!neolibs according to our magazine GRRM and James Caldwell provide some advice on real life governance. Here's the article in question.
Daemon's tactics differ only in degree from those of Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, who has rounded up tens of thousands of suspected gangsters, locked them up indefinitely and shared a video on social media of them stacked like semi-naked Lego bricks in overcrowded jails. Both leaders want to look tough on crime; neither fusses about due process.
!latinx Nayib Bukele is just like Daemon Targaryen
The second season also has echoes of modern America. King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) is a narcissist with improbable hair who knows nothing about governance and says whatever he thinks will please the audience in front of him. When grown-up officials offer sage advice, he grimaces with boredom. When devious courtiers want to sway him, they flatter his preposterous ego.
OMG AEGON II IS JUST LIKE DRUMPF
Aegon II is incredibly based by the way but Blackcels keep popping up propaganda for Girlboss Traenyra.
The characters in "Shogun" are often cruel, too, but they follow a code. They respect the law—indeed, much of their plotting depends on the assumption that their opponents will not openly flout it. Good luck trying that with Mr Putin.
I dislike Putin but media comparisons are always so cringe. Plus for all the talk about honor, the characters in Shogun are very backstabby so to speak.
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tywin lannister did nothing wrong
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Tywin did A LOT of things wrong but not for the reasons libs believe.
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Give me your take on Tywin, irmão
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1. Tywin is a shitty father:
He doesn't love any of his children, he may not hate Cersei and Jaime like he hates Tyrion but he doesn't love them either. To him Cersei is a pretty face to be married for alliances and Jaime's physique and sword's skills make him a perfect heir for House Lannister from a PR point of view, and that's it, Tyrion he hates because he's a dwarf who killed his beloved Joanna, he sees him as a curse and a threat to the Lannister name. All of this means Tywin neglected his children resulting in them being a bunch awful and dysfunctional misfits unsuited to head his house. He loves the Lannister name, not his actual family.
2. Tywin's ruthlessness
Tywin became Lord of Casterly Rock when his house was at a low point. The Reynes of Castermere were threatening his position so he crushed them, but the lesson he took was that only violence and ruthlessness work. He orders the Mountain to kill Elia Martell and her children out of petty disdain for the Mad King cancelling Rhaegar's betrothal to Cersei, this move permanently alienates House Martell and all of Dorne's houses from working with him. He has the Mountain raid villages and torture civilians across the Riverlands, which makes all the local Lords and common folk hate the Lannisters.
The Lannister's unofficial motto is "A Lannister always pays his debt", they are one of the oldest houses of Westeros and were historically a very respected one. By the time of Tywin's death everyone but the Tyrells hate them or are actively plotting to remove them, they rule out of fear and Tywin decided he would rather have Tyrion executed than finding some scapegoat for Joffrey's death securing his son's marriage to Sansa which was important for his northern plans. In other words, the Realm sees the Lannisters as a bunch of unreliable, backstabbing murderous shits, which is why everything starts to fall apart after he dies and his crazy daughter takes command of the capital, that's all his doing and legacy.
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I agree on both points.
An interesting question about Tywin though, is "was he fated to end like this"? I think one of the things GRRM does well is that we never quite have the facts, only characters' interpretations of it. Tywin's brother and sister both really like him, and many characters discuss how he was much kinder and different while his wife lived. Now, it's possible that this is cope by his siblings, but I also wonder if the pressure of running the realm during the mad king's reign (and getting no recognition for it) combined with losing his wife to a son he sees as a failure, might have broken him down into the ruthless and short sighted man he is now.
Ultimately his folly is that he defines himself in how others see him, he hates Tyrion for taking his wife but also for "sullying the Lannister name" even though Tyrion could have become a great asset, and is the son stated to ressemble Tywin the most.
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I think so. Some real historical insight, what Tywin did to Elia Martell and her children would have been considered a heinous crime in our world during the Middle Ages, Tywin would as a minimum been excommunicated for murdering royal princes if not taken to trial and executed, the disappearance of the "princes at the tower" was one of the biggest reasons why Richard III fell so quickly. GRRM sometimes rewards evil people too much, the most sadistic fricks like the Mountain and the Boltons get away with everything but it didn't work that way in reality, a great lord with Ned Stark's qualities would have thrived in our world.
Tywin is all about keeping appearances. Cersei and Jaime are beautiful and therefore are suitable to lead his house . He hates Tyrion for being a dwarf more than for Joanna's death, he feels it makes his House look weak, when the Mad King placed Jaime in the Kingsguard he inadvertently made Tyrion the heir to Casterly Rock. Tywin never acknowledged it, but had he died during Robert's reign Tyrion could legally claim Casterly Rock and his place as Lord Paramount of the Westerlands and no one could present a case against it. Jaime wouldn't care, he doesn't want the rock, Kevan and the other uncles would be cool as well. Cersei would go crazy but she would have no legal case against Tyrion's claim. Tywin knew all this and he still deluded himself that Jaime would take over after him, the Lannister saga is tragic and sad when you think about it.
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I think this is one of the weaker point of his world building, the church is quite weak in Westeros and while there eventually is religious populist pushback against the Lannisters it takes quite a while to build up.
Another exemple for you of a medieval moral crime with political implication was the assassination during a diplomatic meeting of the duke of burgundy by the future french king charles VII, an act that got him desinherited and nearly derailed his chances of becoming king
I'm not that sure, well, it depends on the era. Being able to step on your principles and consider the under the table solution is important for most politicians no matter the era. Ned is shown not to have great instincts, such as trusting littlefinger really hard even though he knows his brother beat him and humiliated him publicly
For all my grumblings I like GRRM a lot because he writes character led stories, which is unfortunately rare in genre fiction. Too many fantasy nerds hyper fixate on settings and lore but it's the very human drama that makes or break a story. The four main lannister characters are memorable!
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The way religion is dealt with in ASOIAF is so weird. Most lords are irreligious if not straight up atheists lol, very few among them are devout to the Seven and most religious characters are portrayed as fanatics. The Church was a huge part of daily life both for the rich (nobles and Bourgeoises) as the poor.
I meant by being an honored and loyal vassal true to his word. This is the type of men Kings trusted and whom they rewarded with lands and titles or to help them run things at court. Ned Stark may not have been politically savvy for court politics but he got the right profile. In real life Kings didn't like scheming overpowered vassals, like the ones you mentioned, the Dukes of Burgundy who were probably the worst and most disloyal vassals the Capetians had. The peasants were also more confortable and willing to co-operate with a Lord who took care of them.
I started reading "La Guerre de Cent Ans" by Georges Minois, I think you could be interested on that one.
That's probably the old man biggest Strength, he knows how to create good characters you love to root for even if they're unlikeable.
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This is a really long way of saying you don't frick.
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