#battle of the blackwater

[isab0t]

Princess in the tower 🐺

this was only meant to be a sketch of sansa idk what happened😭😭😭also my 5 millionth drawing of sansa at the blackwater and lyanna contrasted with her nieces. first time theyve crossed over tho

process below the cut ↓

[ichooseviolence]

Sansa had to experience her first period in a traumatic place and during a traumatic time whilst a battle went on outside the castle walls and Cersei is just like "lol ur bleeding in here and they're bleeding out there lmao. So weird."

[wpmorse]

"You promised me a song, little bird. Have you forgotten?"

A Clash of Kings - Sansa VII

I just got back into doing my character portraits. While I had planned to stick with the viewpoint characters, I kept leaning towards Sandor, and you don't argue with a Clegane.

Other than thinking Sandor looks a little too pretty here, I'm pleased with how this one turned out.

On a small side note, I was reminded that Sandor had a squire while choosing a quote to go with the picture. Does anyone know who he was, or what happened to him? For all I know the kid had it as a temp gig for the trip up north and made himself scarce while he could.

Though this does give me an ill-advised fanfic idea for a disguise for Arya during the Wolf and Dog Roadtrip of Doom.

[trogthefrog]

Just an asoiaf thought.

Even if the Tyrells didn’t join the Lannisters after Renly’s death I think Tywin could have pulled the same manoeuvre of wheeling down the Blackwater to reach KL, if a little late (no pre built barges). Tywin could probably have gambled on the Tyrells having a leadership crisis and that they wouldn’t attack him. In that case he would probably have still arrived in time to defeat Stannis, but… too late to save Cersei & Joffrey’s heads. The Tyrells definitely made that difference.

[westeroswisdom]

Jerome Flynn b. 16 March 1963 Bromley, Kent, England, UK

Ser Bronn's most spectacular scene.

[laurellerual]

If you could see any scene from the books be animated, what would it be?

This is difficult. If I have to choose a scene I'd like the Battle of the Blackwater.

An animated short film with Maester Cressen's prologue, complete with flashbacks, would be super cool.

I'd love to see the character designs of the Brotherhood without banners, maybe one day when I have time I will try to make them.

As a setting I want to see the canals of Braavos, as if it were a long shot showing the daily life from the Titan through the city, the harbors, the theatres, the Silk palace, the Iron bank, to the Isle of the Gods.

[beyondmistland]

In A Clash of Kings, did Tyrion mess up by not removing the money lending threat in King’s Landing, in your opinion? Would Tywin have approved?

Tywin gave Tyrion leave to act as he saw fit so he'd retroactively approve of whatever decisions Tyrion made, if only to present a united front to House Lannister's enemies. That being said, Tyrion didn't make a mistake by prioritizing defense preparations. With Stannis bearing down on King's Landing, going after the people with money and resources would have been foolish, especially since unraveling Littlefinger's financial obfuscation requires a level of knowledge beyond that available to Tyrion.

[rosaluxembae]

I'm really not convinced about the tactical criticism of Renly. There's two main things that characters and fans comment on but they actually kinda contradict each other. One is that he should have marched on King's Landing more quickly, and the other is that fighting Stannis weakens them.

But the thing is there's no rush to take KL. The Lannister army is in the Riverlands fighting Robb and nearly gets trapped in the Westerlands, precisely because Renly hasn't attacked. Like if Edmure didn't prevent Tywin from crossing The Trident (I also want to post about that tbh) then Stannis (or Renly if he'd survived) could have captured KL and the reason Tywin stopped trying to cross was because Stannis attacked. Even besides the specifics of those troop movements, as long as the Rose Road is closed, then the situation in KL is slowly getting worse for the Lannisters, while they and the Starks are bleeding each other dry. The capital was already on the brink of revolt in the canon timeline.

All the feasting and tourneys are a bit decedent and dangerous with accidents and whatnot but not as costly as directly getting involved in the war. It keeps his knights sharp and most importantly occupied, while he's stalling, so they don't start pillaging and getting into trouble. It's all a way of biding his time while preventing his army getting itchy feet and rusting from inactivity. People will complain about him dragging his feet but he can still go "yeah we're marching, making progress, we'll have our battle soon enough".

As for Stannis, Renly is right there too. If it wasn't for magic assassination (which I don't think it's fair to expect anyone to take into account), then Stannis' army would have been smashed with negligible losses, even without infantry. 20% of Renly's knights refused to go over to Stannis, which is probably more than would have been killed, and dead knights can't defect to the Lannisters. And most importantly the Tyrells refuse to go over to Stannis, who play a decisive role in The Battle of The Blackwater. So like rather than the fight weakening the Baratheon Bros, not fighting actually strengthened the Lannisters. Plus dealing with Stannis, rather than Storm's End being besieged when Renly's army is occupied, has political benefits, strengthening his claim and removing a potential thorn in his side.

Catelyn claims he should besiege the besiegers but she also criticises him for not intervening in the war more quickly. She can't have it both ways, besieging Stannis' army would make his march north much longer.

[saltandfire-blog]

Another fun video to relive the good old days

[agentrouka-blog]

Also she is still officially betrothed to king Joffrey and therefore nominally the future queen. That's fairly relevant in this context.

Everyone agrees that one of Sansa's best moments was keeping everyone calm during the Battle of the Blackwater.... but she's 12 years old. Why do people listen to her when she tells them not to be afraid? Why don't they just write her off as a naive child? I don't understand it.

Here's some relevant stuff from the chapter (Sansa VII, ACoK):

Sansa found herself alone on the dais.

and:

"What's happened?" demanded a woman she knew slightly, the wife of a lesser lordling. "What did Osney tell her? Is the king hurt, has the city fallen?"

"Tell us," someone else shouted. One woman asked about her father, another her son.

Plus it's also important to note that a bunch of servants just nope out at this point anyway.

Sansa is in a literal position of authority. She doesn't have any formal authority, but all the same she's on the raised platform the Queen was just sitting on. This privileged position also means that she was getting the hot updates from the battle, where a lot of other people inside have just been sitting there wondering.

Twelve years old or not, Sansa's the only one left on the platform and the only one left who can give a meaningful update from it. So people listen.

[targaryen-dynasty]

They‘ll sing songs about these battles. via @/heromode on Instagram

[themoonofblueside]

just realized after robb dies, jon becomes the "leader of a group of people who made him took up a position he was not planning to take, rises to the challange anyways for lack of better options, who is also a young commander with a level of gift and skill in battle strategies" of the story. Donnel Noye leaves him to take care of the defense on the Wall, he's the one to plan the fiery ladders and he also controls the defense lines and commands every other brother on the wall(until eastwatch guys come in). in the books sam enters his name without telling him and he wins. your majesty that's grumpified robb stark

it gets funnier when you realize a) they're both insanely strong for their age b) they both have very intimidating personas with their wolves c) they both try their best to put duty before love, fail miserably d) they get betrayed and stabbed

[westerosiladies]

Sansa Stark Month Day Nineteen: Leadership

[trogthefrog]

What Was Stannis' Plan for the Blackwater?

I’ve been thinking on what the point of the Battle of the Blackwater (henceforth BotB) was strategically for Stannis. And I'd argue it was to gain the Reach to his side.

I will not argue the BotB was not a huge series of fuckups on Stannis’ part. Even so there was a point. Winning that battle was possible and a reasonable goal. I think, in Stannis thinking, the problem would have been the aftermath. He'd be stuck with a wounded army, an at least partially damaged fleet and an entire city to feed. Somehow this was a desirable goal. In my opinion the victory is what makes that battle desirable because the battle wasn't just to take the capital (although that's very important) but to gain the capital to get the Reach to join him. I think the cart before the horse analogy works here.

As Rhaenyra I, Daemon Blackfyre, Robb Stark and Robert Baratheon prove, winning battles brings allies because they see your strength. The blackwater would have been Stannis' Whispering Woods or Summerhal, like how Rhaenyra capturing KL gave her legitimacy.

It's same reason as fighting the ironborn in the north gives him allies in ADWD. In westeros winning proves strength. In ACOK the Stormlords and Reacherlords he gets from Renly's death were all he was gonna get at that point. He needs more men to win the entire kingdom, and the Vale won't fight but the Reach might. With Tywin distracted by Robb Stark at Harrenhal. Stannis knows Tywin could come down from Harrenhal to defend KL and he knows that the Tyrell forces are sitting at Bitterbridge in a leadership crisis. It was is the perfect time to strike while KL was undefended and win an *almost certain* battle to prove himself. When I say almost certain remember BotB is 20,000 of Stannis' trained soldiers against mostly a few thousand gold cloaks and a small (in comparison) number of knights.

By taking KL Stannis eliminates his rival claimant (Joffrey) and proves he should be followed as a victorious king. Specifically to the Tyrells who have the sheer military numbers to win the war as well as food supplies for KL. If the Stannis won faster the battle might've solved all of the problems it would cause. Namely supplying a city and military casualties.

[westeroswisdom]

That’s Lord Bronn nowadays.

There’s an entry at Game of Thrones Wiki devoted to Bron’s House.

This is given as his sigil...

They resist calling it House Bronn but speculate it might be called House Blackwater.

The words of the house are unknown. The most famous Bronn quote would be amusing – however it may be considered a bit too long and too crude.

There's no cure for being a cunt.

[chippedcupwrites]

GAME OF THRONES | 2.09