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Reminds me of Varys' Riddle: > In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of

Reminds me of Varys' Riddle: > In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. ‘Do it,’ says the king, ‘for I am your lawful ruler.’ ‘Do it,’ says the priest, ‘for I command you in the names of the gods.’ ‘Do it,’ says the rich man, ‘and all this gold shall be yours.’ So tell me—who lives and who dies? > "The king, the priest, the rich man — who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It's a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword. > "And yet he is no one," Varys said. "He has neither crown nor gold nor favor of the gods, only a piece of pointed steel." > "That piece of steel is the power of life and death." > "Just so … yet if it is the swordsmen who rule us in truth, why do we pretend our kings hold the power? Why should a strong man with a sword ever obey a child king like Joffrey, or a wine-sodden oaf like his father?" > "Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords." > "Then these other swordsmen have the true power. Or do they? Whence came their swords? Why do they obey?" Varys smiled. - A Clash of Kings - Tyrion II

inglor_cz 5y ago
Game of Thrones is a fiction. And a fairly ahistorical one. This military historian's blog has several texts regarding its flaws. I can recommend reading them, they are well written. https://acoup.blog/tag/game-of-thrones/ https://acoup.blog/tag/game-of-thrones/ There is a reason why we distinguish between force and power. People generally perform better in societies where they aren't constantly threatened into obedience. GRRM's world is a lot more cynical and obsessed with raw force than our own historical record.
- jl2718 5y ago
  > People generally perform better in societies where they aren't constantly threatened into obedience. These should be the first words out of any teacher's mouth in any course in history or civics. It would clear up a lot of confusion built into the vague notions of 'progress'.
jl2718 5y ago
History is full of examples like this. Rich man is killed first, without consequence. Then probably the king. The guards have no loyalty once the King is dead, but the swordsman will never escape the religion.

inglor_cz 5y ago

Game of Thrones is a fiction. And a fairly ahistorical one. This military historian's blog has several texts regarding its flaws. I can recommend reading them, they are well written. https://acoup.blog/tag/game-of-thrones/ https://acoup.blog/tag/game-of-thrones/ There is a reason why we distinguish between force and power. People generally perform better in societies where they aren't constantly threatened into obedience. GRRM's world is a lot more cynical and obsessed with raw force than our own historical record.

jl2718 5y ago
> People generally perform better in societies where they aren't constantly threatened into obedience. These should be the first words out of any teacher's mouth in any course in history or civics. It would clear up a lot of confusion built into the vague notions of 'progress'.

jl2718 5y ago

History is full of examples like this. Rich man is killed first, without consequence. Then probably the king. The guards have no loyalty once the King is dead, but the swordsman will never escape the religion.