that either her husband or her brother, or both, are going to die, until Ned eventually finds her on her deathbed. It's a big hole.

M'kay. Legally, technically, Rickard (and Robert) might have had a grievance. Still might have been nice of Lyanna to let her family know what was going on before they got themselves burned. Might have been noble for Rhaegar to mention it to someone. Maybe they didn't anticipate a civil war, but set that aside. It's almost as if they spent months never even considering their own future. Maybe they planned to hide away in the Tower of Joy the rest of their lives. It's almost as if the author never really gave any thought to what they were doing or thinking all that time...

A lie of omission, and a fairly substantial one at that! Kinda rude to let the realm descend into a catastrophic civil war while you're off on your months-long honeymoon.

Like the characters in the story, it's best not to think about GRRM's post-AGOT retcon that riddled the first book with plot holes.

I'd put money on it. She's going out just like Lyanna did.

Arya fights with Super Death God Assassin Magic and people are arguing about the physics of rapiers and broadswords. Okay.

I thought the conflict between Jon and Sansa was very well done. They both have a point, from their own perspectives. Jon hails from the Ned Stark School of Honor and Even-Handedness, while Sansa learned politics from the family that exterminated House Reyne to the last man, woman and child. I'm not sure who is (more) right. I lean toward Jon, but he's not setting a very good example for other ambitious Northern lords. And I know he knows these petty ambitions don't matter anymore, but that doesn't mean the ambitious Northern lords know it.

He doesn't have to be stern or indefatigable. He just has to say, "Lord Tyrell will remove his army from the city" because the High Sparrow, Cersei, and/or Margaery told him to, and then Mace will remove his army from the city. He didn't have to be stern or indefatigable when he walked out of the Great Sept and stood with the High Sparrow against Mace, Jamie and Tyrell army, either. I mean, Loras and Margaery were in the dungeons for who knows how long. What did Mace do? Nothing, that's what. He only brought in his troops when Cersei and Jamie put him up to it. What did he do on the steps of the Great Sept, with his strength behind him, when his son and heir remained in the dungeons? Nothing, that's what. What is the evidence that, regardless of all this, the Tyrell army remained in the city? There is no evidence. And yet, you assume the army remained and that it is therefore a plot hole because the army didn't hang Cersei after she blew up House Tyrell. It's rather odd. You're starting to remind me of my grandmother with the "dears."

Dear? This Mace Tyrell who would defy the king and occupy King's Landing sounds like a badass! He must be in some other show, though.

No. It's the king's call. Mace has no influence with the king.

Well, that's the point, really. The High Sparrow, Cersei, and Margaery are all competing to pull his strings. The High Sparrow would obviously want Tommen to order the army out of the city. After the plan to liberate Margaery and Loras fails, Cersei doesn't want the army there either. So what about Margaery? Would she try to convince Tommen to keep the Tyrell army in King's Landing? I don't think so. I think she believes she can control Tommen, and her long game is to get Loras back to Highgarden. She thinks she has all the pieces in place, and it works fine for her if there's an army waiting for Loras when he gets there. The situation with Dorne is uncertain at best, the army has nothing to do in King's Landing, and King's Landing probably has no way to feed them long term. There's really no reason Margaery would try to keep them in the city, and even if she wanted to, she probably couldn't.

The Tyrell army was only allowed into the city because the Lannisters and Tyrells planned to forcibly remove Margaery and Loras from the High Sparrow's dungeons. The king (er, the High Sparrow) wouldn't have allowed them to remain in the city following Tommen's embrace of the Faith.

She was scheming. She pretended to be converted to get out of her Walk, and to secure the High Sparrow's agreement that Loras would be freed and allowed to return to Highgarden. She feels betrayed ("You mutilated him. You gave me your word.") but the HS claims Loras was free to leave after Cersei's trial. Then the sept blew up.

Oh, he's definitely not rushing.