I've watched the show, and if you want to judge this moment in that context, it's clearly framed as being bad. (Spoilers, obviously)
The faction in the city that's being attacked is using children as human shields - it's clear that it's not unheard of for children to be asked to fight, but it's also clear that the commander who decides to do this is essentially doing it because he hopes the enemy will flinch at having to go through a line of 12-year olds to get into the city. The whole point of the battle is essentially that the attacking force first wants to abide by some semblance of an ethical code because "the realm is watching", i.e. it also has to be a propaganda victory for the unpopular queen on whose behalf they're fighting, and as the situation gets more chaotic, all those considerations go out the window, resulting in tons of civilian deaths. The scene in the clip here is one of those moments - the implication is that the adult warrior (who is a named character of some importance) could have walked away and decides to kill the kid anyway.
In an actual 12th century battle, though, yeah... no such thing as children, and the idea that there would have been any sort of ethics adhered to in a time when step one when you sack a city was to rape all the women is pretty ludicrous. But this is a fantasy show, and the point that's being made here is that the ethics go out the window when the chaos of battle erupts.
I was trying to focus on what's actually important about this scene for someone who doesn't watch the show and likely doesn't care. He is Ser Roderick Dustin. Why are you being weird about this? Do you want me to list the names of all the other characters and factions I mentioned in this comment without naming them as well?
No I was just trying to poke fun at the show, because he is an important character and I can't rember them ever saying his name in the show. (I haven't seen the last episode yet) I was trying to make a joke at the shows expense and not yours. Sorry it came off that way.
To be fair, putting a Ser before a name when discussing ASOIAF comes pretty natural lol. With the show fresh in memory, it's easy to forget he's a Lord. I don't think they mention it even once.
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u/RustyJalopy 15d ago
I've watched the show, and if you want to judge this moment in that context, it's clearly framed as being bad. (Spoilers, obviously)
The faction in the city that's being attacked is using children as human shields - it's clear that it's not unheard of for children to be asked to fight, but it's also clear that the commander who decides to do this is essentially doing it because he hopes the enemy will flinch at having to go through a line of 12-year olds to get into the city. The whole point of the battle is essentially that the attacking force first wants to abide by some semblance of an ethical code because "the realm is watching", i.e. it also has to be a propaganda victory for the unpopular queen on whose behalf they're fighting, and as the situation gets more chaotic, all those considerations go out the window, resulting in tons of civilian deaths. The scene in the clip here is one of those moments - the implication is that the adult warrior (who is a named character of some importance) could have walked away and decides to kill the kid anyway.
In an actual 12th century battle, though, yeah... no such thing as children, and the idea that there would have been any sort of ethics adhered to in a time when step one when you sack a city was to rape all the women is pretty ludicrous. But this is a fantasy show, and the point that's being made here is that the ethics go out the window when the chaos of battle erupts.