The epic conflict for control ofthe Iron Thronehas been dramatized in numerous books, episodes, and video games, and is a key part of theGame of Thronesuniverse. The war raged throughout Westeros, devastating kingdoms and houses alike. Fan-favorite characters suffered grisly ends, and peace was only achieved at a terrible cost.
Although many of the conflict’s most memorable twists and turns happened away from the battlefield (such as the massacre of the Starks at the Red Wedding), much of the course of the war was decided through open combat. These thrilling clashes concerned more than personal glory — they decided the fate of an entire civilization.
8Battle of the Bastards
By 303 AC, the Stark’s rebellion against royal authority had been decisively crushed, and the sadistic Ramsay Bolton had been installed in Winterfell as the Warden of the North. Yet although Ramsay murdered several of his relatives to solidify his position, he could not stand against the Wildling force assembled by Jon Snow and Sansa Stark.
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Althoughthe Battle of the Bastards(so named because both Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton were illegitimate) culminated in a Stark victory, this came at an incredible cost. The death of Rickon Stark, the legitimate heir to Winterfell, brought the Stark house close to collapse, while the mass causalities suffered by the Stark forces left them ill-prepared to counter future threats alone.
7Battle of Whispering Wood
The Battle of Whispering Wood marked the first major engagement between Stark and Lannister forces. The battle, which took place in 298 AC, wasa significant victory for House Starkand its allies, despite the fact that they were outnumbered. Good tactics gave them the upper hand, however, and even resulted in the capture of Jaime Lannister.
The Stark victory demonstrated the threat posed by Robb Stark’s rebellion while diminishing the Lannisters' ability to counter it. It is therefore unsurprising that the Lannisters resorted to subterfuge in order to end the Northern threat.
6Iron Fleet Ambush
While many of the most iconic battles inGame of Throneswere fought on land, control of the sea was also essential to victory. It is unsurprising, then, that House Lannister courted the support of Euron Greyjoy, whose Iron Fleet posed a considerable threat to any seafaring force.
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The Iron Fleet demonstrated its proficiency in 304 AC by ambushing ships loyal to the Targaryen regime. The loss of so many Targaryen vessels was a crushing blow to Daenerys, as was the capture ofher Dornish alliesand Yara Greyjoy. The ambush forced House Targaryen to seek new allies, resulting in a partnership with Jon Snow.
5Battle of the Goldroad
The Battle of the Goldroad marked the introduction of several factors that would come to define Daenerys Targaryen’s bid for control of the Iron Throne. The most notable was the use of a dragon, which was deployed for the first time in a military capacity — with devastating effect on her Lannister-led foes.
Yet it was the use of Drogon the dragon that inadvertently revealed a weakness in his species. Lannister troops were able to identify the scorpion (a large crossbow) as a potent anti-dragon weapon, and this tool would come to play a key role in future clashes. While the Battle of the Goldroad was a victory for the Targaryen regime, it also showed how they might be defeated.
4Battle of Winterfell
Whilethe Battle of Winterfellholds the distinction of being fought between the living and the dead rather than rivals for the Iron Throne, it holds an important place in Westerosi history. Indeed, had the outcome been different, the fate of Westeros would have been profoundly altered, and the struggle for the Iron Throne might well have become irrelevant.
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This clash between the Army of the Dead and an alliance led by Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen was a success for the living, but victory came at a high cost. Winterfell itself was nearly destroyed, while the North in particular suffered catastrophic losses in terms of both regular troops and commanders.
3Dragonstone Naval Battle
Following their triumph againstthe Night Kingat the Battle of Winterfell, the forces loyal to Daenerys Targaryen traveled south in a fleet of ships. However, this fleet was attacked by the Iron Fleet, whose leader, Euron Greyjoy, was allied with House Lannister. The Iron Fleet carried anti-dragon weapons, resulting not only in the loss of the Targaryen ships but also in the death of Rhaegal, one of their dragons.
The capture and resulting execution of Missandei was a key factor in Daenerys’s descent into homicidal madness. Had the naval battle near Dragonstone gone differently, the Targaryen queen might not have resorted to such brutal tactics during the subsequent Battle of King’s Landing.
2Battle of King’s Landing
At times, there is a fine line between a battle and a massacre. This is evident fromthe Battle of King’s Landing, in which Daenerys seized control of the Iron Throne by obliterating the city and much of its population in 305 AC. Although the battle resulted in the deaths of many ofGame of Thrones’s most villainous figures, it had the effect of transforming Daenerys into a mass murderer.
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Even Daenerys’s allies were forced to admit that she had gone too far. Tyrion Lannister considered the atrocity worse than anything his merciless siblings had done, while Jon Snow soon came to realize that only one thing could stop his aunt’s reign of terror: her death.
1Battle of the Blackwater
When Stannis Baratheon launched an attack on King’s Landing in 299 AC, House Lannister was ill-prepared to defend the city. Their own forces were split, with the bulk of their troops fighting House Stark and its allies further to the north. It was only the ingenuity of Tyrion Lannister that prevented total defeat.His use of wildfireto destroy much of the approaching fleet is one of the franchise’s most memorable moments.
Despite the loss of his fleet, Stannis still came close to overwhelming the city. It was only the surprise intervention of House Tyrell, on the side of the Lannisters, which prevented the seasoned soldier from seizing the Iron Throne. It was the arrogant Joffrey, however, who took credit for defending the city, despite much of the work being done by his uncle, Tyrion.
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