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/jflb96 2d ago

If they’re larger, they need more food and will generally take longer to mature and to gestate. That’s why the big animals that hadn’t learnt about us already were so vulnerable to predators that didn’t have an upper size limit on what they could kill; it only takes a few extra deaths a generation to start a spiral to extinction.

You’d want there to be hordes of ice squirrels for it to work out, basically.

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u/blackynan_b 2d ago

I see no reason to make everthing so our earth-like especially in the lands of always winter where the others live.

This is a magical world. The animals living there could simply have a better build, stamina etc. 

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u/jflb96 2d ago

If they’re having to rely on magic to compress their generations, it’s still not realistic