Bothersome Inconsistencies/Plot Holes

[The Ned's Little Girl]

On your first example, I simply read that as more information being given, so that the story comes out gradually as more and more detail is filled in. (I confess, I don't see a plot hole there. Ned remembers that Brandon strangled while his father Rickard watched, then we get the additional details that Brandon strangled himself while Rickard watched while dangling over a fire.) Additional details then cause the reader to have a different view - and a better understanding - of the event and also of the characters involved in it.

This same sequence happens on other occasions, most notably with the accounts of Aerys' assassination by Jaime. We as readers have no understanding of the context and the details of that event - we only know that Jaime killed him - until we get the whole story conveyed to us by Jaime himself. It doesn't mean that there is a contradiction between our first understanding and our later understanding. It only means that we have more information and a fuller picture.

[Ser Luke.]

Same with the Jeyne's hips debacle, most are just innocent mistakes which I can forgive due to the vast amount of knowledge Martin must be trying to remember.

Yeah, little stuff like that doesn't bother me at all.

[NewJeffCT]

I think you're allowed to leave the Nights Watch for a visit home, provided you came there voluntarily and your home is close enough that the trip won't take like a year. Mormont says something about not letting Jon visit Bran at Winterfell yet.

I'd guess that he'd also go there to mention to Robert, "Hey King Robert, we're a bit short of men... can you send a few our way, please?" However, since neither Robert nor Benjen are POV characters, we don't see that scene actually happening.

One inconsistency I remember was I think in book one, they mentioned a few times that Jamie was heir to Casterly Rock, though it's pretty clear from later books that he cannot inherit due to his position in the Kingsguard. It could have been ignorance on the part of the POV character, or just an inconsistency?

[King Robert's Warhammer]

It kind of bothered me that Tyrion started out being quite acrobatic. Then gets troubled with leg cramps all the time. But I'm not a doctor or anything...so it might be legitimate.

[protar]

I'd guess that he'd also go there to mention to Robert, "Hey King Robert, we're a bit short of men... can you send a few our way, please?" However, since neither Robert nor Benjen are POV characters, we don't see that scene actually happening.

One inconsistency I remember was I think in book one, they mentioned a few times that Jamie was heir to Casterly Rock, though it's pretty clear from later books that he cannot inherit due to his position in the Kingsguard. It could have been ignorance on the part of the POV character, or just an inconsistency?

Tywin did seem pretty convinced that he could get Jaime to inherit and as Tywin's word was pretty much law maybe everyone else was convinced as well?

It kind of bothered me that Tyrion started out being quite acrobatic. Then gets troubled with leg cramps all the time. But I'm not a doctor or anything...so it might be legitimate.

Martin admitted that that was a mistake and would be pretty unlikely given Tyrion's dwarfism. However he does explain it in ADWD, saying that Gerion taught Tyrion some tumbler's tricks.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

IIRC Janos Slynt is still referred to as Lord Slynt at the wall too. I just assumed that whilst a brother "sets aside all lands and titles" that people didn't really stop seeing them as who they were pre NW Vows. ditto for the fact that people don't really forget about what brought them to the wall, crimes, betrayals, being on the wrong side of the rebellion etc.

In the same way that everyone treats Jon as a Stark of Winterfell even though he's technically a bastard. He even has to remind LC Mormont that Catlyn is not his lady mother at one point.

As for Jamie and his KG vows yes that bugged me but in the end I chalked it up to Tywin's amazing abillity to bring everyone around to his way of thinking in the end. Be it sword or gold that man was capable of bending rules and breaking traditions that others would never dream of interfering with.

Small inconsistencies are inevitable in such a huge body of work. I can forgive hips and horse gender.

[Daena the Defiant]

This is gonna freak you out like it did me -- Renly's eye color changes from green to blue at some point. Early onset cataracts? Possession by Others? Warg?

That's because he was killed and was impersonated by Jeyne Westerling.

[Daena the Defiant]

There are a few quibbles here and there that are mostly symptomatic of GRRM not having fully fleshed out EVERYTHING. For example, when new King Joffrey was summoning all the notables to Kings Landing to make new oaths of fealty and homage he included all the usuals - the male Tullys, Lady Arryn and her son, even Lady Shella Whent of strategically placed Harrenhal. He also summoned Prince Doran of Dorne and 'all his sons' - which is odd since you'd want Prince Doran and his heir who was Princess Arianne.

[Faint]

Not sure how often this has been mentioned, but I always found it slightly preposterous that Tyrion thought it was plausible that the Martells would ally with the Lannisters. He was made out to be a much more perceptive figure than that. Obviously the author wanted Myrcella sent to Dorne but it's shame he had to shred the internal logic of his story to accomplish his prerogative.

[Daena the Defiant]

Not sure how often this has been mentioned, but I always found it slightly preposterous that Tyrion thought it was plausible that the Martells would ally with the Lannisters. He was made out to be a much more perceptive figure than that. Obviously the author wanted Myrcella sent to Dorne but it's shame he had to shred the internal logic of his story to accomplish his prerogative.

Well, it's a bold gambit that shows royal favor (hey, here, take Princess Myrcella and lets all be friends!) and from the Lannister perspective it's a way of shoring up the loyalty of Dorne. It also came with the promise of a seat on the Small Council, which means that they'd have a part to play in the rule of the realm and all the power and prestige that flows from that.

You would think that Tyrion would have a passing thought though, "wait a minute... the Martells have good reason to hate us... is this wise? Oh well, at least it gets Myrcella out of Kings Lading!"

[Lord Tyrion's Whore]

Eddard may be a reliable narrator, but Eddard wasn't there. Therefore his notion of what happened is bound to be inconsistent with that of others.

The Wall isn't a prison. People are allowed to go on leave if given permission, and the Starks of Winterfell have a very special relationship with the Night's Watch. Also, it makes sense for the Night's Watch to send representatives to meet with the King since he's traveling so far north.

[Faint]

You would think that Tyrion would have a passing thought though, "wait a minute... the Martells have good reason to hate us... is this wise? Oh well, at least it gets Myrcella out of Kings Lading!"

That's what I'm referring to. At that point in the war, the Lannisters were actually more likely than not to lose. And sending Myrcella to Dorne was basically giving them a hostage. Tyrion never considers any of that though. His mindset is that the Martells are like any other great house, not the one house in the realm that has as much cause to hate the Lannisters as the Starks do. Honestly, this whole episode never makes any sense within the internal framework of the story.

[Blede]

Not sure how often this has been mentioned, but I always found it slightly preposterous that Tyrion thought it was plausible that the Martells would ally with the Lannisters. He was made out to be a much more perceptive figure than that. Obviously the author wanted Myrcella sent to Dorne but it's shame he had to shred the internal logic of his story to accomplish his prerogative.

I always took the Dornish betrothal as a way to keep them neutral, instead of joining the Renly bandwagon. I don't think Tyrion thought of Prince Doran as a possible ally, I mean just from a geographical point of view, it would be impossible. It would be like the Stormlands during Robert's Rebellion: separated from all their allies, and immediately invaded by everyone and their mother. But a neutral Dorne would have been enough to force Renly to keep sizeable armies south to guard the Prince's Pass and the Boneway (who knows what those shifty Dornish would do with all the might of Highgarden elsewhere ?), thus limiting the numer of the enemies the Lannisters would have to face. It was merely a way to gain time for Tywin (and he acknowledges that, spontaneously complimenting Tyrion for the brilliant move, when he has to ask to receive praise for the battle of the Blackwater).

[bumwelltarly]

I have posted this before in a small things that annoy thread but i think its more of a plot hole.

The deserter from the NW in the aGoT prologue reaches Winterfell after deserting the NW NORTH of the wall. Which means he either went through castle black or scaled the wall. Annoys me no end!!

[Lord Ravenstark]

That's what I'm referring to. At that point in the war, the Lannisters were actually more likely than not to lose. And sending Myrcella to Dorne was basically giving them a hostage. Tyrion never considers any of that though. His mindset is that the Martells are like any other great house, not the one house in the realm that has as much cause to hate the Lannisters as the Starks do. Honestly, this whole episode never makes any sense within the internal framework of the story.

But they achieved what they wanted... Dorne not aligned to any other king.

[Korgon The Reaver]

Brandon was forced to watch as his father was cooked alive in his own armor. He was bound with a leather cord around his neck and a longsword just out of reach, and he strangled himself trying to get to the sword to save his father

[The Killer Snark]

The Hound loses an ear, according to Tyrion's viewpoint, in the battle at King's Landing. In the Inn before he gets left by Arya, he loses the other ear. But when his face is first fully revealed to Sansa in AGoT, he has his ear burned off on the right hand side. Did the Hound start off with three ears?

I'm blaming a lapse in Martin's elaborative skills on this one. The ear on the burned off side appears to start off as a stump. The stump is cut off near the end of ACoK, so it's the left ear, previously the intact one, that Sandor loses at the Inn.

[Red Raven]

When Jon takes Satin and the other new-hires out to the grove to say their vows and they come across a group of wildlings, Jon "reached back and pulled Longclaw from his sheath." Moments (and a couple of paragraphs) later, Jon "was about to reach for Longclaw"...that he already has in his hand. Oops.

[RandomStark]

Brandon was forced to watch as his father was cooked alive in his own armor. He was bound with a leather cord around his neck and a longsword just out of reach, and he strangled himself trying to get to the sword to save his father

I have to wonder though how he was bound by the neck that it was just out of reach of his hands. Maybe if he held the cord and his neck in place with his hands and tried to use his legs instead to knock it onto the floor/closer to himself? I dunno, just spitballing.

[Lord Reaver]

If I fasten you by the neck to something with a leather cord that's 1m long, and put a sword about 2-3m away, it would be just out of your reach. Simple, really.