• In 1316, King Louis X died, leaving behind a daughter, Joan. It was an unprecedented situation, because since the Capetians took the throne in 987, the reigning king always had a son. But in this case, they didn't know what to do, because they had no law of succession; the king's oldest son inheriting was customary. So, nobody knew whether Joan should succeed or her uncle, Philip. So, the Parliament of Paris voted to exclude women. Giving the throne to Philip.

• Ironically, Philip (V) himself sired 4 daughters but zero sons. So, when he died in 1322, the throne passed to his brother, Charles.

• In 1328, the male line of Louis, Philip, and Charles went extinct, triggering another crisis. Isabella, the sister of the brothers, claimed the throne of France for her son, Edward of England, as the only grandson of the Iron King. However, the Parliament of Paris voted and decided that because women were already excluded, they could not pass the throne to their son. Thus, the throne was given to Isabella's cousin, Philip of Valois.

• Following this. Edward accepted Philip's accession. However, in 1340 Philip invaded Edward's land in Aquitaine, and in response Edward claimed the throne of France based on his earlier's claim.

• His claim was that the succession change of 1328 didn't apply because Charles died before it was passed, thus as the only grandson of the Iron King, he should have inherited in 1328. The issue with this is that, in 1340, Edward's claim no longer made any sense. Edward was no longer the only grandson of the Iron King, but Joan had mothered Charles of Navarre, whose claim was superior to Edward's.

Does anyone know what was happening with peasants during sieges?

Like, if a city was under siege, how did it impact nearby villages? I'd presume that many villages would just get abandoned because the siege army would likely steal all their food.

If so, would it mean every siege causes mini-exodus?

Opening:

During the 5th Battle of Iserlohn, Yang Wenli and Attenborough observe the battle from the ship’s bridge as Fleet Admiral Sithole commands. Thor’s Hammer fires, wiping out most of the FPA fleet. Sithole is shocked that the Empire would fire on their own ships and orders a retreat, while Yang laments about the futility of war.

Middle:

On their way back to Capital Planet Heinessen, Yang and Admiral Greenhill discuss the history of FPA and the Alliance–Imperial War while playing chess. Greenhill argues the republic has become corrupt and that the emergence of Patriotic Knight Corp (PKC) is a sign of the demise of democracy.

On Heinessen, Poplin wakes up in a bed next to Eleanor, daughter of politician Job Trunicht. Poplin teases Eleanor about his father’s constant flip-flopping before departing the Trunicht mansion from a window. However, Trunicht notices the departing half-naked Poplin from a security camera.

Yang returns to his house in Heinessen, where his friend Cazerne is awaiting him. He observes how messy Yang’s house has become and suggests Yang adopt a war-orphan called Julian. Yang refuses, but the next day Julian knocks on the door, having been sent by Cazerne. After seeing the orphan in person, Yang agrees to adopt him.

In parliament, the leader of the Peace party, Senator Thorndyke, calls on the government to recognize PKC as a terrorist organization and threat to democracy. However, Defence Secretary Trunicht assures PKC will be investigated. After his speech, a member of his party, Congresswoman Jessica, shares her concerns for his safety and suggests that Trunicht is actually behind PKC, but is ignored. In the parliament parking lot, horrified Jessica witnesses Thorndyke dying from a car bombing.

Greenhill attends a secret meeting with other military leaders founding the Salvation movement, with the intention to overthrow the democratic government in order to purge its corruption. However, their meeting is interrupted by a bloody raid by PKC, and Greenhill is barely able to escape.

On the same day, Yang goes out to eat with his friend  Lapp and Lapp’s wife, Jessica. She laments that following the assassination of Thorndyke, members of the Peace Party are afraid of being assassinated, and many have forfeited their seats in the parliament. Remaining members have offered Jessica the leadership of the party. But Lapp urges her to reject the position to avoid the same fate as Thorndyke. The couple asks Yang’s opinion, and Yang encourages Jessica to take the position, arguing that democracy is worth dying for. Yang loudly declares PKC is a threat to democracy. The declaration upsets the overhearing Andrew Fork and Willem Holland. 

Outside the restaurant, they confront the group. During this, Fork remarks that Thorndyke deserves his death, prompting Jessica to slap him. In turn, Fork punches Jessica. Things escalate to a fist fight in which Yang and Lapp are victorious.

On his way back to his home, Yang witnesses PKC beating Poplin on a backstreet and intervenes, driving the PKC away. Before departing, PKC tells Poplin to stay away from Eleanor. Yang takes wounded Poplin to his home, where, to his surprise, Julian has cleaned the house. At the same time, Lapp and Jessica return home to find it in flames.

Cliffhanger:

On the morning, military police arrive to arrest Yang for hitting Vice-Admiral Holland.

Von Schönkopf urges Yang to become a Cincinnatus after the civil war, but Yang rejects the offer, believing it would kill democracy.

Personally, I don't necessarily think Yang would be a good statesman. The story kinda echoes the idea that a good military leader wouldn't necessarily make a good ruler.

Yang might have the support to stay in power and the competency to fix FPA's problems, but I don't think Yang has the needed ruthlessness to govern effectively.

So, cities offered economic freedom to many unlikely groups, like single women, but cities had many problems.

Cities were also extremely dirty because removing dung was difficult; this contributed to making cities disease hubs. Frequent diseases themselves meant expectancy of life was notably lower in cities than in the countryside, which in turn meant urban population couldn't grow naturally, but could only grow as a result of immigration, typically people from the countryside moving into the cities.

Also, cities depended on others for their food; that meant they were the first to feel the famine.

There are so many scenes that go absolutely nowhere, like Jessica killing the therapist, only to get freed in the next scene.

And character motivations make no sense. Like Sylar escapes and attacks Noah's wife before being chased out. While Sylar is still loose, Noah goes to hunt the Invisible Man in New York. He had no idea where Sylar is, far as he knew, Sylar could still be in Texas, and if he went back to their house, he would probably succeed in killing Claire.

There is also the issue of characters casually jumping places. Like the first season takes place in LA, NYC, LV, and Austin, but it doesn't feel like there is any distance between them.

That is the only explanation.

The books seem to be in-universe reports.

• Only Julian would know about countless Yang's philosophy lectures

• FPA invasion lacks, details which you'd expect because Julian was far removed from it and Mecklinger only played a minor role

• Annerose is barely present and ambiguously characterized, likely because Mecklinger didn't know much about her and the books were likely written when she was alive

Rivers follow the path of least resistance, and land around the estuary is usually very flat because eroded due to flooding. It doesn't mean that hills can't exist near river mouths, but that they aren't RIGHT next to the river and aren't that steep.

https://preview.redd.it/srgx0lr9yzfh1.png?width=1216&format=png&auto=webp&s=35566bb26968fd66c247d66012436b4da1840e83

Enter Blackwater and Aegon's Hill that defy it. King's Landing is surrounded by flatland, and yet for some reason, Blackwater goes its way to flow next to Aegon's Hill.

For a river to flow there, it would need a trench. And the formation of a trench seems unlikely, considering Aegon's Hill is solid stone, suggesting the land around is very hard as well, not something a river could easily carve.

So, the Blackwater estuary would either have to be a river delta, or very wide and shallow.

Maybe you could explain this ridiculous trench with earthquakes, but I don't think King's Landing has any documented earthquakes.

I have made a total of 20 shorts.

• 3 have more than +3K
• 10 sit in the range of 1-3K
• 7 have fewer than 1K

None exceeds 8K. What happens is the algorithm kills shortfeed within 12 hours, usually after reaching around 1.5K views. After which they will virtually get no views, except occasional search views.

I have tried different styles, but it seems like getting a short with 10K views requires a mountain to climb.

I know the mods add a disease mechanic, but it's strange for so pop-centrict game that devs consider it a priority.

Every vassal having to pick a side during a civil war sounds like it would make every civil war last 20 years. Is it actually fun?

Maybe I'm just bad at assimilation, but it seems like Rome and the Ptolemies can assimilate anything in just 20 years. How do they actually do it?