The guards will follow whatever orders Robin gives. Repercussions such as losing the loyalty of bannerman or going to war is largely above their pay grade.
But a common theme of GoT is that a title alone is not power and kings can’t just do whatever they want without consequences.
It also goes back to when Littlefinger told Cercei that “information is power”, Cercei ordered her guards to cut off his head, changed her mind and told him “power is power”.
Also, FWIW, I predict the Sparrow vs Lannister conflict is going to end very badly in this season’s “Red Wedding” bloodbath of dead Lannisters and Tyrells.
Yes, it seems like in Westeros you can only be legitimised by royal decree.
Anyway, while Sansa is the oldest surviving Stark, Bran and Rickon are both still alive and male. Bran is the current senior Stark, and Rickon is the spare. Sansa is a distant third in that lineup, and doesn’t have a lot of authority of her own.
Speaking of Bran, I am really hoping that Bran (and we viewers) gets to see the Battle of the Trident - I’d really like to see young Robert take down Rhaegar. They’ve been talking about it since episode one, I want to see it. Since flashbacks are now a thing, that’s got to be possible.
Perhaps more likely is Rhaegar’s abduction (or “abduction”) of Lyanna Stark. It’d be nice to clear that up, and it seems to me highly possible.
He has used death threats with prostitutes working for him, so it’s not like he would never do such a thing. But this guy, as depicted in the show, wasn’t a minor annoyance. He’s one of the most important lord of the Vale, presumably the equivalent of a lord Bolton or lord Karstark in the North, and recently, Littlefinger’s fate rested on his and a couple other lords’ decision. He’s not some minor unimportant official.
Having Littlefinger deal with him as if he were some unimportant character is very inconsistent, when compared with similar situations in the Stark storyline : convincing the bannermen to go to war, breaking the promise made to lord Frey, sentencing lord Karstark to death, the betrayal of lord Bolton, all had massively important consequences, but somehow you can deal with their equivalents in the Vale as if they were mere annoyances, even when you’re a newcomer as opposed to the heir of a house that ruled for a thousand years.
Nope, I don’t find this scene satisfactory. Unless it does end up creating serious troubles for Littlefinger, as it should. But I’m pretty sure it won’t because Littlefinger won’t be depicted as making a big diplomatic faux pas with big bad consequences.
No, in real life, they wouldn’t. They would follow the orders of whoever is actually in charge, not those of a dimwit kid, regardless of how many fancy titles he has. As I wrote, there would be an established power structure, and Robyn would never been at the top of it, except in name. The guards would follow the orders of the officer who would follow the orders of the lord chancellor or whatever, and Robyn would be out of this loop.
And I’m not even sure that said guards aren’t in fact in the employ of the threatened lord, since Robyn has been entrusted to him.
And even if the guards actually carried out the order, it still would be an utterly stupid move on Littlefinger’s part, which should result, if the show stayed consistent, in him facing a big rebellion or something similar without having any support of backing I can think of.
OK. I must conceed defeat on this one. The guards might execute lord Whatisname.
But then Littlefinger couldn’t avoid paying the consequences of such a foolish act. And Littlefinger is supposed to have more sense than Joffrey. This lord has now every good reason to seek his demise (foreigner, lowborn, possible murderer of the previous lord, betrayer of Sansa, and now threatening to have him killed, what’s not to love?).
If he is underage, as he probably is, Robin would have a regent (Lord Protector) who would rule in his name. That regent would most likely be Littlefinger. However, although Littlefinger is shown making decisions for Robin he is careful to make sure the boy agrees. FWIW, the actor playing Robin is currently 15, which would make him underage.
Here’s the scene. It looks like Royce and Robin have about a half dozen soldiers with them when Littlefinger arrives. Three soldiers, two of them mounted, come with Littlefinger. When Littlefinger threatens Royce, two soldiers standing behind Littlefinger put their hands on their swords, (including one who was with the group with Royce), while two other soldiers who were with Royce move up behind him to surround him. It’s clear that all the soldiers are following Littlefinger’s command. Littlefinger may have made sure that the soldiers guarding Robin were ones loyal to directly to House Arryn rather than House Royce. Royce isn’t in a position to resist at the moment.
He probably would if he actually tossed Royce out the Moon Door, but in the circumstances he could probably have had Royce killed and made up some story about being attacked by assassins. (And then make sure that the soldiers who carried it out quietly had their throats slit.)
But yeah, that wasn’t the best way to assure Royce’s loyalty.
Perhaps Sansa, as Queen in the North, could legitimize Jon. Bran and Rickon are incommunicado and, as far as most know, dead.
Considering Sam’s dad threatened his life if he didn’t join the Night’s Watch to clear the way for a younger brother as heir, yeah, they, uh, have some issues.
As am I. He’s politically shrewd but also truly devout.
Exactly. Littlefinger’s body language as he waited for Robin’s decision on aiding Sansa, and his apparent relief when Robin did just what LF was nudging him to do, made me grin.
I’d pay good money to see that. I agree with those who’ve posted that the scene could have a definite Lady Godiva vibe.
My view was that he would rather have not played that card, but that his hand was forced by the immediate and pointed accusation Royce made right in front of Robin et al. Littlefinger opted to alter the narrative quickly and decisively, turning the tables on Royce rather than suffer what he calculated would be a greater risk – looking weak, defensive, challenged, and even untrustworthy in the eyes of Robin (and of others present, most of whom probably can’t make heads or tails of all the accusations thrown about and many of whom probably take Littlefinger at face value.)
I expect that Rickon’s capture is relatively well known at this point. But I’ll point again to the philosophy of the show, that power lies where people believe it does – if Sansa proves to be a rhetorical/political powerhouse, rallying the Northern houses to her cause and retaking Winterfell, then I would expect the other Northern lords to bow to her, rather than Rickon, especially if Rickon is okay with it, and then she can certainly legitimize Jon if she wants.
“The Bolton’s are led by an insane kin-slayer. I’m the daughter of the last true Warden of the North from a family you have respected and served for ages. I’m sister to the slain King of the North who you fought for, a man betrayed by House Bolton. Winter is coming–who do you want leading you?..Also, I’m taller than all of you. In addition to that, my half-brother came back from the dead. That’s some serious shit.”
As a bit of trivia, Yohn Royce is the father of Waymar Royce, the aristocratic member of the Night’s Watch killed by a White Walker in the very first scene of Episode 1 of the first season. Sansa mentions to Yohn when she meets him in Season 4 that she met him before at Winterfell when he was escorting Waymar to Castle Black.
Sure, that sounds good but Bolton has “The Starks lost the north to the Iron Men, betrayed their bows to the Freys, decapitated Lord Karstark and that bastard just let thousands of wildlings over your lands, also if you piss me off i chop off your dick and send it to your daddy”.
I’m sure Cersei knew what to expect. The Walk of Atonement seems to be an existing concept in Westerosi culture, not something the Sparrows just invented. Plus they did the exact same thing* to the previous High Septon and when he came to the Small Council to complain Cersei had him locked in the dungeons & murdered.
*Well almost; he was allowed to keep his Seven Pointed Star pendant on, presumably to make it obvious he was clergy.
I was going to call Daenerys a Mary Sue but apparently I did not understand the various definitions for that term.
I will say that it seems like Daenerys’ plot armor is so thick now that she has entered god mode and can’t die. I hope I am wrong and someone swings by and chops off her conceited head.
I rewatched that episode shortly before this season began, and I seemed to recall that she was surprised and even feebly resisting when they cut her hair. But I’m not sure it was totally clear either way.
If they were to go down this route, and that’s a big ‘if’ as it seems a bit formulaic, I expect there would be some ultimate evidence hidden somewhere, say in a tomb with a statue…