[TV] HBO Game of Thrones - Page 601

On July 16 2012 06:00 Zahir wrote:
What a scintillating what if scenario. Reminds me of the alternate history discussions I sometimes read, particularly the one about what wouldve happened if the Mongols had gone through with their expansion into Europe after the death of ogedei. General consensus was that at their peak, the mongols would have been able to devastate europe due to their ability to take apart any european army in the field like jaedong's mutalisks taking apart a d rank iccup player. They would have been able to lay waste to everything in europe that was not a fort, walled town or castle, and many of those would have fallen too. However there is heated debate as to what, If any territories the mongols would been able to hold in Europe after claiming the countryside.

Much like the people of westeros, Europeans were united culturally and religiously, if not always politically.. And given the crusades, it seems evident that they were quite apt to unite against foes large enough to pose a threat to all Europe. And like westeros, Europe of the 13th century was bristling with walled towns, forts and castles. Subduing all these would have required dedicated seiges with massive supply lines to feed the besiegers, which would in turn be vulnerable to counter raids. Both European and Arab forces of the time were beginning to use such raids, in addition to scorched earth policies and adoption of Mongolian like cavalry tactics to force heavy losses on the invaders.

On the other hand, the mongols had a much larger and better army, were undivided, had the capability if not the knack for seige warfare, and had the resources of the worlds largest land empire behind them. Perhaps most important, they had all the best trained and experienced military leadership in the world. Their propensity for trickery, subterfuge and ability to sow dissension, chaos and fear within the ranks of their enemies cannot be overstated.

Now compare this situation to the dothraki vs westeros.... Outnumbered, unlike the Mongols. Lessened ability to call upon resources of their empire due to the narrow sea. Still able to take out any single westerosi army, or even an alliance of maybe up to three great houses... Mongolians were capable of routing much, much larger forces using range and stutter step micro, but the unfamiliar and varied terrain of westeros and logistical difficulties should be taken into account here. Still, fairly strong in a head on fight so there's that much. I must admit though, at the end of the day it seems unlikely that a single khalasar could hold significant territory for any significant length of time. The defenders would eventually push out the invaders through attrition, if nothing else.

And yet. One advantage the dothraki did have that the mongols wouldnt have: danaerys targaryen. They had the rightful heir to all of westeros, the equivalent of a pope, holy roman emperor and French monarch rolled into one. Their ability to acquire allies and sway the populace to their cause throws this whole analysis into disarray. As always, the game of thrones is impossible to truly predict, given the shifting loyalties of westeros and the latent will of the people and nobles to see a targaryen retake the throne. The mad king may have squandered much of that lines prestige, but Rome was not destroyed in a day... thousand year old habits die hard. And the current ruler of westeros is certainly no figure to rally behind.