Arya Stark with needle Vs Brienne of Tarth - Game of Thrones

[@raidriarthegodking4485]

"I'm sure absolutely in the future we'll see her using its Valyrian properties against, I don't know, White Walkers or Something." Indeed.

[@adamontiveros-oberg1528]

I came back to look for this comment.

[@zakthewarcat3172]

@@adamontiveros-oberg1528lol me to

[@samanthajames3766]

But arya always use the pointy end, because she was always sticking with the pointy end. So if she cuts in the parring with brienne then. she will do that

[@AubSec]

She gave that dagger to Sansa, she used her dragon glass spear thing to kill that white walker or something.

[@zakthewarcat3172]

@@AubSec no she gave her a dragon glass dagger not the valerian steel one

[@houndofzoltan]

And then we got to the final series where fire could knock down battlements and everything else was ultra realistic by comparison.

[@inomad1313]

A conversion between Arya and Brienne: Arya: Hey Brienne, I can sword. Brienne: No. You are a child and I am sworn to protect you. I do not want to hurt you. Arya: You can not hurt me and I insist that you sword with me. Brienne: Ok. Let’s see what you’ve got. Arya: My sword has a pointy end. Here take a close look. Brienne: Very pointy. Ok. You got me with that one. Let’s try again. Arya: See, you cant hurt me because you can not hit me. I can hit you here and here and here...If I wanted, I could use the pointy end and you know it. Brenne: That’s enough. I’m better than you. Now get up and go play somewhere else. Arya: Good. I see you’re almost playing at my level. Let’s go again. Brenne: There. I’ve taken your Needle. You’re finished. Arya: Am I? Then finish me. Brienne: Ok. Have it your way, child. Arya: I’m not finished yet. I have another pointy end. See. Brienne: I see. And your pointy end is better placed than mine. Well played. Well played.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

LMAO

[@kaihinkelmann]

Exactly. Why is he not seeing that.

[@pixlark4287]

I think the reason Arya was cutting even though it doesn't do anything is precisely so that it doesn't do anything - it doesn't hurt Brienne. It still accomplishes her goal, which is to show off to Brienne in a fair fight. She just didn't want to land any actual hits.

[@monsterrigs8104]

My thoughts exactly

[@ionfreak83]

Yeah when Brienne says that she can't use Needle because its too small, Arya replied. " I won't cut you. Don't worry."

[@michaelduggan9347]

@@ionfreak83 precisely. That last clip of him talking with their faces behind him. Arya is grinning. This was her plan all along. He's not wrong, but it is a slight misunderstanding of the intent of the scene.

[@abhaysingh-gj4jh]

Actually what you said would be even more retarded plot-wise than the other option. Arya has only done assassin training with Faceless men till now who only use distractions, disguises, and poison to discreetly assassinate their target. They do not engage people in single combat. If the victim finds out about them and starts defending himself it's actually considered a failure. Furthermore, she was only there for a short amount of time. Arya, at this point, has only had like a few lessons with Syrio in KL, as far as single combat is concerned, and half of which was chasing cats lmao. Arya absolutely should not have anywhere near the skill to match someone like Brienne who's been training in actual sword combat her entire life. That's plain impossible. Brienne would slaughter her in fair combat, as would most other fighters in armour. This scene is just one of many examples of Arya being The Batman, where she's able to do feats that should be impossible for her because she's a girlboss Mary Sue. Just like how she was able to survive being stabbed several times and then had no infection after swimming through literal sewage water while wounded lol. Just another scene, in a long list, that shows the extremely incompetent writing in the later seasons of Got, not to mention a great representation of how masses will mostly eat up whatever garbage you serve them without seeing obvious contrivances like this.

[@genxer1]

I thought that too. It's like in a point karate match. The goal isn't to hurt someone, just score a point. In a match like that you use strikes and moves that might be useless in a real fight, but work just fine to score a point. I thought Arya was just trying to show her that she could have landed real strikes if she had wanted too. Like, "I stuck my sword in your face but I could have stabbed it through your eye" or "I popped you on the hand but I could have stabbed you instead".

[@PhrontDoor]

The small-sword cutting is simply antagonistic. it's to vex and pester and cajole your opponent. It's like tapping their head...

[@billyboberson9129]

PhrontDoor you missed the point of why is brien even trying to stop them

[@WickedPrince3D]

@@billyboberson9129 because Brien is fighting like she's been trained to fight. Especially considering she's fighting an unknown person (I assume since I'm not following the show) using an unknown blade and probably isn't sure what it and it's wielder are capable of.

[@Sean-wc4mb]

@@billyboberson9129 because its a duel!!!! FFS 'bang's head off wall'

[@skyereave9454]

In other words it's a waste of time

[@emilyhofland8219]

You obviously don't know the story of Rob-Roy... Those tiny swords with shred an opponent. Pester? Nah, man... it will fuck you up.

[@rickbruner5525]

An interesting side note. The guy who portrayed the Night King, Vladimír Furdík, trained Maise Williams for her sparring session with Brienne.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Came back to haunt him I guess

[@TheKira699]

Not only that but Maisie Williams is normally right handed, Arya Stark was written as a left handed person. Maisie learnt to fight left handed but became comfortable with both.

[@colinfonken5109]

The reason Aria is cutting with her sword is because the fight is point based. It doesn't matter that Briann got hit with a blade that wouldn't hurt her, it's the fact she got hit at all. Briann was training Pod to keep his guard up and Aria just waltzes up and slips right through her guard to strike her fingers, unprotected leg and throat all points that would effect a lot in a one on one duel. Injury of minor grade can effect the outcome. I can recall a time I found myself in a fight (I didn't start it, I finished it) and got hit in the shoulder, when I went to through a punch a shock went through my shoulder and my arm went limp. Allowing the kid who I was fighting to punch me in the face. The point of Briann's lesson is to not allow anything past your guard, but Aria is a Master of getting past the guard. I love this fight and this series. Thank you.

[@victorm56]

Yes to take Brienne down a notch. Over confidence in Knight could be a bad thing.. And over confidence is a flaw of Brienne.

[@williamtitan]

i think arya was just trying to show brienne that she had some weaknesses that she should cover when she was hitting her with her sword "needle". i think thats why brienne at one pint got really pissed and kicked arya to the ground. brienne wasn't expecting arya to do what she did. so in conclusion i don't think arya was trying to cut her at all instead she was showing briennes weaknesses. cause lets be honest, if arya doesn't know what her sword can and cannot do then she wont last longer ion the series.

[@FowlManor]

I think you're right about Arya wanting to test Brienne's fighting. Arya want's to protect her sister, and Brienne has sworn to so, but in this sparring session Arya shows Brienne that she has some weaknesses. That way Brienne becomes a better fighter, who'll be able to protect Sansa better when Arya goes off to kill Cersei. So yeah, Arya knows what she's doing.

[@Marlborough17]

I agree. Its a training fight. Brienne totally knows the hits wont hurt her, but she is pissed Arya could land them at all. And Arya is just showing off.

[@milo14564]

I was going to say the same thing. I don't believe the shorter character, Arya?, wasn't thinking she could cut so much as showing how many times she could get past the armored character's defense and get that body blow. I think some of those cuts could have easily been quick stabs if the small sworder wanted them to be. It was also, I believe, a taunt, since the armored person was only successful twice - once with the kick and once with the disarm - to do anything effective against her opponent.

[@Siberius-]

Then there's the issue of why the taller one was defending the cutting actions. Perhaps just as part of the duel, pretending like it could cut.. for dueling purposes.. and to show that she can defend all attacks (pretending it's sharp). Speculating.

[@FowlManor]

Siberius Wolf; I'll try to answer you speculation. I trained fencing for ten years, and I learned to attack and parry in one way, and only in one way. The reason for this was that when i parried and attacked in that way I'd be able to attack my opponent much quicker. I trained with an Epee, so I know the difference between fighting with a stabbing weapon and an edged weapon. What I'm trying to say is that certain weapons are made for certain movements; Brienne's sword is made, primarily, for cutting, and that is Brienne's "style". Most knights in Westeros use a style similar to Brienne, which means she only needs one set of movements to win a fight. So, to answer your speculation - Brienne is using a cutting action as a defense against Arya because one, it is her default defense and two, she might think her taller stature and greater physical strength will be enough to overpower Arya. This is just my thoughts, but I hope they could help.

[@RogerEverett]

Out on the net there seem to be quite a lot of challenges to the notion that Needle is a short sword/epee. Also, from the book there's a quote about the edges, " Arya’s eyes went wide. Dark eyes, like his. "A sword," she said in a small, hushed breath. The scabbard was soft grey leather, supple as skin. Jon drew out the blade slowly, so she could see the deep blue sheen of the steel. "This is no toy," he told her. "Be careful you don’t cut yourself. The edges are sharp enough to shave with." So, fantasy sword? One off? Something else?

[@TalesForWhales]

Spanish smallswords had cutting edges as they were mostly shortened rapiers and the Spanish fencing systems retained the cut and thrust. Also see transitional rapiers. After 4 yrs you got an answer.

[@DarkwarriorJ]

My opinion: Book-TV divergence.TV is basically a smallsword; book meant something else.

[@KurNorock]

Brienne swings her sword so painfully slowly I can't imagine anybody ever actually getting hit by it.

[@ruprecht8520]

Seems to me she should have used the length of her reach, and longer weapon to keep the little brat back. Instead those slow swings just invited her to rush inside her guard. It was like Brienne was throwing the fight to help make Arya look impressive to her sister.

[@brandonk8948]

Another reason it irked me how she beat the Hound, it wasn't a gender critique. It was plain and simple skills. Brienne was way too slow

[@KurNorock]

@@brandonk8948 She is way too slow because she's a woman. Her female genes did not allow her the strength required to move her large body around as quickly as a man of equal size would be able to do.

[@iKennectz]

Don’t forget Briene was swinging her sword with the colossal weight of Aryas plot armor on top of it

[@genxer1]

Yeah, she is slow and telegraphs her moves big time. She also follows the trope of acting like the sword weighs 20 pounds and it takes all her effort just to swing it.

[@deloceanophoto]

Her sword, in the books has 2 edges. In the series, it looks like they sometimes use a triangle section sword, but other times use a 2 edged sword. In a still from this scene, it actually does look like a small sized two edged sword. In other scenes, she slices a candle in half, so it is clearly meant to be a cutting weapon.

[@Blaisem]

I think Matt sometimes gets so caught up with historical representations that he forgets the implications of an alternate universe, in this case that a smallsword custom crafted by a lord's son for his little sister might also have edges and doesn't need to be shoehorned into our conception of a standard-production épée.

[@claytonmccoy8849]

I think the candle scene is just a liberty taken in the show.. Jon's quote describing needle is that it's bravosi style & "it won't hack a man's head off, but it'll poke him full of holes if you're fast enough"

[@redace4821]

@@claytonmccoy8849 Well it should at least have some short of edge to be able to slice or cut when it comes to it. Sometime you might not have enough arm space or space in general to thurst or stab.

[@victorm56]

@@Blaisem exactly my thoghts.

[@zaidsayeed326]

Probably already mentioned, but I believe Needle is a miniature sword made for a small girl, has an edge I think. In the book: Arya’s eyes went wide. Dark eyes, like his. "A sword," she said in a small, hushed breath. The scabbard was soft grey leather, supple as skin. Jon drew out the blade slowly, so she could see the deep blue sheen of the steel. "This is no toy," he told her. "Be careful you don’t cut yourself. The edges are sharp enough to shave with." Of course, she's just scoring points in this one, still wouldn't get through armour.

[@justsaying3594]

If that is the case. She has a needle thin long sword it would snap immediately.

[@aidankenealy2231]

@@justsaying3594 but it's made out of mythical Nippon, oops I mean valyrian, steel and cannot be destroyed as long as the users heart is strong and they are protected by plot armour.

[@Zephyr01]

yeah look up the sword on google, its a thin blade, i dont think it would snap like another use pointed out however unless it was pivoted on something and struck with a decent force, if someone hits a sword you're still holding the blade would spring a bit and your hand would take quite a bit of that force so i think the blade should be fine (im obviously not a professional or anything, just stating what ive seen and heard)

[@MrAwawe]

The weapon depicted in the series is a smallsword with a cross-section of a roughly equilateral triangle. Thus the angle of any of the edges is around 60°. You could sharpen one of the three edges until it's very fine, but the edge geometry is going to prevent it from cutting very well anyway.

[@DannyKay.]

With her Elite Expertise, she's just having Fun at this point it's like being Muhammad Ali sparring for fun and throwing punches that are not meant to KO or damage, but just whip and have the Fun, because your Expertise, Speed and Mastery allows you to do so. :)

[@Kitchensink108]

I was bothered that Brienne was swinging with all her strength against a lightly armored teenager while sparring. Arya hit Brienne a few times, but it was fine because Brienne was heavily armored. If Brienne had hit Arya once (with her sword) then Arya could've been pretty seriously hurt.

[@Tectonix26]

My guess is that may have been intentional, possibly to show that Brienne was somewhat shocked/put off guard by Arya's skill, not to mention, when a young girl approaches you, asks to fight, and then proceeds to use sharpenned, battle ready weapons (one of which being of magic fantasy metals) I'd say getting more defensive is called for haha.

[@zedek_]

The real problem with that was how hilariously telegraphed and slow Brienne's attacks were.

[@Debilinside]

GoT swordfights are always sluggish and well telegraphed. It's a movie thing, mush easier to follow for the viewers. A real hema fight ends in a few exchange and not all that interesting for the avarege people.

[@Bobson_Dugnutt_Esq]

I think that's exactly the proper lens to view this fight through though. In that context, Brienne's slow, telegraphed attacks make sense

[@Johnnythefirst]

They fight clumsily because obviously the actors are not swordmasters and never will be. :p

[@Jaely12344]

I think it has more to do with a touch, than an actual cut. If you see Arya use Needle in any actual fight where she kills someone she always uses the tip of the blade. At the very beginning she teased Brienne by telling her “Don’t worry, I won’t cut you.” Knowing already she couldn’t cut the woman. As you had already pointed out, the type of sword Arya is using is a complete unknown and unique to Arya and maybe a few other Braavosi Water Dancers, but certainly Arya in Westeros. The first strike to the hand was more than likely a reaction to the unknown for Brienne (choreography speaking) after she learned Arya couldn’t cut her Brienne stopped worrying about it and her attacks became more aggressive. Only she didn’t know that if you look at the placement of each of Arya’s strikes it was near or at a vital point and had she chosen to thrust instead of ‘touch’ or cut as you are saying Brienne would have been crippled and bleeding out within a few seconds a minute at most, essentially with how fast her blood was pumping. You have to take in Arya’s training into everything she does in a fight, even in training. She could have killed Brienne within seconds and Brienne knows it, that is why she was so impressed. It wasn’t that they ended in a statement, it was that Arya could have ended the fight at any time but didn’t. The choreography was set up really well I just wish they didn’t cut half of it out in the final cut for the show. I found your information on the weapons and fighting styles extremely interesting, the history in the sword play if our world is amazing and I loved hearing about it! I would just suggest that you learn or if your you already know them take the story and characters more into account when you think about things like fight choreography. I say this only because it’s not just a set of moves in a fight. This a show therefore is serves to move the story forward, whether everyone gets all the points or not.

[@Grimloxz]

All that you've said is essentially how I interpreted the scene. Arya is just "playing" as she "touches'" vital points.

[@Gameffect2ky]

Arya did say before the fight: "Don't worry I won't cut you". It all adds up now.

[@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329]

That's like somebody brandishing a sausage roll saying "Don't worry I won't cut you". They can't cut them even if they wanted to. And any trained fighter they were facing would already know this fact. If she said that then actually used her short sword to thrust and score a point or draw blood it would make much more sense. Using a weapon in a way which totally defeats the point of having said weapon just makes it sound pretty dumb.

[@tumaebacon2490]

I thought the cut strikes were for the sake of hitting, since either ways the point is not to kill

[@DaReaperZ]

Why train cutting when you're supposed to train thrusting techniques?

[@k9pc1235]

Agreed I felt she was just letting Brienne know she was capable and able to match up to her.

[@yoco93cro]

Match up with a lighter sword - isn't fair

[@modisp]

I am quite sure Arya just pretended she had arming sword and used needle as one. First because using it as suppose to would mean actually trying to hurt Brienne (aka stabbing her where she could). And second she did not took actual arming sword because she would not be good with it. She just wanted to show off :P So she took the advantage she had.

[@006bartdiebrak7]

Andrex you make no sense, the point is supposed to kill, not the blade

[@TedsAssassin]

I like to think that Brienne was simply treating the cuts as though they were from a cutting sword, like you might expect in a proper fight

[@natepepin09]

Yeah, in my mind the fight was not exactly tactical. Like B ignored the advantages of her armour because the fight was not about how to fight against someone with armour, it was more about fighting technique. Aria didn't do thrusts because that would be dangerous with her sword, and so she made her sword into a make shift practice sword. B did go a little too hard though, could have seriously injured Aria. I don't think that made sense, but they needed a way to show that Aria was on B's level.

[@TedsAssassin]

Nate Pepin exactly this

[@Chris-yp1fe]

If that was the case, they would have done well to add an emphasis onto arya's striking taps. As in arya does her thing to get past her guard in full motion, then pauses for half a second, and almost looks up to Brienne, as though to say, I beat you, then give her vulnerable area, hands, knees etc a quick tap. and reset. Point won, go again.

[@BrainRotNik]

Chris This is a bit pate but Her training wasn't in westerossi sparring which would be more similar to european and american fencing and sword fighting training it was in Bravos and by a bravosi who are from Essos. The training and sparring techniques are different when she is shown training there is no tap to show points it's usually her instructor parrying or dodging her attack before leaving their blade right by them to symbolize a lethal blow at the end and Syrio her first instructor would just say "dead" The only other fighting she does is lethal combat so she doesn't know of the official tapping points system to reset the only possible time she could have seen it was when she was maybe 10 and younger which was a long time ago for her or just as she walked in but Brienne's training with Poderick before was just her slashing at him to throw him on the ground.

[@Chris-yp1fe]

Nik Zayas i wasnt interested in any official tap point system i meant it in a way of her just being cheeky about the contact.

[@MrMZaccone]

To understand "Needle" you have to remember that Jon had it made for Arya when she was only 11. The fact that Arya is also just small, these things explain a lot. I find it very interesting that Arya has found a way to grow around this weapon without outgrowing it. This is useful in all martial arts. Truly understanding one's techniques as one understands a friend, knowing and accepting their limitations, is the mark of good strategy. The question one must ask at all times is "Where are my limitations?" Are they within me, or in the technique I've chosen?

[@johngifford7725]

How Arya evolved her art around her weapon is also a very useful concept in industry. Learn to form your movements to the machine you are assigned and make your body work with it, and the production will flow. Awesome comment. Thank you.

[@OllihuAkbar]

Spears and shields! Spears and shields!

[@DrewLSsix]

Olli Lappalainen. Someone needs to edit Aryias reveal with Jamies look of horror and call for spears and shields....

[@shrekas2966]

Olli They are so retarded that they have to be reminded to take up basic military arms instead of fkin swords as a main wespon

[@voxorox]

Shrekas 2 He wasn't reminding them what to use. It was a call to assemble the lines for battle.

[@vostokcosomonaut5205]

What I don't get is the fact that they have guys with only shields in the front and only guys with spears in the back in that battle which I found weird...

[@SimSpec]

Harks back to Roman/Saxon shield walls where the guys with the shields also had swords to stab at the attackers close range wheras the ones with the spears were relatively open to attack without the sheilds in front.

[@andreasschroder7880]

@scholagladiatoria: In the Game of Thrones universe the cutting with Needle actually makes sense. This is how the sword is described in the first book: "This is no toy," he told her. "Be careful you don’t cut yourself. The edges are sharp enough to shave with." So Needle - unlike a historic small sword actually has sharp edges: I guess this makes the choreography ok but it also makes Needle as such pretty unrealistic... ?

[@scholagladiatoria]

Sure, I have no problem with that. But the way they made Needle appear in the show is wrong then - it should instead be something like a sidesword or rapier.

[@spongthe1st]

consistency isn't something Hollywood is famed for so I wouldn't read too much into it. I agree with much of what Matt said although I should point out that like a lot of other "high medieval" fantasy there's a lot of era-spanning in GoT. For example, Stannis' men wearing Burgonet style helmets, which are somewhat closer period wise to thrusting swords with knuckle-bows, but this is till in a world where the Mountain goes from wearing a bucket helm to a Sallet and the Lannisters have weird Samurai hats...

[@andreasschroder7880]

Guess this has a lot to do with budget. They had only 60 million to do season one so I guess a lot of stuff (like sword design) had to be done on an as god as it gets basis. No, when they have more money per episode to spend, they are stuck with the poor designs from their "poor" beginnings. I guess this is why the choreographies improve: they have more money to spend now...

[@Einomar]

Mike Schrauter I might be wrong since I'm not a swordsman, but does not the mass of the sword some what dictate how good of a cutter it is?. I doubt it would be called needle if it had the mass of a sidesword or a heavy rapier. To me that description sounds like a small sword with sharpened edges. That would still cut badly, at most superficial cuts it seems to me.

[@eds1942]

It must be some type of hybrid then since in the same passage it says; "...it won't hack a man's head off, but it can poke him full of holes if you're fast enough." - and later; "Stick them with the pointy end." - Then; Arya gave him a whap on the arm with the flat of her blade.

[@ZacLowing]

I think you are really missing Arya's motives. The first time we ever see her use a weapon was a bow and arrow in the first episode, shooting past her brothers for a bullseye. Her eyes where wide with joy at the showing of her skills and in this bit doing the same. She wasn't trying to win, she was trying to show that she can be as good if not better than other warriors. You get the feeling she could have won this fight in the first few moves, but she was doing what American indians call Counting coup, the winning of prestige against an enemy. She really was having fun!

[@michaeldrummond3857]

Except what she did would be foolish to do if someone was out to harm you. I agree she was showing off with her wrist rolls of the sword. Brienne also doesn't want to hurt the little sister and so probably took it easy on her a bit except for the boot to knock her down which is an intimidation move. Honestly in a real fight I give Arya about 30 seconds to live.

[@stsenre]

michael Drummond Though you have a valid point, I don’t think Arya’s dumb enough to ‘flex’ in a real fight like what she did with Brienne

[@fakecubed]

This was never a real fight, this was Arya trying to earn Brienne's respect, in order to get Brienne to start training her. Think of the fight like a conversation without words. Brienne regards Arya as just a little lady playing at swords when she first comes in and asks to train with her. Arya starts by saying "hey, I actually know some things." Brienne's response is "oh yeah? Well I wasn't trying that hard because I don't want to hurt you." Arya then whips Brienne a few more times in a way she knows will cause no damage, to try to get Brienne annoyed enough to really fight her, at which point Brienne decides Arya needs to be taught a lesson. Remember that Brienne is sworn to protect Arya, she's not going to let Arya think that she's really good at fighting when she's really not. So Brienne shows Arya just how ill equipped Arya is, knocking her to the ground. You can tell Brienne regrets it immediately, and looks worried that she went too far with a little lady she's sworn to protect, but Arya gets up and says "I'm not just playing here, I'm not going to give up the first time things get hard, I want to train with you." Brienne then starts to respect Arya, and they start the "real" fight. This is when Arya stops showing off with fancy and useless moves trying to goad Brienne on, and starts fighting like she really means it. It's also when she starts losing, because Brienne isn't messing around anymore and all Arya can do is defend herself with deflections. Then, Brienne disarms her, and since she now respects Arya she goes in for the finishing blow to teach Arya a proper lesson, exactly the way she was teaching Podrick just a couple minutes before. That's when Arya shows that she doesn't just know a bit of water dancing, but has learned some dirty tricks too from the Faceless Men. She dodges the attack, does the fancy grapple and hand switch, and does a thrust from an unexpected direction where Brienne is actually vulnerable. It's Arya saying, "yeah, earlier on I was just messing around, but I'm actually lethal, and I am serious about training with you." Brienne's smile recognizes Arya's true intentions, and that's when she breaks the silence and respectfully asks who trained Arya before. Brienne has agreed to start training with Arya and wants to know more of her background. Arya's mask of the arrogant little lady playing at swords has been taken off, she's a fighter like Brienne. In a way, it's similar to how Podrick earned Brienne's respect. She thought of him as a bungling fool until he finally proved he's not completely useless, at which point Brienne began training him in combat. Arya knew Brienne could not possibly know or understand everything Arya has seen and done, and so to earn Brienne's respect she needed to get Brienne to try her hardest, and then do something unexpected to impress her. Arya knows her training is incomplete, and likely inadequate for the challenges to come. She respects Brienne but until this duel Brienne did not respect her. Now, they respect each other and can begin their teacher-student relationship.

[@LemonSoulz]

Anyone who thinks Arya could take brinane is a fucking moron got is killing themselves with bullshit.

[@mikeflash1973]

@@LemonSoulz if it was a real fight Brienne would've been dead in the first few strikes. Needle would've been put thru Briennes throat.

[@PacopicooftheDuty]

But I wanted you to review the fight between the danger lizard and the spicy Bronnette Jokes aside, one could argue Arya is using cutting moves precisely because she's using a sharp weapon, and if she were to thrust into Brienne's unprotected leg or hand she would injure her (notice how she's wearing leather gloves instead of gauntlets). Basically, Arya is not being a dick.

[@PacopicooftheDuty]

TheRoadi3 he's Ser right now, but they better make him a Lord after saving Jaime's ass and injuring slim shady

[@WadeStar]

Exactly.

[@MrWayne1701]

Good point! (See what I did there)?

[@koedstorm]

thats just not very fair. Briennes sword is not just a sharp edge - its also 3-4 pounds of steel that she has to get up to speed and reposition - that makes her swordwork a lot slower compared to aryas needle that goes where she wants immediately with a flick of the wrist.

[@PacopicooftheDuty]

I don't deny that it's unfair, but I'd rather let her do his thing than get stabbed in the knee. It would be the end of Brienne's years as adventurer aswell.

[@OldieWan]

You have never been one to "pull" your punches on other videos Weapon master. So I thank you for your honest review here. You are an expert, and not asked to suspend your disbelief on the matter of this subject matter. I very much did enjoy this fighting scene, and thought it was done in good taste, and was pulled off quite well! I am glad to know someone with your skill level can approve and not "disarm" this battle all together! Thanks for your time! I have seen much of your real life skills and talents. Thus it is why I clicked on this link and allowed you to school me on this one here! Good show! *sheaths my blade, and bows.* Ty

[@xiezicong]

I like this comment! I'm gonna go ahead and say he definitely pulled a few punches though.

[@ravendon]

Arya is scoring points on Brienne. Arya is getting past Brienne's guards. Also, Arya is using a real weapon, not a training one, with a real point. Even though it won't penetrate the armor, it may glance off and hit Brienne in the head or in an unarmored part. Brienne isn't ignoring the attacks because she is showing her skill in defense. Of course, anyone in armor could just charge in and stab. Brienne won't do that to someone under her care, which Arya is. It is a friendly training match.

[@victorm56]

Didn't anybody else notice that Brienne got poked in the left hand and jerked it back? Arya got her good at least once and didn;t draw blood.

[@arthurpoore451]

In the books needle actually does have sharp edges (unless I'm mistaken) not to say that it would be an effective cutter, but it might have Some capacity to cut or slice.

[@1i8c9h6]

Arthur Poore as far as i remember needle isnt described as being a smallsword but rather as a smaller regular one-handed sword

[@mrspidey80]

www.valyriansteel.com/shop/images/uploads/needle-on-plaque.jpg This was made with input from GRRM, so this is Needle's canonical look in the books.

[@TheMan-je5xq]

Arthur Poore what do you think the book Needle would be classified as? An Estoc maybe?

[@xiezicong]

It'd simply be a hollow-ground arming sword. EDIT: In the follow-up video, someone mentioned that it would be a sidesword. I completely agree with said person. Book Needle is a sidesword blade with a crossguard hilt.

[@senakristhfon3711]

Arthur Poore perhaps it was more similar to a bolognese side sword

[@raptorjesues1445]

I belive that needle is actually a pretty small estoc since we see her slicing a candle in season 6 (also looking closer to the weapon you can see that it in fact got a blade)

[@reisysv.felicitysumeragi3490]

Estocs did not have a cutting edge. That is actually part of what defines an estoc. From Clements, John. "Medieval & Renaissance Sword Forms and Companion Implements" - "Blade cross-sections can be triangular, square, rhomboid or flat hexagonal. This geometry leaves hardly any cutting capability as a sharpened edge could simply not be ground, but allowed the weapon to become lengthy, stiff, and very acutely pointed."

[@wardasz]

@@reisysv.felicitysumeragi3490 Yea, Estoc did not have a edges. But Needle definetely HAVE edge, blade is flat, not triangular

[@reisysv.felicitysumeragi3490]

@@wardasz I was just responding to the suggestion that needle is a small estoc. An estoc wouldn't have an edge. It would be more accurate to say it is a short rapier. Or a bladed smallsword.

[@nikitamalikov6683]

This makes sense, in that Needle was custom-made. The armourer would have essentially been trying to create a tiny version of a normal one-handed sword, so it can't be classified as any sort of ordinary Earth blade, because no ordinary Earth blade was ever meant to be used by twelve-year-old girls fighting dirty.

[@guibin]

I thought the reason why Arya was "cutting" at Brienne was just to prove she could get past Brienne's guard.

[@natethornnstuff1783]

She certainly got past Brienne's guard because Brianne was telegraphic her cuts and not coming directly back into a guard or not swiftly enough. She was moving rather labored and swinging wide allowing her sword to continue rather than keeping it between her and Arya at the same time. In an actual duel Brianne a seasoned warrior would have died so many times

[@Diddley_Squat]

Agree, that's what I thought.

[@yvonbarker2013]

Brienne was using a blunted training sword. By fighting the way she did Aria used only the blunt edges of Needle in her strikes. I thought it was a fair training bout.

[@Kan5Demon]

She's using slashes because they're training and not actually fighting she knows to "Stick them with the pointy end"

[@lonerider68]

But she's using slashes that would do nothing to an armored opponent. What's the point of practicing a move that only works against unarmored opponent on someone who is naturally going to be slower to dodge because of the armor's weight "Ha! you couldn't dodge that because you are wearing armor... and we are pretending armor doesn't work against my magical sword!" In S1E9 Jorah Mormont intentionally takes a huge slash to the side of his armor knowing the sword won't harm him. If that dothraki arakh swung at full force isn't going to injure an armored knight... there is no way Arya slashing Needle is going to do it.

[@Conserpov]

_> she's using slashes that would do nothing to an armored opponent_ She's *not* using slashes at all, actually. She specifically "whacks" vulnerable points in lieu of stabs for training purposes. If she used a training sword with a blunt tip, she'd stab instead.

[@klyanadkmorr]

I accept it as proof of feigns, pivots, glancing deflecting tapping strikes by a smaller opponent vs a larger harder weapon opponent to control, frustrate and be deceptive fighting to win. Arya DID NOT HARD BLOCK OR PARRY Brienne's sword and when caught it was knocked from her hand. In the end her real goal was to get inside and STAB

[@goffe2282]

Aria is using a real weapon and not a training weapon so she can't practice the moves that would make sense. If she had shown up to the fight with a training weapon then she could train more effectively, but now she has to hold back.

[@deanwall7522]

That explanation makes 0 sense. The whole purpose of "training" is to condition yourself into reacting accordingly into acting in a real situation. If she was training with a khopesh would she use thrusts? See how much sense you're making?

[@Theorimlig]

The only point of this scene was to show that Arya has become a badass fighter and to create some sort of bonding moment between Arya and Brienne. Not that that excuses that Brienne fights both really badly and in a way that could easily accidentally kill Arya. And is Needle definitely triangular in cross-section? Even if it isn't it wouldn't be much of a cutter, but maybe it could at least cut somebody painfully through, say, regular clothing? Could be all right for push or draw cuts, no?

[@Theorimlig]

Not sure Brienne really "is an experienced fighter", by the way. She was trained by her father's master-at-arms a bit, but probably not nearly as much as most male nobles would have been (or at least not for as many years? I don't recall exactly, but I know it's mentioned in the books). After that she did the melee that got her picked for Renly's rainbow guard, and all her real fighting is done on screen or in the books. In the books of course she's quite young, so she just wouldn't have had time to become "an experienced fighter" in any case, but even in the show there's no reason to believe that she's ever fought anyone off-screen at all as far as I'm aware.

[@timothyheimbach3260]

TheodorEriksson in the books it doesn't seem as much that she is top tier, but in the show it seems that she is.

[@Theorimlig]

Yeah, it does. She's supposed to be very talented and strong, but she's not very experienced.

[@zwelfangasten7901]

In the show, she always wins by brute force. Tackling Loras, bashing a poorly-armored Hound with a rock, shattering that one guy's sword. She never shows subtlety in her actions, which is something that even the Hound was a bit better in.

[@mikem9001]

Your first point is my biggest issue with this scene - no way would Brienne take any risk of seriously injuring a member of House Stark. And there was plenty of risk in the way she did this, given she didn't know about Arya's magical/superhuman training.

[@JakkFrost1]

When Arya hit Brienne's hand and legs, she was merely demonstrating that she could land blows against someone as skilled as Brienne. She was also subtly putting her lethality on display for Littlefinger and Sansa to witness, because at the moment she wasn't entirely certain one of them might try to have her killed. At the same time, she was assuring Brienne that she didn't need to worry about Arya, Arya could now clearly take care of herself.

[@schibleh531]

Don't you find that kinda retarded? That a small kid can land strikes on an elite and experienced knight. For me that's the biggest issue here, they tried to show that arya is badass but in the process they crapped all over Brienne.

[@TheTrudgingTech]

perhaps brienne didn't take arya as serious as she should have. perhaps arya knew this. perhaps brienne decided to take it easy on arya. "tap tap" you're better than this. "tap tap" I'm better than that. "tap tap" come on, have at it! disarm. Good! That was fun. I'm still not sure how this crapped on Brienne.

[@JakkFrost1]

@@schibleh531 ~ Actually, I think it's kinda retarded to say that fight was nothing but "a small kid vs an experienced knight". Arya may be relatively young, but she's not just some "small kid". By this point she is herself an experienced fighter and assassin, who trained for years with the Faceless Men. Maybe not as many years of experience as Brienne has, but enough to be able to face her equally in combat, given the level of training she underwent. The only role size plays in this fight is that it gives Arya the edge in speed and agility.

[@yvonbarker2013]

I agree. Arya was making a point to everyone involved/observing, (and it was a different point to each of them). As to the 'cutting' point raised by scholagladiatoria, I would say it was an entirely deliberate choice by Arya to use blows ineffective with her weapon to hand but potentially lethal should she be armed otherwise.

[@Guts-the-Berserker]

*This scene would've been less hilarious if the choreography was improved* to the point that the parries looked like the believable finesse and leverage techniques actual fencers use. The reason she isn't stabbing is because this is practice and each tap she does counts as a potential thrust to her. She is simply training her dodges, parries, and accuracy in a practice match. When she parries she should be catching the sword on the hilt and then redirecting and countering all in one motion, the actress needs more choreography training from someone that understands actual combat based parrying and riposte theory and techniques. Anyways wasn't cutting motions, was tapping motions fencers use to represent hits scored. Choreography was better in the latter half.

[@michaeltorluemke3322]

I believe the reason she uses cutting actions is that they were not really training but were more testing and learning about each other. It was more Area showing Breann respect and earning a matter of respect from Breann.

[@josesoria2072]

Arya* Brienne*

[@denvergray8943]

From what I took the first time I saw this, Arya’s just enjoying “playing the game” as it’s said in the show. She knows Brienne thinks she’s a little girl with a baby sword, so she’s being flamboyant and ridiculous to show off that’s she’s a master assassin with unearthly training and skill. Taps and cuts in quick, pinpoint precision to show even if this sword can’t hurt you here and here, this is where I could get past you here and here. The whole sequence is Arya, in character, looking at a phenomenal swordswoman who beat someone she respected and flaunting/confirming her own skill in comparison.

[@hideousruin]

And pure fantasy because in reality she would have been crushed.

[@PipinKratky821]

I agree. It was a training fight, therefore both women held back. Arya's sword was sharp she couldn't use thrust because she would harm Brian. She even said so.

[@JakkFrost1]

@@hideousruin nonsense. Sure, in a real fight, she might not be able to take many solid hits from Brienne, but likewise Brienne would be lucky to _land_ any solid hits against a highly trained and experienced assassin who beats her in speed and agility, and who makes a small target.

[@alteye1]

What bothered me was Brienne's poor distance managing. Arya is a small person, with short arms and a short sword, Brienne is a very tall person with long, armoured arms and a longsword. For someone with Brienne's skill as probably one of the top swords(wo)men in Westeros should have less trouble with Arya, who I expected to be at a major disadvantage simply due to her short reach.

[@jfh667]

Brienne is 6'3" and ill venture a guess at around 200lbs. She is supposed to be very muscular and she is wielding a long sword. Arya Stark is 5'1" and, again, i need to guess her weight but ill go with about 100lbs, wielding a short sword. I was pretty annoyed with Arya blocking 2 handed full swing blows from Bienne. On a side note, i do think they are watching your channel because SHIELDS !!!!! have been predominant in this season.

[@CraigSteele12]

I posted pretty much the same thing above. Realistically Area would get pummelled with such physical differences surely? Unless she had some Neo like reflexes and agility to do some mad shit avoiding every strike. Imo that's more the approach they should have taken. Special effects showing superhuman reflexes & speed curtesy of the faceless men.

[@JonCombo]

They aren't trying to kill each other though.

[@peyton6794]

she wasn't "blocking" she parried.

[@VampireNewl]

I don't really think it's that much of an issue, while size and power can be important factors in a fight they're far from the only ones, the main issue I have is training and experince arya has not really spent that much time learning small sword (having only had her season one training after which she went bravos and learnt great stick) mean while brienne has not only much more experince with her weapon but much more experince in fighting in general. Not to mention brianne has been active the last few years while arya has been working on disguises.

[@patrickgourley2965]

Jf H in this video the guy explains that she doesn't block she parries and he says that considering her smaller sword the parrying techniques she uses are plausible

[@pmiles363]

this is great I think everyone complaining about the fight should watch this. You talk with experience and make critical comments in a sensible way. Also I think Arya was cutting just to show Brienne that *if* she had a different sword she would be dead.

[@disclaimin]

Hey Matt. Really quick upload! :D Isn't it possible that Arya was using cutting motions because it was simply a training session, and she knew Needle was thrust-only, therefore couldn't potentially harm Brienne? Perhaps she was emulating using a cut-and-thrust blade. Then again, Brienne is armored, so it's pretty moot.

[@ericsjewett]

Two issues with the review, first is that Needle may be an ahistorical weapon with two edges (the physics of this sword would be problematic, but this is a universe with seasons that last years, so I give them a pass). Second is that in the circumstances of the training fight a cutting touch, no matter how pointless (no pun intended), would "score" just as well as with the point. Also, since Arya IS using an unblunted weapon to touch with the point would be dangerous (and poor sportsmanship), whereas a cutting touch would prove her ability without unnecessarily endangering her sparing partner.So often in commenting on movies reviewers "Assume Facts not in Evidence" it's important to not assume things not explicitly explained in the fiction, this is after all fantasy and that universe is not obligated to adhere to real life norms.

[@MrKeotan]

It doesn't matter that it's ahistorical. Needle is just too light to do any serious cutting damage. Cutting heads off pigeons may be fine, like she did in Braavos. Cutting a human? Just a flesh wound. You'd need to cut something like a neck artery for that to matter. Not that it matters anyway against full plate.

[@SwordGoat]

Eric Jewett Eric Jewett Eric Jewett in her fist exchange she put the point right in Briennes face then at the end drew a sharp knife to her throat. Clearly it's not about touching otherwise brienne would to have conceded those as defeats and resets the match. Also brienne's swings would clearly not simply be touches with the amount of follow through she has with them so she is clearly not playing by simple touch rules either. Even if aryas weapon is ahistorical in the show it is shown to be ineffective when fighting against armor since it doesn't hurt brienne when she cuts at her arm or leg and it doesn't pierce the hounds armor when she tries to thrust him with it.

[@ericsjewett]

Not enough to do any serous cutting damage and a cut tough against full plate are all perfectly valid in an actual fight, but in this context simply providing a slap on the armor is a "proof of skill".

[@SwordGoat]

Eric Jewett I don't think it is a proof of skill because she's not using the weapon the way it would be effective to show her skill in using that specific weapon and she not proving her skill in sword fighting with a weapon that is cut and thrust because she's not using a cut and thrust sword. She's not fighting with a sword like brienne but if she's following the same rules (taps count as cuts) it's not a fair fight then even in training and proves nothing except she can tag a person. It's like I'm able to life an air mattress that is bigger than your 250lbs dumbells so I'm stronger because I can lift a bigger object, same rules different tools don't prove skill or strength.

[@Charter23682]

This scene really bothered me, Brienne is supposed to be a great fighter and fast, even though she is so big. And in this scene she just looked like someone who has never fought before, I mean wow... those blows, as if she used an oversized and even heavier Conan the Barbarian sword...

[@CottonPanzer]

GoT always has a sort of... People are great at fighting until the show needs them to lose thing running.

[@Zagardal]

medieval european swords are heavy as wooden logs in tvs and movies, not even GoT escapes this

[@bilibiliism]

Rexxaris638 because the actors are normal human not well trained fighters the characters they supposed to be acting.

[@Charter23682]

bilibiliism Mate, I don't know You, but I am 98% sure that even you could wield it faster than she did. It really juzt looks silly swinging so slowly, especially in such a long arc (its called projecting I think?) :D

[@Zagardal]

those sword are not even 4 pounds most of the time, you could swing them a lot better than that even without much practice. It's just a storytelling device, big swords are supposed to be heavy while Arya's small sword is basically a tv antenna. Both are represented wrong, but it's tv, not a real fight, so some tropes will surface.

[@HemlockRidge]

Obviously, she was counting coup. What's odd about that in context? She was trying to show off.

[@tonygomez6076]

Yes she is

[@stevefoxrox]

She should melt down the valerian dagger and fuse it to needle making a full size Rapier with valerian properties

[@James-xb7qc]

No one knows how Valerian steel is actually made. There are just a lot of fan theories.

[@algallontheobserver3780]

She would need a smith from the free cities to do that.

[@Alknix]

+ Algallon The Observer So, she'd have to go to Volantis, find the smith, and raise enough money. I'd say it'd take her 2-3 days tops if she takes the scenic route.

[@Napalm38382]

Just find the guys boss who makes it, cut off his face, "Make me this" done and done.

[@Alknix]

+Napalm38382 That... probably shouldn't become her go-to solution for every problem.

[@Nutellafuerst]

Noone else is bothered by Brienne obviously not even trying to hit Arya? Arya wouldnt even have needed to dodge

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

I'm also bothered by Brienne trying to hit so heavily. If she had landed one of these blows she could have killed Arya even with her blunted sword.

[@mastervolume1508]

it's almost like this show isn't real, and many "fans" are only interested in seeing if Jon and Dany have sex.

[@Nutellafuerst]

Master Volume so?

[@matthewedington2997]

Master Volume wish granted

[@AWZool]

Ok, so how entertaining would have been the following (more realistic) script: Brienne, using the vastly superior height and the reach of her weapon waits until Arya forced to move in range, then hit her on the head with a quickly and controlled scheitelhau, and the fight ends. :D

[@joshm3484]

I do wish the show had kept needle as it was described in the books, which was basically a longsword, scaled down in size for a little girl to use.

[@-ooxoo--ooxoo-3758]

Can you do a review of Indigo Montoya VS Wesley (DPR)? Who also would like that?

[@h3lblad3]

Should come out very highly. Everything they do is legitimate swordplay. They even call out the styles they're using while they're using them.

[@stevenwang5148]

Actually it's been proven that most of what they say during that fight is nonsense. But it is still a good fight nonetheless.

[@wolf222555]

-oOxOo- -oOxOo- ahhh yes! i remember : " you see i am also left handed" hahaha( actually i really am! ahh yes" the princess bride", great movie. timeless.

[@spudren-elderscrolls-fallo7119]

that would be awesome

[@suntiger745]

Nah. The names they use are real fencing masters, but they style they use is "Flynning", i.e. fencing for display and not effect, made famous by Errol Flynn.

[@JordanKnotts]

What's crazy is that Brienne has been training with a sword master for a decade, and is very, very good (she beat I think 163 people to get on Renly's King's Gaurd, and is compared to Jaime and Sandor, who both are in the top 5 or so fighters in all of Westeros) and she's fast and very strong and twice the size of Arya. And Arya... um, had a couple "dance lessons" with Syrio, -and then I guess learned where the heart was from the Hound.. and she wasn't a very good fighter then, and later at the House of Black and White, she trained with a stick/bow staff I guess? And didn't even have access to her sword until the very end. When did she become amazing enough to not get absolutely quashed by Brienne? It's not all just speed.

[@ericm3327]

Jordan Knotts yes it makes no sense and is garbage, a barely trained 5’1 girl beating off the strikes of a 6’3 Amazon with amazing training. TOTALLY

[@Frogtalkin]

Eric Martinez my thoughts exactly.

[@ericm3327]

Frogtalkin yeah and I said as much on another thread and some social justice administration type girl was trying to say she practices with an epee and it’s totally possible and that I’m sexist (even though they are both imaginary women) and challenged me to a sword fight basically... definitely was a good laugh

[@nekoppachi]

You're absolutely right. The whole Arya is Batman now thing is ridiculous. After season 7, everybody thinks she's a top-tier open combatant. That's not even really what she's trained for. Even her released chapter in WoW sees her using trickery & subterfuge to get her kills. Idiocy.

[@crhettbuttler1]

We didn't see all of her training because they were not in Hard Home or Craster's Keep or the Wall, they weren't significant to the story. Her learning of going under disguise was tho. All of her training wouldn't make it to the show. Read the books

[@joshchristian5716]

Although an épée is triangular, Needle does have an actual sharpened blade (as can be seen in the show and on replicas from the show).

[@petterandersson263]

I personally thought that the cuts against Brienne was just a way to "mark" hits. This makes sense to me since needle doesn't have a blunt point, which makes thrusting potentially quite dangerous. I also attributed Brienne's parrying to the fact that they were just practising. But that's just my thoughts.

[@VindicatorJones]

And while I completely agree that the whole fight was choreographed to entertain rather than to show actual sword combat I think we need to look at the intent here. I think the reason why Arya struck with the sword instead of thrusting was to score "points" Often in mock duels a blade touch to the body is considered a point, irregardless of the fact that Arya's weapons is a purely thrusting sword. Brienne recognized the point and conceded. Also one thing to remember, even a thrusting sword when swung can cause a good deal of damage if the point of the blade makes contact rather than the blade itself. If this had been a real fight Brienne would never have conceded the point and would have ignored the hit and continued to fight, and one could assume that Arya would not have made that move in the first place is this was a real fight, and would have gone straight for the kill shot. This fight was to prove a point by scoring points, not actual damage, which it did rather nicely. Just my two cents

[@seofra8252]

This was not training, or an actual fight. They were testing each other and Aarya was showing off. It was an awesome and completely unique dynamic.

[@steffan147]

This was just sparring. You keep mentioning that her cuts wouldn't do anything but isn't that the entire point? If this was a fight where they were trying to kill each other I'd be more than happy to accept that but it wasn't.

[@lonerider68]

But then it isn't a very sporting sparring... she's using moves that would only work against an unarmored opponent one someone who is naturally going to be slower because she is wear heavy/protective armor. Look at S1 E9, in that fight Jorah takes huge slash to the side of his armor from a 6 ft tall Dothraki and isn't cut. You think a flick slash from Arya is going to slice through armor (I could accept a stab in a tiny opening... but not a broad cut).

[@Conserpov]

_> she's using moves that would only work against an unarmored opponent_ She lands whacks to indicate points open to thrust attack per standard sparring convention - with armor taken into acccount. When she whacks Brienne's thigh, she shows that - if it was real combat - she could fatally stab her into the groin (having both time and reach).

[@fakecubed]

You're probably right that cuts could indicate thrusts in a training duel, but I see it as more like little insults to annoy her as Arya tries to get Brienne to try her hardest and earn Brienne's respect. Brienne was clearly not trying her hardest early on, and it's not until after Arya goads Brienne into actually knocking her down, and then Arya gets back up after being knocked down (showing she's not going to give up so easily), that Brienne starts taking Arya's request to train with her seriously. It's also at that point that Arya starts losing the fight, and only regains some measure of parity when she does that fancy trick with the hand switch and grapple. It's also the first time that Arya goes for a vulnerable part of Brienne's body. Arya wasn't looking to defeat Brienne in mortal combat here, she was trying to earn Brienne's respect and get Brienne as a new fighting instructor. In that respect, she won, but Brienne is clearly the better fighter and I think Arya approached her because she acknowledges that fact, and knows she needs more training. This was always about Arya proving to Brienne that she's not what Brienne thinks she is.

[@billyboberson9129]

fakecubed did you watch the video? Slashes are faster than stabs and brein is trying to stop them for no reason

[@jars6230]

@@billyboberson9129 They are not trying to hurt each other, or practice. The point of stopping the slashes would be to show Arya that she isn't any good, and should give up the business of thinking she can fight. Its the fact she couldn't stop her that started to annoy Brien, which was the point as far as Arya is concerned. Look, I can slap you with my sword, and you cannot stop me. If we were having a mock boxing match, and I kept stepping in and giving you a light slap on the face, would you let me keep on doing it. Most people would consider it an insult and an affront, and try to sop it despite it doing no damage. That is clearly what happened here.

[@mariozeledon6253]

Based on the books, I vaguely remember Arya being gifted a small sword in the sense that it was custom made for a child and not really a small sword per se. So it should have sharp edges

[@saikofukuyo973]

Valarian Steel had two different officially licensed reproductions of Arya's needle; an HBO version and a book version. And the book version, as you remembered, looks like a scaled down version of a long sword. GoT author G.R.R. Martin "sent Maisie Williams one of these swords to practice with prior to filming the new HBO series" and the site has pictures of her using it. So it's the type of sword GRRM had in mind, even for the tv series. www.valyriansteel.com/shop/A-Song-of-Ice-and-Fire/Needle-Sword-of-Arya-Stark/prod_3.html (book version) www.valyriansteel.com/2010/04/08/maisie-williams-as-arya/ (MR using the book version) www.valyriansteel.com/shop/swords/needle-arya-stark/prod_63.html (HBO version)

[@WoodSageSeaSalt]

@@saikofukuyo973 VERY good point mentioning this. I completely forgot that what she received isn't a standard small sword but more like a child-size long sword. The picture of her with the sword makes more sense overall.

[@dace48]

Having watched this again and read through the comments I am always amazed and amused when Matt produces historical weapons, introduces himself as a fencing instructor, lays out his academic credentials and provides evidence from historical treatises before explaining clearly and fairly his points. Then dozens of people respond with "no u r dum!!! I am rite!"

[@TheArdor]

Usually yah, but this time he seems to have answered his main gripe (Arya using cutting motions) early in the video (i.e. you shouldn't use sharp weapons in training exercises). Makes perfect sense that Arya would use cuts here since it's less dangerous to Brienne and the tip won't be damaged if a thrust hits the plate armor. The few times Arya thrusts, she stops well short of contact. Kinda annoyed me how annoyed he is with Arya's cutting.

[@l33tsamurai]

i would like to point out that "needle" is in fact a slashing weapon. the reproductions have a double edged design.

[@IaMaPh1991]

l33tsamurai so that makes it more of a spadroon

[@l33tsamurai]

IaMaPh1991 Exactly.

[@Celebriel82]

I think one point that is often missed when discussing needle is that it's more of a scaled down version of a sword that was made for a 9 y.o. (if I remember correctly from the books) specifically for Arya by Jon. So I would find it hard to place it in a specific category because it's not really going to fit in one. For an adult, yes I would definitely use that small sword argument, but for what the sword was made for... not sure. Also consider the smith who made the sword. It was made by Mikken, the Winterfell smith who is used to making long and bastard swords. In addition, there are scenes in the show that recognize the limitations of Needle especially against armored opponents. I would site her sparring with the Hound as an example where he does exactly what you are saying that Brienne should have done against Arya's blows here. In the end, I have to agree with the commenters that state that the reason for the duel/sparring here was not exactly interpreted correctly. Brienne utterly dismissed Arya's requests for training before this exchange and for the first few exchanges she was not really trying, she was merely humoring her lady (admittedly more than anyone did for her at that age). On the flip side Arya was showing off to begin with, showing that she could actually land a blow. The part where you judge the highest (after the kick) I think is where the real spar actually began, notice that Arya is no longer really doing showy wasteful blows and Brienne is reacting more appropriately, actually landing (or attempting to land) more appropriate blows.

[@odosmaker]

It is also made of Valyrian steel which is stronger and lighter than normal steel and remains sharp without honing.

[@fullmetall122]

@@odosmaker neddle is not made of valyrian steel, the dagger is

[@crazy8sdrums]

My take on the scene was that Arya was merely pointing out to Brienne, and the onlookers, that she had the skills. She wasn't out for blood. She gave Brienne little love-taps with Needle to let her know she was there... Needle may become her secondary weapon though because she is out-growing it already.

[@bonespiel]

I would have liked to see her graduate to a better sword by this point. But of course that never happens.

[@christopherbacon1077]

She's cutting for the same reason Brienne is using a blunted weapon: They're working to score points off each other, not kill each other. Something you neglect to mention is that a small sword, like a stiletto and because of the triangular nature of it's blade causes wounds that don't heal, at least not as easily as awound caused by a normal blade. Needle is a very good weapon for an assassin, which is basically what Arya is.

[@nothingmusic42]

um, didn't you just say at the beginning that Arya had an advantage using a combat weapon instead of a training sword? but then you criticize her for using her combat weapon in a nonlethal way to score points against her opponent? by making a "cut" on the leg, Arya hit the weak point. in real combat, she would have thrust at the exposed knee instead, and it would have ended the fight. that's why Breinne hit the thrust kick; she knew Arya had ended the fight right then and there. you also have to look at the context of this duel: the last time they really saw each other, Brienne barely defeated The Hound. now Arya returns from Bravos and proceeds to pretty much own Brienne with ease.

[@orpheusandtherecluse6123]

No I don't believe that would have damaged brienne enough to end the fight

[@orpheusandtherecluse6123]

It wouldn't have cut deep enough

[@pm71241]

Maybe we should give "Arya" the benefit of the of doubt here that she's just using Needle as a replacement for a training (cutting) sword ?

[@robertzio]

Why is Arya in quote marks?

[@natethornnstuff1783]

You train for the sword you use. She carries needle and has used it. So why is she fighting with it like its an entirely different sword? You wouldn't take a car to a dirt bike track and say "I'm going to drive this as if I was riding a dirt bike." We don't have to try explain every flaw as an explanation in universe. As we know the writers fir GoT left so much to be desired late in the series. And we know overall fight choreography wasn't good.

[@charleshixon1458]

It’s definitely a training fight. Look at how brienne telegraphs her strikes with the slow wind up. She’s the “master at arms” sparring with her charge and is surprised by Arya’s capabilities and responds with the kick out of instinct but look at how she strikes after. She still telegraphs, she is sparring for training purposes and it ramps up to a faster more capable training. I’m surprised that the poster doesn’t see this if he is someone who has been in training with weapons.

[@manny4239]

Maybe you can agree that just as brienne sword was for practice, Arya's movements, being harmless were to mimic a fast sword that was too harmless

[@johnrife7134]

Getting hit with an iron rod is still gonna smart. I think her goal was to embarrass her. Not cause damage.

[@Zephyr01]

needle is actually sharp unlike what OP said, its virtually just a thin blade, sharp on the edges as well as the point. even if so, arya hit bre on the knuckles which would hurt like a bitch considering its metal.

[@gareththompson2708]

Well, she doesn't really have a smallsword. She has a sword that more closely resembles a smallsword than any other historical sword. But what she really has is a sword that has been custom crafted by John to be comfortable for Arya to use. That gives it a little room to have some differences from a historically accurate smallsword, perhaps including having a sharp edge. Granted cuts still won't be terribly effective since it will be hard to carry much momentum through such a thin blade, but perhaps it would be enough to cause a nasty wound on bare flesh.

[@potato_lover2736]

I knew this was coming!

[@woodslore8537]

potato_lover273 so did I and have been waiting for it.

[@scholagladiatoria]

So did I.

[@potato_lover2736]

As is tradition.

[@benjaminodonnell258]

That's what she said.

[@Riael]

I expected he would say "Yay the Dothraki used projectile weapons"

[@AkosKovacs.Author.Musician]

I'm sorry but I hate Brienne's fighting style, weaving that sword, like a sledgehammer, with no efficiency, or balance.

[@jonathonclary1681]

Dont be so certain. Contrasted with the precision of Arya's style it may look inelegant, but, it has to rely more on force than precision because its purpose is to fight armored fighters. Historically, you see a lot more corpses on medieval battlefields that suffered blunt force injuries than piercing or cutting. The principles used aren't dissimilar, but armor is heavy so it slows you down and armor is hard so it requires more force to do any meaningful damage. The real point here is that it isn't the style that wins a fight, its the mastery.

[@FerretJohn]

"This is not the dance of the Westeros we are learning, the Knights Dance, HACKING and HAMMERING! This is the Braavos Dance, the Water Dance. It is swift, and sudden."

[@jonathonclary1681]

Not necessarily. I'm no expert on long swords, but as for rapier tactics, Arya is using a lot of techniques that I do, and I put a lot of work into learning historical styles. Certainly there's a bit of theatricality here, but it was choreographed by someone who knew what they were doing and performed well by the actors.

[@e.a.prince8895]

As mentioned by others, I thought it was clearly a sparring match of skill, rather than a true duel. Arya didn't use the point because she wasn't fighting to kill. Every cut that landed was a demonstration that she had penetrated Brienne's defense. They were never meant as serious attacks. The fight clearly started as a curiosity for Brienne but she quickly realizes that Arya is not a silly child with a blade. Bringing us to the final beat of the fight where they both go at it hard and ends with a draw of sorts. I can't speak to the technicalities of the actual blade-work, but it seems wrong to criticize a sparring match, such as this, because it wasn't fought as if it were a fight to the death. You need to keep in mind the story and situation behind the fight scene, as that will dictate the manner it's fought. Just as a scene where one character is trying to end the fight without killing the other would have that character NOT fighting as they would if it were kill or be killed.

[@aerhearts]

What about when Arya cut the candle right before she killed the faceless girl that was hunting her? That looked like a very clean cut slicing the candle.

[@starwars1357]

Candle is warm and i think you could cut it with thin stick with strong force

[@slamblamboozled1245]

A triangle still has a slight edge, certainly enough to cut wax

[@JohnCortelli]

As the others said, it still had a bit of an edge, and since it's lightweight it was swung VERY quickly

[@foolwise4703]

So you are not going to criticize the telegraphing and lacking distance control?

[@Rhyas9]

I don't know why this video was recommended, but I'm glad it was. Thumbs up from me!

[@yourhandlehere1]

You say cut cut cut when it was parry parry parry (Brienne was on the attack) and then she casually touched Brienne on the leg (not cut) which...in a real fight would have been a stab through the knee at a joint in the armor...Brienne knows this. From a kung fu-ish perspective when faced with a sword, knife, pointy stick, etc. You don't try to watch the sword, like you said it moves real fast. It's connected to your hand though, and again like you said, it only moves a little bit. The elbow even less. Sword goes nowhere without the hand, hand goes nowhere without the elbow. The elbow will give away your intentions before your hand gets to do them. Besides..Arya is a cat catching, blind fighting, face snatching, water dancing, angel of death.

[@steakknives]

As good as Brianne is I'll bet she doesn't have much experience fighting someone with this style. Not to mention Arya is left handed, which most people don't notice.

[@inomad1313]

Jesse Harrington Thank you! Brienne is completely unfamiliar with this style and has maybe only face one or two lefties in her life. Maybe none at all. Each touch Arya makes is a potential injury to Breinne. The swat to the hand definitely hurt and left Brienne open to a further advance if Arya wanted it. As he said, it is still a bar of steel.

[@morgainebarkefors9806]

Could you do an episode on movies and/or series with good sword fighting in them? It would be a welcome addition to the plentiful good critiques on bad ones that circles the internet. Thank you for having an amazing channel! Love from Sweden

[@inomad1313]

Morgaine Barkefors Skallagrim does a review of a sword fight in a movie. “The most realistic duel in movie...”

[@cardsfanboy]

The entire point was it was a training scene, so Brienne was treating Arya's attacks as if she might have been using a different weapon with different properties. She's not focused on the fact that Arya is using her weapon of choice, but more as "I'm sparring with you, we'll treat everything that happens as if it would happen if both of us were using weapons with properties that could do damage based upon if it hits." She got mad because Arya was more or less beating her ass, even though she knew that the weapon of choice wouldn't hurt her and decided to point it out with the kick. (same with the Hound telling her about armor---and for the record, Needle never did kill or hurt anyone with a slashing attack, so give the writers credit for that... Arya took her training with Syrio and turned it into being a bad ass spear warrior or whatever you want to call it she used in the battle of winterfell)

[@jamesfrederick.]

Is he never going to mention all of the spins arya totally could have been hit in the back a bunch

[@meris8486]

james frederick the other thing that bothered me was Arya putting needle behind her back in a reverse grip

[@NoshuHyena]

One thing I really like is that Arya forced Brienne into tryhard mode, and she got carried away and used the "dirty" tactic of kicking Arya. And then you can see mild regret in Brienne's eyes. It's great directing and great acting and shows a lot of character.

[@blackfrost8536]

just a call back, remember when jon first gave arya needle. he told her "be careful not to cut yourself", he said that instead of warning her not to poke/stab herself. from this we can infer that bravosi or game of thrones style small swords are made with sharp edges, and while yes he said it cannot hack a mans head off but poke him full of holes, the blade must at least be sharp enough to make potentially serious cuts like a knife/dagger. now why arya decided to go and try to strike at parts of breinne that were armored i have no clue :P

[@tilmanrotationalinvariant2257]

Because she has a sharp weapon and just wants to show off... She just sees every hit as a point

[@IPostSwords]

I really disliked this fight. So much silly stuff, especially her stances and "guards".

[@GrannyGamer1]

I know NOTHING about any form of weaponry. While i thoroughly enjoyed this scene, the choreography and the actors, i had a gnawing suspicion this wasn't realistic nor possible. Emotionally, i wanted it to be possible, of course. So, this scene, in particular, has nagged me every time i review it. Thank you so much for explaining what i'm seeing to me. The final moment: Brienne's sword on Arya and Arya's dagger at Brienne's throat, made me laugh with joy, of course. But i never could thoroughly enjoy the scene until your review. Thank you so much!

[@fried2styles]

good video -- you are more patient than I am. This battle was Arya's "Rey moment" when it becomes clear that she is a Mary Sue with unlimited power. Really, how can she have any skill at all with a sword to defeat a seasoned warrior like Brienne? The only training Arya received was a few lessons in the Red Keep and then some begging and stick fighting with a girl in Braavos -- he has literally less sword experience than Sam, but she's unstoppable...

[@sorsocksfake]

While some bits of the scene are pretty good, I can't even get over the fact that it happens at all. Arya is supposed to be an assassin. She's not supposed to hit an enemy who expects it. Why would she even have any training in that - beyond having enough self-defense to get away or come out ahead? Definitely she would have no training in any kind of "honorable" fighting. Might have gotten away with it by having a very unique smallsword-style, or even using a quarterstaff since she trained a lot with that. Could act like Brienne is not used to fighting those. That is the only way it could make any sense, whatsoever. Brienne's supposed to be among a dozen of the top swordsmen in Westeros. Arya has, if we're generous, five years of training, only a small part of that at assassination, only a fragment of that in weapons, and less still less in any form resembling a sword duel, if any. Anyway, it's my general annoyance with trying to make Arya a bad-ass character. She isn't. She's utterly screwed up, PTSD filled, kidnapped, former slave, tortured, trained to be a murderer before she even hit puberty, probably sniffed quite a bit of poison, and brainwashed by a cult. With a fractured identity and quite a bit of psychopathy. She could be a damn interesting character, but the show (and I fear even GRRM to an extent) apparently wanna pretend finding Sansa sufficed as the thirty years of therapy she'd need :). And decided that off-screen she became Wolverine, as we all know.

[@sorsocksfake]

P.S. don't even bother with "she cut because she didn't wanna hurt'. That makes it 100% pointless since Needle is her weapon. Why would she spar in a style she never uses? Next thing she'll start fencing with a crossbow. Here's how you don't hurt your opponent: don't use a sharp blade. Or just use it... Brienne is armored (yes, all fantasy helmets have an invisibility mode).

[@nekoppachi]

Exactly!!! The show didn't do anyone any favors with that scene. Morons are running around calling her a seasoned warrior now.

[@fakecubed]

The point of this fight was not to fight, it was for Arya to change Brienne's impression of her and earn Brienne's respect. Arya came into this scene with one goal, to start training with Brienne and learn from her. Arya knows her combat training is incomplete. She got partway through water dancing training, and partway through assassin training, but she knows her world is going to get a lot more dangerous soon and she wants to be ready for Westerosi knights and white walkers and who knows what else coming to kill her. Brienne, meanwhile, thought of Arya as a helpless little girl in need of rescue, and a little lady who's only playing with swords. Her goal in this scene was to not hurt one of the people she swore an oath to protect. When Arya comes asking to train with her, Brienne is kicking Podrick's ass, and wants to get back to doing that as soon as possible. She suggests that Arya go "train" with a servant. When Arya uses Brienne's oath to basically guilt trip her into sparring, Brienne still doesn't take it seriously. She fights very defensively, a bit slow, and while she's a bit surprised at Arya's speed and precision with the blade she carries, Brienne still doesn't really take it that serious until Arya starts openly taunting her with that smirk and holding her sword behind her back. When Brienne does finally decide to knock the girl on her butt and dissuade her from playing with swords, so Arya can go back to her sewing and Brienne can go back to training Podrick, she still shows an overabundance of concern for Arya's welfare, looking as though she immediately regrets using her true speed and strength to knock Arya down. It is only when Arya gets back up again, and stops smirking and taunting her, that Brienne actually starts to respect Arya and actually starts to take the fight seriously. What happens then? Brienne dominates. Arya is no longer doing fancy water dancer flourishes, she is in retreat, fighting for her life, doing nothing but deflections as fast as she can, and she still gets disarmed in a matter of seconds by the clearly better fighter. Even when Arya suddenly reveals her assassin training with a fancy dagger move, which is intended more for shock value than actual effectiveness (Arya's reach isn't actually long enough), Brienne still has the upper hand, and is basically ready to kill Arya a split second later if she wanted to. So I'm not going to tell you Arya used the side of her blade because she didn't want to hurt Brienne, I'm going to tell you she used the side of her blade because she was trying to goad Brienne into actually fighting back, so that Arya could get the training she desperately needs. If you actually think any part of this scene is meant to, or actually demonstrates Arya is some kind of badass fighter, you've seriously misread things. This is Arya begging for help from a fighter she knows is better than her.

[@jonathonclary1681]

First pass: Brienne initiates with a downward cut. Arya counters with a void, a diagonal parry that pushes Brienne's sword off line and then performs a circular movement with the blade resulting in a beat on the larger sword giving it extra speed and power, driving it into the ground . Arya uses the time she gained from this to close into measure and position for a thrust.

[@SenorTeco]

Needle is not a small sword though. At least it's not cannon for it to be a small sword it's intended to just be a very small cut and thrust sword.

[@andywilson8698]

There where cut and thrust smallsword actually, primarily in the Spanish system , but also some french smallsword actually had diamond cross section and were edged , primarily to stop grabbing.

[@tarinai344]

Hi Matt, counter-counter points! I could be bias (very probably, this are the points I came up to counter myself the 1st time ha). At 6:18, that's clearly a thrust, and any person not having face protection would have died. Body armor or not. At 6:31, the 2-3 taps Arya did on Brienne's chest can very easily translate to slightly-higher-face-eyes-taking-sweeps. (I agree with with the feet taps probably aren't gonna do anything.) You mentioned a lot of "Brienne doesn't need to bother parrying those strikes, you don't need to". But I see many of the strikes are aimed at the face! Most of the strikes are as thought she's fighting a person with full-armor. For that to be so thought-out, really kudos to the choreographers! Instead, my real problem with the fight is Brienne probably wouldnt risk harming people she's supposed to protect, even with a practice sword. So the fight is not unfair because Arya is using a lighter sword therefore can move faster.. (anyway would anyone on the battlefield trade for a small light sword? It is an disadvantage of its own.. the shorter range, lesser damage its able to deal.. imaging a fight with dagger vs a katana) but Arya on the other hand, can go a little more full-out.. we'll never know.. haha

[@reighzhor1058]

Since it was a training fight and not real combat, I do think the 'cutting' motions were intentionally not thrusts. Given the apparent rarity of smallswords in GoT, it would make sense that they would not have a training one available and it is also believable that Brienne, skilled as a knight as she is, would underestimate the abilities of the weapon. Given Arya's training style, it would also fall within that to give her opponent a false understanding of how her exotic (in this world) weapon works.

[@shmabadu]

You cut out the bit where Brienne crushes Arya’s skull with her bare hands.

[@GeneralAdvance]

Arya's needle isn't quite a smallsword, it's got sharp edges so it's really more like a unique spadroon

[@JohnCortelli]

I think one way to explain the fact that Brienne always seems to swing so weirdly slow is akin to the fact that she is almost always seen wearing huge pieces of plate armor, which MUST be weighing her down. Same with The Mountain. Of course you could see someone "get used to it" after a while by building up muscle while using it, but that's still a big pain on the joints, I'd imagine. Wear a 150lb backpack and even tilting your head will feel like a chore.

[@kaizen5023]

Wow I'm surprised, I thought you were WAY TOO EASY on this fight scene. The way they had built up the Arya vs. Brienne Smackdown, we had a right to expect much better. Right out of the gate, Arya does a spin turning her back on Brienne, which you didn't even mention. Anyone who turns their back on me in a bout in fencing class is going to pay for it. Arya does a lot of needless blade spinning. Brienne makes huge ridiculous cuts as if her sword weighs 20 lbs and which were telegraphed a mile away -- Arya could have simple sidestepped using good footwork and gotten in a thrust. There were many instances of this - it makes Brienne look unskilled - she would know she has to fence carefully against a thrusting weapon if Arya knew what she was doing -- but as you pointed out, Arya is not using her weapon properly as a thrusting weapon - so I don't understand why you end the video saying it was "quite good."

[@mikeisapro]

He said the choreography was good , and he 'enjoys a good kung-fu movie, anyway'.

[@joshuapeek4435]

I agree her pirouettes were out of nowhere it's like she knew exactly what brienne was going to do. I think all of her movements we're strictly put in for theatrics.

[@xandercorp6175]

In British English, "quite" usually has a meaning closer to "somewhat" rather than "extremely" as it would in American English.

[@TheViciousVince]

you obviously never fought against arya she can turn her back all day long

[@16m49x3]

I've watched sword fight competitions, and it's really hard to actually see what is going on on camera when people move full speed. So them being more obvious in the movement and slower than they needed to be, is probably just a way for their movement to be visible on camera.

[@gnfnrf]

Could it be that Arya was using Needle as a sort of training sword as well? I mean to say, it is possible both she and Brienne had an unspoken agreement that they would treat it as edged and dangerous in the cut, just like they treated Brienne's blunt sword as edged and dangerous in the cut.

[@neverseemstoAsh]

I think this is the most likely, as there's some historical evidence to back up a similar thing happening with estocs.

[@miramallo30]

Needle is supposed to be a cut n' thrust sword. Needle CAN cut. Yes, this may be historically inaccurate and this may be in contradiction to the demonstrated small sword. However, needle is supposed to be a cut n' thrust sword. It is used for cutting on several occasions (candles, pidgeons). It further looks different than the demonstrated small sword. It seems about twice as broad relative to length - in particular towards the hilt - and it seems less wide in the "triangular" direction; it looks considerably "flatter" than a small sword. It is futile to discuss whether the historical inaccuracy lays in Needle ought not to be a cut n' thust sword or whether Needle should not be used for slashing. However, for the serie's context, it has to be assumed that Needle is a cut n' thrust sword. And then, it makes perfectly sense to apply slashing in fighting. It stil makes no sense to ruin the blade for training. By the way, Arya addresses her "unsportsmanlike" behaviour by using a sharp weapon and states prior to the training: "don't worry, I won't cut you".

[@viviciuszn]

"shes cutting" disagree, on my view this is training, so shes using her weapon on a not permanent damage way, maybe im wrong but on a training setting hitting the enemy "in theory" like shes doing means shes doing ok Arya isnt being unsportsmanlike by using a real sword vs a training weapon, she is using it like a training sword because it wont cut lol

[@braydenj1327]

Why didn't she just get a training sword then? Also when sparring you want to use the weapon how you would use it in combat.

[@hobgoblinuk5100]

Great to hear some proper analysis of this fight. I love this fight and it's nice to know it isn't entirely bs lol I do think the slashes make sense in terms of psychological points scoring rather than damage dealing and brienne would have reacted accordingly but I will definitely be watching the next series with a more critical eye having watched your vid. :D

[@adamszabo6034]

Thank you. It was a great review I really enjoyed that scene. I watched the fight scene again, and I think it makes sense if Arya was aiming high towards Brienne's face with those slashes, which is definitely not covered with armour. So in my opinion Brienne is defending her face/eyes which could have been hurt by such hit. And when Arya actually hits Brienne with her short sword she was aiming for such parts of the body that were not defended by armour and would hurt even with a blunt weapon like the fingers and the back of the knees. Hitting the back of the knees finally pissed Brienne of, and I think this is what Arya wanted.

[@shalashaska615]

Oh I nearly forgot. It’s a TV show

[@billyboberson9129]

shalashaska615 yeah based on the real world arya and brein are still human there weapons are based on real ones

[@schibleh531]

Oh I nearly forgot, that's not a reason to serve us a piece of shit.

[@KPopsicleSNSD]

Man I wish they reforged needle with the Valyrian steel and make a one handed Bravosi style sword she can kill White Walkers with.

[@johnlloyddy7016]

At least the dagger she uses in her offhand is made of Valerian steel. She can always kill them with that.

[@tigerkrag]

Also triangle blades such as socket bayonets and the small swords you mentioned create a triangle wound which is almost impossible to stitch closed and take forever to heal leading to infection. In most cases these wounds had to be burned to stop the bleeding and seal the wound from infection.

[@adrianungureanu7402]

Review the Battle of the Field of Fire!!

[@Ken19700]

Nerdwriter1 has a good video on it. More of a movie making perspective though.

[@adrianungureanu7402]

Ken MacMillan thanks for telling me mate

[@manwe1532]

Are you an elf?

[@thecrowrains]

Way-y-y late to this discussion but glad to watch it! Your HEMA expertise is a breathe of fresh air in helping to understand the do's and don't do regarding small swords and it's design. I have to admit as a complete noob as it pertains to swords, your description is leads me to respect Arya's Needle and it's limitations. The Game of Thrones director should have consulted you during filming.

[@williamchandracristanto1285]

Review the fight in Arn the Knight Templar

[@DJPonko]

this fight annoyed me incredibly much and i could barely stand it because i just thought that brienne should just not even bother with defending herself and kick aria's ass, she probably doesnt even need her sword and just kicks/fists and she could probably just grab the edge of arya's sword and take it away.. i thought this is the worst fight ever, arya's sword is too small and shes small and shes not strong at all, if this was realistic arya would just get blown of by the force of brienne? Brienne is fucking huge, she must be so much stronger and parrying a weapon like this looks unrealistic as hell to me.. unless magical steel also gives you strength which sounds stupid If brienne swings at full strength with a bastard sword against this needle arya will just drop it on the ground, im actually kind of surprised that you enjoyed the fight..

[@Frogtalkin]

Exactly, it would be a little bent piece of garbage. She would have cleaved her into pieces.

[@nekoppachi]

YEP!!!

[@johnwalter3477]

ipeeontheworlllll

[@johnwalter3477]

Frogtal Lllllp0

[@crhettbuttler1]

Grab the edge of her sword? Really? As if she was standing there giving it to her??? Even if so, you know she could nudge it in her hand then, lol!!!!

[@gunmnky]

Consider how Arya would win. She would have to pierce. Needle can't go through armor, as demonstrated when she tried to stab The Hound. Thus, she knows she could only win by actually harming Brienne or exposing herself to thrust into a joint. Instead, she just made a game of it. Her weapon is not made for war and certainly not against an armored opponent twice her size. Also, she was tapping Brienne to show her where an opponent would be able to land a blow.

[@fanaticpharaoh6689]

Shut up about the slashing in the comments. It is a moot point. lol this entire fight is a joke. Arya would not have the strength to take the center or hold it, let alone deflect a larger blade as she does here. One slash from shoulder to knee and arya would be dead. The dodging XD, hilarious.

[@MrBecherak]

Exactly, no matter how much jedi power she aquired from those dress up dudes. She's fighting the Brianne of effin Tar. That kick should have broken her ribs imho.

[@cadethumann8605]

FanaticPharaoh 1. Longer swords are not really heavy. 2. It doesn't require much strength to deflect a sword 3. The longer the blade goes down, the weaker it is in a bind (I.e. parrying with the strong part of the sword beats the weaker part). 4. Smaller blades can parry longer ones.

[@nekoppachi]

THANK YOU! Regardless of how much I like Arya, that entire scene's stupid & an insult to Brienne, who's been swinging a sword for about as long as Arya's been in existence, if not longer. But Arya went to Braavos for a while & became Batman, so whatevs, right??

[@cadethumann8605]

nekoppachi While I won't try to justify the skills of the fighters seeing as I don't watch GOT, longer length of sword training does not necessarily make a fighter superior. In my opinion, there's other factors to consider such as the speed one can learn, the style of fighting that can address another's, etc. For an analogy, while a fighter can self-train for years, it's likely that he/she be beat by someone who has been training in an actual martial art for a few months. Granted, I know we are discussing about two legitimately trained swordsmen. However, it's possible for the less-experienced person to have a better quality of training/different style to keep up with the more experienced veteran. And in my opinion, even with skill alone, there's still multiple things that can effect the outcome. There's tactics, strategy, timing, luck, etc. It's even possible for a less-skilled fighter to defeat the superior (can be luck, using correct strategy to get around weakness, etc.). As crazy as this sounds, so is the nature of combat and life itself.

[@fakecubed]

You guys are crazy if you think Brienne was actually trying at first. The whole point of the fight is that Brienne has no respect for Arya and thinks she's just playing, and Arya is trying to taunt her into taking it more seriously. Look at the expressions on their faces. Remember their history. Use a little logic. This is a story, there's a plot, it's not two people trying to kill each other but two characters with different motivations entirely. Arya wants a fighter she respects to teach her. Brienne wants to protect a little lady from getting hurt and dissuade her from playing with swords. The "real" fight doesn't start until after Arya gets up, after Brienne kicked her down. That's the moment when Arya earns Brienne's respect, and Brienne realizes she's actually serious about wanting Brienne to train her. At that point, Brienne actually starts fighting and totally dominates. Arya is in full retreat, unable to do anything but deflect as she backs away, and is soon disarmed. It's only when Arya does a very unexpected thing and shows off her assassin training that she's able to achieve even a halfway decent position, and despite what this video here says, it's not a neutral position but Brienne has clearly won the fight. Arya's thrust is pretty much at its maximum, and she doesn't have the reach to actually hurt Brienne, whereas Brienne can skewer Arya, or just cut off her arm. Nevertheless, Arya has earned Brienne's respect, and Brienne will start to train her.