History Headscratchers / GameOfThrones

And if it doesn't, how can trees grow there?

If it doesn't, how can trees grow there?

** Because they didn't place the actor's accents very high on the list when casting? Don't get me wrong, I thought it was weird how many different accents the Stark family has, too, but really that shouldn't be top priority.

** I would think it may be because those three tended to be under the care of Cat or the Septa rather than their father.

* Cat doesn't because she's more of a Southernner (though if Westeros is directly relatable to England she should talk like a Brummie :P) but this inconsistency annoys me. Sansa may be using a 'phone voice' to fit in at court but Arya wouldn't! Girls and small people can talk Northern too...

!!Why do Sansa and Arya have posh southern English Accents when all Ned's male offspring have rugged Northern English accents?
* Cat doesn't because she's more of a southernner (though if Westeros is directly relatable to England she should talk like a Brummie :P) but this inconsistency annoys me. Sansa may be using a 'phone voice' to fit in at court but Arya wouldn't! Girls can talk Northern too...

!!Why do Sansa and Arya have posh southern English Accents when all Ned's male offspring have rugged Northen English accents?

** He (and Varys likewise) never pretends to be trustworthy; he just pretends that ''you'' are the one person in the world who can trust him, because, for whatever reason, helping you happens to be in his interests. It's easier to believe someone like that than it is to believe someone who claims to be "good", especially in the CrapsackWorld that is Westeros.

** It's precisely because he's "obsessed with his past glory days" that he thinks he doesn't need guards. I get the impression that Robert is a firm believer in AsskickingEqualsAuthority (it is after all how he got the throne) and he thinks that only a man who can't defend himself needs guarding.

** Part of his brilliance is his ability to present himself openly as untrustworthy as a way of drawing people into his trust. Works for Ned, anyway!

* All he does is smile evilly all the time and make veiled threats.

**** There's no reason to think that Joffrey would be able to think far enough ahead to presume that Tyrion would be blamed for it, or that he knew the dagger was Tyrion's. The books make it clear, in fact, that the dagger was not even Tyrion's at all, and that Littlefinger's claim was simply a bald-faced lie calculated to bring the Starks and Lannisters into conflict (Tyrion's POV confirms this, and Tyrion notes to Catelyn that Littlefinger's fable is flawed: the story is that Littlefinger lost it to Tyrion betting over a joust that was won by Loras Tyrell over Jaime Lannister, but Tyrion never bets against his family). Still, the assassin's mutterings ("It's a mercy. He's dead already") give a clue as to motive. Joffrey overheard Robert (whom he actually desperately wanted to impress, as is verified by the genuine despair Joffrey displays at Robert's deathbed) mention that a swift death would be preferable to lingering in a coma, and Joffrey, using his enfant terrible logic, decided to try and impress his father by taking matters into his own hands. Naturally, he bungled even that.

*** To clarify the point a little further with info that the show didn't spell out directly: Robert is not the Lord of Storm's End, Renly is, and Stannis is the Lord of Dragonstone (the hereditary Targaryen seat). So most of the men at arms and knights that pay featly to House Baratheon do so to Renly. The Kingsguard, the royal men at arms, and some Baratheon men (largely unnamed in the show) are theoretically Robert's but a lot of them have compromised loyalties. In the aftermath of Robert's Rebellion, Baratheon's strength was weakened by the war and then Robert had to split them to fill the royal household, provide Stannis forces to hold Dragonstone against restive Targaryen vassals, and cover Storm's End. Tywin took advantage of that to put Lannisters (various cousins and such) and former Lannister men into lots of positions in the royal household. Hence why men like Sandor "the Hound", Ilyn Payne, and others are nominally Robert's people but in reality have no loyalty to him what so ever. (Plus, Robert being the warrior he is just don't surround himself with guards to the extent a wiser man like Ned or Jon Arryn would)

*** To clarify the point a little further with info that the show didn't spell out directly: Robert is not the Lord of Storm's End, Renly is, and Stannis is the Lord of Dragonstone (the hereditary Targaryen seat). So most of the men at arms and knights that pay featly to House Baratheon do so to Renly. The Kingsguard, the royal men at arms, and some Baratheon men are theoretically Robert's but most have compromised loyalties. In the aftermath of Robert's Rebellion, Baratheon's strength was weakened by the war and then Robert had to split them to fill the royal household, provide Stannis forces to hold Dragonstone against restive Targaryen vassals, and cover Storm's End. Tywin took advantage of that to put Lannisters (various cousins and such) and former Lannister men into lots of positions in the royal household. Hence why men like Sandor "the Hound", Ilyn Payne, and others are nominally Robert's people but in reality have no loyalty to him what so ever. (Plus, Robert being the warrior he is just don't surround himself with guards to the extent a wiser man like Ned or Jon Arryn would)

** Some minor book spoilers here, but more or less (it's explained a bit in ''A Clash Of Kings''), the Baratheon brothers don't have any other family and their guards/supporters tend to be those affiliated with their in-laws. Renly is supported by the Tyrells and their bannermen (because [[TheBeard he's arranged to marry Loras' sister]]); Stannis' wife is from a house called the Florents, so his guards are generally Florents and their bannermen; Robert is stuck with the Lannisters.