A good chunk of the political plot of “A Storm of Swords” is dedicated to the election of the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, while “A Feast for Crows” goes on at length about the ramifications of the hitherto insignificant elections of the High Septon. In the background, meanwhile, sinister maesters spin their own intrigues in selecting who becomes the Grand Maester in King’s Landing. In the first of what we currently plan to be a three-parter (initially, it was to be one episode, so go figure), I talk to political operative Marcus A. Roberts. We go deep into the weeds about who’s franchised in Westerosi orders, how the mechanics of selecting leaders work in theory and how this differs in practice and what the outflow for the story is. We talk about such diverse topics as what Janos Slynt’s advice would’ve been had he bought Marcus’ services, how being a Stark can be an advantage in these elections, what special power position the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch have and how elections in the history of the Watch worked out. We’re also comparing the elections for the High Septon to the breakdown of the Weimar Republic, and not only because that comparison is particularily en vogue these days. Versailles also gets its comparison treatment, because surprisingly, it serves as a useful foil for the dilemma the Citadel found itself in when Aegon the Conqueror came to Westeros. We hope you enjoy the show! Download the episode! Torrent BLAH Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour. BLAH iTunes page. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS feed. Stefan’s blog. Marcus on Twitter.