Okay, the point about it not being a dozen stands, but Tywin is not saying that the RW was more noble than a battle.  He is saying that a battle is not more noble than the RW.  It’s not the same thing.  

The “honorable” characters like to ascribe notions of “nobility” to acts of war so they can justify the fact that they’re willing to kill untold numbers of nameless, faceless smallfolk to defend their own power and security.  There is nothing noble about war.

Tywin’s not trying to justify the “nobility” of his actions; he knows that the RW is less “noble” by Westerosi standards.  He’s pointing out the hypocrisy of labeling any act of war as “noble.”  Not that Tywin cares that much about hypocrisy, but he does care about people wasting his time with ethical debates that don’t hold water.

- vaznetti

(Source: robbstark)

onionjulius:

croclock:

idk onion, this is a bit tricky. Joffrey being slapped by Cersei doesn’t hit the same issues of abuse that Cersei being slapped by Robert does. Also even if we were to forget the power play involved in both ocasions (husband and wife, man and woman, king and…

THIS>

You have to recall that GRRM was a conscientious objector during Vietnam. The themes of violence not solving anything come up again and again.  And yes, the slap isn’t fully comparable to death… but the celebration of it is.

And Cersei’s slap of Joff might not be from the books… but he was abused, not the same was Cersei was, but… when there was that incident with the pregnant cat, Robert’s reaction was to hit him so hard he knocked out a tooth.  Did it help? Did it set things right? Or did it just fuck up Joff even more than he already was?  

Yes, the audience reacts gleefully to seeing Joffrey get his. Yes, we empathize with Cersei in that moment, we’re like “aww yeah”. But why do we react that way? Is it right to react that way? Is it moral or ethical?  It’s understandable, but there’s a difference.

Heck, look at Theon, all the people who wanted to see him suffer after the events of ACOK.  When they saw what he was like in ADWD, did they regret those feelings? I know I did.  Or in a less dramatic/sympathetic character, there’s Marillion, scummy attempted rapist, I wanted him punished… but did I want him blinded, his fingers cut off, driven insane until he committed suicide by leaping off a cliff? No I did not.

And lord knows, of all characters, I was most pleased to see Gregor die. To know that he was screaming in agony from poison eating holes in him made me say “good. good.” It’s fiction, you can say this character was entirely unworthy of existence, that he should have died screaming years before, if only he had. But still, look at your feelings. Is it right to feel this way? The text asks this question, even in the first book, does death ever really pay for life? And what kind of life do you get from that, in the end?

- nobodysuspectsthebutterfly

q-u-e-e-n-c-u-n-t:

You know what I think? I think people are too prideful. Myself included, at times.

Voicing an unpopular opinion doesn’t automatically make someone a bully. Pointing out the flaws of an argument doesn’t make someone a bitch. Just because someone says something that you…