The chapters of Tyrion going around a boat with Connington were boring, but once the PoV switched to Connington, that was probably one of the better parts of Book 5: Within 2 chapters, Griff got the Golden Company, landed in Westeros, and decided to march on Storm's End and confront the Tyrells. That's a lot more…

Well, most people in the Seven Kingdoms really hate Tyrion because he's a dwarf and a Lannister and the subject of libel for the majority of his life, so he's not the most eligible Westerosi bachelor. Speaking of which… is he a bachelor? Because as I recall, he is technically still married to Sansa, unless that got…

Geralt certainly gets a lot of drinking done with his buddies in this game. I imagine the 'correct' way to play "Blood and Wine" is to enjoy a bottle of Chianti or Bourdeaux while adventuring through Toussaint.

Your adventures in Toussaint are meant to take place after the original game; when one of the characters in the game asks Geralt about Ciri, Geralt talks about what happens at the end of the original game. But that might just be because I played it after beating the original, although it makes sense that in the…

Renly didn't know about the Twin-cest, but he heard the rumors later when Stannis publicized them. However, he declared himself king before the end of book 1, by when neither the twin-cest nor Stannis's claim of the crown are publicized.

Except they would be opportunistic allegiances at best, with the Houses supporting him just waiting for a moment of weakness when they would supplant him by either putting up a puppet "Stark" or using their own better claims (by tradition and blood) to the North to seize power. It would be an unstable coalition…

Right, it's obviously not true in every case. But then we also have stories of the blind King of Bohemia ordering to be led into the fray at Crecy rather than flee the field and dishonor his alliance with the King of France, and of course the tradition of subbuku in Japanese feudalism where dishonorable service to…

it really depended on the general in question, but someone as young as Ramsey would have been expected to lead from the front. Power in the medieval period was very much "personal" and built on the principle of reciprocity: Vassals owed their lord service, but the lord pledged to defend his vassals. Failing to lead…

Except it isn't…. Medieval society is governed by different concepts of honor, duty, and obligation alien to the 21st century world. Oaths were taken seriously, and vows of fealty could be traced back generations in many cases. To be a turncloak or fail to protect your liege is seen as a crime against the Gods (or…

"-This march was madness. More dying every day, and for what? Some girl?

The challenge for showing battles on TV is that they will never be as grand or visually interesting as those from movies. So because TV still cannot out-do film in terms of spectacle, it falls on the directors and writers to devise more interesting (varied) ways to stage battles to keep our interest and to off-set the…

The show never engaged with the question of "who is fit to rule" nearly as seriously as the books. The show runners have a modern, 21st century sensibility about how politics should be organized and power derived, and have repeatedly demonstrated a lack of understanding (or desire to understand) the Feudal System…

Greywolf got in more than a few Lannister kills before his tragic demise alongside Robb though.

The Tyrellls still have the biggest army and especially a poweful force of heavy cavalry: they came out of the War of the Five Kings more or less unscathed. Also, the Dornish army is only good on the defensive where it can take advantage of the climate and terrain. Out in the field, they still rely on untrained and…

Ugh, I dread the Tower of Joy reveal and am really hoping that Jon proves to be the hero not because of magical Targ blood but because of the skills in battle and the deep sense of honor and duty instilled in him by Ned. In other words, he triumphs because of his own acumen (not that he showed much as a general today,…

I think you might be searching for depth where there isn't any to find: Jon has fought in battles before -against the living and the dead- and it's not like he sees the Bolton army as other 'Northerners' but rather as traitors and opportunists who killed his brothers, raped his sister, and betrayed their liege lord.

The main difference between Cannae and the Battle of Winterfell is scale. Hannibal was only able to 'box in' the legions because their size made them unwieldy when out-manuevered. The sheer mass of the Roman ranks worked against them and literally led to the thousands of men caught in the middle suffocating to death.…

Except Ned had no reason to 'break' the Boltons. Roose was enough of a pragmatist to obey a powerful and popular lord like Ned and from all we know he discharged his duties as a vassal of the Starks reliably until Robb self-destructed his whole campaign by losing the Freys as allies.

"I know about the promise… A thousand years ago before the Conquest, a promise was made, and oaths were sworn in the Wolf's Den before the old gods and the new. When we were sore beset and friendless, hounded from our homes and in peril of our lives, the wolves took us in and nourished us and protected us against our…

This episode encapsulates everything that is enjoyable about GoT, but also why for my money it cannot rank in the same company as the true greats of recent television, like "Breaking Bad" and the "Wire.": For all of its visual polish and the skill in making the show (it is much more stunning in its 'event' episodes…