Without giving away any book spoilers, no, that's not how it works. The ravens aren't like pigeons and they seem to be able to be sent just about anywhere on command. As for the maesters, they're more of a scientific priesthood than anything else. They are literally bound to serve the realm as part of their education…

Good point. I was thinking they were making great strides with showing a couple of frames of little Sandor while he was pissing into the river, but I'd forgotten about the steam room.

Not to mention the wife was the result of an arranged marriage he was forced into, he didn't set eyes on her until their wedding day, she cried all through the ceremony (and doubtless the marriage night) and did so because she knew full well that she was helping her family not only betray him, but his family, king and…

Agreed - i couldn't watch those scenes without constantly thinking "She's going to die of peritonitis any minute now" and "the waif really sucks at this whole 'stealthy assassin' thing, doesn't she? Completely took me out of the show and reamed my suspension of disbelief.

I'm not sure where you got that number, but Mach 10 (also known as TEN TIMES the speed of sound) is not something I would describe as 'slightly faster' than the speed of sound…