Game of Thrones was always interesting because it made an attempt at realism. I don’t mean dragons and magic but instead military strategy and politics. It’s not so mythical like LOTR. The strategies used by Robb Stark to defeat Lannister forces in season 2 are sound tactical choices used in real life. This realism in war and politics always made the show and universe so interested.
Then the last season happened- in particular the battle for Winterfell.
The Battle for Winterfell against the White Walkers is the dumbest fictional battle in history and that is saying something. It is pure military stupidity. A literal child could plan a better battle.
Think about it. You have a large army but you are outnumbered 5 to 1. Any losses you take reinforce your enemy so you can’t take high losses. What do you do?
Well, what you DON’T do is stack up your entire army outside the walls of a castle in the middle of the night and just sit there waiting to be attacked. This is the dumbest possible choice.
The only thing dumber would be wasting your cavalry in an all-out charge for no tactical gain before the battle even starts.
I have never seen a less logical battle in fiction.
What you do is send your cavalry away in the hills and keep them there in case an opening appears and you keep your army in the castle. That way the white walker's charge is stopped cold by stone walls.
The walkers get stuck and pressed up against the walls while you just hit them with archers. They then climb the walls and can be isolated and killed 1 by 1.
Castles like Winterfell are built to stop a larger army. It’s their entire purpose. 50 man can hold a castle against 1000 enemies- unless of course, you abandon your walls and just fight in the open where numbers matter.
I love Band of Brothers. It is the greatest piece of WW2 cinema/TV ever made. It’s moving, deep, historically accurate, and well made.
However- the show made 1 rather large mistake and it's silly.
Remember Pvt Blithe? You know, the kid that claims he cannot see that gets shot in the neck?
Well at the end of his episode it says he later died in 1948 due to complications with his bullet wound. The episode was partially a memorial to the man that gave his life in WW2.
1 problem- he didn’t die in 1948 or from his injury. He died over 2 decades after WW2 from complications with surgery.
His family was pretty confused I imagine.
Picture Source Wikipedia
Thanks for Reading
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