History VideoGame / TelltalesGameOfThrones

** In Episode 5, there's a call back to a previous Telltale game, ''The Walking Dead'', as the traitor gives Rodrik TheReasonYouSuckSpeech based on Rodrik's previous choices that he doesn't agree with, as the Stranger did in Episode 5 of Season 1 of The Walking Dead. Namely whether or not Rodrik: kissed Ludd's ring, lost his betrothal to Elaena, submitted to Gryff, took the Glenmores to Highpoint, and who Rodrik took to Highpoint (Duncan or Royland). The one scolding that remains constant is the traitor always scolding Rodrik for getting Arthur killed, which is unavoidable.

** Gryf isn't much better. He's a hothead, and loves pushing people around, but the moment people push back and he doesn't have his men to carry the weight of his words around, he is quick to hide behind his [[TheDragon right hand man]] and get away from the actual conflict on horseback.

** All those times in the series, you've shown scorn for characters taking HonorBeforeReason, when you know they could have won if they had swallowed their pride and did what they were told. If you choose to have Rodrik stay on the ground at Gryff Whitehall's orders, you feel and see how absolutely difficult, humiliating, and degrading it is to keep swallowing your pride.

*** Rodrik must decide whether to kiss Lord Whitehill's ring, allowing Ryon to attend Ethan and Gregor's funeral but discrediting himself to Elaena, or refuse, keeping his pride mother but angering his mother Elissa for being selfish.

*** Asher has to decide between letting Beskha kill her former master and risking losing the aid of Daenerys by defying her orders, or stepping in and hurting his best friend by denying her the chance to get revenge. He can [[TakeAThirdOption take a third option]] and kill the master himself, but this pisses off ''both'' sides.

*** [[spoiler: If Asher survived, he must firstly decide whether to ambush or poison Ludd, before choosing whether or not to call off the plan and marry Gwyn, who harbors peace. If he chooses to poison Ludd, Elissa goes to drink the poison when Ludd gets suspicious; Asher must either stop her and sabotage the plan or allow Elissa to be poisoned alongside Ludd.]]

** Episode 1: Gared must choose whether to save Bowen from impending death at the Red Wedding or leave him to warn Lord Forrester. Ethan must decide whether to let Erik go free for stealing and risk looking weak, send Erik to the Wall and rip him from his family, or sever Erik's fingers and risk looking too harsh.
** Episode 2: Rodrik must decide whether or not to kiss Lord Whitehill's ring in exchange for Ryon being able to attend Ethan and Gregor's funeral, and either upset Elaena for discrediting himself or his mother Elissa for being selfish. Mira must either kill a Lannister knight sent to kill her and become responsible for his death, or flee and risk the death of the Coal Boy (who intervened to save her).
** Episode 3: Asher must choose between saving his best friend Beskha or his uncle Malcolm, and is chewed out by whomever he doesn't choose. After being ordered by Margaery not to speak to Tyrion after her prior meetings with him, Mira is torn at the Purple Weeding between staying with Margaery or going with Tyrion when he asks to see her, either risking Tyrion revealing his Ironwood Decree to her in front of Margaery and landing in trouble with Margaery or defying Margaery's orders and risking being sent home to her family. Rodrik has to choose between submitting to Gryff to secure peace but once again risking having to swallow his pride, or standing up to Gryff and risking further consequence.
** Episode 4: Asher has to decide between letting Beskha kill her former master and risking losing the aid of Daenerys by defying her orders, or stepping in and hurting his best friend by denying her the chance to get revenge. He can [[TakeAThirdOption take a third option]] and kill the master himself, but this pisses off ''both'' sides.
** Episode 5: Asher and Rodrik are trapped between a portcullis and Whitehill forces led by Gryff. One must make a HeroicSacrifice, keeping the portcullis open for the other to escape.
** Episode 6: [[spoiler:After finally being arrested for the death of Damien in Episode 2, Mira is given a choice by Lord Morgryn, the man who bribed Damien to kill her in the first place; either marry Morgryn and have Tom executed in her place but give Morgryn control over Mira's family home (Ironrath), or refuse and be executed herself. If Asher survived, he must firstly decide whether to ambush or poison Ludd, before choosing whether or not to call off the plan and marry Gwyn, who harbors peace. If he chooses to poison Ludd, Elissa goes to drink the poison when Ludd gets suspicious; Asher must either stop her and sabotage the plan or allow Elissa to be poisoned alongside Ludd. If Rodrik survived, he must choose whether to kill Gryff or Ludd when the pair split up, killing one but risking either not ending the war or not rescuing Ryon.]]

* ChekhovsGun: There are a few items that you can pocket that may or may not help out later on. For example, if you ask for Margaery's help in Episode 1, you can then steal her letter seal. Mira will then use this seal in Episode 2 if she chooses to forge a letter to Elaena in Margaery's name, forging the letter more convincingly. Another example is Gared being able to take herbs and bandages from the maester in Episode 1, which come in handy in episode 4 to patch up Cotter's wounds.

* ChekhovsGun: There are a few items that you can pocket that may or may not help you out later on. For example, taking Margaery's letter seal in episode 1 allows you to forge a letter in her name in episode 2, if you choose to do this. Another example are the herbs and bandages you can take from the maester in episode 1, which come in handy in episode 4 to patch up somebody's wounds.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Gared wants to be more than a squire, and he wants to have a sword like Lord Forrester's. His wish is fulfilled quickly at the end of the Red Wedding...

** Episode 1 features one, provided you allow Bowen to be killed with an ImpromptuTracheotomy. Ethan suffers the same fate at the end of the episode, courtesy of Ramsay.
** Potentially. Episode 1 starts with [[spoiler:the Red Wedding. If Asher is the lord in episode 6, Forresters will betray and attack the Whitehills on Asher and Gwyn's wedding.]]
** [[spoiler:Gared is the first and last character you play as, not counting the stinger with Asher/Rodrik. Taken even further if you take the bastards to Ironrath; the first episode begins with Gared raising a cup, and ends the season raising his sword.]]

** In Episode 5, there's a call back to a previous Telltale game, ''The Walking Dead'', as the traitor gives Rodrik TheReasonYouSuckSpeech based on Rodrik's previous choices that he doesn't agree with, as the Stranger did in Episode 5 of Season 1 of The Walking Dead. Namely whether or not Rodrik: [[spoiler:kissed Ludd's ring, lost his betrothal to Elaena, submitted to Gryff, took the Glenmores to Highpoint, and who Rodrik took to Highpoint (Duncan or Royland).]] The one scolding that remains constant is the traitor always scolding Rodrik for getting Arthur killed, which is unavoidable.

** Episode 6: [[spoiler:After finally being arrested for the death of Damien in Episode 2, Mira is given a choice by Lord Morgryn, the man who bribed Damien to kill her in the first place; either marry Morgryn and have Tom executed in her place but give Morgryn control over Mira's family home (Ironrath), or refuse and be executed herself. If Asher survived, he must firstly decide whether to ambush or poison Ludd, before choosing whether or not to call off the plan and marry Gwyn, who harbors peace. If he chooses to poison Ludd, Elissa goes to drink the poison when Ludd gets suspicious; Asher must either stop her and sabotage the plan or allow Elissa to be poisoned alongside Ludd. If Rodrik survived, he must choose whether to kill Gryff or Ludd when the pair split up, killing one but risking either not rescuing Ryon or not killing the Lord of House Whitehill.]]

** Episode 1: Gared must choose whether to save Bowen from impending death at the Red Wedding or leave him to warn Lord Forrester; Ethan must decide whether to let Erik go free for stealing and risk looking weak, send Erik to the Wall and rip him from his family, or sever Erik's fingers and risk looking too harsh.
** Episode 2: Rodrik must decide whether or not to kiss Lord Whitehill's ring in exchange for Ryon being able to attend Ethan and Gregor's funeral, and either upset Elaena for discrediting himself or his mother Elissa for being selfish; Mira must either kill a Lannister knight sent to kill her and become responsible for his death, or flee and risk the death of the Coal Boy (who intervened to save her).
** Episode 3: Asher must choose between saving his best friend Beskha or his uncle Malcolm, and is chewed out by whomever he doesn't choose; at the Purple Wedding, Mira is torn between staying with Margaery or going with Tyrion when he asks to see her, either risking Tyrion revealing his Ironwood Decree to her in front of Margaery and landing in trouble with Margaery or defying Margaery's orders for her not to speak to Tyrion and risking being sent home to her family.
** Episode 4: Asher has to decide between letting Beskha kill her former master and lose whatever help Daenerys will give by defying her orders, or step in and hurt his best friend by denying her the chance to get revenge. He can [[TakeAThirdOption take the third option]] and kill the master himself, but this pisses off ''both'' sides.

** During the Red Wedding, you choose whether to save Bowen from getting his throat opened or warning Lord Forrester. Subverted in that both die in the end; the choice is ultimately futile.
** Episode 2: When Mira is attacked at the end by a Lannister knight, the servant boy who's been helping her comes up to save her. You can either choose to run off and let the boy die or kill the knight and save the boy, allowing him to hide the body.
** Episode 3: Asher must choose between saving Beskha, his best friend who's fighting a dragon or Malcolm, his uncle who's fighting The Lost Legion. Luckily, nothing results in death. However, whoever you didn't save will be burned by the dragon's flame and chew you out for it later on.
** Episode 4: Asher has to decide between letting Beskha kill her former master and lose whatever help Danaerys will give you by defying her orders, or step in and hurt his best friend by denying her the chance to get revenge. And in this case, [[TakeAThirdOption taking the third option]] pisses off ''both'' sides.
** Episode 5: The worst yet. At the end of the episode, Rodrik and Asher are trapped between a portcullis and Whitehill forces led by Gryff. One must make a HeroicSacrifice, keeping the portcullis open for the other to escape.
** Episode 6: [[spoiler:Mira is finally arrested for the death of the Lannister guard back in Episode 2, and is awaiting execution when Lord Morgryn, the man who sent the guard to kill her and got her unjustly arrested, comes into her cell. He presents Mira with a proposition: if she agrees to marry him, he will frame Mira's close ally Tom for the murder and get her acquitted. It will allow Mira to live, but will also let Morgyrn claim right over her family name, land and all that the Forresters own. If you accept his offer Mira will be forced into a terrible marriage and Tom's head will roll, but if you reject it, Mira's will.]]
*** Episode 6 contains an additional sadistic choice: [[spoiler:Ludd and Gryff Whitehill have been the main antagonists behind the Forresters' suffering--but you can only kill ''one'' of them, either Ludd (if Asher survived and you go with the poison plan or if Rodrik survived and you follow him at the camp) or Gryff (if Asher survived and you go with the ambush plan or go with Gwyn's wedding idea or if Rodrik survived and you follow him at the camp). Kill one, and the other will escape and become a KarmaHoudini.]]

** Mira faces conflict as to whether to please Margaery and stay in King's Landing or please the Lannisters and work out a deal her family needs, which is foreshadowed in her first meeting with Cersei.

** Episode 6: [[spoiler:Either Mira is executed if she refuses to marry Morgryn or Tom will be executed if Mira instead agrees; Lady Elissa Forrester either poisons herself alongside Ludd Whitehill to ensure his death or is stabbed by Harys; if Elissa poisons herself, Bowen will be stabbed by Harys if he was saved in Episode 1 (or Erik if Ethan showed mercy to him in Episode 1 and Bowen was killed); Gryff will be stabbed by Asher if Asher did not poison Ludd or beheaded/fatally stabbed by Rodrik if Rodrik chooses to kill him instead of Ludd; and Ludd will die if Asher agrees to poison him and allows it to proceed, or beheaded/fatally stabbed by Rodrik if Rodrik chooses to kill him instead of Gryff.]]

* ConflictingLoyalty: A persistent theme. At several points the player character must choose between two loyalties, often to their family and to another priority of theirs, and usually gets at least one chance to prove their choice with actions. This is most prevalent for the POV characters that end up farther away from home:
** Gared Tuttle is caught between his own desire to stay at Ironrath and his duty to his family, though this choice is made for him. Later on, it seems like he must choose between keeping to his Night's Watch vows and breaking them to potentially help his family, though this choice is also made for him when he's forced to flee for his life.
** Mira Forrester's loyalties as a lady-in-waiting are questioned several times in King's Landing: is her foremost loyalty to her charge, Lady Margaery or to the crown? She later faces conflict as to whether she wants to please Margaery and stay in King's Landing or if she wants to please the Lannisters and work out a deal her family needs.
** Asher Forrester has a strong reason to want to go home, since he'd get to see his family and love interest again ''and'' they badly need his martial skills and leadership for a potential army. However, he also likes his lifestyle in Essos and has a strong bond with fellow sellsword Beskha that he doesn't want to break by leaving her.

** Episode 6: [[spoiler:Either Mira is executed if she refuses to marry Morgryn or Tom will be executed if Mira instead agrees; Lady Elissa Forrester either poisons herself alongside Ludd Whitehill to ensure his death or is stabbed by Harys; Bowen will be stabbed by Harys if he was saved in Episode 1 (or Erik if Ethan showed mercy to him in Episode 1 and Bowen was killed); Gryff will be stabbed by Asher if Asher did not poison Ludd or beheaded/fatally stabbed by Rodrik if Rodrik chooses to kill him instead of Ludd; and Ludd will die if Asher agrees to poison him and allows it to proceed, or beheaded/fatally stabbed by Rodrik if Rodrik chooses to kill him instead of Gryff.]]

** In Episode 1, Bowen will die from an ImpromptuTracheotomy at the Red Wedding if you choose not to save him in favour of warning Lord Forrester of the ensuing chaos. Lord Gregor Forrester is slain in battle at the wedding. Gared's family are found dead at his hometown. One, or two if you choose, of Britt's men are killed by Gared in retaliation. And finally, Lord Ethan is shockingly stabbed through the neck by Ramsay Snow.
** In Episode 2, Damien dies either by Mira stabbing him in the back or to Tom off-screen if Mira flees.
** In Episode 5, Rodrik or Asher will die depending on the player's choice, and Arthur Glenmore will die under all circumstances.
** In Episode 6, [[spoiler:Lady Elissa Forrester is killed by one of Whitehill's men. If the player accepted Morgryn's marriage proposal, Tom the coal boy will be executed for Damien's death. If not, Mira will be.]] In addition, if [[spoiler:Rodrik stayed behind in episode 5, the player chose to poison Ludd's wine, and finally, the player didn't stop her from drinking the wine, then another character will die later on. If Bowen was spared in Episode 1, he will save Asher from Harys by stabbing him in the back. Harys will then immediately kill Bowen. The exact same situation occurs with Erik if he was not sent to the wall (and didn't get his fingers chopped off.)]]

** In Episode 5, there's a call back to a previous Telltale game, ''The Walking Dead'', as the traitor gives you TheReasonYouSuckSpeech on all your previous choices he doesn't agree with, as The Stranger did in Episode 5 of Season 1 of The Walking Dead. Depending on previous choices, this could include bungling your marriage to Elaena (if you didn't successfully secure the betrothal in episode 2), or just choices that don't line up with the traitor's personality, such as Duncan blasting you for refusing to kiss Ludd Whitehill's ring, or Royland blasting you for agreeing to kiss it. The one scolding that remains constant is the traitor always scolding you for getting Arthur killed.

* WhamEpisode: Episode 5, which brings the {{HSQ}} to a whole new level. Arthur Glenmore is brutally murdered by Ramsay. Gared, Cotter, Sylvi and Finn (if you chose to bring him along) are attacked by wights, and Finn is killed during the fight. The House Forrester traitor is finally revealed to be Royland or Duncan, depending on who you didn't pick to be the Sentinel. Rodrik and Asher finally reunite and are ready to go to war, only for Gryff and his men to ambush them. Depending on your choice, Rodrik or Asher ''will'' die so the other one can live. [[DownerEnding Then the episode ends]], [[{{Cliffhanger}} with no preview of the final one]].

** When Ramsay Snow/Bolton comes to Ironrath, Ethan can offer him "bread and salt", the traditional offering to extend the protection of [[SacredHospitality the laws of hospitality]], promising not to hurt him while he visits in exchange for the same. Ramsay refuses, rudely saying he hates bread and salt. This indicates he has no intention of respecting the laws of hospitality and intends to kill Ethan in his own hold.

* InterfaceSpoiler:Averted in Episode 2. The title screen shows all of the POV characters for that episode, but one of them is blacked out to disguise the fact that Rodrik survived the Red Wedding.

* MysteriousPast: We never get the full story on Josera and Elsera. In fact, they themselves don't know it, and the one guy who likely did is dead. [[spoiler:Who's their mother? Under what circumstances did she meet Lord Gregor? Did he send them up North because of their magical abilities, or for some other reason? Did he even know about said abilities?]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The Whitehills may have successfully taken Ironrath, but the Forresters are far from dead. Asher/Rodrik is seriously wounded but rescued by Talia and Duncan/Gwyn/Royland, Malcolm is still in Essos with Daenerys, Beskha and Ryon ride together to safety, Gared reaches the North Grove and either remains there with Gregor's bastard children or returns South with them, and Mira is still alive if she agreed to marry Morgryn.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The Whitehills may have successfully taken Ironrath, but the Forresters are far from dead. Asher/Rodrik is seriously wounded but rescued by Talia and Duncan/Gwyn/Royland, Malcolm is still in Essos with Daenerys, Gared reaches the North Grove and either remains there with Gregor's bastard children or returns South with them, and Mira is still alive if she agreed to marry Morgryn.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The Whitehills may have successfully taken Ironrath, but the Forresters are far from dead. Asher/Rodrik is seriously wounded but rescued by Talia and Duncan/Gwyn/Royland, Malcolm is still in Essos with Daenerys, Gared reaches the North Grove and either remains there with Gregor's bastard children or returns South, and Mira is still alive if she agreed to marry Morgryn.]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Duncan and Royland, when arguing their respective courses of action. Duncan points out that the Forresters lack the men and military power for the aggressive actions that Royland keeps proposing, while Royland points out that the Whitehills and Boltons cannot be trusted or reasoned with, no matter what Duncan says to them.

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:Ironrath might have been taken, but the Forresters are far from dead. Rodrik/Asher is seriously wounded, but still alive and rescued by Talia and Duncan/Royland. Malcolm is still in Essos with Daenerys, Gared now has the capability to help the Forresters (and can potentially be marching back South), and depending on player choice Mira is still alive.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:While the Forresters are overthrown by the Whitehills, the ending can still be as seen as this: Gared manages to find the North Grove and can send a small army to Ironrath; the surviving brother (Asher or Rodrik) will live (albeit heavily injured) and escape along with Talia and Duncan/Gwyn/Royland, Ryon successfully escapes with Beskha, and Malcolm remains in Daenerys' service on Essos. Even Mira's death (if she refuses to marry Morgryn) can be seen as bittersweet, since she dies with dignity and saves Tom's life.]]

** A major one for the pit-fighters of the Slaver Cities. Beska calls them the equal of any ten soldiers and they're presented as game changers in the Forrester-Whitehill conflict [[spoiler: although this is sort of an InformedAttribute in the end]]. In the books a plot point was made that pit-fighters are trained to fight individuals, as individuals, and are more concerned with making fights entertaining than organized combat; indeed, Astapor was treated as a joke for sending out pit fighters during a battle.

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: [[spoiler: Lord Morgryn tries invoking this on Mira in the finale: either marry him and live or face the executioner.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Though it can play out in several different ways, the story ultimately ends with either the BigBad or DragonAscendant sacking Ironrath and defeating the Forresters, even if he does lose his son/father and most of his men in the process.]]

* BearsAreBadNews: Gared encounters a huge, aggressive polar bear in Episode 6. [[spoiler: Subverted after the bear (and its warg) joins his side.]]

** Potentially. Episode 1 starts with [[spoiler: the Red Wedding. If Asher is the lord in episode 6, Forresters will betray and attack the Whitehills on Asher and Gwyn's wedding.]]
** [[spoiler: Gared is the first and last character you play as, not counting the stinger with Asher/Rodrik. Taken even further if you take the bastards to Ironrath; the first episode begins with Gared raising a cup, and ends the season raising his sword.]]

** In Episode 6, [[spoiler: Lady Elissa Forrester is killed by one of Whitehill's men. If the player accepted Morgryn's marriage proposal, Tom the coal boy will be executed for Damien's death. If not, Mira will be.]] In addition, if [[spoiler:Rodrik stayed behind in episode 5, the player chose to poison Ludd's wine, and finally, the player didn't stop her from drinking the wine, then another character will die later on. If Bowen was spared in Episode 1, he will save Asher from Harys by stabbing him in the back. Harys will then immediately kill Bowen. The exact same situation occurs with Erik if he was not sent to the wall (and didn't get his fingers chopped off.)]]

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: In the first episode Elissa remarks that Ludd Whitehill roars like a wounded boar. If Rodrik fights Ludd in episode 6, everyone's favourite boar gets speared in his gut.]]

* DecapitationPresentation: A particularly cruel version of this can occur in Episode 6 if you have been confrontational in your interactions with Ludd. [[spoiler: He will stick Asher's head on top of a pike and force Ryon to carry it to Ironrath if he sacrifices himself to save Rodrik in episode 5.]]

** One way of playing House Forrester throughout Season One. This, notably, ''infuriates'' Ludd Whitehill and drives him to near-madness trying to destroy you. [[spoiler: It also doesn't prevent House Whitehill from conquering Ironrath in the end.]]

** [[spoiler: Lady Elissa is killed by a Whitehill soldier while saving her son's life.]]
** [[spoiler: Should Mira choose to face execution, she will have a more subdued but no less awesome one as she [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces her death with dignity]] and walks fearlessly to the block. In her last words she can express disgust for the people of King's Landing and the injustice of the system, or defiantly cry “Iron from ice!” before being put to the blade.]]

** The Whitehills serve as a {{Foil}} for House Frey as well. Despite being both unrespected and disliked second-tier houses, the Whitehills have an ancient pedigree and were on the downturn while the Freys are considered an upstart house with immense wealth. Both houses benefit immensely from the Red Wedding but House Whitehill, despite many KickTheDog moments, respects guest-right immensely [[spoiler: and can be subject to it being broken by the Forresters.]]

** [[spoiler: Mira can choose to sacrifice her life by refusing Morgryn's offer of marriage, as it would result in Morgryn claiming her family's land and power as well as Tom facing execution in her place.]]
** [[spoiler: Lady Elissa does this in Episode 6, whether to ensure that both her and Ludd Whitehill are poisoned, or by saving Asher/Rodrik in the battle for Ironrath. In the latter case, if she is already dead by that point, another expendable background character will do the same thing, which is still tantamount to suicide.]]

** In Episode 5, Harys is one of many Whitehills that kill Asher or Rodrik, putting his victim's eye out. During the battle in Episode 6, Harys (TheDragon of House Whitehill) personally kills at least half a dozen Forrester-aligned people, [[spoiler: including Lady Forrester and very nearly Asher/Rodrik]].

* InterfaceSpoiler: Averted in Episode 2. The title screen shows all of the POV characters for that episode, but one of them is blacked out to disguise the fact that Rodrik survived the Red Wedding.

* ISurrenderSuckers: Surprisingly, this is encouraged by the game with regards to the Whitehills and Boltons. Ethan, [[spoiler: Rodrik]], and Asher are all encouraged to show obedience to them both while plotting their revenge against them. While it's possible to pursue a genuine path to peace, the characters are always looking for some way to backstab both and regain their former standing. [[spoiler: This can culminate into re-enacting the Red Wedding in the Asher ending, slaughtering the Whitehills for their crimes]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler: The game spoils the biggest surprise of Season 3 (the Red Wedding) in the first scene.

* MysteriousPast: We never get the full story on Josera and Elsera. In fact, they themselves don't know it, and the one guy who likely did is dead. [[spoiler: Who's their mother? Under what circumstances did she meet Lord Gregor? Did he send them up North because of their magical abilities, or for some other reason? Did he even know about said abilities?]]

** [[spoiler: House Forrester]] this to ''The Freys'' in [[spoiler: the Asher ending as they chose to make an elaborate ambush against House Whitehill using a wedding and a truce as a cover. Serves as a {{Deconstruction}} of the Red Wedding and its ValuesDissonance since we know what it was motivated by.]]

* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: If Mira refuses to marry Lord Morgryn, she is executed in this way.]]

* PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo: A variant. [[spoiler: In Episode 6, in Asher's path, one choice to assassinate Ludd Whitehill is to poison his goblet. He suspects this and will only drink if Lady Forrester does so too.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: House Whitehill [[spoiler: ends up attacking House Forrester with ten times as many troops]] in the [[spoiler: Rodrik]] ending. [[spoiler: However, the attack ends with the death of either Ludd Whitehill or his son as well as many more soldiers killed than should have been possible due to the gladiators from Essos. In the Asher ending, Ludd and company get ambushed in House Forrester, which results in a bloody fight which goes about as well for them. They take Ironrath but suffer grevious losses.]]

** Mira learns the hard way why [[spoiler: trusting people too easily in a DeadlyDecadentCourt like King's Landing is a ''very'' bad idea, especially in the case of Lord Morgryn. Don't expect an easy way out of your execution, either: chances are, people won't go through the effort of freeing you without wanting something big in return.]]
** If you're slight of stature and have never been in combat before, it's a ''bad'' idea to attack a man-at-arms in full plate and a large sword (at least if you expect to live). [[spoiler: If Lady Elissa is still alive during the battle of Ironrath, she saves her son this way, but Harys has zero trouble killing her immediately for it.]] In fairness, said man-at-arms will kill any other character just as easily (every possibility is an armed man) if the primary choice to attack him doesn't do it.

* RevengeBeforeReason: A running theme of the game is the Forresters are grossly outnumbered and outmatched by the Whitehills and Boltons. However, due to a series of KickTheDog moments, they get pushed into a corner where they become obsessed with this. [[spoiler: Asher can attempt to end the fighting for good but will fail miserably because his mother ''will not'' let the loss of two children go.]]

* SacredHospitality: As in source material, guest right is an extremely important tradition in Westeros. Episode 1 starts with the Red Wedding - the infamous subversion of this trope. [[spoiler: And then, if Asher becomes the lord of Ironrath, you get to subvert it too.]]

** Episode 6: [[spoiler: Mira is finally arrested for the death of the Lannister guard back in Episode 2, and is awaiting execution when Lord Morgryn, the man who sent the guard to kill her and got her unjustly arrested, comes into her cell. He presents Mira with a proposition: if she agrees to marry him, he will frame Mira's close ally Tom for the murder and get her acquitted. It will allow Mira to live, but will also let Morgyrn claim right over her family name, land and all that the Forresters own. If you accept his offer Mira will be forced into a terrible marriage and Tom's head will roll, but if you reject it, Mira's will.]]

* SavedByCanon: Unfortunately, since the series must adhere to canon, the Forresters will never get their vengeance on [[spoiler: the Boltons]]. However, all bets are off when it comes to [[spoiler: House Whitehill]], since they do not have the same protection.

** Surprisingly [[spoiler: Rodrik and the pit fighters]] can do the job just as well in episode 6, if Asher died the previous episode.

* SuicideMission: In Episode 6, [[spoiler: if Rodrik is alive, he, Beshka, and the pit fighters go on one of these to infiltrate the Whitehill camp and get Ryon back. Most of the group actually survive.]]

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: [[spoiler: One way to get rid of Ludd is to invite him to dinner and poison his drink. Unfortunately, he'll only drink it if Lady Elissa does too.]]

* TheUndead: Wights are corpses reanimated by the White Walkers, characterized by their glowing blue eyes and inability to be killed by anything except fire. The Free Folk hunters killed by Gared and co. in Episode 4 come back as Wights in Episode 5, along with [[NightOfTheLivingMooks reinforcements]]. If you brought Finn along when searching for the Grove, [[spoiler: he'll come back as a Wight in Episode 6 and Gared must put him down for good.]]

** In Rodrik's route in Episode 6, [[spoiler: while sneaking into the Whitehill's camp, he has the pit fighters release the horses to distract the guards. They can also set a watchtower on fire or simply spill a lot of blood.]]

** A wounded Whitehill soldier attempts to goad [[spoiler: either Asher or Rodrik]] about how their brother died like a coward, when the opposite could not be more true. The taunted person is ''furious'' and beats the shit out the guy for it.

* BittersweetEnding: The finale can be seen as one. [[spoiler: Gared manages to find the North Grove and can send basically a small army to Ironrath, the surviving brother will live, albeit heavily injured, along with Beskha, Ryon, and Duncan/Royland/Gwyn, and Malcolm is still in Essos getting Dany on the Forresters' side. Even Mira's death can be seen as bittersweet since she dies with dignity and saves Tom's life.]]

While the game includes settings and characters (including voice work provided by the actors that portray these characters on the television show), Telltale's game introduces a yet-unseen House Forrester that controls the Ironwood forest in the north of Westeros. There are five playable protagonists, either as family members or servants of House Forrester.

The game takes place concurrently with the television series, from the end of the third season until just prior to the start of the fifth season. The story focuses on House Forrester, a family not yet introduced in the television series, but found within the continuity of the books, appearing in ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons''. House Forrester is found in the north of Westeros, in a fortress called Ironrath, where they control the valuable Ironwood forest which has attracted rivals to their reign. The game primarily takes place near Ironrath, but includes established locations on both continents of Westeros and Essos.

Although Telltale announced that there would be a second season, Telltale closed before it could be created. It has yet to be announced if LCG Entertainment's Telltale will take on the second season.

** House Forrester itself is this to hardcore fans of both the TV show and books. House Forrester is only a third tier house in Westeros, answering to House Glover which answers to House Stark. Here, the Forresters answer to the Starks directly and are trusted to lead the vanguard of their forces. They are also apparently rich and highly placed enough that one of their ranks is handmaiden to Margaery Tyrell. The Codex also states that Ironrath, the seat of house Forrester, rivaled Winterfell and hints that it made Eddard Stark jealous.
** A major one for the pit-fighters of the Slaver Cities. Beska calls them the equal of any ten soldiers and they're presented as game changers in the Forrester-Whitehill conflict [[spoiler: although this is sort of an InformedAttribute in the end]]. In the books a plot point was made that pit-fighters are trained to fight individuals, as individuals, and are more concerned with making fights entertaining than organized combat; indeed, Astapor was treated as a joke for sending out pit fighters during a battle.

** The Forresters can be played as Foil family for the Starks. The Forresters can break oaths, lie, cheat, and engage in ruthlessly duplicitous behavior versus the honorable noble behavior which they are expected to do as Stark bannermen.
** The Whitehills are this in virtually every respect for House Forrester. While the Forresters are a rich, respected, and ecologically friendly house of Stark banner, the Whitehills are a poor, derided, and ecologically unfriendly one. The Forresters are on the decline due to the events of the Red Wedding while the Whitehills are on the rise.
** The Forresters can become one of these for ''House Frey'' of all people in [[spoiler: the Asher ending. They can re-enact the Red Wedding with an ambush of the Whitehill guards, massacring all of their enemies while under guest-right. We, the viewer, sympathize but it's definitely every bit as heinous in Westeros due to differences in beliefs. Alternatively, they can become one for the Tyrells by poisoning Ludd Whitehill. Unlike Lady Olenna, though, they let Elisa sacrifice herself rather than blame someone else.]]

** Ser Royland and Duncan are to one another from the beginning, being a RedOniBlueOni ThoseTwoGuys who can basically be countered on to give the exact opposite advice in any given situation. [[spoiler: They're NotSoDifferent as their reaction to being passed over for a promotion is to betray House Forrester to House Whitehill because they're ''that'' confident theirs is the only path to survival.]]
** Mira Forrester can be one of these for Margaery Tyrell to some extent and Serah [[spoiler: Flowers]] in particular. She has the choice of playing the game in King's Landing or remaining true to her personal code of honor. In Serah's case, Serah is neither willing to completely betray Mira or stand completely behind her. By taking either a completely ruthless or completely moral stance, Mira Forrester proves very different from her friend.

* IdiotBall: [[spoiler:In Episode 6, if you are playing as Asher, the Whitehills offer an end to all of the conflict. Their terms are surprisingly generous, letting the Forresters still operate the ironwood business, but become vassals to the Whitehills and let Asher marry Gwyn so a Whitehill will inherit Ironrath. But despite this, you are forced to attempt to betray the Whitehills and try to either poison Ludd at the negotiations, or go all Red Wedding when Asher and Gywn tie the knot. The plots will only kill some of the Whitehills, and the rest will ransack and destroy Ironrath. And even if you attempt to call off the plots in an attempt to have genuine peace, albeit in servitude, Elissa will have none of it, and try to murder Ludd herself. Though this is somewhat justified, as she has had multiple sons killed in this fight, it still ends with her being dead and both Ludd and Gryff alive to attack Ironrath for your "betrayal".]]

* KarmaHoudini: Due to being SavedByCanon, [[spoiler: the Forresters will never get their revenge on the Bastard of Bolton for Ethan's death.]] However, while [[spoiler:the Boltons are SavedByCanon]], the jury is still out on [[spoiler:the Whitehills.]]
** In Episode 2, Cotter becomes one, as regardless of whether or not Gared tells anyone that Cotter stole Finn's knife, Cotter hides the knife in his sleeve so no one can prove it was him. Averted with Finn, though; while Gared is blamed for fighting with Finn, Finn is also taken off to be punished and is even backhanded when he argues with Frostfingers.
** In Episode 6, [[spoiler:either Ludd or Gryff Whitehill will become one, as you can only kill one of them. You can kill Ludd if you're Asher, you go with the poison plan, and you let Asher's mother drink poison when Ludd becomes suspicious, or if you're Rodrik and you choose to follow Ludd at the camp. You can kill Gryff if you're Asher and you go with the ambush plan or try to marry Gwyn, or if you're Rodrik and you choose to follow Gryff at the camp. But once you kill either Ludd or Gryff, the other will escape.]]

** [[spoiler:No matter what you do in Episode 6, Ironrath will fall and at least one of Gryff or Ludd will survive while Elissa and your Sentinel perish. However you attempt to hold off the Whitehills as Rodrik, they will break through eventually, though you might save a couple characters depending on your choices. If poison Ludd as Asher, Elissa will die as well when Ludd gets suspicious, and Gryff survives and escapes to rally his troops. If you try to ambush the Whitehills while they are within Ironrath under guest-right, Gryff will die but Ludd will escape to rally his troops. And even if you call off the ambush or the poison in an attempt to actually secure peace, Elissa will unsuccessfully attempt to kill Ludd, and both him and Gryff go to rally their troops.]]