I mean, the Ironborn are supposed to sail longships, which can house a crew of maybe 30 men at best. They aren't huge or particularly intricate, so it is feasible that an entire population set to the task of making a huge fleet in a short span of time is possible. Also there are several islands that the show hasn't shown us aside from Pyke, so any of them could be forested idk.

30 men per ship would make 30k men in crew alone and I don't think that would be enough men to actually build the fleet so they must have extra men in reserve. 30000 would be a larger army than Robb's united northern forces. And yeah, sailors might not be the greatest soldiers, but they can surely hold a pike and if they have that many men, I can't see how any of the houses except the Lannisters and Tyrells could "swat them down like flies" and conquer them that easily.

Maybe the whole 1000 ships thing was just a hyperbole, or maybe Euron is just a total incompetent ass and finds this out the hard way next episode lol

True that's a lot of men, but if Euron plans on taking back with him Dany's army AND her dragons he probably wouldn't fully crew each ship. But also the 1000 ships is probably an unrealistic dream lol.

So because I am a warfare history buff I decided to take a much closer look at this ship conversation. After doing some research I think we are all in error, especially when talking about the types of ships being shown on TV and relating them to human history time periods. There is no way any of the ships in GoT are Persian, Roman, Greek or anything of that time period.

From the TV appearances, I see 2 distinct types of ships and they are both visible in this photo side by side. That photo is from the Backwater Battle at Kings Landing before the fire was ignited. As you can see, there is 1 larger ship that sits higher in the water on the right side. It is flanked by smaller ships on either side. You can also see construction of both ships is very different and for good reason. One ship is a Warship/Transport Vessel design (right) and the other is more of a Merchant Ship design for carrying cargo/troops (left).

The ship design makes another appearance when Price Oberyn from Dorme sails into Kings Landing. Here is his Ship

Yet another example of this design is Jon Snow’s fleet at the retreat from Hardhome. Ships Seen Here

The last example is the fleet we are talking about specifically. The Iron Fleet seen here. You can clearly see the same exact ship design on the 4 ships closest on the left but as you look further out, it is difficult to see exact designs and there may be smaller ships in that flotilla.

These ships in GoT are almost exact replicas of the Caravel or possibly Carrack type ships from our past.

This puts them in or around the 15th century. I have not seen any ships powered by oarsman on GoT so the ships used are not “Galleys” by definition. That I believe explains the larger Warship/Transport.

The Smaller ships are very similar to Knarr Vessels which are old Viking Merchant Ships. I do not believe it would be possible to “quickly build” 1000 of the Caravel ships but it may be very possible to simply build merchant transports of the Knarr type to ferry large amounts of cargo.

In the most recent episode, if you watch the director talk about what happens, he specifically mentions the Ironborn as being of Viking Inspiration. This makes perfect sense when you look at both types of ships being used. The Knarr and Caravel ships are built from Viking Shipbuilding techniques so it all does connect.

Yeah, this would definitely make the most sense, even though the ship in the blackwater scene looks really big for a knarr, but I guess this could be the type of ship they're going for. This would put Yara with her fleet of caravelles at a huge advante though lol, if they have bows and arrows on board good luck to Euron facing her fleet with his fleet lol.

Good post and you know your stuff , but i don't think anyone made the case that the actual design was anything like ancient times, but it depends if the ship has a flat bottom surfacehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(ship)#/media/File:CMM_-_Przekr%C3%B3j_poprzeczny_kogi.JPG , becuase than it might as well be a cog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(ship)#/media/File:Bremen_Hansekogge_RolandvonBremen.JPG and if i'm not mistaken Frisian pirates would use these, and frisian pirates have been a thing since Roman times, so they probably know how to designate a good raiding vessel by the '800s

For sure, it could be either Cog design as well or at least something close. It still puts the time frame way beyond Ancient shipmaking like the Romans, Greek, Etc. I have to feel that a large amount of ships can be constructed in this fashion in a short amount of time for transport only, and not for conbat.

ya the spanish armada was my fav part of the newest game of thrones episode

They're being such teases about CLEGANEBOWL

http://i.imgur.com/vO1sHmy.gif

man that episode was crazy

Where was the AD Strafing????

Seriously amazing episode though, glad a certain person had some karma returned

What a gruesome episode

daenerys is harry potter

been waiting a lot of years for that

I don't get why the giant was just slapping dudes with his bare hands when he could've pretty easily just grabbed a tree beforehand and fucked way more shit up. Like what is a shield wall going to do if you're swinging a tree around?

crazy episode

That episode was one of the best things I've probably ever watched

Incredible episode, Im just a little disappointed in the giant. its like his entire purpose is the complete opposite of hodor only with less depth and emotions

When the Rickon scene started I immediately thought about the same scene in Apocalypto.

Really bummed about the Giant death, At the end I though he was going to look at Jon and say "SNOOO" 1 last time

savage sansa

I agree, he could have been such in interesting character instead he just became a brute that didn't even use weapons in combat, imagine that guy with a large pole or some big ass sword, or like Royce said even a fucking tree would do

It was a great episode, one thing I didn't understand is why didn't Sansa tell Jon about the knights of the vale at all, even when Jon asked her what else he can do and they asked every house she stayed silent.
Also, why didn't Ramsey not shoot Jon and instead he aimed for the giant that had 200 arrows on him?

who has given jon his godmode?

the cinematography of that episode was incredible

The battle scene was the best action scene I have ever watched in a TV show, and it triumphs many war movies.

Great episode overall.

I truly loved the way it was made, how the story was told. Usually battles feel epic and brutal, but this time it almost digusted me, you could feel how war is awful, how bodies just pile up and how you can feel hopeless when all odds are against you.

I actually didnt like the way Ramsay died, and I think the conversation between him and Sansa is poorly written. I'll surely miss his character, can't wait for another grim antagonist !

One of the best things i've ever watched on TV, really looking forward to the last episode !!