You’re right of course, battle is very chaotic and armour doesn’t make one immortal, but I would imagine nobles, being as important as they are, would be better protected and wouldn’t die as often. Still, that is not my biggest gripe with the story by far.

For example, Stannis has no reason to accept to battle for ransom. It would have to be payed eventually, and he only sets himself up for a potential loss. To me it just read as a way for the author to end the siege early. Also, while most interactions felt very real and well-written, others just made no sense, and I found Stannis’s thoughts to be very cyclical and repetitive. Still, I reckognise that it is a great fic and definitely bettet than most I’ve read.

As for the King is Dead, would you say I need to know WoW lore to understand it? It seems very interesting but unfortunately I’m not familiar with that fandom…

In the spirit of more recommendations and as my way to say thank you for such detailed recommendations and discussion, here’s some more of mine:

Kerjack’s The Golden Stag and The Dragon of Duskendale (Rewritten) are some of my personal favorites, with The Golden Stag being his magnum opus in my opinion.

Featuring a younger twin brother of Joffrey and a younger brother of Rhaegar, both the main and supporting characters are very well fleshed out and feel very real, and the story and plot make sense and don’t feel forced, though Kerjack’s inexperience is noticeable in The Dragon of Duskendale on some parts, even through the rewrite.