They are not ignoring "the dozens of other viable Martells," who have not been mentioned in the show at any point.

A distant Martell cousin?

The book has tons of issues where passage of time makes no sense.

Sansa certainly has the claim ahead of Arya.

Neither Robb nor Jon inherited the title of King of the North. Both won it by acclamation of the Northern lords. So, no, it's not a hereditary position.

Everyone *knows* Robb and Rickon are dead. Rickon's reappearance, though, would cause doubt that Bran is - if Rickon survived the fall of Winterfell, at least possible Bran did too. Arya would be the one whose death would be more likely to be assumed, I think.

Theon is at large, so presumably we'll see more of her.

Agreed. Part of it is that the story had already gotten well out of hand even before A Feast for Crows. But the biggest problem is that he's spent two books on stories he hadn't actually intended to tell at all. Because nothing is happening in many of those stories, he's spun ever more subplots

Garlan and Willas don't exist in the show.

Sorry, misread. No need for sarcasm.

You're blaming *Sansa*?

Mace is dead. He exploded.

Maybe there was a betrayal? Who knows? Who cares how this tertiary plot gets resolved?

Yes, she killed an innocent teenage girl, and her dead partner's brother (who was very patient and forgiving with her first attempted treason) and (also totally innocent) teenage nephew. She's an awful woman, and I feel little sympathy for her.

Relatively painless for Tyene. Not painless for Ellaria, which is what Cersei cares about.

Half of the Tyrell army defected to the Lannisters. They had a whole scene with Randyll Tarly to show that was in the works.

Once it is known that Rickon escaped the fall of Winterfell, then presumably it's possible Brand did, too. So Robb and Rickon are known to be dead. Bran remains in a state of uncertainty.

Randyll Tarly was with Jaime. That means some sizable percentage, perhaps the majority, of the Tyrells' bannermen defected to Cersei.

It's kind of weird to be a dick to people who haven't done anything wrong. That Adam was gracious doesn't make your guilt trip any more appropriate.

Man, it's remarkable how much Martin has lost control of the story. Reread the first book some time. It's actually ruthlessly efficient in how it tells its main story (especially the Ned chapters, which are basically a Raymond Chandler story told in a world where Philip Marlowe is doomed to get his head chopped off),…