Was that before or after Robert died? If it’s before, then it’s consistent with the understanding that it’s the eldest male descendent of the current king who gets first dibs. But if it’s after Robert died, then it’s suggesting that male relatives trump female descendents – i.e. that King Joffrey’s brother would trump King Joffrey’s hypothetical daughter.
Edited to add:
Actually, I’m wrong, because Robert would have died and the succession passed to Joffrey before it became an issue. I doubt they were talking about what would happen if Joffrey died before Robert.
Dragons are mythical, potatoes are a mistake. There are no Mythical Potatoes.
But fine, a complex story like this can’t get all the details right. I just don’t want to hear you apologists wail and whine when someone pulls out a cell phone or drives up in a pickup truck next episode.
“potatoes” are no more of a mistake than the fact that the main people on the show speak English.
It is a convention used to make it easier for the audience to know what the hell they’re talking about. If the person said “nobody boils a kerflogglebusteringermeister like you’re mother” then they’d have to show us a something to make it clear that a kerfloggleusteringermeister is a potato like food item in Westeros and not town rabblerousers who are punished with boiling.
Being bothered by potato isn’t really any more reasonable than being bothered by them riding horses, reading books, wearing pants, sleeping in beds, and living in castles. If they have those, why can’t they have potatoes?
And if they don’t have potatoes why not just go with the flow and assume it is some food item that doesn’t exist in our reality but by a linguistic quirk the English of Westeros happened to call them potatoes?
So I’d say first complain that the entire show isn’t subtitled and presented in fictional languages and then debate whether the English language analogs used for the subtitles are justified.
Not so. She became a queen consort upon her husband becoming king, and became queen mother upon her husband’s death and her daughter’s accession to the throne. She was queen mother until she herself died many years later.
But they, like Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, retain the title “Queen” even after their husbands die. It’s just a different kind of queen.
Right, my wording was not precise enough. She was called the queen, but didn’t rule the country and never held power in her own right. When her husband the king died, the crown passed to her daughter. That’s the same basic situation Cersei is in.
Vashbul, I guess I don’t get it. What’s wrong with them using potatoes? Sure, they didn’t have them in medieval Europe, but so what? This is Westeros.
Having someone pull out a cell-phone would be different, because it contradicts the established fact that Westeros is some sort of pre-industrial society (plus magic). But I don’t think it’s ever been established that Westeros only has old-world flora.
You could say the same thing about people finding stuff to complain about. The show isn’t set in Europe or the Americas. You can assume potatoes are native to their world just as easily as you can assume turnips are native.
The potatoes don’t bother me that much, I pointed them out because is was funny, and I got to make a teensy weensy point about how you can go to great lengths to build up a credible quasi-historical backdrop, and some goofball on the internet (me) will still find something to pick apart. So it goes. They said potato and I said po-tah-to; it just so happens that po-tah-to is correct, even in Westeros.
Yeah, I’ve noticed a significant difference in terminology from generic to something more Tolkienesque between The Hobbit and LotR. I must admit I was being a bit pedantic, partly because I just happen to (vaguely) remember the last sentence of The Hobbit. Everyone seems to remember the first.
I’ve been wondering about that. Shae seems somewhat loyal to Sansa, and if they both have to get the hell out of there it makes some sense to do it together. But Tyrion is their real link, and is considerably smarter - Sansa is pathetic and Shae is somewhat foolish. Why would Bronn and Shae hide from Tyrion the fact that they’re working together to get Sansa to safety?
These do seem like problems in the writing. Certainly the guards wouldn’t realistically have been distracted by “the pie” since clearly (from the very existence of the phrase), having a fancy pie (complete with doves or whatever) appear is a fairly routine thing to have happen at a feast. “The Pie” implies that the appearance of a masterpiece from the kitchen is a show that people look forward to, and expect.
And like you, Bozuit, I’m stumped for reasons that Bronn (at least) would have kept secret from Tyrion any plans involving either Shae or Sansa or both.
As for the potatoes: it’s a fair thing to mention, given that the world of GoT gains verisimilitude precisely because it IS based on medieval Europe. (To repeat: Not IS Medieval Europe–is based on it.) We buy into the whole shebang of kings and lords and knights and peasants because it’s familiar.
Which leads to one of my top annoyances about Martin’s world: among the most important and influential factors that made ‘Medieval Europe’ the way it was, was the power of The Church. Martin’s version of The Church seems to be brought in only every once in a while when the feeling evoked by ‘a ceremony in a cathedral’ is needed for a scene. Otherwise, it’s irrelevant.
(My other major complaint is that the entire corpus of maneuverings and plots and counter-plots and conspiracies and ploys taking place in Westeros, is pretty much meaningless if Dany shows up there with the dragons and an army of yea-many million ex-slaves. Game over, dudes!)
((Which, I assume, means that the yea-many millions of troops will NOT make it to Westeros. Or will perish shortly after reaching shore. Which is getting way ahead of this episode (and I type all this as a non-reader of the books, of course)—but certainly that development will render the ‘freeing the slaves’ scenes in this episode quite moot.))
A fair point; but it may be that in Medieval Europe, Christianity was the only game on the block, whereas in Westeros there’s The Seven, The Old Gods, The Drowned God, the God of Light…lots of sects and cults. So maybe The Seven isn’t quite as ingrained as Christianity was.
I have the same feeling about Dany’s story: it’s like we’re watching some minor squabble between medieval European fiefdoms; meanwhile, a nuclear armed Red Army is massing on the eastern border, ready to kick ass and take names. But I’m perfectly willing to go along for the ride and see how it plays out.
Well I feel better now. The debate about “Is Dany part dragon?” was silly and largely pointless, but it was in no way even remotely as pathetic and sad as the potato debate.
Excellent analogy! …Those who read the books may know how Martin plans to solve this little problem…or then again, given hints I’ve heard here and there, possibly he hasn’t yet tackled it. :eek:
But the television showrunners will HAVE to (eventually).
Heh. With all my reservations, I expect I’ll end up doing the same.
