Riverrun would be my choice for second place considering its food source and forces a army to split into 3 groups making it to where small armies could seriously impact the siege
I’m glad that Moat Cailin makes a list lol it’s usually left off of these lists due to not a having a resident Lord and being left to fall to ruin basically. One of the Castles why I’m not sure it missed the list is Newcastle in White Harbor. It’s got pretty much everything. Thriving port City, beautiful both inside and out as well as comfortable, easily positioned to defend the city from both land and sea. The only thing that could knock it down is weather but it’s situated in the warmest part of the North other than the Swamps of the Neck. The next one is Starfall. Same type of setup as Oldtown but without the Port City next to it and it’s in Dorne so livability is an issue but it would score high enough in Short Term Defensibility and Beauty to at least threaten a spot on this list. Runestone, Summerhal (at its peak), and Castamere (at its peak) should also probably warrant Honorable Mentions…
You’re quite right, Newcastle would be at least halfway up this list, I don’t know how I forgot the Manderlys as White Harbour is definitely my favourite Westerosi city. Starfall likewise would probably score highly. With Summerhall and Castamere I decided to ignore ruins, ones that aren’t still being used for defence at least, eg Moat Cailin
@@butbagthecat1125 yeah that’s why I qualified “at its peak” for Castamere and Summerhal since they were supposedly quite beautiful and Castamere would have scored top of the list in terms of defensibility since it would only take a relatively small garrison to guard what is in truth a massive Castle since most of it is underground
Don’t you think it is unfair to judge The Eyrie in isolation? After all, the Arryns use the Gates of the Moon (a powerful fortress in its own right) in winter, and the Eyrie in summer. The Arryns have been able to control the Vale since the Andal Invasion, so aside from its great beauty, The Eyrie combined with the Gates of the Moon and the minor fortifications on the mountain road up to the Eyrie therefore must have some strategic value.
@@MrMalvolio29 I think you’re right that a more all-encompassing analysis wouldn’t be so harsh as to say the Arryn’s holdings on the Giant’s Lance are useless, because the Gates of the Moon definitely are strategically important. But I can’t help but think the Eyrie and the way-castles do not really provide much additional strategic value. And altogether I think it’s a bit wrong to consider the whole network of mountain defences as one castle, instead I should have given the Gates of the Moon its very own review.
I don't know about that tho... As impressive as it is as a castle, it is in a pretty bad location. We all know all wars end up being in the Riverlands, cause they are basically the center of the realms. You have other comfy options that will be much more less likely to be sieged at any point in the future. Sure, you could hold there for a while, but what if you are not getting any help whatsoever in the future? Look at Brynden Tully situation, he was sieged for a while, he could have hold the castle for months or even years. But if he is not getting any help from the outside, it will fall eventually, and it will fall slowly, with you having to suffer the no food and etc situation. If Edmure didn't surrender the castle it would have fallen anyway, cause Brynden had no allies to help him at all.
@SilverSoulxd This is true. Maybe Highgarden, then. Or somewhere else in the Reach. It can't be on the West Coast, cos Ironborn. Nor in bad weather conditions like Dorne, the North or Stormlands. The Eyrie is too inconvenient.
Considering it’s limitations (being inaccessible is a double edged sword) not even being the most picturesque and defensively sound castle could place it higher on the list
The Eyrie is cool, but it’s by far the most impractical Castle on the entire continent lol. In theory all an army would have to do is take the Gates of the Moon, then simply sit there and the Eyrie would be cooked. No natural food sources like Riverrun, no alternative routes down so you’d have to take the dangerous week long walk down and the garrison is so small you would have zero chance at fighting your way out. Even if you try to hold out and ration supplies, there’s always the chance winter hits and forces you to surrender or freeze to death.
I think the reason for that is very plot contrived. Both in that events in the story had left the garrison with a wildly inappropriately sized and ill trained garrison. As well as Martin wanting Winterfell to fall to a weak Theon Greyjoy for story reasons, rather than it necessarily fitting his world building concerning the strength of the castle. Plot dictated events more than logic I would say
@@Phoenixlp44as you say. The castle fell because of clever trickery and a gullible garrison rather than any objective weakness in Winterfell’s defensive merits
I love this video. Also love the Shadiversity shout out. If I was given the choice, I would choose the Eryie. The castle is stupid and impractical, but being Warden of the East is too good to pass up. Other kingdoms might be more powerful, but I’d rather have a kingdom where I don’t have to worry about invasion. I’d keep a small staff at the Eyrie and just live in the Gates of the Moon.
@@BlackwoodSupremacy last time I read the books through, the way Catelyn described climbing up to the Eyrie left me questioning whether it might be my favourite castle
@@butbagthecat1125 yeah. I just read that chapter a few days ago. The Erie defeats the purpose of a castle. Any smart warden of the east should just live at the gates of the moon for convenience. If the need ever arises, then he can always make the climb. But If an enemy can somehow get past the mountain pass and the bloody gate, then the Eryie won’t save you.
BROOOO how is the eyrie so far down ;-; it has so many gates before u can even seen it, even if u wanna attack it u can at most bring 10 men and it has perfect storage to survive a siege
Defensively, it is definitely the best castle, but its strategic worth seems pretty useless. A day’s climbing to get to it leaves it as more or a picturesque panic room than a multifaceted castle
Sieges was more of a waiting game than an actual fight. The Eyrie is hopelessly designed when it comes to sieges. All the attackers need to do is wait at the base of the mountain aka: the ONLY way for food to get up. The attackers can live of the land which belongs to the Eyrie while the people up top starve to death. After some months (a relativly short while in terms of sieges) the very small food storages are empty and all those defences are worthless.
Castles are offensive structures not defensive. City walls are defensive. As they defend something that already exist. Castles are built not to protect something they enclose, but to dominate the surrounding lands. The vale may be dominated by the eerie but it provides no useful power projection. Any army can just march right by
Riverrun would be my choice for second place considering its food source and forces a army to split into 3 groups making it to where small armies could seriously impact the siege
I’m glad that Moat Cailin makes a list lol it’s usually left off of these lists due to not a having a resident Lord and being left to fall to ruin basically. One of the Castles why I’m not sure it missed the list is Newcastle in White Harbor. It’s got pretty much everything. Thriving port City, beautiful both inside and out as well as comfortable, easily positioned to defend the city from both land and sea. The only thing that could knock it down is weather but it’s situated in the warmest part of the North other than the Swamps of the Neck. The next one is Starfall. Same type of setup as Oldtown but without the Port City next to it and it’s in Dorne so livability is an issue but it would score high enough in Short Term Defensibility and Beauty to at least threaten a spot on this list. Runestone, Summerhal (at its peak), and Castamere (at its peak) should also probably warrant Honorable Mentions…
You’re quite right, Newcastle would be at least halfway up this list, I don’t know how I forgot the Manderlys as White Harbour is definitely my favourite Westerosi city. Starfall likewise would probably score highly.
With Summerhall and Castamere I decided to ignore ruins, ones that aren’t still being used for defence at least, eg Moat Cailin
Summerhall is said to have been more of a palace though so even if it was up and running it still wouldn’t qualify for a list of castles
@@butbagthecat1125 yeah that’s why I qualified “at its peak” for Castamere and Summerhal since they were supposedly quite beautiful and Castamere would have scored top of the list in terms of defensibility since it would only take a relatively small garrison to guard what is in truth a massive Castle since most of it is underground
Yes, white habor is one of he best fiefs in westeros
Why?? Moat cailin seems miserable
Riverrun is my favorite castle
Loved this. You’ve earned yourself a new subscriber.
Highgarden and Red Keep is my favourite
Don’t you think it is unfair to judge The Eyrie in isolation? After all, the Arryns use the Gates of the Moon (a powerful fortress in its own right) in winter, and the Eyrie in summer. The Arryns have been able to control the Vale since the Andal Invasion, so aside from its great beauty, The Eyrie combined with the Gates of the Moon and the minor fortifications on the mountain road up to the Eyrie therefore must have some strategic value.
@@MrMalvolio29 I think you’re right that a more all-encompassing analysis wouldn’t be so harsh as to say the Arryn’s holdings on the Giant’s Lance are useless, because the Gates of the Moon definitely are strategically important. But I can’t help but think the Eyrie and the way-castles do not really provide much additional strategic value.
And altogether I think it’s a bit wrong to consider the whole network of mountain defences as one castle, instead I should have given the Gates of the Moon its very own review.
Great video mate. Riverrun is my personal choice if I had to live anywhere in Westeros
I don't know about that tho... As impressive as it is as a castle, it is in a pretty bad location. We all know all wars end up being in the Riverlands, cause they are basically the center of the realms. You have other comfy options that will be much more less likely to be sieged at any point in the future. Sure, you could hold there for a while, but what if you are not getting any help whatsoever in the future? Look at Brynden Tully situation, he was sieged for a while, he could have hold the castle for months or even years. But if he is not getting any help from the outside, it will fall eventually, and it will fall slowly, with you having to suffer the no food and etc situation. If Edmure didn't surrender the castle it would have fallen anyway, cause Brynden had no allies to help him at all.
@SilverSoulxd This is true. Maybe Highgarden, then. Or somewhere else in the Reach. It can't be on the West Coast, cos Ironborn. Nor in bad weather conditions like Dorne, the North or Stormlands. The Eyrie is too inconvenient.
Great analysis
Storms end is the best tho
The eyrie at 8?? No way. Especially with what's ahead of it on this list.
Considering it’s limitations (being inaccessible is a double edged sword) not even being the most picturesque and defensively sound castle could place it higher on the list
The Eyrie is cool, but it’s by far the most impractical Castle on the entire continent lol.
In theory all an army would have to do is take the Gates of the Moon, then simply sit there and the Eyrie would be cooked.
No natural food sources like Riverrun, no alternative routes down so you’d have to take the dangerous week long walk down and the garrison is so small you would have zero chance at fighting your way out.
Even if you try to hold out and ration supplies, there’s always the chance winter hits and forces you to surrender or freeze to death.
Incredible content.
Winterfell was easily taken by a dozen ironborn soldiers.
I think the reason for that is very plot contrived. Both in that events in the story had left the garrison with a wildly inappropriately sized and ill trained garrison.
As well as Martin wanting Winterfell to fall to a weak Theon Greyjoy for story reasons, rather than it necessarily fitting his world building concerning the strength of the castle. Plot dictated events more than logic I would say
@@butbagthecat1125theon pretty much convinced the guards to let them in and took over the castle from there
@@Phoenixlp44as you say. The castle fell because of clever trickery and a gullible garrison rather than any objective weakness in Winterfell’s defensive merits
The castle fell because the main army was Torrhens Square and Theon managed to trick the guards
The castelan of winterfell left it without guards when he went after theon for sacking a settlement
14:49 you did Big Ben tameifuna dirty 😭
The tremendous Tongan would love it
@@butbagthecat1125 bow before your tongan, you little shits
@@butbagthecat1125 glad to see someone into rugby in the asoiaf community
The High Tower needs to rank MUCH higher.
If its rating as a home had been higher (which is fairly subjective), it could certainly have overtaken Storm's End and maybe drawn with Riverrun.
I would say its the best fief in westeros
Informative video! - And praise to Butbag the Cat! He looks majestic
Most majestic
What a pretty cat
I love this video. Also love the Shadiversity shout out. If I was given the choice, I would choose the Eryie. The castle is stupid and impractical, but being Warden of the East is too good to pass up. Other kingdoms might be more powerful, but I’d rather have a kingdom where I don’t have to worry about invasion. I’d keep a small staff at the Eyrie and just live in the Gates of the Moon.
@@BlackwoodSupremacy last time I read the books through, the way Catelyn described climbing up to the Eyrie left me questioning whether it might be my favourite castle
@@butbagthecat1125 yeah. I just read that chapter a few days ago. The Erie defeats the purpose of a castle. Any smart warden of the east should just live at the gates of the moon for convenience. If the need ever arises, then he can always make the climb. But If an enemy can somehow get past the mountain pass and the bloody gate, then the Eryie won’t save you.
The Twins is the best castle because it makes money, and has a river for a defense
nice vid :)
Great video!
BROOOO how is the eyrie so far down ;-; it has so many gates before u can even seen it, even if u wanna attack it u can at most bring 10 men and it has perfect storage to survive a siege
Defensively, it is definitely the best castle, but its strategic worth seems pretty useless. A day’s climbing to get to it leaves it as more or a picturesque panic room than a multifaceted castle
Sieges was more of a waiting game than an actual fight. The Eyrie is hopelessly designed when it comes to sieges. All the attackers need to do is wait at the base of the mountain aka: the ONLY way for food to get up. The attackers can live of the land which belongs to the Eyrie while the people up top starve to death. After some months (a relativly short while in terms of sieges) the very small food storages are empty and all those defences are worthless.
@DJHumla but the granary is the same size as winterfells an with a gassing of 500 they could last a decade maby more not even kidding
@@KarenWatson-gl8htdoesn't matter when no one ever even bothers to come attack. No one's attacking that area because it's not strategically valuable.
Castles are offensive structures not defensive. City walls are defensive. As they defend something that already exist.
Castles are built not to protect something they enclose, but to dominate the surrounding lands. The vale may be dominated by the eerie but it provides no useful power projection. Any army can just march right by