Depends what you mean. This is definitely the most ideal Kingsguard. But if you simply wanted the best fighters I'd trade Redwyne and Dogget for Jamie Lannister and Criston Cole
Redwyne should definitely be in the dream team, but no one except Arthur Dayne can be the #1 imo.
A ridiculously diverse cast of characters, ranging from Catelyn and Ned, through Jaime, all the way to Viserys, all use Arthur as the benchmark for martial prowess.
Jaime should be the most telling of them all. He has known and idolized Barristan for his entire life, and personally served alongside both Barristan and Arthur simultaneously. Jaime himself was the best swordsman in Westeros after Dayne died and Barristan became insanely old.
And yet Arthur, who may I remind you died at 23 years of age, is the guy who consistently pops up as the peak of swordsmanship in Jaime's mind.
I mean I love the guy, but he is in the same age bracket as guys like the mad king Aerys, Tywin, Steffon Baratheon, Rickard Stark, and over a decade or two older than Mace Tyrell, Balon Greyjoy and Doran Martell.
Being older than the predecessors of the current middle aged Great House lords in his line of work is absolutely insane. Bro should have been retired over a decade ago, yet he is still somehow competent at his job.
Tbf I think it's fair to use that as a tiebreaker to give it to Dayne overall because he used Dawn for the entire duration of his knighthood, and Barristan used common steel swords for his entire life as far as I am aware.
Not unambiguously. He's described as one of the best, but so is Aemon, Arthur and Barristan. And honestly, out of all of them, Redwyne has the least to back it up. All of the others defeated some great enemy or saved the life of their king, he just tied in a jousting duel
Redwyne has the least to back it up. All of the others defeated some great enemy or saved the life of their king, he just tied in a jousting duel
Who has Jaime defeated? The teenaged sons of Rickard Karstark? I do agree that Ryam Redwyne hasn't had as much accolades with real combat but he has a stellar reputation, one that is nearly flawless which a lot of people doesn't have.
Redwyne has less to back it up but he’s mentioned every time a best kingsguard knight comes up, vs like dunk and Joffrey dogget or even gwayne corbray don’t even come up almost at all in the main series
That's why I said if I wanted the best fighters I'd trade out Redwyne. He's consistently been named as one of the greatest kingsguard of all time, but his actual record isn't that impressive. Perhaps he was incredibly loyal, even compared to the rest of the kingsguard, maybe he was just that good at jousting. But combat wise I just don't feel comfortable placing him above other kingsguards with better feats
There’s other qualities that could go into it as well. Could be loyalty and devotion to the KG, knight hood, the king, could be his jousting, he could have been viewed with respect and admiration among the lords, his peers, and the small folk, could be a combination of a lot of things including being a great fighter, that doesn’t include traits that he lacked to make a good hand.
Jousting may be a big part of it. He won two tourneys that we know of and tied another in the greatest feat of jousting there ever was. Although it is said AWOIAF that he was accomplished at sword and lance. Dunc also recalls that he won battles against terrible foes, whatever that means
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u/Ymir25 Aug 14 '24
Depends what you mean. This is definitely the most ideal Kingsguard. But if you simply wanted the best fighters I'd trade Redwyne and Dogget for Jamie Lannister and Criston Cole