During the whole season 7,
Jon Snow prepare the North to fight the Great War, and interact with Daenerys and Cersei.
But why did he never send raven to all major and minor lords of seven kingdoms to ask for help ?
-
Not entirely sure about this, but probably because they have sworn fealty to Cersei and if she agrees to back him, they need to by default?– sudhanvaSep 1, 2017 at 6:39
-
During lot of war, the minor lords did not follow their overlord, but choose a different camp. In this case, it's not even a war against cersei, but against the dead, once the war is won, they stay neutral– KepotxSep 1, 2017 at 6:42
-
If you send a raven to a lesser house their answer will either be: I'm sworn to Queen X and will do what she wants. Or they have already turned and in which case you already know their allegiance. I don't see much point in it.– TheLethalCarrot ♦Sep 1, 2017 at 8:06
-
@TheLethalCoder Do we have any evidence that the majority of lesser house are sworn to one queen or another ?– KepotxSep 1, 2017 at 8:10
-
@Kepotx No but houses in a region are usually sworn to that regions lord and the regions lord has usually already sworn fealty somewhere. If they haven't sworn fealty to their lord it is usually known where the allegiance lies even if it is just with themselves. Those that go against the call to banners for their lord aren't trustworthy enough to stay when needed either.– TheLethalCarrot ♦Sep 1, 2017 at 8:12
|
Show 3 more comments
3 Answers
Because that's a lot of ravens. More than Winterfell possibly has available. (and why would they have ravens that are primed to some minor castle in, say, the Reach?)
Instead, he sends a raven to the central information hub, the Citadel of Oldtown, in the hope that they will distribute the message to all maesters, and thus all lords, in the realm. They also have much more authority in this question then he has. To the southern lords, he is just another rebel king in the North and they probably would not believe him about such an outrageous claim.
Additionally, he tries to convince the two queens, which would have much more effect than him asking the minor lords personally as well. The lords are bound by their oaths to fight for their respective queen, so they can't just abandon them in the middle of that war to fight in the North, or they'd be traitors - unless the queen gives that order herself.
-
All the lords of Dorne, reach and Stormlands are not bounded to one Queen. It's maybe easier to ask army to lords who are indépendant and not in war– KepotxSep 1, 2017 at 6:49
-
I don't think there are lords left who could get away with not picking a side. Or actually, there are not many lords left at all, after all the battles that happened this season.– AnnatarSep 1, 2017 at 7:00
-
1"More than Winterfell possibly has available". Sure, with Bran hogging all of them for his warging needs. Sep 4, 2017 at 14:31
Feudal systems are a hierarchy. The minor lords are beholden to the Lords Paramount of the seven kingdoms who in turn are subject to the king (or queens in this case). They can't really go on their own. At most he'd pick up a few dribs and drabs that way.
Convincing a Lord Paramount would be better. But he already has three of the kingdoms: the North; the Riverlands (Sansa, Bran, and Arya are Tullys through their mother); the Vale (Littlefinger brought them to save Sansa). The Tyrells and the Martells pledged to Daenerys, so there's the Reach and Dorne. All that's left are the Crownlands and the Westerlands, where Cersei is the Lord (Lady) Paramount.
Another problem is that if a minor lord or a Lord Paramount would ride north to help Jon, Cersei would assume that they would be organizing against her. So she'd sack their castle on principle. In season 7, she already did that to
the Tyrells. And Dorne is likely only safe because it is so far away.
Convincing the two queens means that everyone can safely (absent treachery) send forces.
And frankly, Jon Snow's problem is less about getting enough of an army and more about getting enough dragonglass. He needs support from Daenerys for that. The Unsullied and the Dothraki are enough of an army for anyone. The Unsullied are nearly perfect if your main concern is keeping your casualties from joining your zombie enemy. They are actually disciplined enough to follow protocols about leaving no unburned bodies behind, even if they have to leap into a fire to do it.
Finally, who would believe him? If someone wrote you and asked for help preventing the zombie apocalypse, would you believe them? Or would you mark that message as spam and forget about it? Ned Stark had lived in the North all his life, and he disregarded reports of white walkers as myth. Cersei found it laughable...until she saw one. The typical lord would probably assume that it was something involving the three monarchs rather than a serious plea for help against the zombie horde.
Convincing the queens gives him help, a safe (sort of) space to prepare, and is the most effective way to get help fast. He only has to convince two people.
-
I agree that in normal case, convincing lord paramount would be enough. But Dorne, Reach, Riverlands and Stormlands don't have lord paramount anymore... so, would lesser lords keep allegence is not sure. You say that riverlands are under Stark control, but The riverlands were more or less under Lannister control before the Freys get killed, so if you follow your logic, lesser lord of Riverlands should stay in Lannister team– KepotxSep 1, 2017 at 17:23
There is no need to send Ravens to all the Lords. Because, we could see most of the Lords are sworn to either Cersei or The King in the North (Jon himself). A meet has been arranged with the Queen of Seven Kingdoms. As a result, it is assumed that all the Lords are expected to serve for whom they are bound to.
