# Song Of Ice&Fire series, are the unsullied ever explained? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974 "2015-09-29T19:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/21 "2015-09-30T20:03:24Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Right. The Unsullied, at least in the books, aren’t supposed to be bad-ass warriors. They’re supposed to be disciplined soldiers, in a place where there are no disciplined soldiers. This. The benefit to the Unsullied is that you don’t end up like Stannis. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/22 "2015-09-30T21:21:51Z")
Well, they do train day and night from the time they are toddlers so i imagine they ARE badass warriors. They are just not big and tough. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/23 "2015-09-30T22:41:15Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Since it’s vaguely related, and you seem to know more about medieval warfare than I do, I have a question. Someone on my facebook feed was annoyed with GRRM for writing about pouring boiling oil on the enemy during a siege, saying that in the middle ages, boiling water or rocks or arrows would be cheaper and just as effective. Was pouring boiling oil on people something that was done in medieval siege warfare or not? (I explained it away by saying that GRRM’s narrators are not necessarily reliable, and that Bran was 10 years old during that scene, and probably ignorant of the finer points of siege tactics. But I’m unsure whether or not he was correct in this case.) If I recall, there was an English king or warlord or some such who lost an eye to _boiling lead_ during a battle. In reality, they heated up/boiled whatever was handy. Boiling water, sure, but grease and fat from animals was also readily available and probably the source of “boiling oil” rather than petroleum as a source. In a siege, water, at least the drinkable kind, could become scarce, so pouring good water onto the enemy might not have made as much sense as pouring, say, the contents of chamber pots onto their heads. Or whatever else noxious or dangerous you might have handy. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/24 "2015-09-30T23:09:38Z")
[Wikipedia notes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_thermal_weapons#Hot_oil) that a) oil was used but often prohibitively expensive, and b) it was merely very hot as boiling is a misnomer. Would oil also be better than water because it remains hot and doesn’t “wash away”? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/25 "2015-09-30T23:42:36Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I too am irked by the melee fighting I see in every ancient or medieval war film. They always stand in formation _before_ the battle, and immediately break into chaos when the battle starts. Though it’s a tiny snapshot rather than an epic battle, they did do it more or less right in the first episode or two of the series _Rome_. The Roman troops stay in a tight formation, changing ranks in an orderly fashion based on the barked orders of the centurion. When the resident badass breaks ranks to start slaughtering enemy soldiers via his badassery he gets called back and eventually tosssed in the stockade for insubordination. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/26 "2015-09-30T23:44:19Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I too am irked by the melee fighting I see in every ancient or medieval war film. They always stand in formation _before_ the battle, and immediately break into chaos when the battle starts. The previous HBO series _Rome_ (to which the TV _Game of Thrones_ is enormously indebted) did have some good scenes of legions fighting in formation. (The consequence of breaking formation is actually a plot point at the very beginning.) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/27 "2015-09-30T23:45:55Z")
Damn you **Tamerlane**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974/28 "2015-09-30T23:46:44Z")
Great minds, etc. etc. :D. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-ice-fire-series-are-the-unsullied-ever-explained/732974.md?page=1)