Why did Balon Greyjoy wait so long to start his rebellion?

[WardenOfTheNorth]

He waited 6 years after the conclusion of Robert's Rebellion to attempt his secession from the Iron Throne. It would have been smarter IMO, to rebel during Roberts Rebellion instead of after. In all that chaos, he might have gotten his kingdom, since it would have been difficult for Robert or Aerys to deal with the Iron Islands at the time. Waiting 6 years after Roberts rule was cemented, was just not very smart, IMO.

[TalalOfDorne]

This thread adresses this question exactly. I hope you find the answer your looking for .

[Pootie Tang]

Never miss an opportunity like this:

Erhem, Balon, you see, was a fool.

[Chaircat Meow]

Balon had a totally awesome plan the second time round.

Awesome it was.

Really good.

Just putting that out there.

[Nezzer]

It would have been smarter IMO.

"Balon" and "smart" can never be used in the same sentence. That idiot was one of the dumbest characters in the entire story, and there are a lot of those already. It's impossible to analyze his plans and his strategies without shaking your head.

[TalalOfDorne]

Balon had a totally awesome plan the second time round.

Awesome it was.

Really good.

Just putting that out there.

I hope your not joking because I agree with you.

[Frey Pie]

He's the dumbest of the Greyjoys- and that is really saying something. He makes Victarion look like Einstein

[Frey Pie]

I hope your not joking because I agree with you.

Meh it was a fair plan, but would have lasted a month or two. Winterfell wasn't in the plan and was the only reason the invasion was successful for a bit, along with Boltons betrayal.

There were far better courses to take out there

[Chaircat Meow]

I hope your not joking because I agree with you.

I wasn't joking merely exaggerating. I don't think Balon is dumb, and I think his plan had some merits, probably as many, if not considerably more, than the attack Casterly Rock plan. Probably not as many as the 'just don't be a dick and join the war plan,' admittedly.

I don't like all the constant bashing for being stupid, and especially the imputation the plot is poking through the text so to speak, in that no one would ever be that dumb.

Just annoys me tbh.

[TalalOfDorne]

Meh it was a fair plan, but would have lasted a month or two. Winterfell wasn't in the plan and was the only reason the invasion was successful for a bit, along with Boltons betrayal.

There were far better courses to take out there

And by far better course I assume you mean Lannisport?

[Minstral]

Balon had a totally awesome plan the second time round.

Awesome it was.

Really good.

Just putting that out there.

The plan and how it was carried out was not so bad, but the idea that the Iron Throne would recognize his crown for attacking the North is a pretty silly one.

[Pootie Tang]

This is going to turn into another flame war between the entrenched aplogists and bashers of Balon isn't it?

[Chaircat Meow]

Meh it was a fair plan, but would have lasted a month or two. Winterfell wasn't in the plan and was the only reason the invasion was successful for a bit, along with Boltons betrayal.

There were far better courses to take out there

I don't know why people assume Rodrick would be able to defeat Vic at the Moat. He raised only 2,000 men and didn't even deal with Dagmar successfully. How would he have fared if he tried to dislodge Vicky or Asha? Not well in my opinion.

Of course, in some ways a hit on WF like Theon did was a spectacular move, it was just his need to hold onto his gains with no support that doomed him.

[David Selig]

He probably needed the time to build a strong fleet.

[Nezzer]

I wasn't joking merely exaggerating. I don't think Balon is dumb, and I think his plan had some merits, probably as many, if not considerably more, than the attack Casterly Rock plan. Probably not as many as the 'just don't be a dick and join the war plan,' admittedly.

I don't like all the constant bashing for being stupid, and especially the imputation the plot is poking through the text so to speak, in that no one would ever be that dumb.

Just annoys me tbh.

I think attacking Casterly Rock would be hundreds of times a better plan than attacking the North. There's nothing to plunder in the Northern western shore, but in the Westerlands they could have sacked the entire city of Lannisport, without having to worry about enemy armies, as the land was more undefended than the North. Balon attacking the poor North instead of the rich Westerlands makes no sense to me. He didn't even have to side with Robb, just attack on his own and he would have enough money to sustain the Iron Islands for generations.

[Ser Greg of House House]

Some people say it took time to build a fleet large enough. I don't know if it can be disproved, but it would be a good excuse. Other than that we can say that after the rebellion the kingdom united quickly enough, not even Dorne seceded.

Other than that the answer will be "Balon is retarded"

[Frey Pie]

And by far better course I assume you mean Lannisport?

Not necessarily. Lannisport option contains about as many risks as attacking the North, possibly a few more due to there being more actual Lannisters. However it is far closer to home and therefore easier to plan and change course. The loot is also about a million times more then what he gets from the west coast of the north.

In any case though Balon should have stayed at home. That's what he really did in his first rebellion and what he should have done now. There was noone to stop him becoming king. Wait things out and see if you can't ally with someone else

All in all while I see the merits of Balons plan it was destined to fail but for a number of unforeseen events. Any plan which is destined to fail isn't a good one IMO

[King Aerys the Just]

Rodrick failed in general, but wouldn't it be natural for Balon to assume that the Manderlys and Dustins would have tried dislodging the Ironmen from Moat Cailin too, since these two houses especially had large reserves left and were pretty close by? (even if they didn't actually do this until the WOT5K was over for some reason...).

And while Balon's idea of attacking the North instead of the Westerlands may hold lots of merit, his statement that he expects to actually conquer the entire North including Winterfell in a year or two sounds completely insane to me.

[Chaircat Meow]

I think attacking Casterly Rock would be hundreds of times a better plan than attacking the North. There's nothing to plunder in the Northern western shore, but in the Westerlands they could have sacked the entire city of Lannisport, without having to worry about enemy armies, as the land was more undefended than the North. Balon attacking the poor North instead of the rich Westerlands makes no sense to me. He didn't even have to side with Robb, just attack on his own and he would have enough money to sustain the Iron Islands for generations.

Err, no, it wasn't. There were two lannister armies there, one of them, Stafford's, in close proximity to Lannisport, which has a strong well drilled city watch.

Robb sneaking past the Golden Tooth, and then surprising Stafford, was a massive shock to everyone and so Balon would be dumb to count on it, or expect it would be likely.

[Chaircat Meow]

Rodrick failed in general, but wouldn't it be natural for Balon to assume that the Manderlys and Dustins would have tried dislodging the Ironmen from Moat Cailin too, since these two houses especially had large reserves left and were pretty close by? (even if they didn't actually do this until the WOT5K was over for some reason...).

Probably. But Vicky must have had 10,000 men or so, if the iron fleet was at the Moat, so he could have won a battle against the Manderly and Dustin levies.