I got thru the first two books and then gave up.
To my mind the characters were all too amoral. The only decent honorable man in the whole story was killed off in the first book, and the only one who was sort of honorable was the dwarf. I read these much more than a decade ago, I think, so my memory of names is off.
What bothered me about the books was that there was no recognition of the fact that honor and a reputation for fair dealing was of immense value in a society based on personal relationships and loyalty. A leader who was not seen as honorable by his men found it much more difficult to keep their loyalty, which was absolutely essential to his staying in power. Even Machiavelli knew that, though to his mind the idea was to get a reputation for honor to help you get into a position where you could betray everybody who trusted you and seize absolute power.
I realize the real medieval times were rife with betrayal and double-dealing, as are all times, but there were also many accounts of those who remained loyal and honorable to death. Don’t remember any of those from the books.
Rant off.
You gave up too soon.
Men that don’t know honor can learn honor.
People do not always finish in the same position in which they started.
Some rise, others fall.