I think that in this world, and in the real medieval world
marriage was definitely politics by other means.
It was one of the prime sources of glue
that held people together in larger societies.
And one of the fundamental things
that sets up the whole drama of our series.
Marriage was a way to bind two families together.
It was a form of political alliance.
And royal marriages are one of the ultimate in examples of this.
Sync and transcript by lost0ne www.addic7ed.com
The Gods are good
Sir Lorus, I will gladly wed your sweet sister.
You will be my queen,
and I will love you from this day,
until my last day.
[Cheering and applause]
The real bomb that goes off in Kings Landing in season 3,
is the arrival of the Tyrells
They're very powerful, they're very wealthy.
And they control a lot of cards.
So the family dynamic between the Lannisters
and the Tyrells, is quite charged.
Joffrey and Margaery's marriage had nothing to do with
love or even affection, it was purely about
stabilising the kingdoms, and lessens the chance
of some kind of uprising that we saw start to take place in season 2.
Tell me what you think of her.
With the Tyrells beside us
we'll crush the northerners.
Hang their lords, burn their strongholds,
sow their fields with salt,
and no one will think of rebelling for another century.
He's not even thinking of Margaery as a woman
he's thinking of her as an abstract principle
that will help further their families political aim.
It just make Tyrons job much much easier.
The Tyrells allow them to solidify their hold on the South.
I have seven kingdoms to look after
and three of them are in open rebellion.
His prime objective is to ensure the survival of the Lannisters
and maintain the status quo
and only change it
for the betterment for him and the rest of the Lannister clan.
And the way to ensure your legacy and so forth is through marriage.
For the Tyrells I think the idea that their eldest daughter
is going to be queen is immensely attractive.
Margaerys clearly got a hunger, and is incredibly ambitious.
Do you want to be a queen?
No.
I want to be the queen.
Margaery knows exactly how to play the game
better than almost anybody else
She of course is the granddaughter
of one of the great matriarchs in our world: Olenna Tyrell.
She is the mother of the present Lord of Highgarden:
Mace Tyrell.
And, she is a very sharp lady.
I want you to tell me the truth,
about this royal boy.
We've heard some troubling tales.
Is there any truth to them?
Sansa is an interesting girl
you know shes beautiful
and she comes from a famous family
and I want to find out about all sorts of levels of information definitely.
I think they want to get to the top, by hook or by crook.
That's part of the fun, isn’t it.
She realises that Sansa is a very valuable piece
in the Game of Thrones.
So far as the realm knows, Bran and Rickon are dead.
Therefore:
If Robb Stark falls, Sansa Stark is the key to the North
I believe I have a possible solution.
Their plan is to get Sansa to marry Sir Loras,
the Knight of Flowers.
But there are a lot of spies, there are a lot of listening ears so...
before they can really put their plan in motion
the Lannisters get wind of this.
We need to act first and kill this union in it's crib.
And how do we do that?
We find Sansa Stark a different husband.
- Wonderful - Yes, it is.
Tyrion is in love with Shae at this moment
but he's forced into this marriage
that I really don't want to be a part of.
But at least if he marries Sansa he can protect her.
Especially from Joffrey.
All you have to do is get a son in the Stark girl.
He'll be Lord of Winterfell one day.
You can rule the North in his name.
You'll have two women and a whole kingdom of your own.
And then, Tyron turns the tables onto Cersei and says
and says she has an arranged marriage as well.
I am Queen Regent, not some broodmare.
You're my daughter!
You will do as I command
and you will marry Loras Tyrell
and put an end to the disgusting rumors
about you, once and for all.
My children.
Now the Lannisters
will control the South as well as the North.
As well as the Iron Throne, it's all for the glory of House Lannister.
My mother always told me you Westerosi were a grim lot.
Grim, stinking barbarians
that would row across the Narrow Sea
and steal us from our beds.
Did you ever think you'd marry one?
When we first meet Robb Stark in season 3
the tables have changed somewhat.
Robb is in a very difficult position he was engaged to one of the Frays
but he's followed his heart not his head, he married Talisa.
And by breaking his vow
he's angered a once very powerful ally.
If I had the sense the Gods gave a fish,
I'd hand you both over to the Lannisters.
- Why don't you? - Stark, Tully,
Lannister, Baratheon,
give me one good reason
why I should waste a single thought on any of you?
Walder Fray could have remained neutral in this conflict and
that had it's own risks,
but he saw an opportunity to
vastly enhance the *** of House Frey, and he took it.
So now what he cares about is
the political contract that was violated.
This is not a world where
the idea of marrying for love makes any sense to anybody.
Cat has this instinctive feeling.
Talisa is the catalyst that starts the demise almost.
For a king to break his word
is something that she just can not really accept.
Because in this world, nothing goes unanswered
Walder Fray is a dangerous man to cross.
- You arranged it. - And you agreed to it.
You gave him your word.
Treat your oaths recklessly and your people will do the same.
The decision to marry Talisa definitely divided Robb's bannermen
they're gonna be the people who say
I pledge my allegiance to this person
and I'm gonna stick with him, no matter what.
They're also gonna be the people who wonder maybe
I need to reassess who he is, as a leader.
Yo don't think we can win.
I think you lost this war
the day you married her!
After Robb married Talisa
I think things changed, we lost some of
our men, my army are angered at that,
and it's the one dishonorable thing that I feel Robb has done since...
since we've got to know him.
I need men to replace the Karstarks who marched home.
There is only one person in this kingdom
with that kind of army who hasn't already sided with the Lannisters.
The man whose daughter I was supposed to marry--
Walder Frey.
Robb not only deprived Walder of his chance to see his daughter
as queen but also, Walder still
guilty of rebelling against Tywin in the Iron Throne.
And that puts Walder Frey and his entire family at risk
So something that Robb has to try to do
is mend a lot of broken bridges and see if he can the damage
that he's done by a lot of bad decisions
We will do whatever we can to give Lord Frey what he needs.
Not what--
whom.
Our father requires Lord Edmure to wed
one of his daughters.
He was due a King
to marry one of his daughters to and...
Edmure Tully, while he is the
important person in his own right and is the air of
the Tully household.
It's still kind of the door prize in the political marriage race.
I've won every battle,
but I'm losing this war.
If we don't do this and do it now,
we're lost.
It's something you see time and again in Game of Thrones
is characters who kind of casting off their allusions and
learning what it means to rule and to seize power
and the truth is, all these families see it as a tool so
whether it's the Tyrells marrying Margaery to Joffrey,
or Tywin trying to figure out how to insure his legacy by
marrying Tyrion to Sansa and Cersei to Lorus.
Marriage is one of the main tools of political maneuvering and
we're gonna see it again and again in this world.
Sync and transcript by lost0ne www.addic7ed.com