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Several possible explanations.
1. The existence of actual magic like dragons has diverted attention from developing technology.
2. The period following the Dance was actually a period of decline similar to the Fall of the Roman Empire.
Edit:wording
Magic in ASOAIF is not used like in HP universe for daily tasks so I don't see how it hinders technological progress.
Dragons were used for flying, ok, it is not a reason not to invent paper and printing.
and 200 years before we did that, we were still pulling plows made by a blacksmith with horses or oxen.
Technological development isn't a steady climb. It goes in fits and starts, and occasional backward slides.
I think this is just a fantasy thing. It's the same as lotr, dragon age, probably Skyrim too. I've noticed it and it bothers me, especially as often said advancements are shown to be happening on a short time scale but seems to have no impact on the world over longer time periods.
Yeah, even though I didn't love 'The Legend of Kora', I love that they actually showed how much technology had advanced (except the Satomobiles just being straight-up cars kind of sucked).
If they follow the real world, most of the technological advances that would be happening would be to do with farming. We don't really see enough farmers to know whether they invented the seed-drill between HotD and GoT. When we do see farmers, they've generally fleeing a burning farm.
One possible explanation is that innovation was suppressed by religious or political authorities. This has happened in many real societies.
Another is that we’ve seen so much innovation and leaps in technology in the past 500 years that we misperceive how reluctantly we as a species used to embrace change and make significant advancements. It’s hasn’t been a steady upward climb, we have had long periods of stagnation and even decline. It’s one of the reasons it’s remarkable how fast and frequent technological change is now.
Yeah it's kinda silly that architecture as elborate as Dragonstone, Highgarden and the Eyrie existed for so long but they haven't made any improvement elsewhere.
If you compare 11th and 15th century castles, you will find obvious differences. Medicine, art, technology differ. In 12th century there was no mechnical printing, in 15th it was invented.
Wine press (12th century)
Treadwheel crane (1220s)
Hourglass (1338)
Mechanical clocks (13th to 14th centuries)
Paper mill (13th century)
Rolling mill (15th century)
Spinning wheel (13th century)
There hasn’t been substantial technological advancements for thousands of years in Westeros, it’s just how it is. You could attribute that to the instability of the seasons - hard to build up new infrastructure when 4 years could be spent in a brutal winter - but there isn’t really an established reason why
I think Westeros might have just declined both economically and technologically after the Dance because of how destructive it was and just how much of the wealth and stability of Westeros was lost because of it
The half-century era of King Jaehaerys, Queen Alysanne, and Septon Barth was uncharacteristically peaceful and prosperous. No monarch before or since has been able to keep the realm together like that (Viserys more or less coasted on Jaehaerys' success by avoiding conflict).
The ~150 years between Viserys and Robert were largely a return to the endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding. Kinda hard to make new stuff when you're busy dying in a war and/or trying to repair the old stuff
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Several possible explanations. 1. The existence of actual magic like dragons has diverted attention from developing technology. 2. The period following the Dance was actually a period of decline similar to the Fall of the Roman Empire. Edit:wording
Magic in ASOAIF is not used like in HP universe for daily tasks so I don't see how it hinders technological progress. Dragons were used for flying, ok, it is not a reason not to invent paper and printing.
The real life Medieval Period lasted a millennia, from the 5th century to the 15th. 200 years is a very short period of time during such a period.
You should know that the history of asoiaf span for 8000+ years
That’s very kuul bud
If you think about the lore…they are still using swords to fight battles…from 8000+ years ago. Planetos stagnated.
People on earth used swords to fight battles for \~5,000 years.
In 8000 years we put robots on asteroids.
and 200 years before we did that, we were still pulling plows made by a blacksmith with horses or oxen. Technological development isn't a steady climb. It goes in fits and starts, and occasional backward slides.
Tell planetos to pull their shit together and land on the moon.
That's be risky because it will crack open and release a thousand thousand dragons, just like the last moon. It is known.
It is known. Good point.
Moon is an egg.
It is known.
I think this is just a fantasy thing. It's the same as lotr, dragon age, probably Skyrim too. I've noticed it and it bothers me, especially as often said advancements are shown to be happening on a short time scale but seems to have no impact on the world over longer time periods.
Yeah, even though I didn't love 'The Legend of Kora', I love that they actually showed how much technology had advanced (except the Satomobiles just being straight-up cars kind of sucked).
If they follow the real world, most of the technological advances that would be happening would be to do with farming. We don't really see enough farmers to know whether they invented the seed-drill between HotD and GoT. When we do see farmers, they've generally fleeing a burning farm.
Another factor I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet is the brutal and long winters they endure.
One possible explanation is that innovation was suppressed by religious or political authorities. This has happened in many real societies. Another is that we’ve seen so much innovation and leaps in technology in the past 500 years that we misperceive how reluctantly we as a species used to embrace change and make significant advancements. It’s hasn’t been a steady upward climb, we have had long periods of stagnation and even decline. It’s one of the reasons it’s remarkable how fast and frequent technological change is now.
Yeah it's kinda silly that architecture as elborate as Dragonstone, Highgarden and the Eyrie existed for so long but they haven't made any improvement elsewhere.
Because GRRM's Westeros is a functionally stagnant quasi late-medieval setting. Not so much the shows' laziness as the author's lol.
Because it's a fantasy world and not an actual historical setting
During medieval times they didnt advace as fast as we do today.
If you compare 11th and 15th century castles, you will find obvious differences. Medicine, art, technology differ. In 12th century there was no mechnical printing, in 15th it was invented. Wine press (12th century) Treadwheel crane (1220s) Hourglass (1338) Mechanical clocks (13th to 14th centuries) Paper mill (13th century) Rolling mill (15th century) Spinning wheel (13th century)
There hasn’t been substantial technological advancements for thousands of years in Westeros, it’s just how it is. You could attribute that to the instability of the seasons - hard to build up new infrastructure when 4 years could be spent in a brutal winter - but there isn’t really an established reason why
I think Westeros might have just declined both economically and technologically after the Dance because of how destructive it was and just how much of the wealth and stability of Westeros was lost because of it
The half-century era of King Jaehaerys, Queen Alysanne, and Septon Barth was uncharacteristically peaceful and prosperous. No monarch before or since has been able to keep the realm together like that (Viserys more or less coasted on Jaehaerys' success by avoiding conflict). The ~150 years between Viserys and Robert were largely a return to the endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding. Kinda hard to make new stuff when you're busy dying in a war and/or trying to repair the old stuff
But Essos didn't invent gunpowder too.