Shin K Dash
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Ranking The Swordsman/Warriors in GOT
- Thread starter HiResDes
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LastGamer84
Member
John is scrappy and probably only had some minor training as the (bastard) son of a lord. He trains the watch at a few points. Fighting Wildlings and supernatural enemies has made him better.
He also has luck...it's basically his superpower.
If I had to rank them on feats alone it would be
Hound
Bronn
Barristan
In no real order. Jamie and Oberyn are further down.
Boombloxer
Member
And this doesn't mention his other feats.
If there's a ever a prequel series, they better do him justice. He's basically Bond.
Abstruse Moose
Member
Khal Drogo seemed pretty unstoppable until he got poisoned. Dude never lost a fight in his life, without armor.
Imperfected
Member
Not trying to paizuri a filth-encrusted Dothraki khopesh would have also been a great option.
This is one of the reasons people rate Bronn so highly: he's less likely than some of these characters to kill himself trying to tie his own shoes.
hendersonhank
Member
....by their fellow knights. Like the one who dismissed Bronn as "just a sellsword" before Bronn mopped the floor with him. Or like Jorah who dismissed the Dothraki because they don't have armor, before one was handily beating him until his arakh got caught not on Jorah's armor, but in his hip bone. (never mind the show where Dothraki mowed down the Lannister army even before the dragon showed up)
Knights are an insular community who look down on everyone outside it.
The same guys who never even consider anyone outside Westeros, at all, despite the fact that an aging Syrio Forel needed just 5 seconds to kill 5 armed and mailed guardsmen while armed only with a stick -- a feat not even remotely matched by anything Dayne, Selmy, or Jaime were ever even RUMORED to have done, much less shown doing.
GRRM is good about making battle "realistic" in the sense that when you get 3+ jobbers together, even the best fighters in the world may well get fucked up (see: The Hound, Brienne). Not Syrio, though, despite not even having a sword.
IMO Syrio is clearly the best swordsman ever depicted in the books (or the show), regardless of how knights exclude anyone not in their gentleman's club.
who was likely killed by Meryn Trant who had armor, and a big fucking sword
If we saw all of Bronn's feats, I'd feel it'd be much easier to say who's better between him and Jon. I feel like those guys are pretty close. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we see any of Bronn in Blackwater after the wildfire trick. And we don't see any of the fight where Tyrion got knocked out, but he was there. None of Jon's accomplishments are alluded to. You see all of it. And Bronn's more scrappy than Jon is imo.
I will say that going up against Drogon is probably one of the scariest things we've had to see anyone do in the show, though. Bronn is good.
Brienne beat him. She did not beat his ass.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Your list has a major problem.
The Hound got his ass beaten by Brienne.
Realistically Arya could only fight Brienne by avoiding any sword-to-sword contact, which would be a tall order.
I haven't seen that episode so I don't know how they handled that.
Boombloxer
Member
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Jon was not neglected in his training at Winterfell. He was Robb's best friend and the two practiced regularly. Except for Caitlyn and Sansa, everyone in Winterfell treated Jon well.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
So Arya never blocked with her sword or hit Brienne's sword at any point?
pretty done
Member
Even if he's not the best, he's the most badass for that throat fatality scene.
hendersonhank
Member
True, a guy with a stick couldn't beat a knight in full plate. I stand corrected, Syrio is nothing special.
QuantumZebra
Member
I like this post. I kind of agree.
Isnt the point that the current Kingsguard are shit? Of course Syrio beat a few of those jokes. He also apparently died so thats not comparable to Barristan rescuing Aerys alone.
DarkJediKnight
Member
Here's my issue with Tony Stark.... we i mean Syrio Forel. He disarm a bunch of guards and takes on shitty Meryn Trent with his wooden sword even though there's a bunch of swords lying there.
DarkJediKnight
Member
I disagree. What Arthur Dayne did at the Tower of Joy was far more impressive. He single handedly took on 4 men and would have come away without a scratch if Howland Reed didn't pretend to be dead.
Syrio forel took on a bunch of crappy Lannister soldiers, not even kings guards. Barristan even told them that he would slice them like butter.
And Meryn Trant parried several of Forel'a moves. You think he would stand a chance against Arthur Dayne Dayne holding a broom?
pretty done
Member
Seriously. Any boy whore with a sword could beat three Meryn Trants
Imperfected
Member
You say that, but Oberyn has proven sufficiently that boy whores are exceedingly deadly in single combat.
DarkJediKnight
Member
Exactly. If he was so good why didn't he dance around and knock Meryn on his ass like the other Lannister soldiers?
Boombloxer
Member
It's hard to give more details without ruining the scene for you, but it's clear they're equals at worst.
Dayne with Dawn is Canon GOAT. If no dawn, Selmy is his equal.
Him beating 4 guys was Tuesday under normal circumstances.
Because Selmy is Bond. Dayne isn't Goku, he's Whis. He only died because someone had to nearly die and and stay that way while he took out the other three.
With no Dawn.
Looks right to me.
Jaime once mentioned there were 3 men in the kingdom who may have a chance, when he had both hands. Selmy was on that list, probably the Mountain, and not sure who the third was. I can't recall if he knew about Oberyn or had fought Brienne by then.
DarkJediKnight
Member
He could have been talking about Ned Stark. He fought him and likely would have won. The spear to the knee bought Ned a few weeks. But Jamie also thinks Ned killed Arthur Dayne who Jamie says is clearly better than him.
So he might have a higher opinion of Ned based on that.
Imperfected
Member
Dawn was made of some unspecified metal from a fallen star. Not magical per se, but just a superior quality material to steel.
Arya is totally OP one-on-one, no doubt. I give it to her against any one other fighter. In a battlefield situation, though? My money is on Selmy there. Dayne was a better swordsman, but Selmy was the GOAT in real pitched battles. Dayne could have prolly beat him in melee, but Selmy was the epitome of clutch in real conflict, which involves a whole lot more combat knowledge than just sword-fighting.
Selmy best warrior. Arya best killer.
hendersonhank
Member
To be specific, you're talking about the show depiction. In the books all we know is that it was 7 vs 3. We don't know who died when. And that many people is more of a melee. Different from one vs several IMO.
Oh well if Barristan made that brag I guess it must be true! Also, Barristan was in armor and had a sword. If you're going by the show then Barristan was killed by some guys with spears, whom I don't think were even real fighters.
Yes I think he could block some of Arthur Dayne's broom strokes. Or do you think Arthur Dayne went around one-shotting everybody because no one could parry his first attack?
I think it's very important to note that there is a pretty big difference between what people SAY about others in GRRM's books and what we see them actually DO. The Hound and Brienne are certifiable badasses, two of the best fighters in Westeros without question, but they get fucked up in fights with 2-3 opponents of mediocre at best ability -- and that's in full armor with swords (granted, the Hound was drunk).
The only truly amazing feat of fighting ability that we actually SEE in the books is Syrio's. And it's better than anything any of the other guys are even rumored to have done.
Ocarina_117
Banned
Arya being labelled the best killer off of a sparring match with Brienne?
Arya being the best anything is bollocks. The only reason she beat the waif is she fought her in the dark.
Labelling Arya as one of the top means the Waif would beat everyone.
Arya being the best anything is bollocks. The only reason she beat the waif is she fought her in the dark.
Labelling Arya as one of the top means the Waif would beat everyone.
She's a master assassin, a faceless man, they are highly accomplished fighters. Look at how dangerous Tanner was when fighting Jon and I doubt he was as accomplished as any faceless man, I'm not so sure Jon would have won that fight if he didn't have help. She was holding her own against Waif while blind by the end. It's also possible that she is like a Highlander and absorbs the powers of someone after they are killed, when she killed Waif.
Putting it conservatively, she held her own against Brienne.
A lot of people in this thread seem to forget that Daario is still alive, just not in Westeros. He'd certainly rank near the top of the list for living characters in the show.
Also, while yes I understand that Brienne's power should have overcome Arya in that scene, I think a point of that was to show that the way Westerosi knights fight isn't necessarily the most effective. Arya's mix of Syrio influenced sword dancing + assassin training make her quick and more efficient than the Westeros way of only using heavy attacks. You know damn well heavy attacks drain your stamina faster, GAF.
Also, while yes I understand that Brienne's power should have overcome Arya in that scene, I think a point of that was to show that the way Westerosi knights fight isn't necessarily the most effective. Arya's mix of Syrio influenced sword dancing + assassin training make her quick and more efficient than the Westeros way of only using heavy attacks. You know damn well heavy attacks drain your stamina faster, GAF.
Isn't show Arya now dual wielding 2 Valyrian steel weapons? I could've sworn they said the dagger was Valyrian steel too. If you count the number of warriors running around Westeros with Valyrian steel weapons, there aren't that many. And now a trained assassin and sword dancer has 2.
I don't know how any of this lines up with the books, but show Arya shouldn't be dismissed because she's not a classically trained Westerosi knight.
I don't know how any of this lines up with the books, but show Arya shouldn't be dismissed because she's not a classically trained Westerosi knight.
peteykirch
Member
Needle isn't Valyrian Steel, just castle forged steel.
Closer Two
Member
One thing I appreciate about the series is that these "power levels" we're presented with, which are usually stories and opinions of other characters, don't mean too much in the long run. They're still very much human and being the greatest swordman won't save you most of the time. It gives you a slightly better chance of not dying against a nobody.
Seductivpancakes
Member
He also didn't have the thought to not block sharpe blades with a wooden one.
Do we know how good the Stark soldiers were, specifically? Not sure if it's fair to call one group of soldiers crappy and not the other, just because.
We know Ned was a decent fighter. The others, though?
Boombloxer
Member
"I've never read the books"
GRRM already laid this out.
Show you can argue, but books? Nah.
Triggerhappytel
Member
And yet even after fighting dirty he still lost to Brienne.
I wonder how bad that neck bite was though *thinking emoji*
JimtotheHum
Member
Jon Snow actually says in the show that Robb was the better swordsman between the two.
True, but we have to remember that Jon is absurdly humble, almost to a fault. People around him have to point out his strengths and talk him up because he won't. Jon was Rob's sparring partner, along with Theon I believe. If I had to guess, I think Jon was downplaying his swordsmanship...a lot.