Society & Culture
When should you betray someone? Should you keep ALL your oaths? And is cowardice really unvirtuous if it saves your life and the lives of others? And now, with Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen meeting up and the Night King moving further south, our favorite HBO show is bringing whole worlds together. The stakes are higher than ever for the show’s characters and for the decisions they make. In the second episode we talk about some of the many philosophical decisions in Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 2: “Stormborn”: When is it right to betray someone? Is Varys morally admirable? Is he really serving the greater good? – Varys and Daenarys How do leaders use in-group bias (nationalism, etc) to maintain and gain power? How do you know when in-group bias blinds you to in-group evil? –Cersei and the Lords of the Reach When is it appropriate to make and break oaths? When do covenants become null and void? – the Tarlys, the Tyrells, and Jaime Is it ever acceptable to harm innocents in warfare? Is it better to be feared or loved in leadership? – Tyrion, Daenarys, and Olenna How should we think about the virtue of courage against the vice of cowardice? Would Theon have been virtuous to attack Euron? – Theon and Euron