Status Updates From Race for the Iron Throne: P...

Cat XI: Now that Rob has the Riverlands, his job is even harder. As a feudal lord he needs to maintain the loyalty of his other lords. If Renly hadn't joined it would be easier for to figure out what to do. Becoming King in the North is a way out of political quagmire. And Rob is unable to refuse. And without hindsight 20/20, it's not unreasonable to think the north would succeed. Scottish history of independence.

Jon IX: How Molestown fits into the Wall's economy

Tyrion IX: Tyrion pushes his army to the max for naught since Robb had already linked up with Riverrun.Tywin is in a difficult situation. He needs to maintain Lannister Fear, but also can't take too many more losses.

Dany IX: Dany and what happened to her child and Mirri's involvement. A discussion of family planning from ancient to modern times.

Sansa VI: Sansa as deconstruction of romantic chivalry is complete. She becomes cynical Sansa.

Arya V: Chosen one deconstruction. A view of the Poor in King's Landing and setup for exploration of the poor in future books.

Bran VII: The manning of Winterfell. How Ed's temper was shaped by his fostering - he's nothing like the descriptions of his ancestors.

Cat X: Whispering Woods campaign. The political implications of the Wolfsguard. The historical battles that together form a basis.

Dany VIII: Even though she had already caused problems by allowing Mirri to poison Drogo, she destroys all sympathy within the khalasar when she refusese to understand the cultural significance of having Mirri use blood magic on Drogo.

Dany VII: Dany is unable to come to terms with the reality of what she was asked from the Dothraki when they raid the Lamb Men.

Tyrion VIII: Shae and the Battle of the Green Fork. A huge description of the battle containing 4-5 examples of how Bolton was clearly planning to betray the North, if not Stark, from the beginning.

Jon VIII: The Others are smarter than just being zombies. The extra symbolism of Jon getting the sword that I hadn't picked up on. That it's not hard to consider they forgot about white walkers in 8000. We can't even read English 1,200 years old. The Targs are awesome because they unified kingdoms that had constantly at war.

Cat IX: Rob is willing to learn. (GREAT!) Rob should never have been offered to Frey to begin with AND Frey is already shown to be acting on bad faith, so it's not fair to blame Rob for his actions. They should have offered him to the Greyjoys or Martells.

Ed XV: Ed's story is a noir story - complete with the typical ending. First time we see Varys being honest....or as honest as he is willing to be.

Sansa V: why Cersie's idea to pack the court with loyals is not that great of an idea in a feudal system. At least one example: she's left with less carrots to dangle towards neutral lords to get them on her side.

Cat VIII: A better understanding of the Rob v Cat discussion.

Tyrion VII: Tyrion is great a political maneuvering, but not so much with the military. Also, Roose Bolton may have been going traitorous from the beginning.

Dany VI: Did Illyrio/Varys think that Drogo was actually going to invade over the sea? A discussion of Vaes Dothrak as a commerce center. Essos is much more culturally diverse than Westeros. The idea that the assasination is sloppy on purpose - to convince Drogo to go West and to ingratiate Jorah with Dany.

Jon VII: A discussion of what we learn about wights and White Walkers that picks up a lot I missed out on.

Bran VI: A great discussnion of Rob's negotiations with his lesser lords and how precarious the relationship is (as well as how precarious it was in real life feudal war)

Arya IV: Arya is on the Hero's Journey deconstruction which is why Syrio Forel has to die.

Sansa IV: Sansa's actions as a bit of trying to maintain the fiction in the face of exceptional trauma and stress. Makes her actions more sympathetic.

Jon VI: What the oaths at the Wall mean for the way things are run and for the realm as a whole. Also how in Britain you could buy your way to a good position in the military.

Ed XIV: A discussion of how Ed misreads the situation and why Littlefinger gets him with the knife. Never noticed it was the same knife as Bran. Discussion of similar things in historical England.

Ed XIII: Ed seems to be suffering from PTSD. Renly's plan makes more sense in the book - he doesn't try to install himself. But his mistake is in not understandign Ed's motivations. And a section on why his refusal to go along with any of the plans doesn't make the war Ed's fault. A large section on his historical counterpart.

Dany V: A talk of the Stallion that will mount the world and that we shouldn't have a simplistic a view of the Dothraki as the show would lead us to have.