I was going on a crime spree in Blue Palace, and due to my L33T sneaking skills, I was able to cross from one side of the palace to the other without being detected, by sticking to the shadowy areas.

However, what was awkward is that... the Court didn't do anything. They didn't discuss the court's politics, the hold, the civil war, or anything like that. And they didn't move around, like they were actually doing stuff. They just... stood there... and stared at each other.

Now, Bethesda has programmed NPCs to talk to each other when they're not interacting with the NPC. That's been around since AT LEAST oblivion! So why is the Blue Palace court just standing there like jackasses with nothing to do?

This is because the Solitude court only has 2 competent members and they got sick of talking to the rest of those idiots.

Maybe as you say they have nothing to do?

there really isn't much to any of the Courts, a few scripted conversations and....thats it.

"I saw a mudcrab the other day. Horrible creatures."

Compare this to the marketplaces in the major cities. I'm still hearing conversations I haven't heard before.

Yeah... the most talkative court is in windhelm for sure, ulfric talks to galmar all the time, and his steward as well.