Their respective regions reflective their political standpoints as well. The North is cold and unrewarding, honor ( staying true ) and loyalty ( coming together ) are virtues that are needed to survive in that landscape. The Riverlands is in the middle of all the regions which comes with being in the center of all the wars. The Tullys and their banners are a microcosm of this, they cannot control the skirmishes between the Blackwoods and Brackens. The Vale is surrounded and protected by mountains, its easy for chivalry and honor to thrive there because they have little political or martial pressure to need to adapt to more pressing mechanisms like the military strength of Baratheons, the dragons of House Targaryens, or riches of House Lannister. Their castle sits high and above, as if they are better than the foolishness of the game. The Westerlands is aloof and productive with farms and mines that produce wealth in the lands. The Lannisters use their wealth to fund their political affairs and this wealth creates pride, a pride in gold. The Crownlands is the center of governance in the seven kingdoms, the Targaryens resided there for their entire reign, they were once the pinnacle of sovereignty and had much to rely unlike the other great houses who usually adhere to one strength. The Targaryens had charm/abundance ( Tyrells ), fear ( Lannisters ), martial strength ( Baratheons ), wealth/pride ( Lannisters ), mediation ( Tullys ), chivalry ( Arryns ), and autonomy ( Greyjoys ). Their dragons held them higher than the great houses but still did they need to take pieces of every one to maintain sovereignty. The Stormlands, ruled by battle and the stronger house through warfare. The Storm Kings ruled by their military power and expanded because of it, until Aegon and Orys came and took the lands by force. The Baratheons need to be belligerent and strong to maintain their status as leaders of the Stormlands. The Reach is beautiful and vibrant but political strife is at play under the vines, the Tyrells and their banners are the backbone of the Seven Kingdoms and the Tyrells needs to maintain an appearance of beauty and consistency to keep this position. The Iron Islands is stoney and grim, the Greyjoys and their banners take from others and build little with it. The Greyjoys themselves can barely build anything together because they can barely care for anything but their own personal rise. Dorne is too hot for any army to march through without long preparation and their people have adapted to this allowing for them to do hit-and-run tactics that work well for them. They don’t stick around long enough to be targets of political schemes and this creates a strong sense of security and untouchability. The Martells are much like this, but instead of using it to create great schemes it backfires on them because their entire identity is being defensible and repelling invasion or control. The irony is every great house would be successful rulers if they adapted out of their defensive mechanisms or expanded into others while also maintaining integrity and a sense of morality. #fyp #asoiaf #gameofthrones #asongoficeandfire #aknightofthesevenkingdoms - @thegreatergo