Random Observations about Game of Thrones.

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Game of Thrones comes back on Sunday.

George R.R Martin has said that he likes to take away the main source of strength in his characters and see how they get on without it. The example he gave is Tyrion's wealth being deprived. I have noticed that man characters follow this pattern. Here are some others I can think of;

-Jaime's sword hand is probably the most obvious.

-Bran is a climber/ Adventurer, and is deprived of his legs.

-Ned was taken away from a context where his honour was a source of his political strength, and sent to one where his honour was a political liability

-The Tully words are, "Family, Duty, Honour". The surviving Tully's have been deprived of all of those things: The Red Wedding wiped out most of their family, the Brotherhood without Banners when lead by SH has no honour, and the Tully's don't really survive in a context where duty has a lot of meaning.

-Stannis' highest ideal was always justice, yet by following the red woman, his success is dependent on being unjust.

-Brienne is denied respect, even though she is one of the most capable Knights in the realm.

Are there any that I have missed?

There are a few others, not sure if you can call all of these their source of strength but...

Arya looses Needle ( I think ) and her direwolf, Nymeria

And if you count people :

Cercei looses Jaime

Brienne looses Renly

Daenerys looses Khal Drogo

There are a few others that I can think of, but those would be spoilers for those who haven't read the books, some of them rather large so don't read if you haven't read the books.

jon loses his virginity and doesn't end up doing to well without it

I dunno what theons source of strength was but he damn well lost it for sure

Theon losing his, er, uh .... ahem!

Barriston Selmy losing his place in the Kings Guard

Dannarys (temporarily) losing her dragons

Ohh. Never thought about Selmy,

Last edited by morslilleole on 16 Apr 2014, 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

he means during season2

Minor Spoiler.

Season 4 SPOILER.

Couldn't resist posting this!

That's the most disturbing thing this show has done!

What is Ramsay's greatest source of strength? I would say his father, given that Ramsay is not great at thinking long term. I predict that Roose Bolton will die soon!

I believe that Ramsay's greatest source of strength is bringing grief and torment upon other people, such as Theon. Why do you predict that Roose Bolton will die soon?

I hope that Ramsay doesn't die any time soon. He has become my favourite character!

I mean strength in the sense of what cements their position, and helps their survival. Not their most pronounced character trait. To take Stannis as an example, a reputation for justice is one of the things that's important for positive PR, and thus realm stability. Now that Stannis has lost that reputation, which used to be his defining characteristic, by burning loyal men at the stake to fuel black magic, he's lost that armour.

If we operate on the assumption that George RR Martin writes his main character arcs by giving them something that they rely upon, and then taking it away, then Roose would be a logical asset to deprive Ramsay of. A stable rule requires a level head, and long term thinking. Roose seems to have that. Ramsay doesn't.

Ah. I see what you mean now.

Ramsay likes to commit actions without thinking through the consequences first. He is not very logical but very reckless and brutal in my opinion. Roose Bolton is still brutal but not reckless. He is logical and plans ahead.

If Roose Bolton dies, do you think that Ramsay would die soon afterwards?

In the books, Roose rebukes Ramsay for his hunting practices bringing their houses name into disrepute. Ramsay's reign will be short unless he discontinues such practices, or at least starts to practice them more discreetly. I would like to see him get mauled by Ghost.