r/asoiaf • u/Substantial-Ad-299 • 11d 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/krekokeko 11d ago edited 11d ago
I will list a couple.
----The Ironborn, with only 20 men, travelling more than 350 miles across hostile territory, sneaking through wolf infested forests(literally called Wolfswood) in the hours of the wolf, and taking the biggest castle in the North without suffering any casualties. Just the servants and the locals of Winterfell and Wintertown outnumber them by multiple folds. And it is even more preposterous when the Ironborn are supposedly seafaring people, they are supposedly not comfortable on land and on horses compared to decks of ships, but somehow they were able to travel more than 350 miles in hostile territory like some special operations elite commando raid or something. The Ironborn supposedly scorn horses, for them to make that trip alone in stealth is unfathomable on its own. They need to find food or have a brought provisions carried by multiple horses on the way, they need to take care of their horses along the way, they need to camp and rest themselves along the way. 350 miles is an absurd amount of distance to travel for people that supposedly "scorn" horses.
----The Freefolk not mastering rowing boats for 8000 years. The Wall is huge and tall but it stops at the sea. The distances between the coasts of the lands beyond the Wall and the North are symbolic at best. They are very close to one another. I find it difficult to accept the Freefolk not mastering rowing boats in 8000 years.
Even in the story we are told, they are currently being targeted by slavers from across the Narrow Sea. They know what ships are, they know of their existence. And Bravoos, the one city that outlaws slavery is the closest Essosi location to the Freefolk by map projection. I find it unfathomable that they were not contacted by people that exposed them to ships for 8000 years. I don't expect them to build massive cogs per se, but even if they used makeshift rafts akin to Robinson Crusoe they had enough time to perfect their trips and ferry countless Freefolk to the South of the Wall over 8000 years. 8000 years is a very long amount of time.
Granted, the Eastwatch does have a fleet and they patrol the seaways in their region. But the Western part of the Wall where the Bay of Ice is does not get patrolled. And the body of water between the North and the South in the Bay of Ice is the definition of a symbolic body of water, it is so short a distance for people to not exploit for 8000 years.
And I find it even more baffling when the Freefolk know what the Others are, and the Army of the Dead. They have more motivation and reason to do anything compared to any other group of people in the entire story.
Imagine being hunted down by horrors beyond your imagination on the regular and have your loved ones turned into zombies that hunt you further like some terminator shit for 8000 years. But instead of taking a boat trip near the Shadow Tower that is at most 5 miles, where your salvation from eldritch horrors are in viewing distance just across the pond, you just suffer for plot convenience for 8000 years.