Why was Edmure still unmarried?

[Bright Blue Eyes]

One interesting thing regarding Littlefinger's age is that he may not be old enough to have fathered Alayne in the manner he claimed to, he is currently 31, and Alayne claims to be 14, was he even in Gulltown when he was 16-17?

Probably. Two years after Robert's Rebellion, three years after he fought Brandon. More than long enough to recover and for Lysa to get him the job.

[Pecan]

I wish George had dug into this question a bit more. Edmure not being married at what, 25? In a medieval world, that's an oddity, especially for the heir to a major house. In the case of ASOIAF specifically, we need to remember that the LP's are the equivalents of Kings, or perhaps Dukes. It is the job of an heir to marry soon and produce another heir and then hopefully a few more because what you really don't want is a succession crisis of any sort. So Edmure not being married at 25 actually is kind of a big deal.

An easy fix to this issue would have been to make Edmure closer in age to Robb, 18 or 19, something like that.

[Alester Florent]

I wish George had dug into this question a bit more. Edmure not being married at what, 25? In a medieval world, that's an oddity, especially for the heir to a major house. In the case of ASOIAF specifically, we need to remember that the LP's are the equivalents of Kings, or perhaps Dukes. It is the job of an heir to marry soon and produce another heir and then hopefully a few more because what you really don't want is a succession crisis of any sort. So Edmure not being married at 25 actually is kind of a big deal.

An easy fix to this issue would have been to make Edmure closer in age to Robb, 18 or 19, something like that.

It's not that unusual for a male heir to remain unmarried at the age of 25. Unlike female children they remain fertile almost indefinitely, so there's no pressure in that department. Death in battle or by accident is more of a risk, but not such a one that you should necessarily hop into bed at the first opportunity.

In England at least, Richard I married at the age of 33 when he was already king. Admittedly he had not been the intended heir but his brother had been dead several years by that point. Henry III was 29 when he married; Henry V 34. Henry I married at 32 and William II never married at all.

Of course it is preferable if the heir marries and fathers children fairly early. But it's not the end of the world if they don't, and appears not to have been that unusual historically for them to have taken their time.

[sarah.jenice]

I agree with you here, but as I think the honest answer is 'George needed Edmure to be single for the Red Wedding', it is the best that my limited imagination could come up with.

^This

Hoster was obviously into the idea of making alliances with other great houses as we see with Catelyn/Stark and Lysa/Arryn. It would have made the most sense for him to look at the Lannisters as the other great house on the Riverlands border, but Cersei was married to the king. Someone from the Reach seems like the best option, but Hoster was getting old and couldn't really travel to make arrangements like he could when his daughters were being matched.