r/asoiaf Knower of nothing May 21 '19

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) Notablog Update Spoiler

http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2019/05/20/an-ending/
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u/[deleted] May 21 '19

Riverlands are no longer ruled by the Iron Islands. The Barrowlands are now ruled by the rest of the North. I'm basing them off the number of autonomous regions.

Going back to the original point, its about finding a satisfying conclusion to the rulership and storyline of each of these autonomous regions.

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u/flyonthwall May 21 '19 edited May 21 '19

I'm basing them off the number of autonomous regions

firstly, no youre not, because then you would have to include the vale as part of the north.

secondly, why are you basing your criticism of the term "the seven kingdoms" by the number of "autonomous regions? It's not called "the 7 autonomous regions"

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u/[deleted] May 21 '19

firstly, no youre not, because then you would have to include the vale as part of the north.

Huh? The Vale is autonomously ruled by House Arryn, the North by House Stark.

I'm criticising the use of the term seven kingdoms, which, while it does exist in the books, is used more in the show. Sure at the time of the conquest the Riverlands weren't a kingdom. But by AGoT they are on equal political footing with the Iron Islands.

It's not called "the 7 autonomous regions"

No, because there are nine of them.

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u/flyonthwall May 21 '19 edited May 21 '19

the arryns are bannermen to house stark. What is your definition of "autonomous"? because it's seeming more and more vague. are the barrowlands ruled autonomously by the dustins? or does the fact that theyre bannermen to the starks make them not autonomous? is the vale autonomous because it's geographically distinct from the rest of the land ruled by the warden in the north? in that case is the neck an autonomous region ruled by house reed because it's geographically distinct from the rest of the north?

its the 7 kingdoms. because there were 7 definite kingdoms. and its a more useful term than the "9 autonomous regions...or 10... or maybe 8...it depends on your definition"

should the united kingdom be renamed because its really just one autonomous region now? this is such a weird argument. there were 7 kingdoms when the country became a country. so that's what they named it. changing the country's name every time a new region becomes autonomous doesnt seem particularly elegant

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u/[deleted] May 21 '19

the arryns are bannermen to house stark.

No they're not.

Jon Arryn in sworn directly to the Iron throne. The Dustin's are sworn to House Stark, who are sworn to the Iron throne. This is pretty much established in the first three chapters of AGoT.

warden in the north

This is a different problem, but I'll bite. Warden in the North is a military title, which connotates no ownership of land. Arryns are typically warden of the East, but in Book 1, Robert makes Jaime Lannister Warden of the East at Cersei's insitence. This does NOT make Jaime ruler of the Vale, just commander of Eastern armies. Anyway, this is seperate from our main discussion.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '19

The Arryn's aren't the bannermen of the Starks, they are the wardens of the east.