RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup!

Hey folks! Sansa II is coming along nicely (2400 words), but it’s not ready yet, so I thought I’d share some good stuff from the Tumblrs to whet your appetite:

ASOIAF:

• Tywin, Joffrey, and violence for emotion vs. statecraft.
• The Others and the Horn of Winter.
• The logistical difficulties of deserting from the Night’s Watch to the Free Cities.
• The powers of a lord over his vassals and scutage.
• Fyrds, pikes, and feudalism.
• The North and jousting.
• Slave armies and officer corps.
• Why didn’t Aegon appoint Valyrians all over the place?
• On the difficulty of conquering Dorne. 

Non-ASOIAF:

• Thoughts on Wonder Woman.
• Why does Wonder Woman come from an all-female society?

Politics of the Seven Kingdoms: Part VII (The Reach)

Hey folks! If you’d like to read my essay on the politics of the Reach collected together in one place, it’s now up on Tower of the Hand here.

Check it out!

Politics of the Seven Kingdoms: The Stormlands (Part I)

credit to Ser Other-in-Law

Introduction

The Stormlands is something of an odd duck among the Seven Kingdoms neither one of the powerhouses like the Reach or the Rock, nor a failed state like the Riverlands, it putters around somewhere in the middle. At the same time, it is a kingdom which has enormous hidden potential, if only because something must explain how it managed to temporarily seize control, first of the largest pre-Targaryen empire that Westeros had ever seen, and second of the Iron Throne itself.

Sadly, much of this potential remains hidden. To be frank, the Stormlands is my least favorite chapter of the Seven Kingdoms section of the World of Ice and Fire. For all I’ve complained about the Ironborn chapter playing merry hell with comparative timelines, it cannot be said to lack for imagination or a bloody, grim drama; the Stormlands chapter by comparison feels half-hearted and last-minute and more than a little repetitious.

So part of my project in this essay is to sift through the dross to find the gold underneath, and to try to imagine from there what the Stormlands could have been.

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup!

Hey folks! So Part I of the Politics of the Stormlands is ready to go for Monday (this is looking like a three-parter at the most), but in the mean-time we’ve got some good stuff on the Tumblrs.

ASOIAF:

• Bloodraven and Euron.
• Could knights armor themselves without a squire?
• What is a Sub-Treasury Plan? (Economic Development series-related)
• Why would vassals prefer to pay scutage?
• On the Dosh Khaleen:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• Dornish manpower and population losses:
  • Part I
  • Part II
  • Part III
• Simultaneous economic development: winners and losers?
• What would a hospital in King’s Landing look like?
• What happened to Robert’s army after the Battle of Ashford?
  • Part I
  • Part II
• Varys on Kevan Lannister.
• Archery statistics!
• The Grand Maester and the Citadel.
• GRRM and Remixing History.
• Why did the White Walkers go for the Fist rather than Mance’s army?
• How do you tell who’s worth a ransom?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Why I like superhero comics.
  • Part II
• Thoughts on Brian Michael Bendis.

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Jon II, ASOS

It was easy to lose your way beyond the Wall. Jon did not know that he could tell honor from shame anymore, or right from wrong. Father forgive me.

Synopsis: As the wildlings reach the Fist of the First Men, Jon has a talk with Mance and gets his first mission as a turncloak.

SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.

Race for the Iron Throne Featured on Vassals of Kingsgrave

The good people over at the Vassals of Kingsgrave podcast have a new episode out covering Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring and analyzing some of the essays within. My own essay, “Machiavellianism for a Purpose” is one of the essays discussed, starting at 4:57.

Have a listen!

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup!

Hey folks! It’s that time of the week again. I’ve got an outline and quotes for Jon II, and work is underway on Politics of the Stormlands as well, but in the meantime, I’ve got some good stuff on the Tumblr to keep your appetite whetted:

ASOIAF:

• How fertile is the Vale?
• “Kings have no friends, only subjects and enemies.”
• On the Crownlands and our modern conception of progress.
• Why didn’t the Crown expand its holdings?
• Rosby and the law of escheat.
  • Part II
• Feudalization and re-feudalization.
• Charters, Municipal and Otherwise:
  • Part I
  • Part II
  • Part III
  • Part IV
  • Part V
  • Part VI
• Nobles’ view of land.
• Daenerys and imperialism.
• Westerosi road networks.
• Medieval standard-bearers.
• The whys of portraiture in the Middle Ages.

Non-ASOIAF:

• Spoilery Thoughts on Secret Empire #2.

Politics of the Seven Kingdoms: The Reach (Part IV)

credit to ser-other-in-law

In the previous section, I looked at how House Gardener responded to the Andal Invasion of the Reach through a masterful use of assimilation that resulted in a cultural and political regeneration that made the Reach one of the leading contenders in the Great Game of Westeros…

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup!

Hey folks! Now that the behemoth that was Catelyn II is out of the way, the next project is Politics of the Reach, Part IV, which is already up to 2500 words. But in the meantime, we’ve got a LOT of stuff of the Tumblrs for you to enjoy:

ASOIAF:

• Euron’s Valyrian armor and resizing scale armor.
• A discussion of pre-Targaryen calendars.
• Why were the Manderlys able to build White Harbor?
• A discussion of manpower during Robert’s Rebellion.
• The original meanings of noble titles.
• The impact of a Northern fleet.
  • Part II
• A discussion of Ned’s strategic options as Hand.
• Feudal incidents.
• The hill clans.
• On the Lord Paramouncies and the War of Five Kings.
• Did Theon kneel to Robb? (Not like that…)
• Merchants vs. nobles.
• What if feudal rents adjusted with inflation?
• A discussion of Talisa vs. Jeyne:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• Do landed knights have lordly vassals?
  • Part II
• On the politics of the Northern Alliance during Robert’s Rebellion.
• How did schiltrons work?
• Tywin and the opinions of others.
• How do you buy land in a feudal society?

Non-ASOIAF:

• Thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.
• Thoughts on the Marvel Netflix shows.

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Catelyn II, ASOS

“It was the moment she had dreamt of and dreaded. Have I lost two sons, or three?”

Synopsis: “No I would not give no false hope/On this strange and mournful day/But the mother and child reunion/Is only a motion away…”

SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.