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Why did Jon Connington take Griffin's Roost?


HouseFossoway

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So, when Jon Connington begins the Golden Company's invasion of Westeros, he decides that the first castle he needs to take is Griffin's Roost, his ancestral home. So he takes a quarter of the available forces (along with several of the Golden Company's commanders) to win a very, very easy siege that took a few minutes. But why Griffin's Roost? It could be that Griffin's Roost is strategically located for further attacks (it's close to Storm's End), but I find it very hard to believe that the most strategic castle to take also just happens to be Jon Connington's. Also, as we learn from the chapter, most of the land Griffin's Roost had lordship over was given away. Wouldn't it make a little more sense to use the element of complete surprise to take a castle that could raise a larger army? I don't think Griffin's Roost has any distinct advantage. I'm not saying that there are specific disadvantages to Griffin's Roost, but I would think that in such a risky endeavor, one would want to have every possible advantage one can get. I think the fact that Jon Connington chose to take Griffin's Roost first says a couple major things:

-Jon Connington is a huge egomaniac. From his recollections that all his Dad ever cared about was acquiring more land and power, which could have passed down to Jon Connington. The fact that he needs to take back Griffin's Roost, shows that he just had to reclaim that title, and couldn't bear the insult that the land was taken away from him.

-Jon Connington is very hasty, now that he has Greyscale. His desire to retake Griffin's Roost (GR) was in part due to the fact that he's dying, and he had to accomplish this first. We already kind of knew this, since one of the reasons that Jon Connington decided not to wait for Daenerys was that he absolutely needed to make sure that he helped Aegon get to the throne. Jon Connington doesn't seem to just want Aegon to be King, he wants to be the person who makes Aegon King. This again has to do with his ego. He's going to be much less cautious, to speedily get Aegon to the throne, even if a safer, but more time consuming way would be better.

-Jon Connington is a bad commander. Jon has not improved from Stoney Sept. He still cares way too much about glory.

I think that this is important because I think he is going to make a colossal mistake sometime soon, and I think it will be during the Siege of Storm's End. Storm's End has been hyped up way too much as the super powerful bad-ass magical NEVER BEEN TAKEN EVER BEFORE, stronghold. So when Jon Connington just says he'll take it "by Guile" with no other explanation (or convenient shadow assassins/dragons/army larger than 2000), I have to roll my eyes. Being the first to ever accomplish a task such as taking Storm's End is something worthy of a legendary epic, and Jon Connington wants to be a hero so badly that I can't imagine George RR Martin will give him that accomplishment.

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Apparently it had a positive strategic location as well, because within a very short time they've taken several other castles and holdfasts. Griffins Roost is a place he knows, where he has intimate knowledge of the layout both within and the lie of the land without, and that's extremely important knowledge. 

It gives them an instant foothold and a place to join up (since they're scattered a bit at first). Then they start picking off the neighbors. Remaining kind of known from old tales, but his reappearance and purpose all mystery and shock - these are all to his advantage. 

Let's say he had decided to land on Tarth instead, take Evenfall, and mount the conquest from there. First he has to pretty much kill or defeat and lock up all the castle inhabitants, so he can sleep and eat in safety. Then he has to worry about what people on Tarth might bother with trying to rescue their lord or oppose his forces, an annoyance he doesn't need. 

Back at home there are people who remember when it WAS his home, and very likely may remain Targ loyalists. I mean, look at the Darrys - they're so close to Kings Landing that they have to host Robert repeatedly, but are still such Targ loyalists that a visit from him requires they run around hiding all their tapestries. 

There are still plenty of dragons hidden in Westeros. His own home was the best place for Connington to start finding them. 

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1 hour ago, LadyoftheNorth72 said:

Apparently it had a positive strategic location as well, because within a very short time they've taken several other castles and holdfasts. Griffins Roost is a place he knows, where he has intimate knowledge of the layout both within and the lie of the land without, and that's extremely important knowledge. 

This, pretty much. No castle is easier to take than one you know extensively. 

Plus, it helps for his playing the part of an exiled lord who came back to reclaim his former lands. 

But the OP is right in that sentimentality and nostalgia probably influenced his decision. He came back home looking for his roots, but the roots just weren't really there anymore. 

As to Storm's End,

we know from WoW chapters that he effectively managed to take the castle, so his "guile" probably worked

 

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I also think (JMO) that ever since the three Baratheon knotheads began squabbling amongst each other over who should have gotten which castle and which one has it now, the various castellans and defenders have probably simply become sick to death of the entire mess. The Stags are just as bad as the Freys when it comes to sticky fingers, just (thank the seven) less prolific. 

One day we're raising Renly's banners, then Stannis's, before that it was Robert over them all so who cared - then Storms End falls to Stannis and later Dragonstone falls to the Lannisters.

It's not hard to predict the Redwynes coming back once they sort out the Shields (or worse, the Ironborn coming to sort them out instead and no fleet to defend with, since that would mean the Redwynes are fishfood and Cersei managed to actually allow someone to STEAL HER ENTIRE FLEET).

To use a Cersei-ism, if I were castellan at Storms End by the end of aDwD, for half a groat I'd turn the place over to the next jerk who shows up demanding it, wish him lots of luck, and go home. 

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I suggest you're overthinking it, the main importance of JC taking GR is to provide GRRM a smooth method of transitioning JC's internal thoughts towards the history he needed to tell the reader. The location of GR within striking distance from the GC's landing, that Rhaegar visited the place and that JC decides to take it are convenient arrangements to naturally spur on the internal thoughts that define and expand on JC's motivations and various little important tidbits of history.

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1 hour ago, Veloknight said:

And as he himself noted, keeps the Iron Throne off-balance while he continues gathering his invasion force.

I agree with this - taking Griffin's Roost allows JonCon, Aegon and the Golden Company to portray their arrival in Westeros as simply an exiled lord returning home to re-claim his birthright. As such, they land and start taking castles without the Lannisters and those in charge in KL realizing the extent of what is going on. It gives them a head start in the conflict that will inevitably ensue. 

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All men with westerosi blood serving with the mercenary companies dream with reconquer their ancestral families' land, castle and titles. Besides, the Stormlands is a nice place to begin the "conquest". Not very densely populated, with lots of woods, no cities. You would take a lot of castles in a quick multiple strike and nobody is going to learn what happened before it is late. Griffin's Roost is likely one of the strongest castles in the area, only second to Storm's End. So it makes sense for Jon to take it.

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Landing that large of a force by sea is normally a recipe for significant casualties, whether it for sentimental reasons or not it was a wise tactic. Takes back control of his lands & places them in great position to take Storms End. 

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Aldo, Griffin's Roost is poorly defended.

As JonCon explains, after his exile Conningtons became lesser lords, and in the castle there was no lord and only a handful of soldiers... An extremely rare occasion for such an important and strong castle and a convenient opportunity for the GC, even more given the knowledge of the territory and the castle JC has, that actually let the Company take the castle easy and, if I remember correctly, with only one casualty, which would've been impossible for any other castle in the area.

So no, the thought of the Griffin's Roost may have been born for a nostalgic reason, but its choice was definitely the best option out there.

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I think it was so, when news of his conquest got around, those in charge would assume he was just coming to reclaim his ancestral lands and put a lower priority on dealing with it - they would probably figure that they could put off dealing with him until other problems are taken care of, it's just one minor lord taking back what was once his, and we don't really care who has Griffin's Roost anyway.

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Of course he wants his seat back and is emotional about it, can you really blame him?

That doesn´t make it a bad move, though. His character flaws you pointed out are obvious, but he really does care about Aegon and wants him to succeed. Whether or not he will put his own glory and honor ahead of Aegon is still to be found out, I´m personally not so sure. I think he´s grown from the Stoney Sept, he has a certain ruthlessness to him that he propably didn´t have during Roberts Rebellion.

I think you´re being unfair when you call him a bad commander, he was a teenager when he lost to Robert and Ned, and we haven´t really seen him in action since. 

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As he says taking Griffins Roost is a very good cover for an invasion. Him taking back his ancestral home and surrounding castles makes him look like a disgruntled former lord landing and retaking his property. Taking out the surrounding castles makes it look like he is trying to avoid basklash from allies. The crown need not bother putting a bunch of resources to the squabbles of a petty lord when there are Ironborn raiding all over the reach, jeopardising food security, the faith militant and a bunch of other rebellions 

Its possible for him to get more of a buffer for his invasion then if he just flat out invaded and took things he didn't have a claim too.  

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I seem to recall that Red Ronnet is an abrasive asshat, and is also one of the lords who may have trouble remembering whom they serve when they wake each morning. He originally joined Renly, then went over to Stannis; was captured on the Blackwater and bent the knee to Tommen. He's part of Jaime's force in the Riverlands and annoys Jaime so badly that he packs Ronnet off to White Harbor to deliver Manderley's heir, with some of Gregor Clegane's men as his escort. 

Since Varys appears to have kept his friends in Essos well apprised of the situation in Westeros, it's quite likely that JonCon is aware of most of this. The predictable result is that Ronnet will have some difficulty finding trust or friends. And indeed, KL does not believe for a moment that he wasn't involved in this invasion. 

I have this amusing mental image of Ronnet carting around a small trunkful of various badges and banners, just in case. 

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