Ready to spend some time and brainpower on something with absolutely no relevance to the real world? Me too!
Spinning off from this post in the GOT episode thread, who is the best one-on-one fighter in close combat? You can pick anyone from any time in the series, like Jaime before he lost his hand, if you like. And if you like, you can pick from before the books too – like Robert at his peak, or Ser Arthur Dayne. But I’m going to stick with just the book/show time periods.
I’ll go with the Hound – in both the books and show, he takes on multiple seasoned fighters at once and comes out ahead – at the inn with Arya, against the Frey soldiers with Arya, and when he takes on multiple criminals to save Sansa, he totally dominates them. He’s probably the physically strongest fighter besides his brother, but he doesn’t just rely on his power – he is very skilled and surprisingly fast as well.
Other possible candidates – Barristan, Jaime with his hand, Brienne (doubtful, IMO), the Mountain, Strong Belwas.
You should really make the spoiler rules extremely clear in any GoT thread. I’m going Syrio Florel, he took on as many men as the Hound but unarmored and using a stick.
I’d go with Robert in his prime. He was said to swing a warhammer one handed that Ned couldn’t even lift at all with two, and was widely considered the fiercest warrior in the realm. He was the archetypal sword and sorcery conquering hero in the vein of Conan the Barbarian, and a perfect example of why warrior heroes don’t make for very good kings.
Loras Tyrell has to be right up there. He’s probably at least as good as Ser Barristan in terms of talent at the time of the books, though I don’t remember if Tyrell has had any actual war experience before the series begins.
How about Quorin Half-hand? He was fighting with his left hand and was still considered the toughest SOB in the night’s watch. With two good hands, surely he’d be among the best.
Another rarely mentioned possibility: Oberyn pretty clearly bested the mountain in their battle, but was done in by carelessness and underestimating a downed foe.
I’d argue a younger Barristan Selmy was likely the best warrior in Westeros or younger Robert Baratheon (around the time of the Battle of the Trident).
For me Loras is out because of lack of real combat experience. I think Barristan the Bold and a young Robert Baratheon are the top contenders.
The Hound isn’t a terrible choice, but do we know much about him in actual battle? I think the fear of fire and his performance at the battle at King’s Landing disqualifies him.
Didn’t the battle at the Tower of Joy come down to 6 (Ned Stark, Howland Reed and a bunch of random dudes) v. 3 (Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower). Only Stark and Reed survived - and it sounds like it was a close thing. So I think Dayne has to be in the conversation as well.
I think Jamie is a clear no. He was beaten by Brienne as well as losing his only major battle, AFAIK.
Jaime lost to Brienne after a year chained to a post, unarmored and bound. Not to mention Brienne isn’t exactly a chump herself: She beat Loras, who may or may not be a badass but people like to mention him.
Syrio is obviously a total pimp. He totally stomped a number of armored guards with a stick. I’m pretty sure they were all left dead or dying, none of this bop 'em on the head and they fall down stuff we see in the show, he was crushing windpipes in the books if I recall correctly.
Sandor Clegane is also obviously a pimp. I have a feeling the Mountain that Rides would be too but we don’t see him fighting much.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Maybe I’m underselling him a bit. But he was wounded (and killed?) in a fight with Polliver, Tickler, and a squire, none of whom were really presented as great fighters. And that’s with Arya helping him.
It’s unclear if Sandor could beat Gregor, also, so if we include the Hound we probably have to include the Mountain. Although the Mountain lost to Oberyn (sort of…) and as mentioned the Hound was badly wounded by two mooks and a squire.
I like Syrio as well, but we just don’t get enough of a sense of his true prowess I think. Clearly he’s formidable.
Good point about Jaime’s state in the fight against Brienne. Not sure if we’re including jousts, but the Hound also beat Jaime in the Tourney of the Hand (thanks wiki!).
I think, given what we have seen in the books, the only warrior that was presented as basically undefeated and unbeatable (at least in his prime) is Robert Baratheon.
Polliver and the Tickler were certainly combat veterans and seasoned killers, and the Hound was drunk (IIRC). In the show, he took on about four or five in the inn.
He survived a fight where Ser Arthur Dayne didn’t.
But honestly, who the best fighter is would greatly depend on the situation.
Eg, maybe Ser Loras would knock Syrio out of the saddle ten times out of ten in a joust but wouldn’t stand a chance against him in a sword fight.
Strong Belwas might be the best pit fighter there is, but that is what he is, a pit fighter. Ser Barristan demonstrated what happens to pit fighters when they face an armoured knight. Of course, Ser Barristan might not fare so well if you tossed him in the fighting pit without his armour.
The only fight Ned was in that we know of was 7 on 3, and he only barely won that one. I don’t think he’s particularly known for fighting prowess.
I think there tends to be a great difference between what we are told and what we are shown. Several people claim to be amazing fighters (Jaime, both Cleganes, Loras, Dayne, Selmy) or have legends told about them after their time, but when we actually see them fight, they don’t live up to their rep.
I’d add Bronn to the list as well. Tyrion, if I remember correctly, judged that Bronn was as skilled with a sword as Jaime.
Some others that are contenders, I think, would be Ser Jorah of House Friendzone and (the late) Khal Drogo. I mean, Drogo was easily beating and killing his own rather fierce warriors with his bare hands. That’s gotta count for something.
Ser Barriston mentioned to Ned that he had seen him cut down a dozen good knights in battle and there seemed to be some mutual respect between the two men in regards to their battle prowess. Jaime and Ned fought to a virtual standstill until one of the Lannister guards speared Ned in the leg. I think Ned definitely belongs on the short list.
Clearly Sir Arthur Dayne is a contender - his prowess is legendary. Sir Barristan the Bold is another. These are given.
The mountain isn’t worthy of a top spot to me - any superiority he had was crushed with his loss to Oberyn. He is great in a large battle, but one on one he lacks speed and clever moves. He isn’t a good fighter - he is just an over-sized man.
The Hound > Jaime (two-handed) > Brienne > Loras
What about Khal Drogo? I’m amazed he hasn’t been mentioned yet. He led a tribe 40,000 strong based on his prowess in combat. We never see him up against Westerosi…but who cares? He is clearly in the top tier of fighters.
