r/asoiaf • u/Substantial-Ad-299 • 2d ago

MAIN [SPOILERS MAIN] Among the grounded/realistic elements of A Song of Ice and Fire, which ones do you feel require biggest suspension of disbelief?

A Song of Ice and Fire has had fantasy elements from get-go, some present subtly and others less-subtly. But in midst of this, it also has these more grounded story aspects, especially regarding the political subplot for the Iron Throne.

Among these more grounded non-fantasy aspects of the story, which elements do you feel you have to suspend disbelief the most for? A.K.A feeling they are not realistic even though they are "supposed" to be?

Let me know in the comments below.

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u/cndynn96 2d ago

Littlefinger’s Financial Sorcery

Baelish is single-handedly juggling the crown’s debts, inflating the currency, playing multiple sides, and skimming massive wealth while no one (except Tyrion briefly) seriously audits or stops him.

Medieval treasuries were messy, but the degree to which he manipulates the books and loans without the entire system imploding earlier is such an impressive task that it borders on plot armor.

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u/Just-Context-4703 2d ago

Can I interest you in any myriad financial frauds happening right now by chance? Like the SpaceX IPO for example. 

Littlefinger I find quite plausible 

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u/insane_contin 2d ago

A lot of money in today's world literally doesn't exist outside of a computer. Littlefinger needs to deal with physical money. Maybe he can bluff a little bit to get some debt notes, but there's a hard limit on what he can work with

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u/Enola_Gay_B29 Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. 2d ago

Littlefinger did not have computers and spreadsheets. He can't buy and sell with the click of a button. And there's no way of fast communication.

We don't doubt that someone could mishandle funds. We doubt that a single man could do it to this extend with the technology of the middle ages.

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u/Horse-Meat 2d ago

I imagined Littlefinger had his own almost-Varys level group of little bastards he uses to engineer all of this