George Martin and idea of kingship

[frenin]

1 hour ago, Peach King said:

I'm saying if Mace heard Renly bent to Stannis he could annul the marriage to Margaery, especially considering his promixity to Margaery vs Renly.

Under what grounds?? Annulments are HS territory and if the marriage is consumated before he heard about it is over,

[Peach King]

1 hour ago, frenin said:

Under what grounds?? Annulments are HS territory and if the marriage is consumated before he heard about it is over,

On the grounds that it's not consummated, and the news that Renly bent to Stannis would spread very fast.

[frenin]

2 minutes ago, Peach King said:

On the grounds that it's not consummated, and the news that Renly bent to Stannis would spread very fast.

And the HS might or might not annul the marriage, i don't know how the news would spread fast, if Renly ad Stannis wanted to keep things quiet, they certainly could have.

[The Sunland Lord]

4 hours ago, frenin said:

That's not a problem, Robert is under no obligation to name Stannis his heir, hell, he could name Renly his heir and  Stannis don't become the default heir in Robert's eyes, Robert would be free  to rule in whatever way he wanted about his succesion, even if that means force Stannis to keep his mouth shut.

No it's not a problem for Robert, it's a problem for Stannis. His intentions might be viewed in a way that he just wanted to usurp legacy. 

[frenin]

8 minutes ago, The Sunland Lord said:

No it's not a problem for Robert, it's a problem for Stannis. His intentions might be viewed in a way that he just wanted to usurp legacy. 

Giving that Robert have a dozen options besides naming Stannis heir, that's a very bad excuse.

[Aldarion]

11 hours ago, Jeeves said:

1. A good story has great supporting characters. 
2. There is not a single set of curriculum to make a person fit for ruling.  Robb had all the education and yet he was pitiful at ruling.  Samwell and his friends elected Jon Snow and he ended the second worst commander after the NK.  Robert caved in Rhaegar's chest because he thought he could run the kingdom better than Aerys and his family couldn't keep it together for more than 15 years.
3. Young Grif and Daenerys do not represent opposing ideals.  The share courage and strong wills.  Daenerys is smarter than Young Grif.  Young Grif has shown that he doesn't care to help the suffering slaves.  He could have gone to Meereen but chose to move on to his conquest.  Jon Snow is far from ideal and would actually be less able than YG and Daenerys.  Daenerys is the best qualified to rule.  She puts aside her distaste for the Ghiscari because she knows she needs their cooperation in order to make it work.  And it started working at Meereen for the most part.  The harpy is the extreme arm of the slaving families but they don't represent the average Meereenese who have accepted the end of the slave trade.  Do away with the harpy and progress will continue.

1. Agreed. But personally I usually prefer supporting characters to main characters.

2. Robb had education but no experience, and he in fact proved quite capable until his emotions started interfering (trusting Theon, breaking an agreement with Freys). Jon Snow had education but his prior experience was assisting a person who got himself murdered. Robert was good warrior but with - at best - only limited education, and more importantly, absolutely no interest in ruling. Now compare this with real life. Most capable Byzantine Emperors - particularly those of Macedon dynasty - had both education and prior experience, as they would have been either a) thematic generals (meaning political and military commanders of a theme) or b) co-emperors with those of thematic generals that had gained a throne. Note what term I used in b): co-emperors, meaning that while senior emperor could overrule them, they could not be wholly excluded from decision-making process, and a junior emperor would have had both theoretical and practical foundation for when he became a senior (or sole) emperor.

3. Actually, that is somewhat of a misconception. The very first proposal made at the meeting with Golden Company was to go and meet Daenerys in Mereen - but the plan was abandoned because it was physically impossible, as Golden Company had no ships of their own, and they had come to believe that Daenerys wants to be a queen of Slaver's Bay. So no, YG could not have moved to Mereen even if he had wanted to (while it is correct he has shown no interest in the idea either, by the time he had spoken it was already thoroughly explained why such a move was impossible) - unless he disguised himself as a beggar or something, but he alone, without Golden Company, would not be able to do much anyway. And frankly, I fail to see how helping Essosi slaves is a responsibility of a Westerosi ruler. I do respect Daenerys for what she is trying to do in Essos, but if she is serious about that, she will abandon any idea of sailing to Westeros at all - ending slavery is a lifetime project, more than a lifetime project in fact, especially in a slaver-centric culture like Slaver's Bay. So I would not say that choosing to sail for Westeros is inferior choice to ending slavery in Essos. At this point, Westeros needs somebody to beat them back into shape almost as much as Slaver's Bay does.