Is Casterly Rock from Game of Thrones realistic?

Is Casterly Rock, The Lannister Castle from Game of Thrones, historically accurate? Well we'll get to find out in this detailed historical analysis.
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[@dash4800]

Your point about wasting lives is moot. The unsullied have infinite numbers that continuously respawn. As seen in season 8.

[@thatlonelygiraffeinc.6989]

They just exterminated the kings landing populace and then retrained all the unsullied units to replenish the numbers. Also the dothraki. Clearly very few were killed in the batyle of winterfell

[@philipd.2511]

dash4800 lmao

[@oppionatedindividual8256]

That Lonely Giraffe inc. this is sarcastic right!

[@thatlonelygiraffeinc.6989]

@@oppionatedindividual8256 of course

[@oppionatedindividual8256]

That Lonely Giraffe inc. thank god

[@Benzy670]

The Casterly Rock in the show was an absolute disgrace and not at all what it's described like in the books. They made it a castle on a cliff. It's supposed to be built _into_ the cliff.

[@daiveedino]

And that's why it's impregnable.

[@PACKERMAN2077]

@@daiveedino because she's so ugly no man would have her

[@Lolavs]

@@PACKERMAN2077 Give me ten good men.

[@Kyle-gw6qp]

It's still not impregnable because the Lanisters nicked it from the Casterlys.

[@marshmallowvampire8503]

That's kick butt. IN the cliff?

[@nuuuuuut]

Shad: "machicolations" Closed captions: "mystical asians"

[@mwjgcreeves4984]

"Mesh Situations" "My circulation" "Malaysia"

[@PoonDestruction]

medieval mystical asians were considered the paragon of caste defense.

[@alephkasai9384]

@@PoonDestruction Like in Mulan 2020

[@deepv3.12]

Malaysia

[@Grunk111]

So on Tyrions to-do list when he is the new Lord Lannister: 1. Taller Merlons. 2. Dig a moat. 3. MACHICULATIOOOOOOONS!

[@barnabyjones3708]

Why the hell would TYRION need taller Merlons?

[@glowhoo9226]

Barnaby Jones for his army?

[@superbeltman6197]

@@barnabyjones3708 well

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

@@barnabyjones3708 Maybe he was the one that ordered them...?

[@Razumen]

I sure hope he took his heart pressure medicine before making this video.

[@johnnyhuhnbo3097]

You either mean blood pressure oder heart attack lol idk why am i here ~~~~~~~~

[@TKFKU]

When you read how Casterly is supposed to be vs the extremely cheaped down version that HBO made to be Casterly......all these points you make no matter how good, are moot. This castle would have been better suited to be Highgarden as it is nothing remotely like Casterly. This looks more like the Disney castle.

[@stillsearching1284]

I agree with you. Casterly Rock should have looked like Erebor from the Hobbit. It was a castle built within the caves and tunnels of a mountain. Only the top most portion of the castle was visible as a sort of fort. The show should have used either the Rock of Gibraltar in Spain or the Mehrangarh Fort in India.

[@lucienmeunier2270]

It's a weird mix of Highgarden and Storm's end

[@torstensigulsson4579]

@@stillsearching1284 Or like Moria?

[@alex_zetsu]

Far from a Disney castle, this thing is actually mostly functional. Lots of castles didn't have machicolations and concentric castles usually only bothered to do them on either the outermost or (less commonly) innermost set of walls if you exclude the gates which was the first place to put them. The merlons crenellations not being head height is pretty much bare minimum functionality, most castles did have them higher but this level was pretty much the minimum functional level. Almost all castles that could have a moat did, but some didn't. As portrayed in the show Casterly Rock is a functional castle by real world standards, but not an impregnable fortress. Oh and while the structure itself is mostly functional, a lot of it is negated by having the side entrance unguarded (apparently unknown to most defenders) and the defenders standing on stools, but that's not the fault of the structure as depicted.

[@Duhehejeh]

@@alex_zetsu the underneath is supposed to be The port

[@nmd1120]

It bugs me that she Unsullied only carry spears.... especially in situations where a sword is optimal

[@coloradocaducio]

Nick D they carried short swords when they're first introduced... I'm not sure why they removed them

[@nicnaciswacp920]

@@coloradocaducio they are supposed to be sparten like hence sheilds and spears

[@_lumiaart_2010]

I find thid odd my self most pikemen carry a sword and dagger as back up weapons even in classical time's. Even Spartans used a sword and dagger for that matter in close combat.

[@cielopachirisu929]

The Unsullied are specifically said to be trained with swords, and we see one of them use a Dragonglass sword in the Battle of Winterfell, but never before that... annoys the heck out of me.

[@jeremiahjeno]

p spartans used sword and spears along with their shields.

[@himanshuwilhelm5534]

Why people say casterly rock is a good castle: It as a magic feild around that turns attackers into idiots.

[@1234kalmar]

"Arrows don't really have a prfound effect on stone." :D I love this channel

[@1234kalmar]

Wololoooo!

[@Casshio]

+General Erik Krieg Ah yes. Setting a stonewall on fire with swords. Good times.

[@Altrantis]

*Sends Teutonic knights on foot, walking really slow and without a shield to cut with swords into castle walls until they're destroyed*

[@alekskattai6086]

1234kalmar Another idea, push the ladders back instead of letting them climb up in the first place

[@Grunk111]

Depends on the size of the arrows though.

[@lazardjordjevic577]

Honestly, I was hugely disappointed with the show's Casterly Rock.. It was very differently described in the books, like a fortress chiseled into the rock itself, with winding corridors, and hard and almost inaccessible way leading to the gates. I mean, this castle is alright, but the one from the books was SOO MUCH COOLER

[@andersengman3896]

So are _all_ the castles in the books, but they probably can't afford to build them up from scratch and they don't think CGI is good enough, so they go with mostly existing structures and then they add a little CGI on top.

[@duchessskye4072]

Lazar Djordjevic that goes for almost every book ever

[@Azaghal1988]

Yeah. A Rock the size of manhatten with a labyrinth of mines, halls and barracks inside, a harbor seaside and a small lookout-Fort on the unreachable top. Great castle in my imagination^^

[@jordanmackie117]

While I really didn't like how the show threw the book's description of The Rock out the window, at least they designed a semi-decent looking castle. Can't say the same for Highgarden though. Highgarden is supposed to be the most lavish castle in Westeros, and the show instead gave us a grey slab surrounded by trees, on top of a hill in the middle of open grassland.

[@davidlewis5312]

much agreed Jordan

[@OceanHedgehog]

Can you do Riverrun next? From what I've seen of your channel, Riverrun is maybe the closest thing to a historically accurate castle in the series!

[@blahblah5736]

PresidentWordSalad high garden wasn't what i expected ether and i love how modest riverrun was .

[@davidguillenmateu657]

@@blahblah5736 Welp, I was wrong, the one which was filmed on the Alcazar of Seville was Dorne's Water Palace of Sunspear not HighGarden, HighGarden was filmed on Almodovar del Rio castle, also in Spain

[@James-kd2qm]

winterfell and the red keep are pretty similar in terms of accuracy the castle used for casterly rock is literally a spitting image of what highgarden is supposed to look like

[@MrDibara]

@@James-kd2qm And the castle from Narnia: Prince Caspian is basically the spitting image of what Casterly Rock should've looked like.

[@dragon0fly749]

Do riverrun

[@kingkong381]

"Archers will never take a castle alone just by shooting at it, you need a proper assault." Me: *laughs in Shogun 2 Chosokabe campaign*

[@tommerker8063]

*laughs back in takeda

[@Aredel]

Laughs in Total War: Warhammer 2 behind a stack of DE darkshards.

[@friedlemons5201]

*laughs in Mount and Blade Warband Rhodok Crossbowmen*

[@Aredel]

Fried Lemons Swadians are the way to go.

[@chadnorris8257]

I remember in Mount and Blade Warband, one of the safest ways to take a castle or town is to have archers or crossbowmen fire from behind a shield wall. Retreat once ammo runs out, and do it again until there are so few defenders that taking the walls is easy.

[@Hirosjimma]

8:45 oh shit oh shit *rushes for volume knob* phew false alarm

[@daddyleon]

'twas a proper troll.

[@lunac6094]

They actually didn't assault the front wall, that was just a visual representation of what would have happened and why that was a terrible idea.

[@krystofdayne]

Exactly what I was gonna say. But still, great castle review, while watching the episode, I had some of the same thoughts, but missed other points, so thanks Shad

[@Carbonific]

That was certainly the impression I got as I was watching the episode.

[@lvd8122]

I don't know, the language that tyrion uses sounds more like: this is what happens" and less like: this would happen" but I have to rewatch the episode to be certain!

[@ColonelRPG]

Yup, I also believe this to be the case. The frontal assault was just Tyrion telling the tale of what would happen if they did the frontal assault.

[@sergeant_chris6209]

The assault was real but just a distraction. If there was no attack to draw the Lannister army Grey Worm and his men would have to fight the whole garrison. That would result in them getting rekt. Also how do you expect the Lannister men to stay and just look at 8 thousand Unsullied waiting peacefully to charge their gates while not understanding that there was a team inside tasked with the purpose of opeining the gates. The Unsullied attack was clearly real.

[@stevethecatcrx1]

I wonder how the walls of Attack on Titan would stack up to one of these reviews

[@anthonylivesay9339]

That I would watch.

[@CremeCheesus]

Oh deary, deary me, that's sounds like one hell of a rant

[@adamnovak7602]

THEY NEED MACHICOLATIONS

[@Who-vd3iv]

He could review other three walls from a city called Ba Sing Se, I always thought SNK took inspiration from it.

[@joynelbonetdelgado4952]

The Titans still get over them lol

[@1337w0n]

Me: (half way through the video) "is he going to mention machicolations?" Shad: "...machicolations..." *There* we go.

[@ProfessorChops]

The castle is pregnant? I wonder what it will give birth to. A fort?

[@pandaomega1023]

Well it's the :annister castle so i am sure they can a fort it

[@ethanbrown8953]

Hopefully it will actually have MACHICOLATIOOOOOOONS!!

[@Martmeisterpaladin]

What would a holdfast mean?

[@DaFunkologic]

I bet the father is Lannisport. Those Lannister locales are known to... co-mingle... if you catch my drift.

[@definitelynotrustgod3343]

A mot and bailey Than it grows up to be a fort than a concentric Castle

[@eclairz9275]

Here's a question for ya; How did the Lannister forces take Highgarden so easily without a single siege weapon?

[@artski09]

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ *magic* ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)

[@eclairz9275]

There didn't seem to be too many trees about the area though, and no matter how bad the people of High Garden are at fighting, they should at least have had the essentials to defend against a siege.

[@meris8486]

You'll have to wait and read the books. Willing to bet it happens very differently their.

[@MrWheelman82]

Because the plot demanded it? Here's the problem with the last 3 seasons of GOT, it's all become melodramatic bullshit, all logic is disregarded, the Tyrell force, even with the betrayal of the Tarly's, should vastly outnumber the Lannister forces. Also, the army that attacked only consisted of Lannister men, how did they defeat the Tyrells?

[@TheRobidog]

How long would that take? Remember, Cersei promised she'd have the gold in 14 days, so that means they have to get their entire army from King's Landing and Casterly Rock to Highgarden, build siege equipment, take the castle and bring all the loot back to King's landing within that time period.

[@jojomaster7675]

When I saw the ladder attack on Casterly Rock, I thought it was a scenario Tyrion had immagined. No idea it was actually a thing that happened...

[@Aramis419]

"CASTERRRLY RRRRRRRROCK!" I don't think I'll ever be able to pronounce that in a casual way ever again.

[@martinmilenkov3332]

Why the castles were made bad? Because the assaults were even worse!

[@magister343]

Highgarden should have been a concentric castle, with a complex labyrinth of thorny bushes between the outer two rings of walls. Casterly Rock is supposed to be a huge mountain that has been excavated both for mining and habitation. It is not really a castle at all, although a few turrets were built on to better defend the entrances to certain passageways.

[@Lorgar64]

"The gates of casterly rock are impregnable." Well they look pretty standard to me!

[@dont259]

The way they had shown Casterly Rock and High Garden was just pathetic. Sort of ruined the whole episode for me. They were absolutely nothing like their book counterparts

[@rdecredico]

They had High Garden sitting in the middle of a dry prairie. Fucking fuckers.

[@BionicleSaurus]

lmao seriously, they stuck the bread basket of Westeros in a desolate, arid environment.

[@stillsearching1284]

So much annoys me about the way the show did castles. I liked Winterfell, Riverrun, The Twins, and the Red Keep. The Eyrie was different than it was in the books but it still looked cool. Harrenhal was never really properly shown. Casterly Rock and Highgarden looked nothing like their book counterparts, but unlike the Eyrie they don't even look cool. You can tell that no time was spent on them. We never even got to see Sunspear. I guess all of Dorne is contained within the Water Gardens.

[@joshedillon9534]

Adding to that, the castle they used for Highgarden looks more impressive in real life than it does in the show, and yet managed to dull it down.

[@ocadioan]

Why did I know that this would come? I think you have damaged me, considering all I could think of when I saw the gate was "where is the damn gatehouse?"

[@ocadioan]

Btw, can anyone tell me where the Unsullied are assaulting from? The side-view makes is look like the main keep's base is higher than the outer walls, and that there are another set of walls before that, but the frontal assault made it seem like everything was on level.

[@TheWampam]

I also noticed that. Quality control should have been vigilant that all props fit together.

[@caprob_9867]

UNACCEPTABBBBLLLLEEEEEE CASTLE DESIGN

[@sillysad3198]

and he has not exposed a half of the flaws!

[@adamlatosinski5475]

This castle is in unacceptable condition!! One million years in donjon. No trial.

[@aqueen04]

When I first saw the the wide shot of Casterly Rock on its cliff, my first thought was that it was a poor man's Minas Tirith. Thanks for this vid, Shad! :)

[@darthnihilusthebestsith]

Casterly rock from the books is a whole other kind of castle and it's not just better than this one, it is a castle actually functional enough to repel DRAGONS.

[@gabrielalejandrodoldan4722]

A subterranian city or fortress

[@WalterReimer]

"Casterly Rock!" "Casterly Rock" "Casterly Rock!" "It's only a model." "Shhh!"

[@felafnirelek8987]

Shad, never stop what you are doing. Best medieval weapons for races, CASTLES, and the other series are great.

[@Strawberry92fs]

Best Weapons for Medieval Castles would be a good Episode. He's mentioned things like that a couple of times when discussing castle fortifications and how many of them can be used offensively, but a full episode on How and what to use and where to put it would be nice. And the best Castles for Medieval Races would also be fun. "In our episode about Dwarves we said Spears and crossbows, and they're short, but really good at mining, so X style of castle would work the best for them.

[@frederikqu7717]

BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS???

[@illoney5663]

Caboose 92m When I first read that, I interpreted it as a castle wielding a weapon without the help of a human...guess your actual point makes more sense though.

[@heronmyer3780]

Given that the night king has access to industrial chain. How will these castles stand against the night king when he brings modern artillery?

[@haliax8149]

LOL

[@MrDibara]

As well as Harrenhall did against Balerion, the Black.

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@MrDibara So instead of cooked dinner, we get frozen food.

[@Spook-hk8sc]

Pretty well since Arya ends up killing him before he even gets past winterfell

[@bluemountain4181]

Good thing for them the Night King was all bark and no bite.

[@grun5848]

I dont understand why everybody gets the wrong idea, they DID NOT actually assault the castle through the front door. It was a visual representation of how the assault would have been.

[@Parker-cn2pc]

Grun uuuufff. Finally someone who got it.

[@Isaacreeper]

Same, its because people just look at the battles themselves and not everything that goes on around them.

[@d0lph1n63]

By focusing the main assault on the castle’s forward defenses no one among the defenders would notice a small group of soldiers slipping in from the rear; since no sane person would attack them from that angle.

[@jb76489]

Grun then where did all the corpses we saw some from?

[@epiendless1128]

I've long guessed that the frontal assault we saw may not have taken place outside of Tyrion's imagination, but having watched the scene several times I'm _still_ not quite sure were the line is drawn between actuality and speculation. It's ambiguous.

[@Zweistein001]

How hot was the room after this video was done recording? Judging form that "MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!!!!!" scream probably around 1500-2000 degrees Celsius.

[@shadiversity]

I accidentally went super saiyan and destroyed my house. . .

[@davidbriggs264]

LOL!!!

[@sillysad3198]

messing up with irrelevant physical terms, abusing them, is exactly the cause of the global warming -- it is not funny at all.

[@SelvesteSand]

It was over 9000 degrees.

[@theholyramonempire]

No matter how hot a room is it is always room temperature.

[@renlysotherlover294]

Casterly rock looks more like what high garden was supposed to look like. HBO really messed up

[@scottwhitley3392]

Renlys Other Lover not really

[@daiveedino]

@@scottwhitley3392 besides the cliff, it totally looked like Highgarden. I wonder why they went with this complicated design when Casterly Rock is just... a rock.

[@scottwhitley3392]

Chüd When I read the book I imagined it looking like Edinburgh castle

[@11mousa]

"Why did they launch the assault in the first place?" Obviously to distract the defenders from the fact that a number of boats approaches the cliffs beyond the castle where the sewers of Casterly Rock go.

[@dingo1547]

They don’t need to assault though they can just deploy for a siege and fire a bunch of catapults to distract the lannisters. Although there is no point really in taking castes rock when you can just take kings landing and ending the war which could happen at any moment during season 7.

[@LordBloodraven]

If they were going to be true to the books, they should have made it look more like Yosemite's Half Dome in in size and shape. House Casterly had actually carved the castle out of the stone mountain that sat upon their gold mines.

[@Aplesedjr]

You should design your own castle and show it off in a video, or better yet, host a contest to see who can design the best castle.

[@madisonxyz9887]

Logan Sanders That sounds awesome.

[@Name2site]

"Where's the bloody moat?!" Ah I Iove it when he gets indignent. Still, wouldn't building moat effect the stability of a castle located at the edge of a cliff? Last thing you want is the foundation stones shifting.

[@maxvandoorn3799]

It is a cliff with a big flat area on the other side of the castle. The flat side one is the one which is attacked. Here a moat would be really great and it wouldn't do any thing to the structural integrity. At the cliff side a moat isn't really needed as Shad already said. So no would be no problem.

[@Name2site]

@@maxvandoorn3799 Not sure about that... one side is a potentially unstable cliff face. If you are are digging into the earth that supports the castle on the flat side then that sounds like you'd be shifting weight on to the unstable cliff side. It sounds like you are asking for your castle to eventually go tumbling down the cliff's side.

[@isq2242]

I could guest that Casterly Rock has no farms to sustain itself

[@christosvoskresye]

"Casterly Rock!" "Casterly Rock!!!" "It's only a model."

[@christosvoskresye]

Well, on second thought, let's not go to Casterly Rock -- it is a silly place.

[@Jedi817]

I really hope we see more of Casterly Rock and Highgarden this season... we only saw like 5 minutes of them!

[@heititalvik2538]

We will not. Shame that producers don't want to waste their budget on it. Casterly Rock and Highgarden look 10 times better in books...

[@clemendive7284]

We never see them in the books

[@damianmares5338]

Great job shad, but did you thought that the assault on the walls was a distraction to make the defenders reinforce the walls with people so much that they left the rest of the castle undefended That would've made the job for grey worm so easy because there wouldn't be anybody to stop him until he reached the gates and opened them

[@ocadioan]

Wouldn't it have made the job harder for Grey Worm, considering he now had to fight through to the area where the defenders are concentrated?

[@damianmares5338]

ocadioan not really, because, remember, Casterly Rock was supposed to have many more defenders and it has multiple layers of walls So by simulating an attack on the front wall would have concentrated the all the defenders at the front wall and made the movement through the courtyard easier, maybe they were even undetected by the enemy

[@deamongimli]

That is the only logical conclusion I can draw from it. Other people believe that the assault was just a visual of what Tyrion was saying would be a bad idea however both work.

[@davidbriggs264]

However, I would partly agree with Shad that even if it was a diversion, it was still a VERY stupid diversion, because they had NO ARCHERS. No, arrows don't work to well against stone, but they do work very well against people. I would have placed far more archers with that attacking force, even at the expense of the people headed over the wall. That would have killed and injured more defenders at the same time REDUCING your own casualties.

[@ocadioan]

Damian Mares I meant when they were trying to get to the gate to open it. If anything, that place should have been under heavy guard during an assualt exactly to prevent any forces that might get across the wall from opening the gates.

[@hansbyenkya8948]

Shadiversity:It's impregnable and cannot be attacked Dragon:Hold my flame

[@brianburke4756]

Are you sure you couldn't have yelled a little bit louder? I think there might have been one dead person in some grave in the next county over that may not have heard you like all the other corpses in the graveyard.

[@KaloyanVasilevUK]

Video content is nice and interesting ... But the way it's presented makes me dislike the video :(

[@psychoaiko666]

@stormer x Shad is Australian though.

[@MrSpartanspud]

Not that I'm saying it isn't annoying how he screams like a child a lot but Australians and Americans are very different. They are seperated by thousands of miles of ocean and have been populated by much different groups of people under much different circumstances. Portugese and Spanish cultures share more similarity due to sharing over 1000km of border and having similar histories and literally being a part of the same country at various stages in history. So no. Not really comparable at all.

[@vgamedude12]

I felt like I was watching a lets player or something....

[@Nitidus]

I felt the same way about the shouting but wasn't sure if it was just my current mood. As there is a dedicated comment about this, though, I suppose me feeling bothered is actually justified

[@d_wang9836]

I don't even watch game of thrones but I find myself watching your videos

[@makchamp]

The biggest fail from this episode was how easily the Lannisters took Highgarden. Where the hell was the Tyrell army? They are supposed to be a large force. And regardless of their supposed lack of proficency in battle they still had the significant positional advantage being behind castle walls. Highgarden is also located at the top of a hill. Anyone who knows anything about medieval warfare will tell you that a properly fortified castle atop a hill is almost impregnable. At least they showed Casterly Rock's weakness. We have no idea how difficult the siege for Highgarden was, how many men the Lannisters lost or how long it took. Them cutting to the end without showing the battle implied that it was a breeze and over in a mere couple hours. I get that the there are time restraints for the show but I find it a little ridiculous.

[@hazzmati]

It doesn't make sense but it doesn't matter. The tv serie fanboys will gulp it up and praise dumb and dumber as god writers. The tyrels not being profiecent is their invention. It's never mentioned in the booka. The reach is supposed to be one of the most powerful kingdoms in westeros but whatever a weakened lannister just took their capital.

[@7PlayingWithFire7]

hazzmati Preston Jacobs talked of how taking Highgarden is literally THE strongest thing the Lannisters would have ever done in their entire history, so he'd be very surprised. Lo and behold..

[@romainchambard4399]

The bannermen of house Tyrell betrayed them. Didn't you see episode 2 or what ?

[@MrPanos2000]

Only Randal Tarly betrayed them. If you look at the attackers there are only Lannister banners and soldiers. No bannermen of the Reach. The scene was lazy and stupid and so was the "excuse" given by the Granny, givven that the army of Tyrell is awesome in the books and even in the show, where they saved Kings Landing by lifting the siege

[@Bombur888]

1) Not all. 2) The fact that some of them join Cersei is in itself deeply stupid given the comparative strength of both sides and Cersei's actions.

[@emsavings]

I appreciate your enthusiasm

[@tristanachiam2881]

First castle review: There is no machicolations. Now: NO MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!

[@MaX1MuS2k7]

Looks more like the ASOIAF illustration of Highgarden than Casterly Rock

[@GoldenRose116]

was more upset by Highgarden then Casterly Rock

[@doofkos]

Highgarden was so cute, but in fact Highgarden and Casterky Rock are the same castle: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Almod%C3%B3var_del_R%C3%ADo

[@pauladriaanse]

8:57 MACHICOLATIONSSSS!!!!

[@MidfieldMaestro21]

Very James Hetfield-esque.

[@LlewelynReswald]

My big thanks to you, sir! 😂

[@KingOhmni]

I scrolled down to find such a comment.

[@InsolventGene]

What show is that from at 11:34 with the guy climbing the ladder?

[@Zeferoth]

cant stand him yelling for no reason some ppl have kids and they sleep not to be woken up by a fat fucks yelling out of nowhere so annoying

[@DanParkerFilms]

How have I only just found this channel. This video had me in stitches while simultaneously educating me. Great video.

[@samuelmorenomoya7862]

Do highgarden too please!!

[@thomaslevy7249]

I don't think we've seen enough of Highgarden in order to properly analyze it.

[@samuelmorenomoya7862]

Thomas Levy But it's a real castle (Castillo de la Floresta) and they don't put CGI on it... Also we didn't see much of Casterly Rock either

[@judefowler8145]

Samuel Moreno Moya then yes, it will be realistic

[@MichaelWells770]

They are both the same real castle, just filmed from different angles.

[@thomaslevy7249]

I had no idea both scenes were filmed in real castles,but still, we definitly saw more of Casterly Rock than of Highgarden.

[@whiteoctober4582]

HBO ruined it!!! Where is Lannisport?

[@hazzmati]

Lannisport has been written out of the story in order not to confuse the viewers, as was the rest of dorne

[@7PlayingWithFire7]

hazzmati and lady Stoneheart. And half of the greyjoys. And the master plotline. And the faceless men. And arguably the tyrells.

[@cd2355]

7PlayingWithFire7 And so much badass characters left out

[@RAClaus3]

For me the only acceptable design of Casterly Rock is that illustrated A World of Ice and Fire, in which it's a massive rock out in the ocean with towers and keeps built withing and on top.

[@Saicofake]

hazzmati i am pretty sure Lannisport was mentioned many times in the show.

[@drumguy1384]

7:05 in their defense, they could have been standing above the battlements as a warning to the attackers that they were ready. Most castle battles were sieges ... perhaps a show of strength could dissuade the attacking army. When it comes time for real fighting perhaps they'll duck behind the battlements, eh? 8:05 Ok, so now the standing over the battlements seems like bad design ... carry on.

[@myrelion91]

*hears the m-word* Oh boi not this time... *turns sound to the minimum* "MACHICULATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS"

[@marthahawkinson-michau9611]

It looks to me like a classic multi-vectored assault to me. The primary purpose of the army attacking the castle walls is to create a diversion and keep the castle defenders distracted whilst the covert operatives were sneaking in the back door.

[@SinerAthin]

Indeed, and it worked flawlessly. Though perhaps primarily because most of the Lannister forces were away.

[@nebula8851]

This. They were expecting an assault, and they got one. Not having a frontal assault would have raised concerns immediately and likely ruined the 'sneak in the back door' plan.

[@viktorbrndsted9912]

LMAO SHAD, you went abosolutely CRAZY in this one ;D I love it!

[@shadiversity]

Yeah, I got carried away ^_^

[@michaeltroseth1798]

Great videos Shad, keep up the good work!

[@lauraconnolly1184]

I can't remember the exact phrase, but i think Tyrion basically said that that cave entrance thingy wasn't well known. if the soldiers on Casterly Rock saw a bunch of small boats with armed men on board row past the main walls and disappear around the corner, they MAY have gotten a bit suspicious. in schort, the unsullied land attack WAS A COSTLY, LIFE-WASTING DISTRACTION. the attackers were just arrow fodder.

[@flyingsteambug5908]

"WHERE'S THE MOAT?!" needs to be a tee shirt.

[@Timboslice475]

Castle within a castle. Castleception.

[@grlt23]

I am not sure if I got this right... So this castle was no longer impregnable, which means it was made pregnant via backdoor?

[@peter-radiantpipes2800]

Love these vids and your channel. Thanks!

[@HolyFurryFish1998]

That big assault on the walls shown in the episode was to provide description of how the plan which Daenarys suggested would go; the second clip with the Unsullied going through the sewers was the final and agreed-upon plan, with the Unsullised at the doors to Casterly Rock waiting for the doors to be opened before charging through the breach.

[@nirktheman-thingstab-cutter]

I want a "Where's the bloody moat!?!" T-shirt.

[@ohauss]

Actually, Shad, the overall layout isn't that good. With the castle being on a cliff to the ocean, having a free-standing concentric layout is just wasting lots of space with walls where you wouldn't need them. There's no one going to come via that route anyway. You can either use the space productively rather than covering it with walls or shift the whole layout more towards the sea and reinforce the defenses in the direction you're going to actually need them. Also, I've read of even odder commando style operations. If I remember the story correctly, in the chronicle on the Catalan Company by Ramon Muntaner, he recalls an event where they besieged a city. Around noon, it was so hot that both armies usually retired. Until some of the Catalans noticed that indeed no one was actually moving up on these walls. So they tentatively put a ladder on it and no one reacted. So they sent a few resilient folks up the walls to butcher some dozing guards and raise a ruckus, but not more. This, of course, alerted most of the guards to converge on that area of the walls - meanwhile the bulk of the army went to the main gate and had all the time in the world to hack it to pieces while the defenders were chasing some commandos.

[@road3557]

Do River Run Best castle

[@stoutyyyy]

The siege was pretty lame in the show. Made no sense either. Waste of a good character (blackfish)

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Greywater Watch better. Can't even find it. Can't siege what you can't find.

[@dragon0fly749]

One of the few actually used castles in the series.

[@antoniomarino9444]

What about Whiterun? Do you get to the cloud distric very often? Oh what am i saying.. Of course you don't

[@mjsupport78]

I don't know much about castles or warfare but the things you are pointing out makes sense. I am learning here a lot also

[@immasword]

have you considered doing this with some citys/castles from morrowind? that would be an interesting video to say the least

[@sillysad3198]

or some castles from real life?

[@gokbay3057]

Silly Sad well about real life. They had to be practical. Or the next owner would either demolish it or make it practical

[@NonApplicable1983]

In the books we haven't directly seen Casterly Rock yet but it was literally carved into a mountain with the lost technology of an ancient civilization centuries in the past. A lot of the greatest castles in Westeros have a very similar background, implying some degree of technological regression.

[@tysonas1]

Game of Thrones tv Casterly Rock visualization is more akin to Highgarden from the books

[@Zelanui]

I've got a game that allows me to build medieval buildings and your videos are helping me so much in my designs

[@bilbobaggins5752]

It is interesting how this battle shows classical era warfare technology fighting high medieval technology. How would a Roman Legion approach fighting a concentric castle?

[@aramhalamech4204]

they woud build: -3000 catapults -5000 scorpios -a wall to sourround the castle -a second wall to defend the first wall -50 siegetowers -500 ladders -300km of paved roads to make logistics and supply easier -A lot of tunnels under the castlewalls -5 camps -a lot of bridges,ramparts,deichs and siegeramps .... .... meanwhile all the defenders inside the castle would have been starved to death.

[@KirillTheBeast]

Came for the dead Lannisters... stayed for the MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!! The topic is already tilting in itself, but in this case, they even provided the archers with rocks to drop, so at some point, an advisor must have missed the whole point of those rocks being supposed to fall through a hole... that's not even there XD. Great vid, as always ;-)

[@Pijetlo91]

I love this channel :D so informative yet so hilarious :D

[@whistlershootingadventures3819]

I would love to see Shad rank all the various Game of Thrones armor,- all the houses armor as well as individuals like Brieanne, Hound and Mountain armor

[@Lightice1]

The threat that the Ironborn ships pose to the Unsullied is that they are destroying the ships that they arrived on, which in turn prevents them from escaping after they, themselves, are put under siege. In other words, Euron's fleet is not a direct threat to the new defenders of the castle, but has completely wrecked their original strategic advantage of being able to get in and get out as they please.

[@davesykes1966]

Great work, very Interesting, riveting even. The ammount of time needed to research it all ...wow. But If I may...maybe if we'd only watch one of your videos it wouldn't be noticable...But after a few, the medieval music in the background,though not as loud as it often is on KZbin videos (and even legit documentaries), it does get on one's nerves. Maybe lower or not at all is my humble suggestions. I jut discovered your Channel and plan on listening to allllll of it so ;)

[@DickEnchilada]

Shad, your nerd rage is one of my favorite parts of this channel

[@keegan112099]

I think the reason they didnt sneak in at night and take the city is because thats exactly what happend in season 3 with Yunkai and they didnt want to repeat it

[@Weabbski]

I have a great desire of putting the creators of such so very flawed castles as the defending archers during the siege where the enemy army would use shooters themselves... And I have same desire even more so the scriptwrites.

[@jeebtheweeb]

They didn't actually assault the front walls. It was just footage to show the scenario of them attacking the gate over tyrions narration of why casterly rock is so good. I mean. It's pretty... forget it

[@alexboren5443]

I like the higher quality of the audio in your newer videos shad

[@iam-mp1pe]

& is y ur #1 in my book over ur love for castles & the way u make ur vids r the best man. Keep up the grade A+ work brother

[@doomguy19931]

DAMMIT CASTERLY ROCK! HOW COULD YOU FORGET PROPER MACHICULATIOOOONNNNNSSSSSS!!!

[@MahsaKaerra]

I guess Casterly Rock's defenses are like the wealth of House Lannister, a clever illusion carried mostly by reputation, specifically Tywin's reputation as a military commander attacking/defending other people's castles. Or perhaps he let his original designs be known to the other lords of Westeros in the hopes that they would think that those designs have all been implemented and not scaled back since then, but as we know the Lannister gold mines have been running dry for years now so much of what Tywin wanted could not be afforded and was thus not constructed.

[@hazzmati]

MahsaKaerra casterly rock existed for hundreds of years before tywin. It was already an impressive fortress

[@stephengrant4841]

MahsaKaerra this is just the show, which obviously has restraints. Casterly rock is greater in the books.

[@VitorJTekkRodrigues]

MahsaKaerra In the show It was built by Tywin. In the books, It was built by the Casterlys, the original First Men kings of that region (although not the entire Westerlands), several thousand years before Tywin was born or even the House Lannister was created.

[@Attrazzione]

Imagine he lived in the middle age. He would have conquered the world

[@quantumratio4311]

07:47 - nearly coughing my tea over the desk! Man! xD

[@alextherussian7366]

Small question: Why didn't they push the Ladders away with large sticks? I mean, I've seen this a few times. Seems logical to me.

[@TheRobidog]

They should have. That's the answer, another thing the writers missed. Also, realistically, the ladders should have probably been at a much lower angle to prevent them from being pushed away as easily. Or they should have had some form of hook to keep them locked in there.

[@XMysticHerox]

Well the hook is a bit over the top. IRL such siege weapons were almost always build at the enemy castle so they were usuakky quite simplistic.

[@Rantsnrambles808]

Therob wasn’t that assault not real and just an example of why a frontal assault is bad

[@bananian]

@@TheRobidog I think ladders are a bit shorter than the wall so the wall people can't actually reach it.

[@benselectionforcasting4172]

You would like the Book Version so much better.

[@adamredmayne1326]

That could be said for so many other things mate haha

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Just general rule of thumb for this series. :P

[@ColonelBragg]

Book version is basically the lonely mountain from the hobbit

[@pawoui]

Shad, do you have a video (or planned a video) with like, castle words? Like what all parts were/are called? I keep on forgetting them and it would awesome to be able to go to a single video were all the words are gathered. Anyhow thanks for the awesome content! Keep it up bud!

[@nuclearmoose9877]

I really like your vids man

[@killergandalf]

Can you do a video about Castle Fairfax/ Bowerstone Castle from the game Fable 2 and from Fable 3? PS:In Fable 3, the Castle has a different design

[@tacoman2147]

Good video, but what about MACHICOLATIONS?!

[@kuncogopuncog0]

the pronunciation of "machicolations" in this video is perfect! ^^ love your work brotha

[@nicccandussi865]

I live close to Hochosterwitz castle, in fact you can see our house on one of the shots haha Its in Carinthia and I can highly recommend any enthusiast to come and see it. Really nice it got mentioned, great day to you guys! :)

[@JustTooDamnHonest]

It is a shame that Casterly Rock was hyped up only to be taken down in a matter of hours(minutes in film time that is). It reminds me of how hyped up Jamie Lannister's swordmanship was masterful at yet we only saw him fight once when he had both arms and that was it and after he lost his hand he was well basically shit after that. Overhyping something that much is never a good thing in that regard.

[@tabs4211]

Shad enjoys this shit way to much. I love it.

[@Chronocrits]

Your rant about the battlements was gold.

[@elvancor]

Wellllll, even at night, you'd think there were some guards on the castle towers to spot a huge fleet approaching from the sea or an army gathering before the gate. Making it look like an honest full-on assault may have actually been a necessary diversion to ensure the sneaky backdoor impregnation worked.