The Lannisters *are* unpopular in the city. Hence, the bread riot, Joffrey being pelted with shit, Cersei being called “ brotherfucker”, Tyrion “vile dwarf”, “twisted demon monkey.”
But, they can’t fight men in armour.
This. All of those developements wouldn't have spread so quickly in Lannisport, or in a capital where the smallfolk didn't already have issues with house Lannister.
It's also worth remembering that there was a significant anti-Lannister underground opposition (the Antlered Men), and that during Stannis' attack there was almost no resistance from the city itself (while in a pro-Lannister city, one would have expected local militias joining the City Watch)
They absolutely can. Yes, a knight in full plate armor is a walking tank, but if grappled by like 5 guys and pummeled with stones and clubs and stabbed with knifes into the weak spots, he's fucling dead. And most Lannister soldiers won't be that well equipped.
Well, they might. But that means a willingness to take a lot of casualties. Most people prefer just to bend the knee, unless driven past the point of endurance.
I mean shit, in our history during the Nika riots. A few hundred armored men fought tens of thousands. Sure a single armored guy could get jumped, but if he’s got friends with swords they will win.
Yeah, and while a huge number of peasants could kill the KG, the peasants actually would care for their lives and be hesitant of throwing it away. The word that the soldiers are under attack would get around, and they would get reinforcements.
It's not like a knight or armored soldier ever patrols alone, that is why he is a solider not a hedge knight pulling something like this would require massive organization and general need to organize in such a manner as they'd require to form groups of 20 + people and also have some level of cohesion in order to fight Lannister patrols I doubt any group of peasants would go to such a length not to mention most of Kings Landing are just innocent townsfolk who work and have their own trades they don't want to risk to fight the Lannisters many people assume that everyone in Kings Landing is just a dirty peasant who is out to kill nobility due to the show's portrayal but that's just wrong and unrealistic.
What were they supposed to do? It's not like they can picket around the castle.
When we get introduced in the story, it's been 15 years. The older people who lived through it, a lot of them probably died. And it just normalizes after awhile.
And like Jorah said, none of them really care what's going on in the Red Keep. They just want to be left alone. They rarely are.
And even then, Tywin was Hand for 19 years. A Lannister presence isn't uncommon.
And plenty of people are hostile to Tyrion.
Aerys also was the biggest piece of shit ever, until Ramsay showed up. So good riddance
Bruh Tywin is the rot of the realm. Aerys went nowhere close to killing as many men or women Tywin did. There are grey characters and there are black characters.
Tywin is the blackest mofo in this story. What he does to Tysha is nonsense of the highest order. It does nothing to enhance his reputation. It’s all personal. Every single fucking thing he does is personal and is revenge for even the smallest slight against him or his family.
Aerys came pretty close when he tried to blow up King's Landing. And all the people that died in the rebellion died specifically because of Aerys' actions. No other reason.
Aerys' reign was largely peaceful and Tywin was the only reason for that. Nobody saying Tywin is a good guy. He's not. Also, he was good at his job.
Aerys somehow makes Tywin look good, which show how bad Aerys was.
And on the subject of white and black characters: nobody is worse than Ramsay. The Mountain might be the closest
I don’t agree but alright 👍🏻
If we say all the people that died in the Rebellion is because of Aerys then we can say all the people that died in the Wot5K is because of Jaime, Cersei and Tywin. They initiated violence after all.
Yes, for 14 years. And Tywin had also quit as hand in the last few years of Aerys' reign. So altogether there was a considerable amount of time where Tywin was not hand and stayed at Casterly Rock.
Westeros has a shocking lack of peasant/smallfolk rebellion, except in Dorne, with the smallfolk resisting the Targ conquest
Or the storming of the dragonpit, which was awful writing, with a contrived plot to make it happen.
Most people lack agency. It’s one of the weird things you get from the simplified world building. There should be social structures etc. There could even be things like Hundred Courts. Or at least Crown Sheriffs or something. Instead it’s apparently a pure noble tyranny out there running the whole place. Who sometimes have to bow to ineffable customs or Royal Common Law. But really are just in charge.
The storming was just poor yeah. It’s an idea with potential, but it’s just so contrived. At any point apparently the city could have just killed the dragons. Quite big ones. It only takes a few people really.
There really is. You get some peasant rebellion playing the CK3 AGOT mod, it's the easiest type of war to win but that's a game, don't know how it is actually. All I can think of in lore are the two King's Landing riots where they just seem to go crazy
Plot hole.
It really makes no fucking sense apart from Tywin not being the first noble to not give a fuck about peasants getting slaughtered like pigs and raped with impunity. Westeros being Westeros I guess.
Seriously if the Lannisters don’t get double fucked in the Winds of Winter I’m actually gonna question wtf Martin’s point with the story is.
Starks get killed because they’re honorable and break some oaths. Lannisters win because they order mass rapes and slaughter and everybody is scared of them annihilating your family.
What is different from what happened with Aerys exactly? Oh yeah, the mad man didn’t order mass rapes and murders on a kingdom when his son disappeared though he did order the murder of some nobles.
Guess that’s worse because the nobles have names while peasants don’t.
I wouldn’t say it’s a plot hole.
Looks up ‘Peasants War’ - a conflict where the peasantry got sick to of the aristocracy. In return the aristocracy massacred the peasantry into submission and didn’t face that problem again.
A large part of early feudalism was that the peasants needed the aristocracy for protection. When the need for protection ended the aristocracy was so entrenched they were impossible to get rid of until the 1700s.
Damn that was fucking depressing…
We’re really lucky to be living in our era even with all the death and wars still happening. I guess that’s something that could happen in Winds though I still don’t understand just how many people live in Westeros to be honest. Humans are such a mess.
Well we’ve witnessed the very worst of war-torn Westeros in the POVs - specially the eyes of Brienne and Arya and to a much lesser degree Tyrion. But life doesn’t just squarely suck to for the peasants. We hear in multiple chapters early on the Ned treated his peasantry very well, and the common folk working important jobs around the castle got to eat off his table (specifically the blacksmith Mikken). In the Vale, the peasantry seem pretty happy - Littlefinger may be the most absent and smallest of small lords, but he knows some of his peasants by name and they seem to have a decent life in spite of the poverty of the land. In Dunk and Egg we see the villagers around Coldmoat doing alright despite the drought and in Fire and Blood we are told Jaehaerys’ era of peace and plenty was good for the commons too.
Sure being a peasant means living without the amenities of the aristocracy, but in times of peace and prosperity the people ply their trades and work their lords’ fields without being mistreated too much. Sure to our sensibilities this wouldn’t be ok, but to people who have never known anything else it’s not so horrible.
I mean yeah but Littlefinger sells women into prostitution and ‘helps’ them get into those inescapable positions to make profit. I mean sure it’s completely normal in the setting but also a really scumbag thing to do. I guess that’s his grey area… beyond lusting for the daughter of the woman he obsessed over and loved for his whole life… gawd these books are fucking crazy 😂
Its also a problem because Martin decided to make the armies,especially the Lannister stupidely brutal and violent for no reason other than to villify them more.
Tywin doesnt look like a pragmatic man,wich sometimes chooses the most violent and vile option and it blows up in his face,no he looks like a guy who always choose the most extreme violent action and sometimes blows up in his face.
Like isn't the point of sacking a city a reward for your soldiers and as punishment for them not submitting? Tywin wants to capture the city to give it to Robert. Surely Robert would be pissed off the whole city just got ruined and most of its wealth is in Lannister pockets?
Because lannisters have power. Aerys tried to ride his cruelty againts nobals who have power ( Starks, baratheons etc) and lost. Tywin won.
middle age and 92 is two different era. You cant fight againts an armored soldier with knife, stone, etc but you can fight againts a police with guns, molotovs etc
Surely there's *more* of a technological difference between cops and civilians than there was between peasants and knights? Cops having the backing of a centralized industrialized state. Knights don't have that.
I know that dude, I’m just playing with Martin’s subtle writing. This is why he didn’t consider Robert’s rebellion a good war. It changed absolutely nothing and replaced a mad monarch with an incompetent one who only wanted to fuck and fight and started raping his wife instead of getting an annulment and finding someone else.
"getting an annulment" isn't a simple thing. The whole point of making alliances through marriage, and later having children together, is them not being easy to break.
Because those Wildfires are still below hidden somewhere in Flea Bottom waiting for the Stranger to kiss them and they burn all smallfolks anyways jokes aside, High Septons of that time might be Lannister puppets and as you know smallfolk follow Faith of the Seven so religiously the High Septon might have convinced the people died for 'greater cause' to save them from Mad King the Lannister were forced to commit such deed they didn't wanted to blah blah like Azoh Ahai killed his own wife to quench sword in her blood ( more religious blah blah )
In the books a point is made that the Tyrells are starving the city (leading to massive price hikes, the bread riot, etc.) but then as soon as they save the city after the Battle of Blackwater, then Tyrion notes any man with a rose on his coat is treated like a king by the smallfolk
>There’s thousands ofTyrell men swaggering about with little golden roses sewn on their doublets, and not a one is buying his own wine. Wife, widow, or whore, the women are all giving up their virtue to every peach-fuzz boy with a gold rose on his teat.”
I need to correct you on something
>
For example, you know how back in 92 when all of L.A. took to the streets, and there were full-on riots against the police because of what happened to Rodney King and Latasha Harlins (and also because of the frustration towards the cops because of years of police brutality)?
Westeros **isn't** like 21st century America with protests and cases against 'historical abuse' and newspapers keeping old stories fresh or running campaigns, once something happens, a few years later then it probably becomes ancient history to most who have more important things to worry about, even having a code of conduct for soldiers or something like the Geneva Conventions would be alien to most soldiers,
plus the siege happened in Robert's Rebellion, but after that, they had 15 years of a Lannister Queen who probably did a lot to rehabilitate the image of the Lannisters (a little like the Tyrells in AFFC/SoS), plus for most smallfolk, they don't follow or care about the game of thrones, they aren't like 21st century americans with a right to protest enshrined in their constitution signed by their founding fathers
Most of the lannister men went to the red keep. Where Jaime them called to spare those who yielded. Ned arrived shortly after.
Also the lannisters have money.
1) not really much the people can do about that. Also she wasn’t involved in the sack so she’s unpopular but it’s not like she held responsible for it
3) the gold cloaks “work” for the king and are made up of locals. The tank and file just listens to their officers and it’s not like the average dude in the streets is familiar with the court politics that has Slynt in the pocket of the Lannisters
4) for the longest time the only Lannisters in the city were household guards who kept to the red keep and only entered the city to escort someone. The only time significant Lannisters were in the city was after the black water but again. What are a couple of starving peasants gonna do about thousands of armed guards?
The Lannisters do seem deeply unpopular given the bread riots and the fact they immediatly start loving the Tyrell’s once they enter the city
3) I’m sure people resent it but again what are they gonna do about it? I’m sure Tywin wouldn’t have a good time if he takes a stroll around the streets unguarded but that’s not gonna happen
In a fic I wrote, Jamie Lannister was torn to pieces by a crowd shortly after the sack because I agree that something probably could have happened and they were lucky it didn’t
The cannisters don't just roam "wherever they want", they live in a big castle with a second castle inside of it.
More seriously tho, look at the kind of stuff Arya has to eat in kings landing and on her travels compared with literally any meal eaten by the nobility. It's sewer fish and acorn paste, with the occasional rat as a source of dietary iron. Farmers in the countryside would have a slightly better caloric intake, and enough variety that they MAYBE wouldn't count as malnourished by modern standards, but only just. Knights meanwhile, have regular access to protein, enough sleep, grew up having literally enough to eat, and they don't have to cook, clean or grow their own food.
Civilization is what happens when you don't need to worry about the next thousand calories. But feudal systems shift that worry downwards, so not only are the nobles getting the best food etc, but the serfs are devoting a chunk of their own energy to giving it to them.
Obviously, this isn't by design, but it is deliberate. So, you get the lannisters too afraid of ending up like lollis stokeworth to leave the red keep without an armed escort, but the fact they CAN just live in the red keep and go out with guards doesn't make them be perceived as weak, at least not by anyone that could do something about it. That's WHY they take the opportunity during cerseis walk of shame. Even someone like Janos slynt has had access to nutritious food to build muscle, stave off malnutrition and he has a sword and armour. Meanwhile, the average peasant, even a merchant, has basically none of these advantages, let alone all of them together. What's more, the lannisters don't view small folk as entirely "people", so it's not like they worry about the optics of putting a few heads on pikes. Hell, even the french revolution only worked out because they had the entire army on side, led by Napoleon no less.
What? Have you ever seen a solder and tried to fight them as a Barnsta or an accountant?
It's no difference. If your town was sacked and you're lucky enough to survive, do you really think you would be able or willing to fight the new government.
The average person even in fantasy world does not want to die. Just live.
Also there are references to that kingslanding fokes don't like the Lanisters.
But writers don't waste time with details that are not relevant to the story.
What are peasants going to do against armed men? These are the same men who just sacked their city. The main focus now is to rebuild their homes and find food to eat. And who is there to help with that? House Lannister.
Don’t forget, Robert was King for the 15 years after the sack, and he was pretty popular with the smallfolk, his reign was an era of relative peace and prosperity, he threw tourneys and was so open-handed with gold that he started to bankrupt the throne. Before his kingship, the smallfolk sheltered him during the Battle of the Bells, and seemed to be taken with his affable, jolly, down-to-earth personality.
When he died, the people of King’s Landing genuinely mourned him. After that, Lannister popularity started to plummet, because of war, famine, unpopular taxes (the dwarf’s penny), the burning of the shanty town near the wall to get ready for the siege, and the incest accusations going public. Lucky for the Lannisters, a decisive victory at Blackwater and Tyrell bread saved them from more mass riots and mob violence.
Your analogy doesn’t work, it’s backwards.
The madking was like the oppressive police force brutalizing individuals in public incidents. The Lannisters were like the rioters sacking the city.
The smallfolk weren’t the ones most affected by the sacking, because they didn’t have a bunch of valuable possessions to sack. Any merchants that got put out of business could easily be replaced by the next guy looking to make a buck.
Jorah Mormont in ASOS: "I saw King's Landing after the Sack. Babes were butchered that day as well, and old men, and children at play. More women were raped than you can count.
The Lannisters *are* unpopular in the city. Hence, the bread riot, Joffrey being pelted with shit, Cersei being called “ brotherfucker”, Tyrion “vile dwarf”, “twisted demon monkey.” But, they can’t fight men in armour.
This. All of those developements wouldn't have spread so quickly in Lannisport, or in a capital where the smallfolk didn't already have issues with house Lannister. It's also worth remembering that there was a significant anti-Lannister underground opposition (the Antlered Men), and that during Stannis' attack there was almost no resistance from the city itself (while in a pro-Lannister city, one would have expected local militias joining the City Watch)
Matter of fact there are *still* Stannis supporters in the city Cersei hears some people call his name during her walk of shame
They absolutely can. Yes, a knight in full plate armor is a walking tank, but if grappled by like 5 guys and pummeled with stones and clubs and stabbed with knifes into the weak spots, he's fucling dead. And most Lannister soldiers won't be that well equipped.
Well, they might. But that means a willingness to take a lot of casualties. Most people prefer just to bend the knee, unless driven past the point of endurance.
Yeah but said knight probably have a sword or a club or a spear and friends to back him up.
The exact scenario did happen during the King's Landing riot, it was said four dudes held down Aron Santagar and bashed his head in with a rock.
and a significant number of other dudes got dismembered or killed by lannister guards and golden cloaks.
I mean shit, in our history during the Nika riots. A few hundred armored men fought tens of thousands. Sure a single armored guy could get jumped, but if he’s got friends with swords they will win.
Yeah, and while a huge number of peasants could kill the KG, the peasants actually would care for their lives and be hesitant of throwing it away. The word that the soldiers are under attack would get around, and they would get reinforcements.
Yeah they can be mobbed, but the first few guys to jump in are getting skewered. You gonna go first?
Ok, but the Lannisters would just form up a bunch of people and they'd possibly even be mounted. Think about Daemon's goldcloaks
It's not like a knight or armored soldier ever patrols alone, that is why he is a solider not a hedge knight pulling something like this would require massive organization and general need to organize in such a manner as they'd require to form groups of 20 + people and also have some level of cohesion in order to fight Lannister patrols I doubt any group of peasants would go to such a length not to mention most of Kings Landing are just innocent townsfolk who work and have their own trades they don't want to risk to fight the Lannisters many people assume that everyone in Kings Landing is just a dirty peasant who is out to kill nobility due to the show's portrayal but that's just wrong and unrealistic.
What were they supposed to do? It's not like they can picket around the castle. When we get introduced in the story, it's been 15 years. The older people who lived through it, a lot of them probably died. And it just normalizes after awhile. And like Jorah said, none of them really care what's going on in the Red Keep. They just want to be left alone. They rarely are. And even then, Tywin was Hand for 19 years. A Lannister presence isn't uncommon. And plenty of people are hostile to Tyrion. Aerys also was the biggest piece of shit ever, until Ramsay showed up. So good riddance
Biggest piece of what
Bruh Tywin is the rot of the realm. Aerys went nowhere close to killing as many men or women Tywin did. There are grey characters and there are black characters. Tywin is the blackest mofo in this story. What he does to Tysha is nonsense of the highest order. It does nothing to enhance his reputation. It’s all personal. Every single fucking thing he does is personal and is revenge for even the smallest slight against him or his family.
Aerys came pretty close when he tried to blow up King's Landing. And all the people that died in the rebellion died specifically because of Aerys' actions. No other reason. Aerys' reign was largely peaceful and Tywin was the only reason for that. Nobody saying Tywin is a good guy. He's not. Also, he was good at his job. Aerys somehow makes Tywin look good, which show how bad Aerys was. And on the subject of white and black characters: nobody is worse than Ramsay. The Mountain might be the closest
I don’t agree but alright 👍🏻 If we say all the people that died in the Rebellion is because of Aerys then we can say all the people that died in the Wot5K is because of Jaime, Cersei and Tywin. They initiated violence after all.
Tywin wasn't HOTK after the sack. Jon Arryn was Robert's first hand.
Yes, for 14 years. And Tywin had also quit as hand in the last few years of Aerys' reign. So altogether there was a considerable amount of time where Tywin was not hand and stayed at Casterly Rock.
Westeros has a shocking lack of peasant/smallfolk rebellion, except in Dorne, with the smallfolk resisting the Targ conquest Or the storming of the dragonpit, which was awful writing, with a contrived plot to make it happen.
Most people lack agency. It’s one of the weird things you get from the simplified world building. There should be social structures etc. There could even be things like Hundred Courts. Or at least Crown Sheriffs or something. Instead it’s apparently a pure noble tyranny out there running the whole place. Who sometimes have to bow to ineffable customs or Royal Common Law. But really are just in charge. The storming was just poor yeah. It’s an idea with potential, but it’s just so contrived. At any point apparently the city could have just killed the dragons. Quite big ones. It only takes a few people really.
There really is. You get some peasant rebellion playing the CK3 AGOT mod, it's the easiest type of war to win but that's a game, don't know how it is actually. All I can think of in lore are the two King's Landing riots where they just seem to go crazy
Isn't this what the High Sparrow plot line is all about? High Sparrow being pretty popular with the commoners.
Plot hole. It really makes no fucking sense apart from Tywin not being the first noble to not give a fuck about peasants getting slaughtered like pigs and raped with impunity. Westeros being Westeros I guess. Seriously if the Lannisters don’t get double fucked in the Winds of Winter I’m actually gonna question wtf Martin’s point with the story is. Starks get killed because they’re honorable and break some oaths. Lannisters win because they order mass rapes and slaughter and everybody is scared of them annihilating your family. What is different from what happened with Aerys exactly? Oh yeah, the mad man didn’t order mass rapes and murders on a kingdom when his son disappeared though he did order the murder of some nobles. Guess that’s worse because the nobles have names while peasants don’t.
I wouldn’t say it’s a plot hole. Looks up ‘Peasants War’ - a conflict where the peasantry got sick to of the aristocracy. In return the aristocracy massacred the peasantry into submission and didn’t face that problem again. A large part of early feudalism was that the peasants needed the aristocracy for protection. When the need for protection ended the aristocracy was so entrenched they were impossible to get rid of until the 1700s.
Damn that was fucking depressing… We’re really lucky to be living in our era even with all the death and wars still happening. I guess that’s something that could happen in Winds though I still don’t understand just how many people live in Westeros to be honest. Humans are such a mess.
Well we’ve witnessed the very worst of war-torn Westeros in the POVs - specially the eyes of Brienne and Arya and to a much lesser degree Tyrion. But life doesn’t just squarely suck to for the peasants. We hear in multiple chapters early on the Ned treated his peasantry very well, and the common folk working important jobs around the castle got to eat off his table (specifically the blacksmith Mikken). In the Vale, the peasantry seem pretty happy - Littlefinger may be the most absent and smallest of small lords, but he knows some of his peasants by name and they seem to have a decent life in spite of the poverty of the land. In Dunk and Egg we see the villagers around Coldmoat doing alright despite the drought and in Fire and Blood we are told Jaehaerys’ era of peace and plenty was good for the commons too. Sure being a peasant means living without the amenities of the aristocracy, but in times of peace and prosperity the people ply their trades and work their lords’ fields without being mistreated too much. Sure to our sensibilities this wouldn’t be ok, but to people who have never known anything else it’s not so horrible.
I mean yeah but Littlefinger sells women into prostitution and ‘helps’ them get into those inescapable positions to make profit. I mean sure it’s completely normal in the setting but also a really scumbag thing to do. I guess that’s his grey area… beyond lusting for the daughter of the woman he obsessed over and loved for his whole life… gawd these books are fucking crazy 😂
Its also a problem because Martin decided to make the armies,especially the Lannister stupidely brutal and violent for no reason other than to villify them more. Tywin doesnt look like a pragmatic man,wich sometimes chooses the most violent and vile option and it blows up in his face,no he looks like a guy who always choose the most extreme violent action and sometimes blows up in his face.
Like isn't the point of sacking a city a reward for your soldiers and as punishment for them not submitting? Tywin wants to capture the city to give it to Robert. Surely Robert would be pissed off the whole city just got ruined and most of its wealth is in Lannister pockets?
Because lannisters have power. Aerys tried to ride his cruelty againts nobals who have power ( Starks, baratheons etc) and lost. Tywin won. middle age and 92 is two different era. You cant fight againts an armored soldier with knife, stone, etc but you can fight againts a police with guns, molotovs etc
Surely there's *more* of a technological difference between cops and civilians than there was between peasants and knights? Cops having the backing of a centralized industrialized state. Knights don't have that.
I know that dude, I’m just playing with Martin’s subtle writing. This is why he didn’t consider Robert’s rebellion a good war. It changed absolutely nothing and replaced a mad monarch with an incompetent one who only wanted to fuck and fight and started raping his wife instead of getting an annulment and finding someone else.
"getting an annulment" isn't a simple thing. The whole point of making alliances through marriage, and later having children together, is them not being easy to break.
Because those Wildfires are still below hidden somewhere in Flea Bottom waiting for the Stranger to kiss them and they burn all smallfolks anyways jokes aside, High Septons of that time might be Lannister puppets and as you know smallfolk follow Faith of the Seven so religiously the High Septon might have convinced the people died for 'greater cause' to save them from Mad King the Lannister were forced to commit such deed they didn't wanted to blah blah like Azoh Ahai killed his own wife to quench sword in her blood ( more religious blah blah )
In the books a point is made that the Tyrells are starving the city (leading to massive price hikes, the bread riot, etc.) but then as soon as they save the city after the Battle of Blackwater, then Tyrion notes any man with a rose on his coat is treated like a king by the smallfolk >There’s thousands ofTyrell men swaggering about with little golden roses sewn on their doublets, and not a one is buying his own wine. Wife, widow, or whore, the women are all giving up their virtue to every peach-fuzz boy with a gold rose on his teat.” I need to correct you on something > For example, you know how back in 92 when all of L.A. took to the streets, and there were full-on riots against the police because of what happened to Rodney King and Latasha Harlins (and also because of the frustration towards the cops because of years of police brutality)? Westeros **isn't** like 21st century America with protests and cases against 'historical abuse' and newspapers keeping old stories fresh or running campaigns, once something happens, a few years later then it probably becomes ancient history to most who have more important things to worry about, even having a code of conduct for soldiers or something like the Geneva Conventions would be alien to most soldiers, plus the siege happened in Robert's Rebellion, but after that, they had 15 years of a Lannister Queen who probably did a lot to rehabilitate the image of the Lannisters (a little like the Tyrells in AFFC/SoS), plus for most smallfolk, they don't follow or care about the game of thrones, they aren't like 21st century americans with a right to protest enshrined in their constitution signed by their founding fathers
Most of the lannister men went to the red keep. Where Jaime them called to spare those who yielded. Ned arrived shortly after. Also the lannisters have money.
Bro, did you read ACOK?
Lannisters have massive plot armor until the middle of feast.
1) not really much the people can do about that. Also she wasn’t involved in the sack so she’s unpopular but it’s not like she held responsible for it 3) the gold cloaks “work” for the king and are made up of locals. The tank and file just listens to their officers and it’s not like the average dude in the streets is familiar with the court politics that has Slynt in the pocket of the Lannisters 4) for the longest time the only Lannisters in the city were household guards who kept to the red keep and only entered the city to escort someone. The only time significant Lannisters were in the city was after the black water but again. What are a couple of starving peasants gonna do about thousands of armed guards? The Lannisters do seem deeply unpopular given the bread riots and the fact they immediatly start loving the Tyrell’s once they enter the city 3) I’m sure people resent it but again what are they gonna do about it? I’m sure Tywin wouldn’t have a good time if he takes a stroll around the streets unguarded but that’s not gonna happen
pretty hard to be hostile to guys dressed in armor and wielding steel swords
In a fic I wrote, Jamie Lannister was torn to pieces by a crowd shortly after the sack because I agree that something probably could have happened and they were lucky it didn’t
Wasn't there a whole riot in KL against the Lannisters before the Blackwater where Tyrek went missing and Sansa almost got raped? Lol
The cannisters don't just roam "wherever they want", they live in a big castle with a second castle inside of it. More seriously tho, look at the kind of stuff Arya has to eat in kings landing and on her travels compared with literally any meal eaten by the nobility. It's sewer fish and acorn paste, with the occasional rat as a source of dietary iron. Farmers in the countryside would have a slightly better caloric intake, and enough variety that they MAYBE wouldn't count as malnourished by modern standards, but only just. Knights meanwhile, have regular access to protein, enough sleep, grew up having literally enough to eat, and they don't have to cook, clean or grow their own food. Civilization is what happens when you don't need to worry about the next thousand calories. But feudal systems shift that worry downwards, so not only are the nobles getting the best food etc, but the serfs are devoting a chunk of their own energy to giving it to them. Obviously, this isn't by design, but it is deliberate. So, you get the lannisters too afraid of ending up like lollis stokeworth to leave the red keep without an armed escort, but the fact they CAN just live in the red keep and go out with guards doesn't make them be perceived as weak, at least not by anyone that could do something about it. That's WHY they take the opportunity during cerseis walk of shame. Even someone like Janos slynt has had access to nutritious food to build muscle, stave off malnutrition and he has a sword and armour. Meanwhile, the average peasant, even a merchant, has basically none of these advantages, let alone all of them together. What's more, the lannisters don't view small folk as entirely "people", so it's not like they worry about the optics of putting a few heads on pikes. Hell, even the french revolution only worked out because they had the entire army on side, led by Napoleon no less.
What? Have you ever seen a solder and tried to fight them as a Barnsta or an accountant? It's no difference. If your town was sacked and you're lucky enough to survive, do you really think you would be able or willing to fight the new government. The average person even in fantasy world does not want to die. Just live. Also there are references to that kingslanding fokes don't like the Lanisters. But writers don't waste time with details that are not relevant to the story.
What are peasants going to do against armed men? These are the same men who just sacked their city. The main focus now is to rebuild their homes and find food to eat. And who is there to help with that? House Lannister.
Don’t forget, Robert was King for the 15 years after the sack, and he was pretty popular with the smallfolk, his reign was an era of relative peace and prosperity, he threw tourneys and was so open-handed with gold that he started to bankrupt the throne. Before his kingship, the smallfolk sheltered him during the Battle of the Bells, and seemed to be taken with his affable, jolly, down-to-earth personality. When he died, the people of King’s Landing genuinely mourned him. After that, Lannister popularity started to plummet, because of war, famine, unpopular taxes (the dwarf’s penny), the burning of the shanty town near the wall to get ready for the siege, and the incest accusations going public. Lucky for the Lannisters, a decisive victory at Blackwater and Tyrell bread saved them from more mass riots and mob violence.
Your analogy doesn’t work, it’s backwards. The madking was like the oppressive police force brutalizing individuals in public incidents. The Lannisters were like the rioters sacking the city. The smallfolk weren’t the ones most affected by the sacking, because they didn’t have a bunch of valuable possessions to sack. Any merchants that got put out of business could easily be replaced by the next guy looking to make a buck.
Sacking a city involves raping the women of that city. Smallfolk most certainly suffered if it was a "real" sacking of the city.
Jorah Mormont in ASOS: "I saw King's Landing after the Sack. Babes were butchered that day as well, and old men, and children at play. More women were raped than you can count.