Game Of Thrones: 10 Things That Made No Sense About The Battle Of King’s Landing

The Battle of King’s Landing was one of the biggest disappointments in the eighth season of Game of Thrones as everyone expected it to be the liberation of King’s Landing, not its annihilation. The battle ended when the bells were rung, but Daenerys turned it into a genocide burning down the very people she came to liberate.

Cersei had prepared adequately by improving her defenses with the hired swords from Braavos and mass production of Qyburn’s scorpions, but she was in for a rude shock when Drogon started spitting flames all over the city. Everything that had worked in the past failed as hate defeated humanity, changing the battle’s mood from anger to pity and anguish.

10 The Iron Fleet

Euron Greyjoy coming up with a fleet greater than Yara’s was one of the most disappointing twists in Game of Thrones. He still had a fleet, though, and Cersei needed it so much that she slept with him to make him happy. The Large fleet he used to bring down Rhaegal, Dany’s dragon, suddenly became a bunch of little wooden boats when Dany showed up at Blackwater Bay on the day of the battle.

The fleet mounted with Qyburn’s scorpions was supposed to send a barrage of arrows in Drogon’s path, but only Euron’s ship fired two shots at Drogon, which he missed with ease. So, what happened to the great iron fleet just when Cersei needed it the most?

9 Daenerys Going Berserk

Daenerys was always tough and principled, but she was also compassionate, which is why her definition of ‘liberation’ after burning down King’s Landing didn’t make any sense. Tyrion had told her the bells would go off when the city surrendered, but when the bells went off, they seemed to sound like war cries in Dany’s ears. She only got angrier and bloodthirsty on Drogon’s back.

Her attack also seemed to have no formula as she burned down city street after street with no consideration for the innocents running all over seeking shelter. The entire episode raised the question of what would turn a savior and a breaker of chains into the mad queen that burned down her grandfather’s legacy.

8 Why Didn’t Qyburn’s Scorpions Work?

When Qyburn tested his scorpion on Baelon’s skull, it went right through, suggesting that it would kill Dany’s dragons with ease. The scorpions injured Drogon in the Battle of The Gold Road. Euron also used a scorpion to shoot down Rhaegal, which made the scorpions the weapon that would finally even the odds at the Battle of King’s Landing.

The catastrophic failure of all the Scorpions deployed on the day of the battle was totally shocking. It didn’t make sense for such a large number of units to fail en mass after Euron only used one of them to kill a dragon. Drogon seemed to have developed a super detector for the arrows from the scorpions, while Cersei’s soldiers seemed struck with paralysis when it came to reloading.

7 The Defeat of The Golden Company

The Golden Company was supposed to be made of the best group of Sellswords in the world and bought by all the Tyrell gold; it should have meant something. When Drogon began spitting fire on the troops, they all vanished as if they never existed. Daenerys’ attack on the Golden Company seemed to have come from behind them, which would put her in the city, but no one in the city seems to have seen her coming.

It didn’t make sense for a dragon to creep up on an entire army, coming from within the city they were protecting without any retaliation. All the Golden Company soldiers got consumed by a single wave of flames from Drogon, which doesn’t make sense because they were just too many.

6 Why Did Gregor Stop Obeying Cersei?

Gregor Clegane was Tywin Lannister’s killer before Oberyn Martell nearly killed him, and Qyburn turned him into Cersei’s robot. Qyburn’s depraved science seems to have worked well as Gregor always obeyed Cersei’s orders. Before Sandor arrived and insulted him during the battle of King’s Landing, Gregor never got distracted from his role as Cersei’s bodyguard.

He also obeyed all orders like a robot with no brain of his own. He lost it during the battle, crushing his Qyburn’s skull, then ignoring Cersei’s orders when Sandor challenged him. So, what happened during the battle that somehow gave the vegetable a brain?

5 Why Did Maegor’s Holdfast Collapse?

Qyburn wasn’t the best of Maesters, but he was wise, so when he invited Cersei to escape into Maegor’s Holdfast for safety, he knew it would withstand the apocalypse. According to Cersei, the Red Keep had never fallen since Aegon build it because he had an attack like the one Dany was unleashing in mind when he constructed it.

Maegor’s Holdfast was built under the Red Keep, meaning if the Red Keep had never fallen, then the Holdfast was impregnable. When Cersei and Jaime entered the Holdfast, Most of it had already collapsed. The dragon flames also ate through the Red Keep, a mockery of Aegon Targaryen’s legacy.

4 The Dothraki Numbers

In the war of Winterfell that happened just before The Battle of King’s Landing, the Dothraki Screamers were the first to go against the white walkers, and only a handful of them came back. The Whitewalkers were merciless killers that ate through everything in their way, including horses.

When Dany’s dragon dropped part of the wall, killing most of The Golden company, Dothraki numbers seemed endless as they took over the city. Unless the Dothraki could raise their dead, those numbers didn’t make sense at all.

3 Drogon’s Flames

Just how powerful are a dragon’s flames? When the Iron Bank of Braavos refused to give Cersei a loan, they said that wooden ships couldn’t stand in front of a dragon’s flames, but Cersei managed to convince them that the Iron fleet would stand. Her claims seemed to stand when the dragons failed to consume most of the white walkers in Winterfell.

When it Came to King’s Landing, Drogon seemed to have mutated, though. The flames were nonstop, lasting for a long time and seeming to melt everything, including brick walls. It all raises the question of how one dragon would be more powerful than three. Even Aegon needed three dragons to take over the Seven Kingdoms; how was Drogon so powerful?

2 Ser Gregor’s Death

Sandor deserved the chance to kill The Mountain, but he didn’t deserve to die alongside him, especially after making huge sacrifices in the North. Despite fighting so well, Gregor seemed invincible. Before Sandor’s arrival, Gregor protected Cersei from a large number of blocks that killed most of Cersei’s reserve guard.

Then Sandor stabbed him with a sword right through the heart, but he still didn’t die. A knife through the eye and the skull didn’t kill Gregor either. If all these wouldn’t kill Gregor, or whatever Qyburn turned him into, how would a mere fall do it?

1 Jaime Lannister Reaching The Red Keep

Euron Greyjoy was the worst of the Greyjoys, but Cersei was more stupid to trust him. Instead of helping Jaime rescue Cersei then fight over who gets the queen when she is safe, he chose to fight to death next to a dying city. He was a ferocious fighter, and he managed to stab Jaime through the ribs, meaning he at least caught a lung if not the heart, both of which would be fatal.

The dagger was long and the cut deep, which practically means Jaime was supposed to die. Jaime managed to stand up, kill Euron then walk all the way to the Red Keep to rescue Cersei. Unless Jaime were a superhuman like Gregor, he wouldn’t have walked all that distance without dying, or at least passing out.

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