Kickin' the Can: Game of Thrones/ASOIAF: Why have the Lannisters seem to have so many more advantages than the other Houses of Westeros?

They are the wealthiest. They have the biggest army. Casterly Rock is the strongest castle. Tywin founded the strongest, most powerful house… why are things so properly adjusted to favour them?

The TV series has deviated from the books a little in this and emphasized their power, especially. IN GRRM’s books, by the end of A Dance with Dragons, the Lannister army is very much a spent force. And anyway, throughout the books, the Tyrells have by far the largest, most powerful army.

Highgarden, the Tyrells castle in the Reach

The source of the Tyrell’s wealth is simply that they have a very big area of very fertile land. Fertile land and food in an agrarian economy easily translates to gold when the winter comes; furthermore it means that a higher, healthier population, and thus the ability to field a much larger army. In a very measurable way, fertile land=food=power in a medieval feudal economy.

On the other hand, The Westerlands have what appear to be Westeros’ (and maybe the world’s) only gold mines. (In the show, these have gone dry: there is no evidence that this is the case in the books.)

So why did the show make them so much more powerful than the Tyrells, which is actually diametrically opposed to the situation in the book?

I think it’s just that the specifics of an agrarian feudal economy are lost on the average audience member.

What modern audiences do understand is the money=power equation of the modern world.

Since the Lannisters have the gold(or at least people think they have the gold), the audience member can easily accept without really suspending their disbelief that the Lannisters are the most powerful

Besides that, the show is emphasizing the theme that even great power can not save you in some situations.

No matter how rich/powerful your family is , you still might end up with