SeanF

Glen Cook had the answer to that, in The Black Company. You would always choose Sauron (or in his case, Dark Galadriel) over chaos. I doubt if there is any one saviour. Just lots of people playing their part.

It's a theory, but not one I adhere to. The Others are a threat like Morgoth, compared to which any human being is a joke. That doesn't mean she'll swoop in and save everything like a dea ex machina, but I expect she (and others) will play their part.

Then of course, there’s Kim Wexler, who may well be the Daenerys of BSC. Concern for the downtrodden is in danger of becoming a desire to hand down reward and punishment as she sees fit.

Even the most unenlightened of people in this world would take the view that Dany's duty is to protect the unborn child of her lord husband, and to accept his judgements.

I imagine that when a young mother has just been threatened with disembowellment, pleading for the life of her assailant will be the last thing on her mind. Not that Drogo would have done any differently. We should not expect any woman in this tale to be Patient Griselda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_(folklore)

Roose probably would be within his rights to have executed Ramsay.

Across many cultures, I think an upper class upbringing must have been very corrupting. Brought up to believe you have the right to exercise untrammelled power over others, to have sex with anyone who takes your fancy, and surrounded by people who fawn over you and cater to your every whim, while trying to exploit you and each other.

Compared to say, a lot of Roman emperors, or the rulers of Renaissance Italy, they aren’t so bad. And in A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman, almost everyone seems unhinged. Things that actually happened, like Nero gelding and marrying Sporus, or the Dance of the Burning Men, or women being raped by animals as public entertainment, or Uggolino locking a man in a barrel to see if his soul would emerge at the point of death would be rejected as absurd in fiction.

It’s sometimes hard to untangle mental illness from the extreme behaviour that some royals and nobles engage in. It’s especially hard in this world, where magic is a reality, and prophecies and visions have meaning.

There’s no clear distinction between magic and science in Middle Earth. The Rings of Power, Palantiri, silmarills, weapons bound with spells are both magical, and items produced with great technological skill.

I'd have thought a real possibility is that she tries to implement Egg's reforms only to generate a shit-storm among the nobility.

Despite his merits, GGK has never matched your three way sex scene between Yoda, Gollum, and Debby.

Those are good points. My impression was that Sarantium was under pressure from the Asharites in her youth, but still a great power. It’s like going from 1150 to 1453 in a single lifetime.

I imagine that most angelic beings could use a glamour to make themselves look fair to mortals. WRT the films, I enjoyed the first two a lot, I enjoyed the third for about half of it. Obviously, there are things to quibble over (such as skateboarding Legolas, Frodo dismissing Sam, Gimli being played for laughs, the absence of Frodo's vision of a world at war) but overall, I liked them. But, the third film became very silly, with the green soap bubbles of death, the daft tactics at the Battle of Morannon, the cut and paste job of Frodo and Sam's journey through Mordor - and of course, the horrid portrayal of Denethor.

I cite Hiroshima, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne etc. But, I could as easily cite Badajoz, Coimbra, Córdoba, Gerona, etc. Burning cities in war is not a moral event threshold. It is part and parcel of war, even the most just of wars. "Defy us to our worst. For, as I am a soldier,A name that in my thoughts becomes me best,If I begin the batt'ry once again,I will not leave the half-achieved HarfleurTill in her ashes she lie burièd

Never heard of a ruse of war? And as Gandalf put it “Where these customs hold, it is the practice for envoys to use less insolence.” In fact, she upheld her side of the bargain with Yunkai. She spared the lives of the Wise Masters, in return for their giving up their slaves with severance pay.

It’s how we won WWII. We burned cities. And you know what? I’m glad we did it.

Our grandparents destroyed cities. In war, it’s no big deal.

The only bad faith was her breach of contract with the Good Masters of Astapor. But, they were trying to sell her stolen property in turn.

Assuming that the burning of Kings Landing is a thing, I would expect it to take place before the fight against the White Walkers, not after. I'd expect Daenerys to land in the South, not the North, and not to faff around as per the show. She'll strike for Kings Landing, right away. We don't know what the circumstances of the sack/burning will be, but I expect there will be a rationale for it. Perhaps, Daenerys' forces have to fight their way in street by street. Perhaps she unleashes dragonfire on the defenders; or the caches of wildfire ignite, or Jon Connington, triggered by the sound of bells, sets the place ablaze in the wake of defeat. If the city is sacked, then that will be horrible, but also entirely in accordance with the laws of war, in-universe (and pretty much in line with real world norms at any point prior to 1850 or so; 1945 in the case of Berlin). Stannis' men would have sacked the city, had they taken it by storm. The norm would be to offer the defenders the chance to surrender, but quarter would be denied if they refused. Unless Dany does something really malicious, like refusing to accept an offer to surrender, and opting instead to slaughter the inhabitants, I doubt if a sack would raise many eyebrows among the Northmen.

Some Shakespeare plays do read well, others are dry as dust. But, really I think that any play has to be seen to really appreciate it.

I'm sure Ding & Dong thought they were better writers than Martin.

Unfortunately, you’re right. Martin has confirmed, in James Hibberd’s oral history , that Stannis will burn his daughter. That also shows that the pink letter is a lie, and he’s still alive, as at the end of ADWD. Bran’s treatment of Hodor is described as “an obscenity”. That might suggest Bran’s becoming king is a nightmare, like Leto II. Apparently, Hodor dies, wielding a sword, as Bran wargs his mind. Other than that, he says the main characters have “different endings.” The “Holy Shit” moments are the death of Hodor, Bran’s kingship, and Stannis burning Shireen.

I like Richard III too. One part of me is rooting for him, but it would still have been an unsatisfactory ending to the play had her really got away with it.

The opinions of Michael Moorcock are not the Law of the Medes and the Persians.