One Game of Thrones Castle is More Vulnerable Than Fans think

Game of Thrones—and by extension, its source material, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire—is widely regarded as the benchmark for epic fantasies for a reason. Besides its complex sub-plots and tale of power struggles, succession, and sorcery, its semi-grounded production aesthetics give Game of Thrones an edge over The Lords of the Rings.

Game of Thrones has been accused of nerfing many castles such as Moat Catlin, Casterly Rock, and Highgarden. However, there’s one that remained as grand in the show (although it did change looks in House of the Dragon) as it was in the books: The Eyrie and its surrounding valley. Listed as one of the most impregnable castles in all of Westeros, even moreso than the famed Casterly Rock and Storm’s End, the Eyrie’s location atop a mountain in the Vale of Arryn is both an asset and a liability. In truth, the castle is actually weaker than theoretically presented.

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The Eyrie Is Famed as the Most Impregnable Castle in Westeros

Its Defenses Have Never Been Breached by a Land Army

While there’s no official list, the Eyrie is considered by many to be the most well-defended castle or fortress in Westeros. The seat of House Arryn, Lords Paramount of the Vale, the Eyrie takes strategic elevation to new heights—literally. It is situated at the peak of one of the mountains in the Mountains of the Moon range that enclose much of the Vale. Although the Eyrie itself is just one castle, it owes a good portion of its defensive prowess to an entire network of strongholds leading up to it.

Suppose an army, intent on conquering House Arryn, sets out on the High Road, it would find itself at the Bloody Gate. The Bloody Gate is so named because many armies have shattered themselves to bits trying to get past it. Think of it as essentially a Moat Cailin but on a mountain range; its flanks are impassable and the only way through it is a road only wide enough to accommodate three to four men. Any invader would have to contend with the arrows pointed down from above by archers of the Vale, said to be the best at their craft in all of Westeros. If that is overcome, or bypassed—which would still be a problem considering the hill tribes still prowl the mountains—the winter residence of the Arryns, known as the Gates of the Moon, stands at the base of the mountain. Beyond the Gates of the Moon sit three way-castles (Stone, Snow, and Sky) along the narrow causeway to the Eyrie, all of which are under the watch of the garrison.

The Eyrie’s Layout Is Impregnable but Not Invulnerable

Its Sucks at Long-term Defense

The problem with the Eyrie’s layout is that it’s great at keeping people out but poor at everything else: counterattacking, resupplying, and staying warm. Generally, fortresses, especially the kind in Westeros, are seldom taken by simply storming. Just like Jamie Lannister proved with House Tully’s Riverrun in Season 6, episode 6 of Games of Thrones, numerical advantage and patience are essential qualities for a successful siege. Armies only need to get past the Bloody Gate (although at the cost of thousands of lives) and hold the Gates of the Moon to isolate the Eyrie from the rest of the world. Once done, only a few men are needed to sustain the siege. Since it’s a long way up and down the castle, the defending garrison has no hope of sneaky assaults or supply line raids. Sure, the castles’ granaries and larders are fully stocked for at least a year or two, but those will eventually run out, rendering its inhabitants sitting—or rather, starving—ducks.

As grim as it may sound, that’s just the lesser of two evils awaiting the defenders. The Eyrie’s altitude (A Song of Ice and Fire describes it as so high that the way-castles look like children’s toys from its view) makes winter unbearable; it’s for this reason that House Arryn relocates to the Gates of the Moon every winter. Thus, if an invading army attacks during or close to winter, the defenders in the Eyrie are weeks away from becoming freezing ducks. And if Game of Thrones has taught fans anything about Westerosi weather, it’s that the continent’s winter is harsher than normal. The situation is even worse in a naval invasion from Gulltown where no such obstacles.

Its not-so-obvious drawbacks aside, there’s a reason the Eyrie has remained unconquered from the ground in its thousand-year history. Reaching the Bloody Gate alone means the Knights of the Vale must be subdued or the valiant Vale fleet crushed. Even with that, constant harassment by small militias is enough to severe supply lines for the besieging force at the Gates of the Moon. In other words, bar a major rebellion by Vale bannermen or mountain tribes, the Eyrie is pretty much out of reach of any exterior force in Westeros…asides dragons. During Aegon’s Conquest, Visenya famously rode Vhagar to a balcony in the Eyrie and took the boy King on a ride, leading to a surrender that marks the only defeat of the castle by an invading force.

There are Stronger Contenders For the Title

Moat Cailin and Casterly Rock

As far as unbreachable defenses go, Moat Cailin occupies a different league. Its position astride the causeway that runs through the marshlands of the Neck makes it a chokepoint for anyone hoping to reach the North from the South and vice versa. Bypassing the fort in favor of the disease and crannogmen-laden marshlands on its flanks is a trade no enemy is willing to make. Likewise, attacking the three-tower fort head-on will only result in horrendous casualties as its defenders feed in more troops from the other side.

George R.R. Martin himself once described the Casterly Rock’s defenses to be better than those of the Eyrie, Winterfell, and Storm’s End. It sits atop a gold mine on a high cliff—much like the Eyrie but without the disadvantage of being starved of supplies. Plus, the Lannisters are the wealthiest house in the realm with more than enough gold to buy hosts of sellswords if they ever run out of men. However, apart from the author’s backing, there’s no reason to believe that Casterly Rock would not suffer the same, if not worse, fate than the Eyrie.

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Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, Westeros is also threatened by the re-emergence of dragons, and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall.

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