I'm curious to know what context "stark" means on that diagram too.
Yeah, it makes that story hard to read, gripping as it is. The world GRRM has created for SoI&F is incredibly harsh - And the crap that his characters go through makes you even sympathise with the bad guys. But that adds to its depth.
Gotta get round to ordering the 5th book now that it's finally out.
Back on topic, this nearly happened to me once, he was lucky to not get knocked off:
One of the reasons that I hate cycling on the roads is that some drivers treat you as if you don't exist - And this is a good example.