Haha. I like this analysis. I actually haven't read the books. Tried to start them, but I really don't like Martin's prose. Maybe one day if I've got tons of time.

I can believe that Red Wedding was the real point. In my experience, sometimes a writer will have a great idea, hit it, and then gets lost for the rest of the story. You see it all the time in movies where after a great first act or opening sequence the movie just goes three sheets to the wind.

. It doesn't matter if you have rules if people don't play by them or only one side observes them. The side breaking the rules will always have the advantage.

Yup. This is the exact problem we're having. Authorities can always get around the rules, or use the rules to destroy, if they're determined to do so. Ultimately, it's the morality and humanity of the people in the system that hold it together.

Btw, this reminds me of an old philosophy scenario concerning moral imperatives. The most self-advantageous rule of behavior is to cheat as long as you can do so without getting caught. I guess the Democrats are the real world proof of this.