10k Golden company vs 15k Stormlanders

[Stormking902]

Some of you make good points but this is my final argument on the matter, just think about the sheer size of the SL its a small country that has survived for thousands of years being directlty across from Essos. We have already witnessed the Andals crossing the narrow sea and quite litterally assimilate and take over the first men entirely. House Tarth and the island of Tarth would most deffinitly be able to send word via raven or ship that an invader is about to land on their shores but no mention of this was ever givin. The fact that plot allowed them to take Griffins Roost without any challenge basically is idiotic. Then they sweep across most of the SL taking castle after castle this is impossible without taking loses, 50 men in a castle are worth 500 men outside trying to break in. 

[Lord Varys]

5 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Well the castle fell and the garrison was presumably killed. Can't imagine the Lannisters leaving Rolland alive after he gave them so much trouble. But yeah, he's either dead or a prisoner. Either way he's out of action.

Yeah, but you should keep in mind George's statement that characters usually are not dead until we have a confirmation. I'm inclined to believe that Storm could easily enough be dead if he directly participated in the battle and got caught by the men under Loras' command after he was cooked by the hot oil. It is not unlikely that the men weren't very inclined to grant a lot of mercy after that.

But still, we don't know any details about the battle of Dragonstone yet. And the same basically goes for the battle on Tarth - with the addition that we don't really know whether there was a real battle.

5 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

The Mertyns nobles probably died with the cavalry at the Blackwater. As for the levies, they might have been killed by Tarly at Bitterbridge or forcibly conscripted into the Lannister-Tyrell army, as we know some house's forces were.

Lady Mertyn seems to be under the impression that he sons and grandsons are still alive.

5 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Stannis did indeed have men from the Crownlands with him at the Blackwater, and also in the North. I was generalizing. His 5000 infantry was made up of small house's like Chyttering, Farring and Massey that joined him from the mainland Crownlands, Myrish and Lysene sellswords and the forces of the narrow sea houses like Velaryon, Celtigar and Bar Emmon. Since the Narrow Sea houses were likely the biggest portion of that, I generalized.

My point there was more that it is not very likely that the Chyttering and Farrings were already with Stannis while he was on Dragonstone. The Masseys could have been with him considering that they would have had ships and were technically sworn to Dragonstone. But the Crownlanders on the mainland close to KL would be sworn directly to the Iron Throne. Those who have their castles and lands south of the Blackwater might have been close enough to Stannis' army to decide to join him rather than oppose him after he took Storm's End.

5 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Now that you mention it yeah, the Redwyne's don't seem as suspicious. I had Olenna confused as being from another house originally and I completely forgot Mace's sister. Still, I think Tarly might tip his banner to Aegon. He may have a seat on the Small Council, but I really don't think he likes serving Mace, and the chance to get out of that is something I think he'll jump at. Also, why wouldn't Aegon name him to the small council? He's one of the greatest military minds still alive and controls one of the larger portions of the Reach forces.

Oh, if Tarly is captured by Aegon or if his army is defeated by the Golden Company there is a good chance that he'll join him eventually. But I don't see him as a genuine Targaryen loyalist who would openly betray Mace while there are other options.

And Mace himself might be willing to join Aegon, too, anyway. If Margaery or Tommen die or if their marriage is annulled he'll have little reason to stick to the Lannister king. Mace must be very aware by now what Cersei tried to do to his daughter.

The same would also go if Mace himself were to lead the troops against Aegon only to be defeated and captured by him.

If Tarly became a turncloak while Mace was still in power he would risk the wrath of Highgarden, and the Tyrells are not just a powerful family they are also numerous and very much at the center of the power machine in the Reach. The idea that Aegon is not going to intend to work with House Tyrell if he can isn't very likely. It wouldn't be easy to take the Reach and Highgarden from the Tyrells to hand it to another house without good reason. Granted, if Mace becomes Aegon's foremost enemy and troubles him for months to come it is imaginable that he would do something like that.

But we have to keep in mind that Willas and Garlan are right now organizing the defense against the Ironborn. They will have vast armies of their own and them defending the Reach against its enemies should give them more sympathy than, say, Tarly turning his back on the Tyrells.

There will be some minor houses that are likely to raise armies in Aegon's name in the Reach - Merryweather, Peake, perhaps Rowan after he has declared for him. But declaring for Aegon still isn't the same as fighting against Mace/the Tyrells. Think about how the Umbers resolved that issue when Mors and Hother decided to fight on opposite sides. The Reach lords declaring for Aegon could make it clear that they are not going to fight against their fellow Reach men nor against their liege lord but only against the Lannisters. Granted, that could mean Mace lacks the men to defeat Aegon but it is not going to be as vile a treason as openly fighting against Highgarden.

And TWoIaF tells us that things aren't as violent in the Reach as in other regions, making it not so likely that the Reach lords are going to stab each other in the back. There are no lords there that are likely to behave like Roose, Walder, or Tywn. 

[Minstral]

Not sure if you mentioned this yet, Lord Varys, but since the lands of House Caron were handed to a Westerman a number of the Marcher houses probably have reason to resent the Lannister regime. It also likely makes the Caron lands disorganized, as Foote would have had at most a year to go to attempt to organize the lands he has been awarded (he was present at Tyrion's trial in the capital). For the other reasons stated then, the Marches are in a state where they must contend with watching the two Dornish hosts in the passes while their leaders are dead/absent/turncoats/docile (twenty bucks says the Lord of house Swan dies and they join the GC) and the GC is at their backs.

The best part of the Stormlands cavalry have been defeated at the Blackwater while other portions of their foot soldiers has and will continue to be cannibalized by the other factions. The last portion worth mentioning are the Marcher forces, and we will have to wait and see if they stand against the Dornish, a task they may not be up for since the region is now utterly vulnerable, when/if they cross the passes or join them.

[Lord Varys]

@Minstral

We don't really know whether Foote is already in the Marches. I'd be surprised if he was. But if that was the case I'd be very surprised if he was welcome there and could count on the support of the Caron men in the coming struggles. And if there are some (distant) Caron cousins around - either through the male or the female line - those people most certainly would jump on the chance to support Prince Aegon if that would help them to get rid of a man like Foote as their new lord.

Other thing: The fact that there was no real garrison at Griffin's Roost also sort of indicates that Red Ronnet Connington took quite a few men with him when he went to Renly. In that sense the Stormlands are definitely depleted of men, at least in those regions the Golden Company has invaded. In Weeping Town things seem to be somewhat different.

We also have to keep in mind that neither Stannis nor his garrison at Storm's End didn't get any support from the Stormlands after the Blackwater. Back during the Rebellion Mace Tyrell may have needed as large an army as he had to besiege Storm's End because he needed sufficient strength to prevent Robert's vassals from breaking the siege.

If there were still some Stormlords left in the Stormlands with the standing among their peers to marshal and lead troops in the name of their liege/king then it is is very odd that nothing of this sort happened while Stannis was needing help on Dragonstone or when Joff and eventually Tywin's death dealt a huge blow to the Lannisters.

[Adam Yozza]

10 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Yeah, but you should keep in mind George's statement that characters usually are not dead until we have a confirmation. I'm inclined to believe that Storm could easily enough be dead if he directly participated in the battle and got caught by the men under Loras' command after he was cooked by the hot oil. It is not unlikely that the men weren't very inclined to grant a lot of mercy after that.

But still, we don't know any details about the battle of Dragonstone yet. And the same basically goes for the battle on Tarth - with the addition that we don't really know whether there was a real battle.

Lady Mertyn seems to be under the impression that he sons and grandsons are still alive.

My point there was more that it is not very likely that the Chyttering and Farrings were already with Stannis while he was on Dragonstone. The Masseys could have been with him considering that they would have had ships and were technically sworn to Dragonstone. But the Crownlanders on the mainland close to KL would be sworn directly to the Iron Throne. Those who have their castles and lands south of the Blackwater might have been close enough to Stannis' army to decide to join him rather than oppose him after he took Storm's End.

Oh, if Tarly is captured by Aegon or if his army is defeated by the Golden Company there is a good chance that he'll join him eventually. But I don't see him as a genuine Targaryen loyalist who would openly betray Mace while there are other options.

And Mace himself might be willing to join Aegon, too, anyway. If Margaery or Tommen die or if their marriage is annulled he'll have little reason to stick to the Lannister king. Mace must be very aware by now what Cersei tried to do to his daughter.

The same would also go if Mace himself were to lead the troops against Aegon only to be defeated and captured by him.

If Tarly became a turncloak while Mace was still in power he would risk the wrath of Highgarden, and the Tyrells are not just a powerful family they are also numerous and very much at the center of the power machine in the Reach. The idea that Aegon is not going to intend to work with House Tyrell if he can isn't very likely. It wouldn't be easy to take the Reach and Highgarden from the Tyrells to hand it to another house without good reason. Granted, if Mace becomes Aegon's foremost enemy and troubles him for months to come it is imaginable that he would do something like that.

But we have to keep in mind that Willas and Garlan are right now organizing the defense against the Ironborn. They will have vast armies of their own and them defending the Reach against its enemies should give them more sympathy than, say, Tarly turning his back on the Tyrells.

There will be some minor houses that are likely to raise armies in Aegon's name in the Reach - Merryweather, Peake, perhaps Rowan after he has declared for him. But declaring for Aegon still isn't the same as fighting against Mace/the Tyrells. Think about how the Umbers resolved that issue when Mors and Hother decided to fight on opposite sides. The Reach lords declaring for Aegon could make it clear that they are not going to fight against their fellow Reach men nor against their liege lord but only against the Lannisters. Granted, that could mean Mace lacks the men to defeat Aegon but it is not going to be as vile a treason as openly fighting against Highgarden.

And TWoIaF tells us that things aren't as violent in the Reach as in other regions, making it not so likely that the Reach lords are going to stab each other in the back. There are no lords there that are likely to behave like Roose, Walder, or Tywn. 

As I said, it's entirely possible that Rolland and Selwyn are alive and well, but even if they are then they aren't in a position to stand against the GC, which is the point I was trying to make.

Whether the Mertyns males are alive or not, they would have been with their cavalry on the Blackwater and may have been captured and/or surrendered and are now with their levies somewhere.

Yeah fair enough about the Farring's and Chyttering's. They were probably picked up on the march from Storms End to King's Landing, but odds are they were probably sworn to Stannis before Renly's death and had their forces assembled and ready to go when Stannis reached them. It would take longer to raise more men on the go. Then again, we don't know where their lands are. They could both be on Massey's hook and the Massey fleet picked them up.

Maybe he wouldn't jump straight to Aegon in Winds. As much as I think he must secretly hate Mace he's not stupid and probably knows that the Tarly's could not take on the Tyrell's. But, if Cersei retakes power and Mace fails to do anything about it....or if Rowan approaches him with a group of other lords....or if as you say he is captured in battle, maybe due to Mace's incompetence....there are three scenario's were I can see Tarly turning against Mace. Not against the Tyrell's, necessarily; I imagine Tarly has a lot of respect for Garlan; but against Mace. Maybe he helps Aegon capture Mace and then delivers the rest of the Reach peacefully, or something. I've not thought this all the way through, obviously, but something like that.

Yeah, if something happens to Marg I can see Mace either blundering everything up and getting coup d'etated or he himself joining Aegon.

[Adam Yozza]

13 hours ago, Stormking902 said:

Some of you make good points but this is my final argument on the matter, just think about the sheer size of the SL its a small country that has survived for thousands of years being directlty across from Essos. We have already witnessed the Andals crossing the narrow sea and quite litterally assimilate and take over the first men entirely. House Tarth and the island of Tarth would most deffinitly be able to send word via raven or ship that an invader is about to land on their shores but no mention of this was ever givin. The fact that plot allowed them to take Griffins Roost without any challenge basically is idiotic. Then they sweep across most of the SL taking castle after castle this is impossible without taking loses, 50 men in a castle are worth 500 men outside trying to break in. 

Griffin's Roost army is gone. The Stormlands army is gone, either dead or being cannibalized by the Tyrell-Lannister alliance.

And once again, the GC is one of the most disciplined fighting forces in planetos. It's the closest thing to a standing army we've seen in the books and are vastly superior to the armies of Westeros. The Griffin's Roost garrison (miniscule anyway) wouldn't be made up of professional guardsmen; those will have mostly gone with the army. These are hastily trained green boys or greybeards, who will break and be overwhelmed quickly. Winterfell in Clash is the perfect example of this.

[Stormking902]

During war time all castles would have a full garrison of trained men to defend it incase of attack ESPECIALLY since house Connington is loyal to the Lannisters and currently King Stannis Baratheon rightful lord of SE and the SL entirely is in open rebel against the crown (Lannisters) also SE is currently held by Stannis men to have Griffins Roost protected by untrained greenboys and greybeards is illogical AND again goes against the basic function of a castle ....... 

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

35 minutes ago, Stormking902 said:

During war time all castles would have a full garrison of trained men to defend it incase of attack ESPECIALLY since house Connington is loyal to the Lannisters and currently King Stannis Baratheon rightful lord of SE and the SL entirely is in open rebel against the crown (Lannisters) also SE is currently held by Stannis men to have Griffins Roost protected by untrained greenboys and greybeards is illogical AND again goes against the basic function of a castle ....... 

Now you're just reiterating over and over the point you made originally. That makes any discussion with you seem kind of pointless.

[Stormking902]

How i brought up entirely different perspective givin the tension in SL between crown and Stannis so bug off.......

[Coolbeard the Exile]

I do belive Jon Connington is one of the most dangerous men in Westeros. Whilst Stannis probably is a better commander i feel like Jon Connington would eat you alive if you insulted him in his face.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

17 minutes ago, Stormking902 said:

How i brought up entirely different perspective givin the tension in SL between crown and Stannis so bug off.......

Oh, gladly.

[Lord Varys]

9 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

As I said, it's entirely possible that Rolland and Selwyn are alive and well, but even if they are then they aren't in a position to stand against the GC, which is the point I was trying to make.

We are in agreement there.

9 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Whether the Mertyns males are alive or not, they would have been with their cavalry on the Blackwater and may have been captured and/or surrendered and are now with their levies somewhere.

Yeah, that seems to be the case. The irritating thing is that the Mertyn nobles apparently are still with their levies - who should have remained at Bitterbridge.

9 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Yeah fair enough about the Farring's and Chyttering's. They were probably picked up on the march from Storms End to King's Landing, but odds are they were probably sworn to Stannis before Renly's death and had their forces assembled and ready to go when Stannis reached them. It would take longer to raise more men on the go. Then again, we don't know where their lands are. They could both be on Massey's hook and the Massey fleet picked them up.

The interesting thing there is that Ser Justin Massey clearly isn't the Lord Massey of Stonedance. We don't know who that guy is at the time of the series. Presumably Lord Massey fought with Stannis on the Blackwater but since neither he nor Ser Justin show up in ACoK among Stannis' vassals on Dragonstone this is difficult to figure out. Were the Masseys just not mentioned by Davos and Cressen or did they only join Stannis later during his campaign? That thing is especially irritating because the Bar Emmons - who are also from Massey's Hook - were on Dragonstone during ACoK and ASoS.

If they joined him later then others that are right now with him could have done so to.

Aside from Ser Justin there are other noblemen and knights with Stannis who are neither the heads of their houses nor next in line to inherit those titles. People like Horpe, Suggs, and Selyse's sworn shields at the Wall fall in those categories.

The presence of such men does not necessarily imply that the entire house supported Stannis' claim at one point. The Masseys certainly might have done so but Ser Richard Horpe could easily enough be the only Horpe who ever declared for Stannis Baratheon, and so on.

9 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Maybe he wouldn't jump straight to Aegon in Winds. As much as I think he must secretly hate Mace he's not stupid and probably knows that the Tarly's could not take on the Tyrell's. But, if Cersei retakes power and Mace fails to do anything about it....or if Rowan approaches him with a group of other lords....or if as you say he is captured in battle, maybe due to Mace's incompetence....there are three scenario's were I can see Tarly turning against Mace. Not against the Tyrell's, necessarily; I imagine Tarly has a lot of respect for Garlan; but against Mace. Maybe he helps Aegon capture Mace and then delivers the rest of the Reach peacefully, or something. I've not thought this all the way through, obviously, but something like that.

I don't think Tarly really hates Mace. The episode that's cited there usually is the Battle of Ashford and the military men of Westeros knew who did the work there. People know it was Randyll Tarly. Mace looks bad or even ridiculous by overemphasizing his role in all that.

However, Tarly wasn't the commander or general of the Tyrell army. Mace Tyrell was. If you ask me who won the Battle of the Green Fork I'd say Lord Tywin Lannister although he didn't do any personal fighting in that one. We wouldn't say Gregor Clegane, Addam Marbrand, or Kevan Lannister won that battle although they might have done the actual commanding work on the field.

And when we would ask who had effectively won the War of the Five Kings on the day before Joffrey's wedding we would say King Joffrey despite the fact that the boy king didn't contribute anything to his own victory.

That's just how we talk about these things. And in this sense Mace Tyrell isn't wrong in saying he had defeated Robert Baratheon at Ashford because it was his army who did that. He sort of overemphasizes his role when he claims personal responsibility as if he had been on the field but he is correct insofar as he claims that his army, his levies, and his vassals defeated Robert. It is not invalid to incorporate these people in your own person if you are a nobleman of Mace Tyrell's rank.

In that sense I doubt that Tarly feels slighted all that much by Mace. Quite the contrary, actually. If it is true that Mace Tyrell isn't the sharpest knife in the box - and there are hints that this is the case although he is neither stupid nor unambitious - then Tarly could actually wield more real power and influence in Mace's service than if Mace was a shrewd man himself or if Tarly was one general among in the service of a king who was wont to make his own decision (and Aegon clearly is developing into such a person).

This doesn't make it likely he would defect without good reason at this point.

The problem with Willas and Garlan is that they most likely wouldn't look kindly towards Tarly if the man actually betrayed (or killed) their father. Tarly could only hope to return to the Reach without fearing repercussions from House Tyrell if they were ousted as the ruling house of the Reach and that's very unlikely right now. Mace doesn't only have three living sons (two of which could inherit his title) but also three living uncles and quite a few male cousins. Those men are not likely to stand idly by while Aegon or anybody else bestows Highgarden and the Reach on another family. For that to happen the power of the Reach and the personal power of House Tyrell must be depleted more than the West/Lannisters and the North/Starks are right now.

Hell, even if the Mace's line and his uncles and male cousins were all killed then the Redwynes and Fossoways would still have a strong blood claim to Highgarden and the Reach through the female line. They are not likely to let that easily go. Tarly really is in no position to challenge any of that right now. Nor is there any indication that he wants Highgarden for himself.

And if Aegon were to be forced to scourge the Reach and put somebody else in charge of that region he would likely choose a man he could really trust. Say, an officer from the Golden Company who distinguished himself during the way, say, Laswell Peake. His line would be from the Reach, too. Or he would reward early defectors like Lords Rowan and Merryweather (who are likely to join him very soon). Tarly simply isn't the first on that list.

9 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Yeah, if something happens to Marg I can see Mace either blundering everything up and getting coup d'etated or he himself joining Aegon.

My personal guess is that there is a good chance that Mace and/or Margaery are going to die in whatever chaos might unfold in KL soon. Tarly (if he survives - quite likely considering that one hopes Sam is going to confront him in the future at some point) might then play a role in leading the Reach into camp Aegon (although I'm pretty sure Olenna and Willas are going to make overtures, too). Depending how bloody the original battle(s) between the Tyrells and Aegon will be I don't think the Reach will all that much in Aegon's campaigns outside the Reach because Willas, Garlan, the Hightowers, Redwynes, and the other lords in the south of the Reach will be occupied with the Ironborn.

Whether Aegon and the Dornishmen will eventually come to their aid after they have taken KL remains to be seen. That depends on the political situation in Westeros at that point which is completely unpredictable at this point. Aegon might be force to march against the Westermen at this point. He might decide to help pacify the Riverlands to win the loyalty of the people and show that he is a king who cares about his people, etc. Vice versa, if Euron smashes the Redwyne fleet he might decide to ignore Oldtown and move on the capture KL and the Iron Throne with his vast armada, resulting in another battle at/near KL.

Thinking about that a little bit I find it very likely that Aegon and Arianne will decide that the Dornish army in the Prince's Pass will not attack the Reach but rather come to the aid of Willas/Garlan/the Hightowers. There is a good chance that the news about the Ironborn-Redwyne battle might reach Storm's End around the time Arianne makes her final decision whom to support. If Euron defeats Paxter people will realize how great a threat this man is and Aegon would then have any reason to help the Reach against the Ironborn to win their support. And this decision could then result in Euron attacking and burning Sunspear, possibly killing both Doran and Trystane in the process (although the latter is really difficult to say - Doran Martell isn't stupid, and the Dornishmen fight like hell - if Sunspear was attacked they certainly would find ways to spirit away Doran and Trystane in time).

[Ser Scott Malkinson]

On 20-10-2016 at 10:35 PM, BeastMaster64 said:

He was ever a capable warrior and commander. His years spent in exile have made him more cautious, more seasoned, and, according to Kevan Lannister, more dangerous. Tyrion Lannister considers Jon to be dangerous as well.

He served with the golden company for five years, rising quickly in the ranks to a place of honor at the right hand of Myles Toyne, the captain-general. 

He was/is obviously a bery good swordsman as he felt confident he could kill Robert Baratheon in sinngle combat.

He is full of hate and has an unstoppable driving force of puting Aegon on the Throne.

He dosn't care about honour anymore which could mean something nasty and sneaky.

He also killed Denys Arryn who was a good fighter.

Sure that makes him a dangerous guy. It's just that when I think of most dangerous I think of Varys and LF. I think JonCon, though a badass by now, doesn't quite make it to that category. Maybe he is one of the most dangerous commanders or most dangerous fighters, but not one of the most dangerous characters overall, IMO.

And to the point of him thinking he could beat Robert (my thoughts on your other points are similar to Adam Yozza's), Rhaegar probably thought that as well and look at what happened to him... He was probably overestimating himself, as young men are wont to do (look at Renly and his cronies).

[Twenty of House Goodmen]

Honestly, the biggest reason for why the Stormlander forces seem to have disappeared is mainly for just plot. They had no where near the amount of casualties most seem to think they suffered at the Blackwater. They shouldn't be depleted.

Of course there are factors that come in. Lack of lesdership, disdain for the crown, etc. JonCon being a native Stormlander could somewhat explain why the GC invasion is going smoothly.

I have to say though, the idea of Stormlords  willingly siding with a Targaryen claimant really bugs me. Especially considering that Targ rule has not been kind to their region. The world book actually makes me question why on earth any Stormlord would be loyal to them over their rightful lords, unless it's just ambition driven.

[the conquering bastard 25]

On 10/18/2016 at 4:44 PM, The Grey Wolf said:

The Golden Company fought in three of the Blackfyre Rebellions, the Third, the Fourth, and the Fifth.

We know next to nothing about the Third but given what little we know I'm willing to venture the rebellion was a serious threat to the Targaryens and that the Golden Company won many great victories before choking at the end, probably because the Blackfyres from the start always have less numbers and resources.

Concerning the Fourth, considering how short, abortive, and disastrous it was and Bittersteel is no fool I think this rebellion is the one where Torwyn Greyjoy betrayed Bittersteel by informing Aegon V about the Blackfyre landing site, hence, the Golden Company finding itself outmanuvered and outnumbered at the Battle of the Wendwater Bridge.

Concerning the Fifth, again, we have next to no information but considering that the Westerosi forces were hard-pressed for a time before Maelys died and that half a year of heavy fighting remained even after that point I'd say the Golden Company put up a really good fight.

Beyond that we don't know anything about their victories and defeats in Essos except that shortly after their creation they sacked Qohor (no mean feat) when it refused to honor its contract.

And as Lysono Maar in one of Arianne chapters in TWOW tells us there were many a close battle involving the GC so it definitely lives up to its reputation, the chief problem then being that we have so little information on the Blackfyre Rebellions themselves, which prevents in-depth analysis and discussion.

Finally, the Doylist answer would be "because GRRM needed them to lose".

As for GC casualties in the series, it isn't stated in ADWD that they didn't take casualties taking any of the castles. In fact apart from Griffin's Roost we don't know the numbers and casualties of any of the other castles taken if I'm not mistaken but if we use Griffin's Roost as a template then we can see why the casualties are low: Speed, deception, confusion, and the lack of someone like Ser Rodrik for the Stormlanders to rally behind.

Also, this isn't the first time GRRM has been iffy with castles. Tywin and Jaime taking castle after castle in the Riverlands in AGOT is way more implausible.

No the gold company fought in 4 of the rebellions. 1(as the loses went on to form said company), 3,4 ( which wasn't even a war as Blood raven killed the claimant) and 5 under Maelys. 

Here I'll even name said claimants

Daemon I, Heagon I, Aenys Blackfyre I and Maelys

The GC wouldnt even exist if not for the follies of dumb Daemon I.

So yeah plausible maybe,if one squints an eye and cocks one head to the side and don't pay too much to the details

[The Grey Wolf]

3 hours ago, the conquering bastard 25 said:

No the gold company fought in 4 of the rebellions. 1(as the loses went on to form said company), 3,4 ( which wasn't even a war as Blood raven killed the claimant) and 5 under Maelys. 

Here I'll even name said claimants

Daemon I, Heagon I, Aenys Blackfyre I and Maelys

The GC wouldnt even exist if not for the follies of dumb Daemon I.

So yeah plausible maybe,if one squints an eye and cocks one head to the side and don't pay too much to the details

This is so laughably incorrect I can't help but wonder if you're trolling.

The Golden Company did NOT fight in the First Blackfyre Rebellion or the Second. In fact, it was founded the year after the Second.

Furthermore, Aenys was NOT a Blackfyre Pretender. He came in peace to put his name before the Great Council that followed Maekar I's death at the Storming of Starpike and was murdered by Bloodraven despite having been granted safe passage, attempting to bypass the superior claim of his nephew, Daemon III.

Beyond that, the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion WAS a true and proper war, with battles and people declaring for both sides.

There were five Blackfyre Pretenders: Daemon I, Daemon II, Haegon I, Daemon III, and Maelys I. The GC fought for the following three of them: Haegon I, Daemon III, and Maelys I.

And Daemon was NOT dumb. I seriously don't get why people have this obsession with depicting Daemon and Daeron as jock vs. nerd. Daemon was a great warrior and general as a well as a skilled politician given how large and diverse his coalition was plus in minting his own coinage (something never done by any other known pretender in Westerosi history) we can see that he understood institutional politics as well as symbol politics since minting your own coinage means you need a treasury to store it in, a bureaucracy to manage it, and a capital for the treasury to be located in.

[Adam Yozza]

13 hours ago, the conquering bastard 25 said:

No the gold company fought in 4 of the rebellions. 1(as the loses went on to form said company), 3,4 ( which wasn't even a war as Blood raven killed the claimant) and 5 under Maelys. 

Here I'll even name said claimants

Daemon I, Heagon I, Aenys Blackfyre I and Maelys

The GC wouldnt even exist if not for the follies of dumb Daemon I.

So yeah plausible maybe,if one squints an eye and cocks one head to the side and don't pay too much to the details

The fourth Blackfyre rebellion was led by Daemon III Blackfyre, the son of Haegon I. The Great Council occurred at a time after the fourth rebellion. The situation in which Aenys I tried to put forward a claim on the throne is not counted as rebellion because he came to KL with no intention of violence.

Daemon was not stupid. He was a very well respected and skilled warrior, commander and politician. It wasn't like he got handed the sword and got legitimized and immediately decided to fight a war to gain the IT. The Blackfyre Rebellion took place more than a decade after Daemon's legitimization, which means that instead of Daemon simply being a power hungry bastard, Daeron II likely did something that Daemon couldn't ignore; probably giving most important positions in KL to Dornishmen, who were hated by pretty much every other Kingdom.

[The Grey Wolf]

48 minutes ago, Adam Yozza said:

The fourth Blackfyre rebellion was led by Daemon III Blackfyre, the son of Haegon I. The Great Council occurred at a time after the fourth rebellion. The situation in which Aenys I tried to put forward a claim on the throne is not counted as rebellion because he came to KL with no intention of violence.

Daemon was not stupid. He was a very well respected and skilled warrior, commander and politician. It wasn't like he got handed the sword and got legitimized and immediately decided to fight a war to gain the IT. The Blackfyre Rebellion took place more than a decade after Daemon's legitimization, which means that instead of Daemon simply being a power hungry bastard, Daeron II likely did something that Daemon couldn't ignore; probably giving most important positions in KL to Dornishmen, who were hated by pretty much every other Kingdom.

The Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion took place after the Great Council involving Aenys. In fact, the murder of Haegon and then Aenys, according to Yandel, "hardened the enmity of the exiles across the narrow sea".

Also, Daeron II's lopsided appointments and patronage was indeed one of the Blackfyres legitimate grievances. Not to mention Daeron struck first with the preemptive arrest attempt, which, other than Bloodraven's word, seems to have lacked any evidence to justify.

[Adam Yozza]

2 hours ago, The Grey Wolf said:

The Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion took place after the Great Council involving Aenys. In fact, the murder of Haegon and then Aenys, according to Yandel, "hardened the enmity of the exiles across the narrow sea".

Also, Daeron II's lopsided appointments and patronage was indeed one of the Blackfyres legitimate grievances. Not to mention Daeron struck first with the preemptive arrest attempt, which, other than Bloodraven's word, seems to have lacked any evidence to justify.

Did it? I stand corrected. I guess I just assumed that because Daemon III was the son of Haegon his attempt came before Aenys (who was the younger brother of Haegon)

[The Grey Wolf]

30 minutes ago, Adam Yozza said:

Did it? I stand corrected. I guess I just assumed that because Daemon III was the son of Haegon his attempt came before Aenys (who was the younger brother of Haegon)

Np.

And yeah, Aenys tried to get the throne ahead of his nephew. Very interesting...