How would Drogo manage a fight with Westeros knights?

[hearmeroar92]

So would Drogo win a fight with a really skilled knight in Westeros like Jaime Lannister ,Barristan Selmy or Gregor Clegane?

Who do you think would have a chance against the mighty Khal?

[dustyboy316]

He would die in a lot of cases, unless he wore armor. He's a good fighter, but I think he's pretty much only fought other Dothraki or when he's raided villages. It doesn't seem like he's had a good fight with a trained knight in armor before.

But he was really quick for his size, so you never know.

[PrinceOberyn]

Dothraki use this arakh, which is a shorter blade, while Westerosi knights fight with longswords (even Dornish with spears), so a skilled knight would reach Drogo more easily. And he has never learnt the art of single combat, just fierce blowings. I bet for the Westerosi.

[Cold-King]

i would say it would be a knight, even when knight faces knight they land glancing blows that buckle and dint before they open, saying that though the arakh because of its shape might be able to punture plate kind of like the point on the back of a war hammer. But as PrinceOberyn said knights have extra reach and a shield besides.

[Wolfpit]

I think he would've done ok...cause he was really fast and knights are kind of slow because of the armor. If Dothrakis were able to get close the advantage of knights long swords would be lost with that being said i dont think they would've been able to take the 7 kingdoms but they wont totally suck either!

[LordReaper]

The Dothraki are clearly modeled along the Asian steppe nomads, mostly Huns and Mongols. There are some key diffrences- their bigger size and penchant for bloodlust and close quarters combat- but it's probably done to make them more intresting in a fantasy setting. Hence even their weapon of choice - the arakh, a weapon for close quarters, though i've heard good things about Dothraki recurve bows.

Asian nomads won by speed and mobility - both tactical and strategic. They shed heavy armor in favor of speed and rarely close in for melee, prefering to maneuver on the field and shower the enemy with arrows. The Huns were almost unmatched agains European troops of late antiquity, both Roman legions and Germanic warriors. The Mongols made short work of European knights when they encountered them, defeating a large Polish-German army and destroying the roayl Hungarian army, not to mention their coplete subjucation of the Russian city states.

All in all, until the invention of gun powder well led and disciplined Asian nomads were virtually the best fighting machine in the world. A well led Dothraki Khalasar in Westeros is the Mongols in medeival Europe-bad news for the knights. Still, if the Dothraki fight like they are depicted in the books - closing for close quarters- the knights hold the advantage with their superior armor and weapons.

Drogo fighting a Westerosi knight of his calibre - say Gregor Clegane - is anyone's guess. I honestly have no idea who would come up.

[Dawn Age]

You can't make clear analogies with Dothraki and Nomads of the Steppe such as Mongols. The Mongols wore armor. In fact their armor was very effective. They wore armor of leather with silk shirts underneathe, arrows would have no effect on them because they'd get slowed by the impact of leather and twisted in a bundle in the shirts, acting like kevlar. The Mongols did not carry blades like the Dothraki which could be curved or straight. They could cut through leather armor easily. But the Dothraki arkah is absolutly useless against plate/mail armor. It is a slashing weapon. They can cut down pleasants, sellswords but a knight can slay dozens of them before he gets knocked on his back. They may be horse lords like the Steppe People such as Huns, Mongols, Turks, ect but they are very different.

Their bows are a different story. Drogo could be easily slain by Jaime or even Ser Barristan. The Westerosi knight is a killing maching and while they engage their foe they watch for weakneses, let them give a few blows to their sword or sheild, see what they are made of, then deliver the kill. Drogo would be dead no matter how many khals he has slain. Also he is no commander like Tywin, Ned or Stannis.

[smallfolktypeperson]

I'll put my money on the one wearing the "iron dress"

[cwchappell]

The Dorhraki where skilled horsemen, but they would have been at a disadvantage on level ground, without armour. But he was still hot!

[TheZone]

"Only a fool would meet a dothraki in an open feild" Robert Barratheon, a man who overthrew and entire dynasty.

[KhaleesiDany]

Dawn Age has the right of it, if you use our history to compare. The invading mongols in the 14th century destroyed the armies of any European knights they encountered on their westward plunderings. Hungarians, who are descended from nomadic conquerors from the steppes, exchanged these fighting styles for that of the Europeans when they settled in Hungary. 1000 years later, their army of knights was wiped out by Genghis Khan's despite that they retained the value of horsemanship.

The Robert Baratheon quote is telling. The mongols had greater speed, the superior bow, ferocity, and a fighting style not barred by any sense of chivalry. I think the Westerosi knights, though the idea of what chivalry is is one debated constantly in the books, they still have this value to adhere to, whereas Khal Drogo and the others do not. They are definitely seen as more barbaric than Westerosi knights, and there is a reason for that. In the open field, which is to say a fair fight, it would be better not to face the Dothraki.

The armor does give individual knights an advantage, but in our history we saw it make the knights slow and vulnerable. Armor does not make you invincible. DO NOT CLICK IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED ASOS

In the fight between Oberyn and Gregor Clegane, Oberyn wears little armor, mostly leather, because he knows he must rely on speed and precision to hit The Mountain. Sometimes it is better against opponents like this to wear less armor.

I recommend anyone really interested in learning more about this to read the book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. At least the first third of the book, which is really easy to read and written like a story.

Also, I have to mention this because it almost never comes up in these discussions, but the Dothraki are not solely based on steppe people. They have many similarities with Cheyenne and other Native American Plains Indians tribes. The Dothraki are more like them than the Mongols in that they do not have the kind of engineers and technology the Mongols did. Despite these disadvantages, the Plains Indians won some tactically important battles against US soldiers, who had guns.

In Westeros, the fight isn't really a possibility, only because the Dothraki will not cross the sea.

[The Unburnt Hound]

I think he would handle his own. This is a tough question. Hard to say. So many different pros and cons for each side.

[Dawn Age]

The advantages the Plains Indians had was they were fighting on their own land. If Robert Baratheon managed to hall ass across Essos to the Dothraki Sea then he would be screwed. The Dothraki never knew Westeros. The Reach seems likely to get burned the most, the Stormlands and Dorne would be all right. All they have to do is close the gates to Kings Landing. The Vale, forget about it, too many mountains, same with The Westerlands. The Riverlands can be easily defended, the Neck is swampy and a death trap thanks to disease, huge freaking lizards and Cranngomen. Then they'd have to get passed Moat Cailin. By then Winter will hit and they will freeze in their leather vests.

Oh not to mention the Ironborn. They can attack Dothraki hordes and get away by ship before they can hit back.

[Sheyria]

I think he'd win. Even though he doesn't wear armor, he is quick and he has some fighting skills no one else has. I think you never know, if he's quick enough he'll be able to kill without getting hurt, if not, well we already know the result...