(Note: If you haven't read/seen Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, this isn't going to make much sense, and there may be spoilers)

(And before you ask - no, this isn't particularly relevant or profound, nor is it to do with Season 8. But I've got a point to make, goddammit!)

In Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, everyone always talks about the North, Dorne, the Westerlands and the Targaryens, with little thought given to many of the other kingdoms.

Well, you see, I think there is a part of Westeros that deserves more attention than it gets - the Vale of Arryn. More specifically, I think it gets an unfair reputation because of a few factors that I'm not sure many people fully understand. And I find it annoying that the Vale holds such little space in people's memories that most that can't even remember the words or sigil of House Arryn.

So that's what I'm here to talk about; The Vale of Arryn, and the people and lords who live within it.

Firstly, why does everyone give the Vale of Arryn sh*t for using the Mountains of the Moon to protect themselves from attackers?

Think about it - pretty much everyone says 'Oh, the men of the Vale are cowards, always hiding behind their mountains'...

As opposed to the North, whose people have relied on the swamps of the Neck since the days of the First Men to keep out invaders? Or the Dornish, who have the Red Mountains and their deserts for the exact same purpose?

It's called using an advantage. It's something you have to do in war.

And before anyone says 'It's because the Northmen are greater warriors than the Valemen', interesting fact: before Aegon's Conquest, the North and Vale fought a war over the islands known as the Three Sisters... and the Vale won.

The Vale has also defeated the men of the Riverlands and the Westermen every time they tried to invade the Vale, and they defeated the Ironborn at sea whenever those island-bound raiders showed up in their waters.

So the men of the Vale are better than the Ironborn at sailing and naval warfare.

Ouch.

Only the Targaryens have been able to conquer the Vale... and they only did so because they had dragons.

And need I remind you of the Battle of the Bastards, in modern GoT? The Knights of the Vale, the best knights in Westeros according to everything I've read, came to save Jon Snow and smashed the Bolton forces with ease.

That's another thing - the people of the Vale are far tougher and braver than many give them credit for.

They are described as 'reliable warriors, steeped in honour and the Faith of the Seven'. Also, much like the North has the wildlings, the Vale has the hill tribes/mountain clans. Except, unlike the North, the Vale doesn't have a massive wall of ice to keep out its invaders. They have to fight against the mountain clans day in and day out, and according to what I've seen, they're doing a fairly good job of stopping them from growing into a serious threat.

Yes, the mountain clans are still around, but it's the same way Rome didn't wipe out the barbarian tribes that always threatened it. It's incredibly hard to flush people completely out of any territory, let alone out of an inhospitable mountain range.

Also, the noble families of the Vale have a surprising amount of initiative. When Littlefinger murders Lysa and becomes Lord Protector of the Vale, Lord Yohn 'I Think Not' Royce (who is an understated legend in my opinion) and several other lords form a coalition to try and oust him from power.

Their role as the Lords Declarant is expanded upon a lot more in the books, but I guess the idea that Littlefinger might finally face a challenge was too much for David and Dan to work in - a crime of theirs almost as bad as what they did to the last two seasons of the show.

Almost...

But the point still stands - the Vale Lords were willing to stand up to authority when an evil usurper showed up. Something I don't recall the Northern Lords doing of their own accord when the Boltons took over. Where the North needed Jon Snow to tell them to get their sh*t together and oust a tyrant, the Vale did it of its own accord.

The final point I'd like to make is to do with the Vale not participating in the War of the Five Kings.

It is true that the Vale didn't side with Robb when he marched south, but personally, I think this was more to do with Lysa Arryn herself than with the Vale in general. And I think that's a fair assessment, given how crazy that woman is and how much of a simp she is for Littlefinger.

But the Vale has participated in wars before. Robert's Rebellion, for example, which they helped to win. And also, in the books, I believe it is stated that many of the Vale lords wanted to assist the Young Wolf. It was Lysa who kept them from doing so, and they couldn't stand up to her like they did Littlefinger because she was the legitimate ruler of the Vale instead of being a usurper.

Also, Westeros was already dealing with a civil war and another Ironborn uprising. Do you think they would want to make these problems worse by rising up against their own liege, which would make them enemies with the rest of Westeros in the process?

It could also have been worse - they could have sided with the Lannisters right from the start instead of keeping out of it. Also, Dorne stayed neutral, and no-one gives them any flak.

So the whole 'the Vale never helps anyone but itself' argument doesn't hold a lot of water, as they have done so before and wanted to do so again.

The Vale isn't perfect - no culture or house in Game of Thrones is. That's the point. I'll be the first one to admit that Lysa and Robin are both terrible rulers, and that the Targaryen 'conquest' of the Vale (which ultimately boiled down to winning a war by giving a boy a ride on a dragon) was an utter humiliation.

I'm just trying to put forward the idea that the Vale is far better than many give it credit for.

So while so many people chant their praises for the direwolves of Winterfell and the lions of Casterly Rock, and rightly so, the falcons of the Eyrie will always hold a special place in my heart - and they should in yours too.

If you have any thoughts on this matter, please do share them with me!

But never forget - 'As High As Honour'. The words of House Arryn.