History Fridge / GameOfThrones

* It's been pointed out that the political condition of Westeros at the end of the series is... less than optimal. A bunch of noble houses are completely extinct, and many of those that have inherited or been raised to fill those titles are inexperienced at ruling and have little to no name recognition in a society where (as much as they are trying to reform) historically one's name means almost everything. In fact, the fates of some of the survivors almost come off as an attempt by the writers to give them better endings than 'disappeared into anonymity' and would be risky at best from a practical standpoint. Overall, Westeros is a country that could and probably will descend into civil war - if not a continent-wide problem like the War of the Five Kings, then certainly smaller feudal conflicts as those who remain alive scramble to fill the swiss cheese-like lattice of power gaps in the country. '''All in all, it seems that the Game of Thrones is destined to continue; but perhaps that is the point.''' Westerosi politics has consisted of power-grabbing, backstabbing, and the occasional murder for centuries (as is shown by the [[Series/HouseOfTheDragon follow-up prequel]]). But those are all very human problems, survivable by those who can navigate them or are smart or lucky enough to stay out of the way. And, in the big picture, they are survivable by the human race. [[OutsideContextProblem Mad queens with dragons and supernatural ice zombie invasions that affect the very climate]]... not so much.

* The change of Robb's wife's character from Jeyne Westerling (a lesser lordly house under the Lannisters) to Talisa Maegyr (a Volantene noble daughter turned itinerant field nurse) adds another layer to why the Northern lords would have been upset at Robb marrying her. Not only is Robb's wife not from the North, she's not even from ''Westeros.'' The Northmen are known to be proud of their heritage -- often to a fault -- so for most of the Northmen it probably had as much or more to do with [[FantasticRacism Talisa being Essosi]] than it did about the tactical implications of upsetting Lord Walder. Especially given that ''no one'' could have forseen his revenge plot coming -- or Roose Bolton betraying them in a power grab, for that matter. Guys like the Blackfish or the Greatjon certainly wouldn't have stood for it.

* Ellaria Sand and her (dead) daughter are still in the dungeons of the Red Keep. Best case: they, like Jaime and Cersei, were crushed under rubble in Daenerys' attack. Worse case: the route to their cell was blocked by that rubble, so Ellaria will soon die of suffocation or deydration. Worst case: the cell and the halls leading to it are completely intact, ''but no one knows they're down there, so no one will come to free her, or even fed her''.

* Imagine the series had ended with Daenerys ''not'' undergoing a FaceHeelTurn and ruling as a benevolent Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. It's heavily implied (and outright stated in the books) that after her traumatic stillbirth, Daenerys is sterile. Best case scenario, peace would have only lasted a lifetime until her death [[HereWeGoAgain left no clear heir to the Iron Throne.]]

** Bronn as Master of Coin: At first, it seems ironic, since he didn't even know how loans worked a few seasons ago. But what drives Bronn? What does he care about the most? [[OnlyInItForTheMoney Money]]. He'd want to be sure that he's always paid in full, so finding out about loans and how little he actually knows about money would have given him plenty of reason to become more financially-savvy over the next few years.
** Also, Bronn may be lowborn but he's also a former ''sellsword''. If he didn't have basic knowledge on how to budget and manage money he wouldn't have survived this long.

* Jon's parentage remaining a secret to the general public at the end of the series ensures that unless one of the characters privy to that knowledge chooses to reveal the truth, Rhaegar is doomed to be remembered as Lyanna's rapist and kidnapper.
** And truth be told, the other option isn't much better; almost everyone who finds out the truth regarding Rhaegar and Lyanna's relationship in the show has the same reaction, which basically amount to: "That's great Rhaegar's not a rapist, but his choice in abandoning his duty to run after another girl he fell in love with still got innumerable people needlessly killed." So at worst Rhaegar's a villain and at best he'll be remembered as a fool that screwed up the realm by sheer political incompetence.