Hey youtubers it's Charlie, this week for my bonus video because of the big Red Viper
vs The Mountain fight I wanted to do a breakdown of my Top 10 Fighters on the show I also pulled
a few non spoilery ones out of the books. But I'm going to break down each of them so
don't worry.
I also want to say congrats to Ser Jorah Mormont, you are the winner of last week's giveaway.
Just because there was no episode I did the giveaway during my Season 5 characters video.
A new round starts whenever I post my episode 8 video tonight. All you have to do to participate
is be a subscriber and leave a comment. I'll remind everyone when I post the video.
So Oberyn Martell is fighting the Mountain tonight. There's been a ton of funny fake
boxing posters. I'm not going to talk about that in this video just to avoid spoilers.
So if you have read the books and you want to talk about it just use the spoiler tag
and hit enter like six times before writing your comment.
Their fight is going to be awesome though, mostly because they're both such good fighters.
So let's jump in the ring and try to figure out who the best fighter in a song of ice
and fire is. Number 10 - Young Ned Stark
I'm mostly talking about him during Robert's Rebellion. He wasn't big on Tourneys or Jousting.
Just traditional warfare and swordplay. In battle he primarily used his two handed valyrian
greatsword Ice. I thought he deserved this spot on the list because he fought and killed
Ser Arthur Dayne the Sword of the Morning during the rebellion. Dayne was a member of
King Aerys Kingsguard and Ned led the charge during the sack of King's Landing. It was
right after that he found Jaime Lannister killing King Aerys, he was like the first
person on the scene.
Killing Arthur Dayne was a huge deal because he was supposed to be one of the best fighters
in the world. He just like Ned Stark, had a two handed Greatsword called Dawn, it wasn't
valyrian steel, but it was supposedly forged from a fallen star and was just as sharp as
valyrian steel. So imagine Ned Stark and Arthur Dayne swinging two giant indestructible greatswords
at each other. Like two giant lightsabers. There would have been crazy sparks flying
off their impacts.
We know what happened to Ned Stark's blade, it was melted down by Twyin Lannister into
Oathkeeper and Widow's Wail. After Ned Stark killed Arthur Dayne he rode to Starfall to
give Dawn to Ashara Dayne, the sister of Arthur Dayne.
That's where the rumor about Ashara Dayne being Jon Snow's mother comes from. I don't
believe it, but the rumor exists.
Number 9 - The Knight Of The Laughing Tree
This is one of the most mysterious fighters in the books. Whenever Jaime Lannister had
his induction ceremony to the Kingsgaurd, King Aerys threw a Tournament at Harrenhal.
A teenage Howland Reed got bullied by the squires of house Haigh, House Blount and House
Frey. Howland Reed just for reference is the father
of Jojen and Meera Reed, the ones helping Bran. But this all happened way before they
were born. Because the Reed's are Stark Bannerman, Lyanna Stark rushed up and beat off the squires
with a sword.
Later as a way to defend Reed's honor, a really small mystery knight with mismatched patchwork
armor showed up in the jousting tournament and defeated the Knights from all those squires
houses.
The reason the mystery knight was called the knight of the laughing tree was because the
shield had a white weirwood tree on it with a laughing red face. Supposedly the person
had a booming voice when they shouted through their helm.
Because defeating all those knights was a huge deal, Robert Baratheon who was super
competitive and King Aery's demanded that they unmask the mystery knight to find out
who it was. Aerys sent Rhaegar Targaryen to find them, but when the person ran off all
he came back with was the knight's shield with the laughing tree on it.
The best theory's I've seen as to who it was is Lyanna Stark, it makes sense that she would
be trained to fight. Ned Stark even said that Arya, who's becoming a pretty badass fighter
herself, resembles Lyanna. So my theory is that Rhaegar found out she was the mystery
knight, fell in love and just never told his father king Aerys. Cut to them running away
together, then Robert's Rebellion.
So I think the R + L equals J theory flows from the Knight of the Laughing Tree. If you
want to read about Laughing Tree in the books it's in the Bran 2 chapter of Book 3.
Number 8 - Brienne of Tarth
She's not quite as big as the Mountain, but she's bigger and faster than most of the other
knights that are still alive on the show. She doesn't have the experience of someone
like Areo Hotah or Barristan Selmy. But she was able to beat the crap out of a weakened
Jaime Lannister. Who is also one of the best fighters in Westeros, before he lost his hand.
I could also cite Brienne smashing the hell out of Loras Tyrell during the war of the
five kings. Usually the biggest fighters on the show only get beaten when they make mistakes
or fight someone quicker. And Brienne is big and Quick.
Her weakness, like most knights is her hubris. It's pretty easy to get under her skin as
seen during the Purple Wedding when Cersei Lannister went all Mean Girls on her. Before
they became really close, Jaime also got under her skin quite a bit.
I'd really like to see Brienne fight Obara Sand just because they're good approximations
of each other. I think they would be pretty evenly matched. Obara is a little smaller,
but she wields a pike like her father Oberyn Martell.
Number 7 - Jaime Lannister When He Still Had Two Hands
Jaime earned his knighthood by killing the Smiling Knight when Arthur Dayne and a bunch
of King Aery's men were trying to rescue someone from a big group of outlaws called the Kingswood
Brotherhood. Think of them as being like the previous iteration of the Brave Companions
or Locke's Group on the show.
The Smiling Knight was like the previous generations version of The Mountain. Completely psychotic
and very dangerous. When Arthur Dayne found Jaime had killed him, he knighted him immediately
on the battlefield.
Funny side story. After all this happened Jaime learned Twyin intended to marry him
to Lysa Tulley. Yes, that Lysa Tulley that took a trip through the Moon Door. So Cersei
suggested he join the Kingsguard to escape and be close to her. Cersei is pretty selfish,
but in this case I'd say she helped Jaime sidestep that land mine.
Number 6 - Greatjon Umber
He's the head of House Umber, they're Stark Bannermen. He was at the Red Wedding and was
taken captive by the Frey's but he's still alive. The reason he's on this list is because
he's one of the only people Jaime Lannister thinks could beat him in a fight. This is
pre-accident Jaime. Greatjon is huge like the Mountain but he's not psychotic. So he's
really only dangerous if challenged in battle.
Because he's so huge he wields a two handed greatsword that's even bigger than Ned Starks.
His isn't valyrian steel, but Robb Stark called it the ugliest blade he'd ever seen. I think
he meant ugly in the sense it was fearsome.
Number 5 - The Mountain
We just met the new actor playing the Mountain in episode 7. It's the third person to play
the role. He's supposed to be about 8 feet tall and weigh about 420 pounds. That makes
him the largest human person in the world. That we know about. If Strong Belwas were
on the show I still think the Mountain would be bigger.
His armor is crazy. It's so heavy that he's the only one that can wear it and still move.
It's the thickest plate of any armor in westeros underneath which he has a layer of chainmail
and boiled leather. He is a big dumb animal compared to other
more scholarly characters, but he has excellent warrior instincts and he's very quick. So
add excellent fighter to fortress like armor and you get an almost invincible fighter.
Supposedly he does have constant persistent headaches that are either related to his gigantism
or a severe blow to the head during a random tournament. There's a theory that this is
part of the reason why he's so psychotic, he suffered a brain injury that just went
untreated.
I have a really huge theory about The Mountain as it relates to Robert Strong who we haven't
met yet. So I'm going to wait until Season 5 to talk about that. But if you've read the
books and want to discuss theories, just use the spoiler tag and hit enter four or five
times before writing stuff.
Number 4 - Oberyn Martell
Yes, I totally think Oberyn Martell is a better fighter than The Mountain. Please don't go
crazy with spoilers. The reason I think Oberyn is better is because he's way way quicker,
he uses a pike in battle and he has expert knowledge of poisons.
So all of those things just provide him with the tools for fighting really big people like
The Mountain.
Number 3 - Areo Hotah
He's like the Barristan Selmy of the Martell family in Dorne. He protects Oberyn's Brother
Prince Doran. He wields a long axe that's about six feet.
He was trained by the Bearded Priests of Norvos in the free cities. The common saying is that
people of that order are wedded to their Axes. They're like a really prominent fighting school
that trains people to fight and protect.
Just like Barristan Selmy he's very formal and utterly loyal to Prince Doran. In Selmy's
case it's Daenerys.
Number 2 - Barristan Selmy
He trained with Ser Duncan the Tall and Prince Duncan the small from the Dunk and Egg stories.
And ended up becoming one of the greatest knights in the history of Westeros. Early
in his life he earned most of his respect during the War of the Ninepenny Kings after
he killed one of the Blackfyre pretenders.
He was also at the famous Tourney of Harrenhal where the Knight of the Laughing Tree was.
He got unhorsed by Rhaegar Targaryen who ended up winning the tournament. But I still consider
Barristan Selmy to be a better fighter. It's like Ned Stark told Jaime Lannister,
play fighting in tournaments is one thing. Fighting on the battlefield is another.
Number 1 - Young Robert Baratheon
Even though on the show we only see him after his better years are over. When he was young
he was like the Hollywood Leading Man of Westeros. Not super bright, but very charismatic and
an amazing fighter.
If they had holodecks in Game of Thrones, Robert would have just spent his entire life
in a never ending battle. That's why he peaked during the rebellion. Because he was at the
height of his physical prowess and was so good at making war.
Since this list should have been like a top 50 fighters here's a couple of people I think
deserve to be mentioned, but I couldn't find a spot for them on the list.
Strong Belwas, The Hound, Syrio Forel, Arthur Dayne, Ser Duncan The Tall, Obara Sand and
Daeron the Young Dragon. There's a ton of other people that we just don't know a ton
about. So I'm hoping the new books give us some more context.
Now it's your turn, let me know who you think is the best fighter on Game Of Thrones, either
on the show or in the books. They can be alive or dead.
Later this year there's a book coming out called A World of Ice and Fire that will hopefully
fill in a lot of historical gaps because there are a ton of big events like the Tournament
of Harrenhaal and all the different wars that we only know a little about. I'll be sure
to do a bunch of bonus videos when it comes out in October.
In related news, Oberyn Martell vs The Mountain tonight. Be sure to subscribe to get my video.
I'll post it after the episode airs.
Right now click here to get that video. I'll add the annotation as soon as I post it. And
click here to learn more about the new Season 5 characters.
Thanks for watching, see you guys tonight. High Fives!