I do completely agree with your spot on analysis of Martin. He’s kind of a one trick pony when it comes to that. Sometimes I think it works. It is fairly excessive to the extent he does it though. And hackish after a while since the series is so damn long and it’s the same shtick endlessly.

I think the Witcher series did fantasy storytelling better in some regards that Martin was trying to capture. Most of the stories and lore are complex and nuanced and it’s not complete nihilism. Some things are really bad and tragic. Others are victories. Some are just fanciful.

If Martin had written it, just pick any direction of growth any character had and then kill them off in a way that negates it or has them flip.