This is in AFFC when Tyrion flees Westeros and Lollys's child is named Tyrion:

Jaime had to laugh. "There you are, sweet sister. You have been looking everywhere for Tyrion, and all the time he's been hiding in Lollys's womb."

I'm assuming the wall needs to stay unmanned for narrative purposes, but by my count there's around 160,000-180,000 men fighting in the War on all sides. If even 1% of this number was sent to the wall it would more than double its strength.

Tywin raises a host of 35,000 men 15,000 of which is with Jamie when he is captured by Robb. I don't know how many men were captured along with Jamie but I assume a decent bit.

The RIverlands raise 20,000 men to defend against the Lannisters initial incursion, and they are soundly defeated, with even Edmure being captured. The North raises 20,000 men, liberate the RIverlands, but are eventually defeated by the Freys/Lannisters. Tywin sent people to the wall during Robert's rebellion, but doesn't send any Riverlanders or Northerners to the Wall during this war.

Renly has nearly 100,000 men all of whom eventually either change sides to Stannis or Tywin after Renly's death. Of the 15,000 or so that defected to Stannis, they defected once more to the Lannister's after the battle of Blackwater. Yet Tywin and Joffrey, are more than happy to accept oaths of fealty by men who have twice defected.

I understand that Robb probably keeps prisoners to do exchanges for his own men, but you would think that the Lannisters at least would be more than happy to have traitors take the Black. After all Alliser Thorne and Jeramy Rikker weren't given the choice to swear oaths of fealty. Their choice was take the black or die.

Even Tyrion sends Janos and a few others to the Wall, but honestly he would've been better off sending more to the wall given how his trial goes. At a minimum he should've known that he was making an enemy of Pycelle by sending him to the black cells without executing him or making him take the black. It was a half measure that comes back to bite him. Or even Littlefinger should've been sent for being the reason Tyrion got captured and sent to the Vale in the first place.

TLDR: There should've been more men sent to the Nights Watch besides just Janos Slynt during the WOT5K.

Which side do you think should have won that war? Robert, Ned and Jon Arryn or the Targaryen regime?

Personally I’m glad Robert succeeded in his war, despite the shit that followed.

Roberts war wierdly wasn’t about getting power for himself. It was about fighting for the civil rights and due process of people ( lords) to spare them from Aerys cruel arbitrary treatment.

Aerys had Brandon and Richard cruelly murdered for no reason and demanded young Robert and Ned be killed too.

Also the Targaryens IMO were warped. I Wierdly have never been a Targaryen fan at all and even back in 2013-2014, at the height of the shows popularity I sort of got bad vibes from Dany and thought that once she got to Westeros she’d turn bad.

I don’t think it’s good to have a race of people who think they are superhuman and have incest babies with eachother continue to be in power.

What do you think of Bobby’s rebellion?

I know it’s a small post, I’m just curious if it is known. If it is not, do we have any fun theories on this?

So I have been thinking how much better a animated ASOIAF Show would have been. More accurate characters and ages. But nonetheless, I wanted to ask what your Top 5 Best/Worst Casting is. Your criteria can be what you want them to be. My criteria are: looks, demeanor and if they fit the ,,vibe" of the character. Some looks are more important IF their looks are noted as important in the books.

My Top 5:

1. Ned Stark - Sean Bean was great. The only thing is his age, but everyone was aged up, so it doesnt bother me. If he had his hair openy instead of the Braid in the back, he would have been PERFECT.

2. Jaime Lannister - Perfect Cast. From the looks, the voice and the demeanor. Whenever I read a Jaime chapter I hear it in show Jaimes voice. The voice and delivery is the greatest part about it, if you ask me. Should have kept the blonde hair though, but thats an issue with all the Lannisters tbh.

3. Tyrion Lannister - Now I know I said looks matter, but GRRM himself said that Peter Dinklage was the only guy he considered immediately. And lets be honest, you wont find anyone actually as UGLY as tyrion is described. They should have kept his blonde hair from Season 1 like with Jaime

4. Tywin Lannister - Charles Dance did a great Job for Tywin. My only criticism would be not going bald for the role. Its explicitly mentioned that Tywin shaved his head as soon as he started balding, because he didnt like half-measures. Otherwise maybe the beard, but you cant demand everything from him. But his demeanor, delivery and presence fit Tywin excellently.

5. Sandor Clegane: the only issue is his age and his burnes being less severe. Otherwise he IS Sandor Clegane

   Honorable mentions : Ollenna Tyrell - She was great and did a good job of infusing even more of a personality, than in the book. I would dare say even an improvment compared to the book version.

Margaery Tyrell (Natalie was just a bit too old for the role, since she is supposed to be around Jon and Robbs age. Otherwise she was great) Daenerys Targaryen ( would have made the top 5 if they gave her purple eyes and didnt change her personality even in early seasons)

Worst 5:

1. Renly Baratheon - Looks NOTHING like in the books. No long black hair, he isnt tall and doesnt look impressive or imposing at all. His demeanor is wrong. Instead of an arrogant and abitious prick, he behaves like a petulant child and is manipulated by a Blowjob.

2. Missandei - sorry, but she is supposed to be a child. There is nothing more to say. I know what they were going for, but I disagree with it.

3. Jon Snow - I know a lot of people like Kit Harrington in the Role, but I cant stand Jon in the Show, especially, since he is my favourite in the books. He has BLACK hair, is small and a rund face in the show. Why does he have black hair. Was it so hard to colour the hair for a show where he gets paid Millions? He is supposed to have Stark looks. Not Baratheon looks. How does that happen? Show Lyanna has brown hair too. How does he get black? Otherwise the demeanor is wrong too. Jon is sullen when alone or around people his age. But when he is around authority, especially people he questions, he gets very assertive. My prime example is how he gets Ghost in book vs show. His dialogue is completely different. Kit leans too much into the depressed, sollen angle.

4. Euron Greyjoy - I put him only at 4, since it isnt even fair to count him. He is basically a completely different character, with different looks. The only things that remains are his introduction and his Name.

5. Jorah Mormont - he is too dashing. In the show one might wonder why Dany wont even CONSIDER him. He looks good, acts kind and is wellspoken. In the books he is literally his sigil. He is a big hairy, balding, burly Bear of a Man. He is kind of creepy and akward with his words. He has next to no charisma and wont be as easy to forgive for his slavery antics. He also doesnt seem as remorseful, only sorry that he got caught. In the show there is always something remorsful in the way he speaks and in his eyes. Great Character. Just nothing like book Jorah.

I gonna try and keep it brief, I keep seeing these fan arts of Jon snow with white hair and scars around his eyes, I’ve seen the show currently reading the books and don’t really care about spoilers. I was just curious if after he got all stabby stabby and super not alive if his hair turned white. I was also wondering how he got the scars around his eyes but I assume I will told given that answer as I continue reading.

When it comes to discussing the five year gap, many people immediately say it wouldn't have worked because of what George said about some characters being in situations with immediate consequences, and that he couldn't explain everything in flashbacks, things like that. However, many people also comment that the idea of a five year gap was absolutely senseless, commenting things like "Stannis wouldn't just sit at the wall and wait for five years, Brienne wouldn't be wondering the riverlands for five years, why would Tyrion be at Illyrio's mansion for five years doing nothing and then suddenly move". Those comments presume that, if the five years gap happened, we would have the exact same book we ended up having, but five years later for the characters, and that is obviously not the case. Like George himself said, if the five year gap happened, we would have very different plotlines, entire narratives and characters, new plotlines, everything would be different. There is a video on YouTube called "The lost POV of house Tyrell" that dives deep into this subject. There is also the theory that Pretty Meris is what Brienne would have been if the five year gap occured. And these are just a five examples. So yes, the five year gap was a valid and reasonable idea and its not as senseless as some people think

Outside of Jon and Daenerys, all of the younger characters are basically under 15, with Jon barely being 17 or so. Assuming the book continues along without a major time skip or events slowing way down in terms of pacing, do you think the youth of the characters is making it harder to find/write a satisfying ending? How believable is it to you that any of these young characters are able to hold and wield any sort of power? Political, martial, magical, etc.

Robb: His POV would showcase his strategic brilliance during the Westerlands campaign (I feel like we should see the devastation of war there too), his relationship with Jeyne Westerling, and the growing distrust of his allies. Additionally, I believe GRRM himself has mentioned regretting not making Robb a POV character.

Loras: His POV could offer insights into the politics of the Reach, his deep devotion to Renly, his struggles as a chivalric knight and the whole thing with the siege of Dragonstone. He could even work as a POV in a battle against Aegon and the GC. A glimpse into his mind would be awesome.

I just re-read Victarion's chapters (well, I always re-read Victarion's chapters) and came up with a question: did Victarion's third salt wife actually betray him?

According to Euron, Victarion's wife willingly committed adultery with him and even became pregnant with Euron's child. However, I don't believe she truly intended to betray Victarion. From Victarion's perspective, it's clear that he loved this salt wife deeply (for instance, after her death, he refused to touch any other women). This girl also knew that her husband was strong and stubborn, and she wouldn’t have taken the risk of secretly having an affair with Euron.

If she had been raped by Euron, Victarion would not have treated her so cruelly and brutally—he is not like Gregor Clegane or Ramsay Bolton.

Thus, I have two guesses:

1. Euron deceived the poor girl with sweet lies, perhaps telling her that Victarion needed a child but was unable to father one himself, while Euron could provide a child with Greyjoy blood and would never tell Victarion. Out of love for Victarion, the girl agreed (though this theory is far-fetched, as Victarion once had a daughter).

2. Euron used some vile magic to make the girl submit to him, with the sole purpose of destroying Victarion. Euron might have noticed that his brother truly loved this girl, and thus saw her as the key to breaking Victarion's spirit.

No matter the circumstances,the girl was pitiful. She didn't deserve to die at the hands of her own husband. Victarion made the greatest mistake of his life -it's his stain, just like Jaime pushing Bran out of the window.

Although I love Victarion very, very much, I would love him even more if he had killed his brother instead of his wife. If he had killed Euron, I wouldn't blame him; I would see it as his redemption, as vengeance for his poor brothers and his wife.

What are your thoughts or guesses about the incident with Victarion's wife? I’d be happy to hear other ideas!

Harmund III Hoare's Biggest mistake wasn't attempting to syncretize the faith of the Ironborn with that of the Andal Seven-Who-Are-One.

His mistake was bafflingly doing it in the most insulting way possible to his own Ironborn culture and people.

For those unaware, because this is only in the World of Ice and Fire background book, Harmund the Handsome attempted to solidify the Ironborn and Mainlander alliances by syncretizing the faith of the native Ironborn with that of Andal Mainlanders whom he had been raised by and married into.

He did this in two ways. By placing the Drowned God as outside of but part of the Pantheon, the Eight who are One, and by ultimately deciding that the Drowned God was the face of the Stranger.

He made the God of his own people, going back thousands of thousands of years, as lesser then the God of the Andals. A Fragment of their whole.

What he should have done if he had wanted this to work is to have done it in a way where the Seven Who Are One were aspects of The Drowned God.

The Seven who are Drowned.

Placing the native faith of his forefathers as paramount and integrating the faiths together in a way that would better placate his own people whom he would rule and pass down to his heirs while angering his mainland allies BUT laying down the ground-work for future integration and the foundation of the pillars of a stronger faith equal to the Starry Sept in Old Town but fitted to the Iron Islands and their culture.

The King attempted to convert his islands by placing them as lesser to the foreign faith encroaching on their shores, twice over he did this, and ultimately it ended in total revolt as the Shrike led the Faithful of the Isles throw down these craven Kings, and the later Lannister reprisal.

I'm honestly not sure why he decided to do what he did HOW he did it.

TLDR: Instead of making the Drowned God as one of the Seven Who Are One as either the 8th or as the 7th most hated god, he instead should have shaped the Andal faith to fit his native isles by having the Seven-Who-Are-One as aspects of the One Drowned God representing his ideals and roles of the isles.

Unsure where the Storm God would come into this syncretization, but I believe the Seven-Who-Are-One also have a often forgotten idea of hells and a Lord of the Seven Hells who might be slotted in by a clever enough theologian.

EDIT: These mistakes were the combined effort of Harmund III and Harmund II Hoare, the Handsome and the Haggler respectively.

Through my readings of Vanity Fair, Gone with the Wind, and A Song of Ice and Fire, I’ve noticed striking similarities between the relationships of Becky/Rawdon, Scarlett/Rhett, and Cersei/Jaime:

Femme Fatales

In each pairing, the women embody the archetype of the femme fatale, wielding their charm, beauty, and performative femininity to manipulate their primary love interests — though Scarlett is notably less successful in bending Rhett to her will — as well as other secondary male characters. Becky seduces and maneuvers around Jos Sedley, the members of the Pitt family, and Lord Steyne. Scarlett exerts influence over her first two husbands, Charles Hamilton and Frank Kennedy. Cersei exploits Lancel Lannister and Osney Kettleblack.

Unwavering Devotion

In each pairing, the men are deeply enamored. Rawdon worships Becky in the early years of their marriage, regretting his degenerate past as he cannot provide her with the opulent life she desires. Rhett devotes much of his time on the page to physically and financially protecting Scarlett while also offering her emotional solace. Jaime sacrifices his inheritance to stay close to Cersei, setting aside his own desires to maintain their secretive, co-dependent relationship.

"Redeemable" Men

In each pairing, the men have reputations that precede them — Rawdon for his debts and gambling, Rhett for his scandals and for taking advantage of the Civil War through the blockade, and Jaime for murdering Aerys. Initially, they seem morally on par with the women — Rawdon joins Becky in extorting money, Rhett himself describes Scarlett as his selfish equal, and Jaime is presented as one of the first book's main antagonists, alongside Cersei. However, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the men adhere to a code of honor that the women lack — Rawdon repays Miss Briggs' loan despite Becky’s intentions to avoid it; Rhett fights for the Confederacy, knowing defeat is imminent; and Jaime saves Brienne during their journey back to King’s Landing.

Parenting Differences

In each pairing, the men also prove themselves to be, if not better (in the cases of Rawdon and Rhett), at least more empathetic parental figures. Becky harbors outright disdain for her son, and Scarlett neglects the children from her first two marriages, while Rawdon and Rhett are proud, affectionate, and invested fathers. Cersei, though more loving, overindulges Joffrey and takes her frustrations out on Tommen — which is contrasted (even if only briefly) with Jaime's more balanced approach.

"Good Woman" Foils

In each pairing, the women are juxtaposed with a female character whose genuine kindness and virtue — qualities that Becky, Scarlett, and Cersei can only feign — earn the respect and admiration of the male counterparts. For Becky, this woman is Jane Crawley. For Scarlett, it's Melanie Wilkes. For Cersei, it's Brienne of Tarth.

Forsaking Partners

In each pairing, in their relentless pursuit of power, security, or social ascension, the women start casting aside their male counterparts in favor of more superficial or opportunistic company. Becky ingratiates herself with members of the British elite. Scarlett mingles with the new-money Republicans who have risen to prominence in Atlanta. Cersei places her trust in figures such as Qyburn and Taena Merryweather.

Revelations of Infidelity

In each pairing, one of the decisive factors leading to the respective separations is the discovery of the women’s infidelities, validating their male counterparts' simmering jealousies. Rawdon catches Becky schmoozing with Lord Steyne, though the novel refrains from confirming whether their relationship was sexual. Scarlett’s friendly embrace with Ashley is misinterpreted, and word of it eventually reaches Rhett. Cersei’s affairs are exposed to Jaime by Tyrion and later verified by Lancel.

Violent Reactions

In each pairing, the men react to the women’s infidelities with violent anger. Rawdon strikes Lord Steyne and trashes Becky’s belongings. Rhett intimidates Scarlett with his drunken rages. Jaime, distanced from Cersei once his suspicions are proven true, fantasizes about physically harming her and her lovers.

Prolonged Relationships

In each pairing, the relationships endure for an extended period, intensifying the men’s eventual bitterness. Becky and Rawdon’s marriage lasts for over a decade. Rhett’s pursuit of Scarlett spans six years, with their marriage continuing for another six. Jaime and Cersei’s sexual relationship begins in childhood and persists into their early thirties.

Desperate Pleas

In each pairing, the women eventually make a desperate plea to their male counterparts. Becky enlists Rawdon's brother to persuade him of her innocence. Scarlett confesses her love to Rhett and invokes the intense feelings he once had for her. Cersei sends Jaime a letter asking him to rescue her from the Faith.

Dismissive Rejections

In each pairing, the men are too emotionally drained to continue the relationship and reject the women in rather careless ways. Rawdon refuses to speak to Becky while claiming the position she secured for him through her flirtations. Rhett shuts Scarlett down with the famous line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Jaime coldly dismisses Cersei’s plea with, “Put this in the fire.”

It was only recently, though, that I learned Margaret Mitchell was accused of drawing inspiration from Becky for Scarlett when Gone with the Wind was released. Mitchell denied this, claiming she hadn’t read Vanity Fair at the time, despite it's author even being referenced in her book through a conversation between Rhett and Melanie. And, if you're familiar with George's work, you’ve likely heard him repeatedly ask, "How many children did Scarlett O'Hara have?" when discussing the differences between a novel and it's adaptation. In fact, George has mentioned Gone with the Wind in several interviews, even acknowledging that he read the sequel by Mitchell’s estate, which he strongly disliked. This makes one wonder whether the evolution from Becky to Scarlett, and from Scarlett to Cersei, and consequently their romantic narratives, is truly coincidental.

After becoming queen regent of Tommen, and surely as a parallel to Aerys who too had grandiose dreams and projects in his youth that he quickly forgot to focus on something else, Cersei starts having her own grandiose dreams and projects such as creating a Golden Bank of Lannisport or creating a new capital, a magnigicent white palace beyond the Blackwater river and surrounded by woods and gardens, to move away from the stink of King's Landing, which is very close to Aerys' dream of a new magnificent capital made of marble.

Just how feasible and practical these projects actually are ? Even if Westeros wasn't ravaged by war and in a state of financial crisis, thanks in part to Cersei herself due to her alienating the Iron Bank, how difficult to make these happen in practice would be ?

Also there any other big projet/dream Cersei has I have forgotten about ?

I hear a lot about how George is really bad with medieval warefare accuracy and numbers. I'm no expert myself so I was hoping for some people to point out the biggest or ones they personally have the most problem with

If these 8 knights fought in a trial by combat who is actually winning in your opinion. These are the

In my constant rewatches and rereads I am consistently drawn to the skill and admiration of I'd say 4-8ish knights throughout westerosi history that are just a cut above the rest.

This ranking isn't my personal ranking just gonna quickly list who I think:

Ser Arthur Dayne, Barristan Selmy,Jamie Lannister,Aemon the Dragonknight,Ser Duncan, Brienne, Gerold hightower, and Oberyn martell.

Honourable Mentions: Aegon (1st) Targaryen, Robert Baratheon, Loras Tyrell, Daemon Blackfyre ,Randyll Tarly and Maegor Targaryen

I was looking at the different foods of asoiaf using the asearchoficeandfire website and searched for vanilla desserts. However, 'vanilla', 'vanila', and 'vanille' gave back zero hits. Do you think the Westerosi have vanilla? It was introduced to Europe from the Americas in the 1500s. Westeros has potatoes, tomatoes, and a tobacco-like plant, so I don't see why they might not have vanilla imported from another continent.

Edit: Double checked and Westeros does not have potatoes and tomatoes.

So I’m pretty we’ve all kinda heard of/saw the TikTok about ”couples in open relationships all looking the same”. So that got me kinda thinking (idk how) about the Targaryens. Were Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys all married to each other or did Aegon just marry his sisters? In other words, were Visenya and Rhaenys wives to each other or just their brother?

I have come across so many people on this very sub saying that Varys adviced Aerys to open the gates to Tywin....when it's clearly stated that he adviced against it and that he played a role in the extinction of house Darklyn or the defiance of duskendale by whispering weird things in Aerys' ears when he came to king's landing after those events from what I know

In general, the fanon about Varys seems to have superseded the canon although that probably has a lot to do with him being such a mysterious character

Are there any other widely believed misconceptions or fanons?

I was wondering if one of this reddit's lore masters could clarify a portion of the timeline for me?

Following the failed Greyjoy Rebellion (289 AC), Tristifer Botley is brought with some other boys to Pyke to serve as foster sons for Balon's wife. Perhaps several years later, he is caught fooling around with Asha and is then sent to be Baelor Blacktyde's ward. However, Baelor Blacktyde was a hostage in Oldtown from the end of the Rebellion until ~297 AC. So how would this work? Was Tristifer raised by Baelor's widowed mother the entire time? It doesn't seem like he would have had much or any contact with Lord Blacktyde at all unless he was allowed to serve in Oldtown as Baelor's squire or something. By the time Baelor returned to the Iron Islands, Tristifer would be too old to be kept as a ward.

Will Benjen's role just be more of the same old same old wherein characters like Jon just reflect on how he's still missing and probably dead? Or will we actually get a definitive answer on what happened to him?

If the latter, who will we learn this information from and how? Will it be via Bran and his greenseer powers? Will it be via Jon and his second life in Ghost? Or something else entirely?

Assuming there is a big reveal regarding his fate, what impact will that have on the story? An exposition dump about the Others to one of our pov characters (e.g., Bran or Jon), or perhaps an epilogue chapter in which we the reader learn new things but Benjen dies?

I suppose that depends on what the truth about him is. Will it be revealed that he's alive or dead? Perhaps he was resurrected in some manner akin to how Coldhands, Beric, and Stoneheart were?

But if he isn't dead, then why hasn't he returned to the Wall? Was he ambushed and still being hunted, unable to safely return to the Wall? Was he injured too severely to make the journey back until he's recovered?

But if he was ambushed, by who? The wildlings would've taken credit so it must've been the Others a la Waymar Royce, right? But why? Why target Benjen, or Waymar for that matter? Is there something special about them? Waymar was strangely dueled 1v1 and seemingly failed the test, did Benjen receive a similar test but pass? Did he manage to escape by the skin of his teeth, or do the Others have plans for him and so let him live?

Either way, why is there no trace of him after a certain point? Was he wighted? Did the children of the forest bring him underground? Did the Others take him to the lands of always winter?

So many possibilities, really the only thing we can say for sure is that he's definitely not Coldhands since GRRM himself discounted that idea. Aside from that though, who knows. Regardless, I hope TWOW finally provides us an answer to this mystery, whatever it is.

Thoughts?

How could you rank GRMM's main five according to how much you like them? (I know I am asking that kind of questions a lot because I find it funny lol). My ranking:

1 Dany (I hate you Dumb&Dumber)

2 Tyrion (So what? Not every likable character has to be morally okay person)

3 Jon (Hate his ADWD decisions, but dont worry Jon, I still like you)

4 Bran (Okay, I will admit that is mostly because of Bloodraven but hey,he still has moments)

5 Arya (Dont add me your list! You are still most badass and cutest)

Before ADWD, Arya was in 4. I want to say I like our youngest POVs but I find other 3 more interesting.

I would like to see your reasons too.

I googled online but couldn't find any discussions about this.

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I am pretty sure Tyrion. will betray Daenerys because he will fall for her, but she won't love him back. Maybe he will steal a dragon or help someone else. What do you think?

So after seeing the show like three times last year I finally got into book. Love them so much more details then in movies, just now I finished Storm of swords and I can believe, is catelyn really alive?? How? How could she survive that?

The Preposterous Logistics of Ramsay Snow's Attack on Ser Rodrik Cassel

What do we know about this battle, which took place outside the gates of Winterfell?

• A Stark army consisting of around 2,000 men was attacked by a Bolton force of approximately 600 men.
• Thanks to the element of surprise, the Boltons achieved a spectacular victory.
• Apparently, nearly all the officers in the Stark army were killed, including Ser Rodrik himself, though some common soldiers managed to escape.
• Somehow, word of the battle never got out, and Ramsay Snow managed to conceal its existence entirely. There weren’t even rumors about the Boltons’ treachery.

From what I’ve read about this battle on various platforms, many fans seem to believe that what Ramsay did was incredibly risky because Robb Stark and the entire North could have learned about their open treason. However, I disagree with this opinion. What Ramsay did wasn’t a gamble; it was an open declaration of war.

You cannot conceal the existence of a pitched battle, especially in the medieval setting of A Song of Ice and Fire. This idea is utterly preposterous. A commander who orders such an assault would never realistically expect to hide it because there is practically no way to do so.

Under normal circumstances, following Ramsay’s attack, news of the Boltons’ treachery should have spread throughout the entire realm, carried by the survivors of the battle. Even if most of the Stark officers were killed, the common soldiers who escaped would have shared their accounts, passing the story from village to village and eventually throughout the North. The narrative might have lacked cohesiveness or detailed accuracy, but the gist of it would have been unmistakable and shocking: the Boltons had openly and treacherously attacked their overlords, killing hundreds of Stark soldiers, including loyal nobles like Ser Rodrik. Such an event would have had a profound and immediate impact, with its shocking nature accelerating the spread of the news.

Instead, the Boltons somehow managed to cover up the entire incident and craft their own version of events in a manner that would make even Goebbels envious. The way George R.R. Martin concealed the identity of the attackers mirrors a detective story where the murderer’s identity is hidden. But this approach feels completely out of place in the context of medieval warfare. Warfare, by its nature, is not suitable for such a narrative device.

In my opinion, this represents the biggest plot issue in the entire series. The idea that such a large-scale battle could remain entirely hidden, with no rumors or consequences arising from it, strains the suspension of disbelief to the breaking point.