Combat Critiques: Ned Stark Versus Arthur Dayne 

Thank you. I try to add some fun gags here and there so that it's not like a history lesson where the teacher just drones on about something. This scene works with the majority of viewers, who don't look too closely at fight choreography, but a lot of media these days substitutes quality for flashy-but-bad moves and quick camera cuts. That's a large factor in why I encourage in-depth analysis. The good media gets even better when you notice all the details.

The main issue with a reverse grip (other than it reducing your effective range) is that you need to move your arms or body much more than if you held your weapon normally. Instead of a quick thrust, you'd have to bring your arm all the way across your body first, which is easier to see coming due to how much slower that is.

@@TheDual-Wielder You have your sword in your other hand which you can be used for reaching normally. And then you would use the reverse script more as a shield then as a means of attacking.

I find it odd that Dayne and his companion (companions if it's a 7v3) don't use the perfectly good tower right behind them. A narrow entrance means that Ned and his group can't use their numbers to their advantage. I'm not certain how the books handled this sequence, as I've only seen the show.

@@TheDual-Wielder We haven’t even seen the fight in the books yet. The whole tower of joy sequence feels weird when you take into account who was there. I will try to properly get it across to the best of my memory. Ned stark pulls up on horseback with 6 other riders. We only get the name for one of the other riders, but it currently escapes me. It is safe to say these are all experienced fighters as they were veterans of Roberts rebellion who had taken Kings Landing by this point. They see ser Gerold Hightower, ser Arthur Dane and one other king’s guard with a bat crest. The last one’s name escapes me and I might have the first name of the Hightower wrong. These 3 knights are all in full plate and are known to be very skilled. This fight is actually pretty even since these kings guard are extremely dangerous. I wouldn’t be surprised if the two not named Arthur are able to fight and beat multiple opponents at once. Ser Arthur Dane on the other hand is a different beast entirely. He is constantly hyped up or referenced as this peak of swordsmanship. It is safe to say he was the best swordsman in living history in Westeros in not in history. It is important to note that we have never really seen him in a desperate fight. I’m now going to explain his sword because it is very important to why he’s so strong. So Arthur uses the two handed sword Dawn. This is in my opinion one of the few truly magical weapons outside of valerion steel. Some people think it is a valerion steel blade it is not since it(Dawn) was forged from a meteorite and not fire/blood magic. It also might be stronger then valerion steel blades which have been said to cut through steel so take that as you may. In order for a member of the house of Dane to traditionally wield Dawn they haft to prove themselves worthy of it. How you prove yourself I don’t know, but it probably is being honorable and being really fucking good at fighting. So once you do you get the title sword of the morning, and this is Arthur Dane’s title. Now how good is he. Well good enough to fight five opponents while taking a leak. So basically with only one hand. Oh who are these opponents oh the other kings guard which included a younger Baristion and Jamie. Now this is a statement from a person reminiscing on the past so not the most accurate thing. Though statements like this are consistently made when in comes to Arthur. Even without fighting in the tower I honestly don’t know how the kings guard trio lost. It probably was a numbers thing though it could be that two of the members are alive. Sorry if the is incomprehensible I wrote this while tired and in the early morning.