Most Consequential Decision

[TyrionsFlagon]

What do you all think is the most consequential decision made in ASOIAF?  And I'm more thinking split-second decision making, and not long term. As I re-read, a couple of mine, in no order, are-

1) Catelyn kidnapping Tyrion- The war of 5 kings was going to happen regardless, but this really put Ned in a pinch, and it started Tywin's retaliation.

2) Arya choosing to kill Weese and Chiswyk instead of Tywin or Gregor.

3) If Robb doesn't send Theon to the Iron Islands.

4) If Dany hadn't saved the maegi.

Just curious to see what the rest of you come up with.

[Alyn Oakenfist]

- Brandon going ape and demanding Rhaegar's head

- Jaime doing the right thing and not letting KL burn

- Littlefinger challenging Brandon to a duel (eventually leading to most of the problems Westeros faces nowadays)

- Ned telling Cersei

[Gramse]

Not trying to hatch dragons at Summerhall

[Moiraine Sedai]

Consequential means significant and long-term consequences.  Those consequences can be positive or negative as well as mixed.  What is good for one side is not necessarily good for the other.  Or the greater common good may be bad for one family.  

The most positively significant decision to me is Daenerys Targaryen's decision to hatch her dragon eggs.  Millions of slaves will be free.  That decision may enable man to push the Others back and allow Daenerys to take back her kingdom.

The most negative was Jon Arryn's decision to rebel.  Jon Snow's meddling with the Bolton's is negative because it will result in collapsing the defense at the wall.  

[Moiraine Sedai]

Ned's decision to take the job at the big city got him killed.  I see little good in that.  

Arya's hard decision to scare her wolf saved it's life.  Good, I would think. The wolf was innocent.

Arrianne's queen making will have large consequences for Dorne. Poor Myrcella.

[Alyn Oakenfist]

1 hour ago, Moiraine Sedai said:

Arrianne's queen making will have large consequences for Dorne. Poor Myrcella.

I think that pales in comparison to when she decides to marry Aegon just because she wants to be Queen. It will indirectly lead to the deaths of herself, Aegon, and a lot of KL when Dany comes knocking. And maybe the Tyrells too

[Alexis-something-Rose]

Lyanna dressing up as the mystery knight at Harrenhal hasn't been confirmed yet in the text, but if it does turn out to be her, and I think a lot of us are confident in that, then I think this one has some very serious ramifications. And I'm not talking about Jon Snow's birth specifically even though it's part of it.

Talk about no good deed goes unpunished.

[Lord Lannister]

Jaime sticking his penis into Cersei. It ruined everything.

[Jay21]

The Blood Betrayal.

[Rondo]

3 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

Lyanna dressing up as the mystery knight at Harrenhal hasn't been confirmed yet in the text, but if it does turn out to be her, and I think a lot of us are confident in that, then I think this one has some very serious ramifications. And I'm not talking about Jon Snow's birth specifically even though it's part of it.

Talk about no good deed goes unpunished.

Lyanna did not get punished for a specific act.  It is actually kind of noble to stick up for a crannogman.  What doomed Lyanna is the so called wolfblood.  It's somebody who leaps before careful thought.  This person is headstrong and reckless.  She acts without thinking about the wider consequences for other people.  She is Sansa level selfish if she ran away to a married man.  She knew the blast from what will happen and did it anyway.  Thousands of people got caught in the blast.  

[Rondo]

55 minutes ago, Jay21 said:

The Blood Betrayal.

If it's true and really happened.

[Curled Finger]

To the good?  Those who decided to send Jon and Sam to the Wall.   There would be little to no preparation for the Others if not for them. For worse?  Killing Jon Arryn set it all in motion.   Would have been a straight fantasy story with politics at the Wall if not for that.  

Honorable Mention:  Stannis allowing Melisandre to infiltrate.  Robert buddying up with Thoros, giving him a reason to stay.  

Most impactful:  Pissing off the COTF

 

[TheLastWolf]

Humans winning against the COTF, Giants etc. Humanity is never good for the rest of living beings. Or for the earth. 

[broken one]

Robert deciding to drag his fat ass to Winterfell and ask Ned to become his hand.

[Loose Bolt]

Aerys II survived Duskendale. If he had died and Rhaegar I would have married Cersei any rebellion against Iron Throne would have failed. 

[CamiloRP]

The most consequential is obviously Aegon deciding to conquer. But un overlooked one is Robert choosing Jon Arryn as hand instead of Ned. Things would have been very different.

[BalerionTheCat]

When Ned ignored Gared warning about the Others.

When Ned didn't tell Robert about Cersei's bastards. "It is a great crime to lie to a king", Robert said to Arya.

[Curled Finger]

7 hours ago, CamiloRP said:

The most consequential is obviously Aegon deciding to conquer. But un overlooked one is Robert choosing Jon Arryn as hand instead of Ned. Things would have been very different.

Provided Benjen was already at the Wall, oathed and sworn, Ned really couldn't be in King's Landing.  He would be the last adult male Stark in Winterfell.  Surely even stupid Robert understood how important the North was to Ned?  Honestly, it was a little too early for Robb though he had a most preperatory childhood.  He was a damned decent kid regardless the decisions of his youth and grief and horror.  A few more years of training wouldn't have hurt him though it was clear he had some talent for war and that may have been somehow important for readers to see.  Nah, Camilo, I think Jon Arryn became quite the statesman with a sterling reputation.  Wonder what historical person that came from if any?  Robert had his own sort of mad wolf's blood, kid too young for this position, rash and irresponsible.  He seemed not to really get how not on Team Robert so many were, so many close were.  I wonder if Arryn's efforts helped heal any of the wounds on all the lands maimed by what amounts to a civil war.  Yikes.  

[CamiloRP]

50 minutes ago, Curled Finger said:

Provided Benjen was already at the Wall, oathed and sworn, Ned really couldn't be in King's Landing.  He would be the last adult male Stark in Winterfell.  Surely even stupid Robert understood how important the North was to Ned?  Honestly, it was a little too early for Robb though he had a most preperatory childhood.  He was a damned decent kid regardless the decisions of his youth and grief and horror.  A few more years of training wouldn't have hurt him though it was clear he had some talent for war and that may have been somehow important for readers to see.  Nah, Camilo, I think Jon Arryn became quite the statesman with a sterling reputation.  Wonder what historical person that came from if any?  Robert had his own sort of mad wolf's blood, kid too young for this position, rash and irresponsible.  He seemed not to really get how not on Team Robert so many were, so many close were.  I wonder if Arryn's efforts helped heal any of the wounds on all the lands maimed by what amounts to a civil war.  Yikes.  

I agree with you, still, having Ned as hand would have made things different, tho not necessarily better. Ned was always more wiling to fight Robert than Jon Arryn, way more. And if Ned had been Hand from the beginning, Robert would have never married Cersei and Littlefinger would have never been made Master of Coin. Those two things were some of the biggest causes for the WOT5K, meaning it would probably never happened. Both JA and RB would have likely lived longer. And succession would have been way more clear, so Varys, LF and Doran would've had a much harder time causing trouble, with a unified Stark-Baratheon-Tully alliance, plus Arryn, if JA lived, and whatever house married Robert, likely the Tyrells. That would be a hard alliance to break down and an impossible one to beat in a war.

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

15 hours ago, TheLastWolf said:

Humans winning against the COTF, Giants etc. Humanity is never good for the rest of living beings. Or for the earth. 

Westeros was not the home of humans.  The humans came along and displaced the native species.  Human progress may be good for the humans but it does harm the other living things on the planet.  There is a need for an automatic mechanism to keep humans from overpopulating.