# Game of Thrones 3.06 "The Climb" 5/5/2013 No Spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592 "2013-05-06T02:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/281 "2013-05-09T00:51:24Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I don’t think it’s a spoiler since it’s just some backstory stuff I read unrelated to the plot, but apparently Harranhal is a bit of a boondoggle as far as castle fortresses go. Harranhal requires such a large force to defend effectively or just even to maintain as a residence it that the local economy can’t support it. It’s pretty obvious just looking at it. The whole point of a castle is to allow a smaller force to defeat or hold a bigger one by forcing the would-be attackers to funnel into as few openings and “beachheads” (or should that be “wallheads” ?) as possible. That way a small force becomes equal to a larger one, since the maximum allowed frontage is tiny. With half of its towers melted away and much of the walls turned into glorified sieves, Harrenhal is the worst of both worlds: much too open to allow a proper defensive siege, yet too walled up and cramped to allow the defenders to manoeuver or leg it in a hurry should the battle go pear shaped… And even if you _did_ pack enough men inside to defend all those openings properly, the food stocks would barely hold a week. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/282 "2013-05-09T00:58:45Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > The showrunners are deliberately trying to keep issues related to time and passage thereof vague because trying to uphold a strict canonical calendar would be loony toons basketball. Okay, thanks, that makes sense. With so many plot lines going, I’ll be happy to suspend any chronological disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/283 "2013-05-09T00:59:07Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What is the nature of the prostitutes’ relation to Littlefinger? Are they legally bound to do what he says? Or are they free to go whenever they wish? I know that Westorosi society frowns on slavery. I seem to remember mention of a “contract” in an earlier season. A working girl comes to the big city, she needs nice clothes to attract the better sort of customer. Littlefinger apparently runs some higher-class bordellos–a room, linens, food and water don’t come cheap. Of course, expenses can come out of your earnings. Wonder how long it takes to actually save some money? Ros seemed to be doing OK. Then she wasn’t… I got the impression Ros was a “freelancer” when she left The North. Could a girl leave Baelish to set up shop solo in the city? Probably fairly dangerous. He might care enough to trace a girl beyond Kings Landing–but probably doesn’t bother since it’s been rather dicey out there… Really, I’m working from hints in earlier episodes & general background history on Sex Workers Throughout The Ages. There’s no slavery in Westeros, but a contract could be binding. Even if you signed it with an X. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/284 "2013-05-09T01:34:42Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Here’s something that’s been kinda bothering me ever since the scene with the slave owners: isn’t every power struggle that’s going on rather moot once Dany and her dragons show up? She’s immortal and her dragons are basically apex superweapons. How can she possibly lose against anyone, at all? What or who can stop her? Beyond that there are not one but two armies on the march south from North of the Wall. I can’t wait to see what happens when all this shit hits the fan. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/285 "2013-05-09T02:16:38Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > AwwwwYeaaahhh, you gave me a wild-hair-up-my-ass moment… > [“Always look on the Baelish side of Life”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsfSxxg7ZCs)… :: Golf clap :: ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/286 "2013-05-09T10:56:52Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Tommen would be king and Joffrey dies and has no heirs. Of course, if he has a son and then dies, the son would be queen and Margaery would be Queen Regent. Then the Tyrells would be in the position the Lannisters are now, which might be their plan all along. I’m wondering if that’s the Tyrell long-term plan too. Have Margaery manipulate Joffrey long enough for her to pop out a male heir or two, then kill Joffrey so she get’s to be Regent and the Tyrells de facto gain control of the entire kingdom. > [@Minnie\_Luna](#): > > IIRC, Cersei speculated that Joffrey’s behavior could be the punishment for incest, but that the Targaryen line was incestuous for years before the madness began to show up. The Targaryens didn’t have any problem getting it up either despite centuries of incest. Not that we have any reason to believe Joffrey’s impotent. He’s a sadist, and we don’t know the full extant of what he did with Roz (or any other whores). Remember back in season one when Cersei told him when he was king he could do whatever we wanted whether it was fucking painted whores or noble virgins? Maybe he only wants the latter, and he doesn’t really have free access to those. After all he knows any whore he fucks will have plenty of basis for comparison and Joffrey strikes me as being very insecure. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > …I seem to vaguely recall some talk that suggested to me that Bran was next in line for Winterfell’s throne, not Sansa. Presumably things are similar in the south, so Tommen next, then Myrcella. Not sure what her husband’s title would be (Prince Philip?). But all that would go out the window if Joffrey or Tommen had children… Bran is next in line, then Rickon, but everyone thinks they’re dead. Westeros appears to operate under male-preference primogeniture (sisters always fall behind brothers even if the latter is younger) as opposed to Salic law (females can’t inherit at all). And if the analogy with the real Middle Ages holds true when when a woman does manage to inherit if she’s married her husband get’s to use the masculine form of her title and gains control of her lands _jure uxoris_ (by right of his wife). So even if Sansa becomes “Lady of the North” in her own right Tyrion would be the one in control. > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > …Really, I’m working from hints in earlier episodes & general background history on Sex Workers Throughout The Ages. There’s no slavery in Westeros, but a contract could be binding. Even if you signed it with an X. Look at how much freedom most of the working girls in **Deadwood** had, and that was less than 150 yrs ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ghost\_Tracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@Ghost\_Tracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghost_Tracker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/287 "2013-05-09T11:52:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I have to say, that five-second scene with Joffrey gloating over Ros’s body really sickens me. It almost makes me lose the cloud of fiction and makes me feel like I’m really watching a psychopath with the first of his many victims. I really feel like I’ve lost someone I like to an unspeakable fate.\*\* Really, this makes me loathe Joffrey more than anything else.\*\* Well “that’s the idea…” 😉 He’s “the one everybody loves to hate.” I haven’t read the books yet but I would imagine that he eventually gets his come-uppance. It’s just fiction so i.m.o. it’s going to be fun to “see him finally get his.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/288 "2013-05-09T12:32:55Z")
Would that Joffrey were in Theon’s position. I could enjoy watching him being tortured for several episodes. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/289 "2013-05-09T12:34:30Z")
Does anyone else think it’s totally out of character for Joffrey to murder Roz? He seems like the type that doesn’t mind ordering someone else to do the dirty work but scared to do it himself, like the little punk he is. Now it kind of paints him in a whole new light that he actually brutally murdered someone. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/290 "2013-05-09T13:08:47Z")
No I think it’s totally in character. Presumably he could have had guards tie her up for him and make her helpless then order them to leave before he shot her with the cross bow. He’s scared of a fair fight but murdering a helpless woman? Totally in character. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/291 "2013-05-09T13:34:26Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > After all he knows any whore he fucks will have plenty of basis for comparison and Joffrey strikes me as being very insecure. …and at this point, they might have experienced the wonder that is Podrick. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/292 "2013-05-09T13:55:50Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Presumably he could have had guards tie her up for him and make her helpless then order them to leave before he shot her with the cross bow. Nah, I bet she was sent there for “professional duties” and he played along, tying her up as part of kinky foreplay. Then once she was securely tied, he pulled out his crossbow instead. (Ros claimed to Varys that she wasn’t required to whore anymore, but Littlefinger had to get her there somehow. He could have revealed that he knew of her betrayal, and claimed that another attempt at bedding Joffrey was her punishment, but she’d be forgiven if she succeeded. (meanwhile telling Joffrey, go ahead and kill her when she gets there.)) ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/293 "2013-05-09T14:13:20Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > Nah, I bet she was sent there for “professional duties” and he played along, tying her up as part of kinky foreplay. That didn’t happen because Ros was no longer a whore. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/294 "2013-05-09T15:27:39Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > That didn’t happen because Ros was no longer a whore. A fact which you’ll see I addressed a few sentences later. Obviously, it’s conjecture, but I don’t see Joffrey physically restraining her without help (even with Littlefinger’s help, and Littlefinger’s not really a hands-on guy either). And I don’t see him asking his kingsguard to do it. Beating his bride-to-be for him is one thing. Tying (former) whores to his bed to be killed is another. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/295 "2013-05-09T15:33:22Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > A fact which you’ll see I addressed a few sentences later. > > Obviously, it’s conjecture, but I don’t see Joffrey physically restraining her without help (even with Littlefinger’s help, and Littlefinger’s not really a hands-on guy either). And I don’t see him asking his kingsguard to do it. Beating his bride-to-be for him is one thing. Tying (former) whores to his bed to be killed is another. Yeah, the king commanding his kingsguard, who are oathsworn to protect and obey the king, is completely farfetched. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/296 "2013-05-09T15:37:28Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Yeah, the king commanding his kingsguard, who are oathsworn to protect and obey the king, is completely farfetched. Well even he could probably see that wouldn’t look good and even oathsworn guards could gossip. Littlefinger could have just drugged her and have some dumb henchman bring her in a sack. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/297 "2013-05-09T15:39:30Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > …And I don’t see him asking his kingsguard to do it. Beating his bride-to-be for him is one thing. Tying (former) whores to his bed to be killed is another. Only a matter of degrees. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. We know the Kingsguard will do some pretty damn unsavory stuff if His Grace commands it. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/298 "2013-05-09T15:42:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Well even he could probably see that wouldn’t look good and even oathsworn guards could gossip. Littlefinger could have just drugged her and have some dumb henchman bring her in a sack. Some manner of guards dragged her there and tied her up. My point is that trying to develop some Lost-esque conspiracy theory about how she might’ve been manipulated to get there is like hearing hoofbeats and assuming that it’s a zebra. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/299 "2013-05-09T15:42:23Z")
Keeping up appearances would probably concern most people in Joffrey’s position, but this is the guy who, on a whim, tried to have that drunk knight drowned to death (by alcohol) on his _birthday_. With the entire court watching. I’m not sure that he’d mind one oathsworn kingsguard knowing about his murder fetish. I doubt any of them would really be surprised at this point. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592/300 "2013-05-09T15:45:23Z")
Well regardless, there are any number of believable ways she could have been put there. Don’t really see it as an important plot point but who knows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-06-the-climb-5-5-2013-no-spoilers/657592.md?page=16)