A riddle from Game of Thrones. Can you solve it?


FunkyTown
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There was a riddle from Game of Thrones(The books. I'm afraid I haven't seen the series, so it may or may not be in there). Our recent discussion on world economics sparked me to remember it. It goes like this:

There is a man with a sword. Completely unremarkable, except that he is surrounded by three people:

One man says "I am your rightful King. Strike down these other two upstarts and I will make of you a Lord and heap accolades. Obey the law and be righteous!"

The second man says, "I am a wealthy man! Strike down the King and this man next to me, make me King and I will give you money beyond your wildest dreams!"

The third man says, "I am a Godly man. Listen to me! Strike down these other two in the name of the True God and make me King and you will do what is pleasing in His sight!"

Who gets struck down?

That's the riddle that needs to be resolved.

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I like bytebear's out of the box thinking.  If I had to stay in the box, I'd choose the king.  The third man is not godly, because he defies authority.  The rich man likely does not have a strong enough following (how many rich people have failed to fund their way to political power???).  So, obey the king, and be righteous.

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I like bytebear's out of the box thinking.  If I had to stay in the box, I'd choose the king.  The third man is not godly, because he defies authority.  The rich man likely does not have a strong enough following (how many rich people have failed to fund their way to political power???).  So, obey the king, and be righteous.

 

I don't have an answer to the riddle, but out-of-the-box thinking is good.  Just recently I read a spectacular story about OOTB thinking that reminded me of the value of constantly re-evaluating one's goals and the means to achieve them.  I can't find the story now, sadly, but here is a paraphrase...

 

Many years ago a powerful king in India decreed that his laborers should construct a magnificent temple to some goddess.  He gave the laborers thirty days to complete it or else they would all be beheaded.  At the end of twenty-five days they had only completed a tiny fraction of the work and they started to realize that they had only a few days to live.  In panic and desperation they prayed to the goddess and asked for a way to complete the temple in time.  The goddess appeared to them and snapped, "Wouldn't it just be easier to kill the king?"

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There was a riddle from Game of Thrones(The books. I'm afraid I haven't seen the series, so it may or may not be in there). Our recent discussion on world economics sparked me to remember it. It goes like this: There is a man with a sword. Completely unremarkable, except that he is surrounded by three people: One man says "I am your rightful King. Strike down these other two upstarts and I will make of you a Lord and heap accolades. Obey the law and be righteous!" The second man says, "I am a wealthy man! Strike down the King and this man next to me, make me King and I will give you money beyond your wildest dreams!" The third man says, "I am a Godly man. Listen to me! Strike down these other two in the name of the True God and make me King and you will do what is pleasing in His sight!" Who gets struck down? That's the riddle that needs to be resolved.

 

The man is unremarkable. Is he righteous? Does he care about righteousness. Does he believe in God? Is he poor? Does money motivate him. What's his moral code on killing? Is the king legitimate? Is he a tyrant? Does the man have any relationship with any of the three? Etc. etc.... Moreover, what is the variable here that forces a presumption that any of the three must be struck down. Can the man not simply walk away?

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There was a riddle from Game of Thrones(The books. I'm afraid I haven't seen the series, so it may or may not be in there). Our recent discussion on world economics sparked me to remember it. It goes like this: There is a man with a sword. Completely unremarkable, except that he is surrounded by three people: One man says "I am your rightful King. Strike down these other two upstarts and I will make of you a Lord and heap accolades. Obey the law and be righteous!" The second man says, "I am a wealthy man! Strike down the King and this man next to me, make me King and I will give you money beyond your wildest dreams!" The third man says, "I am a Godly man. Listen to me! Strike down these other two in the name of the True God and make me King and you will do what is pleasing in His sight!" Who gets struck down? That's the riddle that needs to be resolved.

Here is my peculiar, LDS-centric view of the "riddle":

 

The third man, who claims to be a Godly man, is clearly a liar. No Godly man who was not already king would ask to be made king by instructing you to kill two others. Thus, you don't kill #1 and #2.

 

The second man is clearly wicked. He offers only money and status in return for doing murder. If you are a power-hungry, greedy, telestial being, you will follow his instruction. Otherwise, you don't kill #1 and #3.

 

The first man is the only one with possible legitimacy to his claim. However, he bases his instructions to you entirely on his claim that he is your rightful king. Is he lying? If so, it is he, not the other two, who should be killed. Likewise, if he is a despotic king, even if a legitimate one, he should be overthrown, not established. Only if he is (1) the rightful king and (2) giving valid instructions should his commandment be obeyed. Since you have no way of determining either of those conditions, you don't kill #2 and #3.

 

So you don't kill anyone. You just walk away. That's my highly unsatisfactory solution to the riddle.

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Well...don't leave it there. What about you? Thomas S. Monson orders you to kill two people with a sword. No dice? Or begin to slice?

 

Probably not.  I don't have enough personal experience with President Monson to follow a killing order from him (believing it was from God, of course).  Much the same as "Kill Laban" was not the first revelation given to Nephi, I believe I would receive more from President Monson before he would receive the revelation: Kill the king and this rich dude.

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FunkyTown wrote:

(...) Who gets struck down? That's the riddle that needs to be resolved.

 

 

I've edited my post because I can't even see it's a riddle. It doesn't seem to me there is any specific solution, because there can't be found a specific answer on the question that would be completely satisfactory or right.

Edited by JimmiGerman
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It does kinda seem to be up to the guy holding the sword (the sword symbolizing power?) and which of the three people holds his greatest loyalty.  His actions can be influenced by money, patriotism/duty to his King/country or (assuming the righteous man is actually a priest or prophet that he believes in) faith/God in this particular scenario.  But that also doesn't preclude that there may be something beyond those three things that could hold even greater sway causing him to either kill all or none of them.

 

I suspect it's a rhetorical riddle (is there such a thing?), meant to get one thinking and make one look inward rather than having an actual answer.  Pretty interesting when you think of it symbolically.

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@ FunkyTown: Okay - now tell us the right answer. I've been thinking about it since yesterday, and have even edited my last post in this thread, because I thought my answer was wrong. It's quite unsatisfying if there were several "right" answers possible.

 

Is it really a riddle? I mean, if there can no specific answer be given on the question, is it really a serious riddle, then? I have seen many riddles with only one right answer, so that you could say "That's it, that's the right answer!". But here? What's the right answer?

 

And why were you sparked to remember it by a recent discussion just on world economics? I mean, where is the connection, the link between? That's also a riddle.

Edited by JimmiGerman
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The 'Right answer' is that the moment you figure out that answer, the worlds problems are solved.(Excuse the formatting - For some reason, the enter key doesn't actually force a carriage return on here)

The man with the sword clearly holds all the power - In this case, he represents 'Everybody else in the world'. The three remarkable men are dependent entirely upon the whims of the single person with the blade.

It's a riddle, but it's a riddle that we're constantly struggling with. The answer is fluid, but the answer "What do we value most in this world?" is changeable.

If I were to say what I took away from George RR Martin's riddle, it's "If you're at the top of the pile, pray the man with the sword doesn't realize how powerful he is."

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(...) The man with the sword clearly holds all the power - In this case, he represents 'Everybody else in the world'. (...) If I were to say what I took away from George RR Martin's riddle, it's "If you're at the top of the pile, pray the man with the sword doesn't realize how powerful he is."

 

Now I see the point. Thanks.

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There was a riddle from Game of Thrones(The books. I'm afraid I haven't seen the series, so it may or may not be in there). Our recent discussion on world economics sparked me to remember it. It goes like this: There is a man with a sword. Completely unremarkable, except that he is surrounded by three people: One man says "I am your rightful King. Strike down these other two upstarts and I will make of you a Lord and heap accolades. Obey the law and be righteous!" The second man says, "I am a wealthy man! Strike down the King and this man next to me, make me King and I will give you money beyond your wildest dreams!" The third man says, "I am a Godly man. Listen to me! Strike down these other two in the name of the True God and make me King and you will do what is pleasing in His sight!" Who gets struck down? That's the riddle that needs to be resolved.

 

hodor.

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