War was easier than daughters.

The line is a wry, compressed comparison that treats warfare—normally the hardest of human undertakings—as simpler than the emotional, social, and moral complexities of raising (or protecting) daughters. It plays on the idea that war has rules, clear enemies, and culturally sanctioned roles, while family life demands patience, vulnerability, and constant negotiation. In Martin’s typical mode, the humor is edged with realism: the “difficulty” is not the daughter herself but the father’s fear, responsibility, and loss of control as she grows into her own agency. The quote also gestures toward patriarchal anxieties in feudal societies, where daughters’ marriages and safety carry high political and personal stakes.