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- How Strong Was Daenerys’ Army In Game Of Thrones?
- How Strong Was Cersei’s Army in Game Of Thrones?
- How Significant Of A Factor Was Drogon?
With all the powerful armies seen in Game Of Thrones, it’s no surprise that fans love to compare different armies at different points to wonder who would win. One clash that is constantly on the horizon throughout the series is between Daenerys Targaryen and whoever manages to lay claim to the Iron Throne by the time she makes it to Westeros. It just so happens that the person that Daenerys must take on is Cersei and her massive army.
Both leaders have massive and impressive armies, but from the very beginning of the series, Daenerys has always had an edge, dragons. When it comes time for Daenerys and Cersei’s armies to clash, Daenerys’ dragon is the definitive edge in the conflict, leading some to wonder whether or not a victory could have occurred without it. Dragons may be powerful, but it is worth examining whether or not one was just overkill in this exciting final decisive battle in Game Of Thrones.
RELATED: Game of Thrones: The Blackfyre Rebellions, Explained
How Strong Was Daenerys’ Army In Game Of Thrones?
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Daenerys’ Army |
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|---|---|
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Commanders: |
Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Grey Worm, Davos Seaworth |
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Total Strength: |
Approximately 64,000 strong |
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Unsullied: |
4000 heavy infantry |
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Stark Bannermen: |
5000 infantry |
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Knights Of The Vale: |
5000 infantry |
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Dothraki: |
50,000 cavalry |
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Dragon: |
1 (Drogon) |
Due to the inconsistent writing of the final season of Game Of Thrones, Daenerys’ battle-ready army is inexplicably said to be quite large despite the massive losses in the Battle of Winterfell. She was able to flex an army that was well over 60,000 fighters strong, a number that puts it at one of the largest fighting forces in any seen battle throughout Game Of Thrones. These numbers are made up of a combination of the Unsullied, remaining Dothraki, House Stark bannermen, and knights of the Vale. On top of all of those warriors, Daenerys also had something that no other army in Westeros had, a mighty dragon.
It is important to know that while the Unsullied she had were around 4000 in number, they are some of the best trained and most feared warriors in Game Of Thrones. The resolve of both the men of the North and the knights of the Vale was also well documented in Westeros, meaning that Daenerys’ army was filled with immense skill and immense heart. The remaining Dothraki, said to be roughly 50,000 of them and likely equipped with mostly arakhs, brought brutality to the battlefield that struck fear into the hearts of all forced to stand against them. That’s all without mentioning that there wouldn’t have been anyone alive that was fighting against Daenerys who had managed to slay a dragon.
How Strong Was Cersei’s Army in Game Of Thrones?
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Cersei’s Army |
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|---|---|
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Commanders: |
Cersei Lannister, Euron Greyjoy, Qyburn, Captian Harry Strickland |
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Total Strength: |
Roughly 50,000 strong |
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The Iron Fleet: |
Hundreds of ships, each with anti-dragon scorpions, thousands of sailors to man those ships |
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Lannister Garrison: |
Unknown but assumed to be thousands of warriors and archers |
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The Golden Company: |
20,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry |
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The Queensguard: |
A handful of skilled knights |
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The City Watch: |
Unknown, but likely dozens if not hundreds |
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Anti-Dragon Scorpions: |
Hundreds across the Iron Fleet and elsewhere in the surrounding area |
Cersei may not have had quite as impressive ground numbers to stand against Daenerys, but she was never going to let go of the Iron Throne without giving it everything she had. As Cersei puts it in a quote from Game Of Thrones:
The Red Keep has never fallen. It won’t fall today.
Unfortunately, she was wrong, but that doesn’t mean her forces didn’t put up a massive fight. With somewhere around 50,000 men of her own, some of the best fighters and most prominent houses in Westeros, a whole host of anti-dragon scorpions, and one of the most impressive fleets in the world, Cersei had the potential to put out the flames of hope for Daenerys.
Something important to take into consideration is the fact that Daenerys was dead set on invading King’s Landing, giving Cersei’s forces the homefield advantage of defending King’s Landing. They would be able to control chokepoints in order to keep the fighting rhythm in their favor to make up for the lower numbers. The sheer skill of the two forces is hard to gauge, but once again, the strength of the Golden Company, Iron Fleet, and various elite warriors across their other fighting forces would likely have been able to rival Daenery’s forces. While many don’t like to give her respect for her schemes, Cersei even did her best to mitigate the impact that the dragon Drogon could have on the battlefield, even if it didn’t end up working out how she would have liked.
How Significant Of A Factor Was Drogon?
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Drogon |
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|---|---|
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Dragon Rider: |
Daenerys Targaryen |
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Color: |
Black and Red |
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Other Names: |
The Winged Shadow |
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Species: |
Dragon |
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Gender: |
Male |
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Attitude: |
Aggressive |
It’s fairly obvious that Drogon was the most significant factor in Daenerys’ victory in Game Of Thrones. The massive dragon was something that King’s Landing could only ready themselves for in specific ways. The anti-dragon scorpions were a step in the right direction, but they were unable to stop Drogon from ravaging across King’s Landing with his fire. Outside of that measure, it is really hard to see how Cersei could have even hoped to have dealt with Daenerys and her dragon. Even if Cersei was capable of decimating the rest of Daenerys’ forces with some genius plan, Drogon still would have been there. In fact, seeing her army being slaughtered to such a degree may have made her eventual turn to madness all the more dangerous for the innocent people of King’s Landing.
When Daenerys mentioned her dragons burning cities to the ground in Game Of Thrones, she wasn’t kidding:
When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who wronged me! We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground!
Drogon was capable of doing exactly that with shocking speed. With Drogon at Daenerys’ side, victory was practically assured, without the dragon, the fight truly could have ended up going either way. Daenerys’ massive force of skilled warriors with a drive to flush out what they viewed as a false ruler could have led to victory as much as Cersei’s loyal forces fighting to protect innocents from vicious raiders from across the seas.
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