Silver N
When people talk about Game of Thrones, they often leave off the “s” in thrones. They think only of the Iron Throne in King’s Landing, the King of the Andals, Rhoynar, and First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm. There is more than one throne in their world and more than one monarch though. The main conflict of the first few seasons is named the “War of the Five Kings” with Joffrey Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Balon Greyjoy, and Robb Stark all declaring themselves kings separately. Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen declares herself Queen of Meereen (and Westeros). Tommen Baratheon also sits the Iron Throne and his mother Cersei Lannister after his death. Euron Greyjoy sits the Salt Throne after his brother Balon. Viserys Targaryen is the Beggar King, and there’s Mance Rayder the King beyond the Wall. And who could forget Jon Snow, King in the North. Quite a lot of choices; so, who is the best of the bunch?
One difficulty in evaluating monarchs is your own beliefs and politics. Some prefer the strict adherence to law of Stannis Baratheon, while others like the mercy Dany shows the downtrodden of Essos, and so on. What I want to see in a ruler may not be what you want, and vice versa. Instead I’ll try to stay relatively objective about their performances and rate them on how well they thought ahead, the outcomes of those plans, the extent that they achieved their goals, the condition of their subjects, and the devotion they inspire.
- Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys makes for a challenging ruler to evaluate, she has something no one else in the story has. Well, three things. Three flying, firebreathing lizards that render defenses and armies useless. It’s almost like she is walking around with tactical nukes in a world of swords. And how she uses them is remarkable.
Daenerys uses her power to smash the Masters of Slaver’s Bay and free the slaves. Her mercy and compassion is unusual for someone in her position, and unlike Tommen, she didn’t let others take advantage of her.
Dany promised she would lead her khalasar succesfully, and did. She wanted to free the slaves of Meereen and improve the lives of the subjugated people, and made it happen. She also came back to Westeros and instantly changed the power dynamics of the country.
- The night King
As Bran witnessed for himself, the Night King was created thousands of years ago to help protect the Children of the Forest from the First Men. Not only is he capable of effortlessly raising the dead, creating White Walkers from inbred babies and mystically marking his targets, the Night King is also incredibly strong.
All other White Walkers on the show have exhibited unnatural strength, so we can assume that the Night King is at least just as strong, if not stronger, in combat. We’ve only seen him physically kill one thing: Vyserion. It took just one throw. Before Daenerys’ dragons could obliterate his army of wights, the Night King hurls a spear far into the air with such force that it managed to pierce the hide of Vyserion and kill him. That’s more strength than most creatures have shown.
- Khal Drogo
In Dothraki culture, warriors who are defeated must cut off their braids. Khal Drogo’s braid was significantly longer than most, meaning he was never defeated in combat. What ultimately ended his rule over the Dothraki horde was poison and witchcraft, courtesy of Mirri Maz Duur.
It’s easy to see why he was never defeated. In the one and only fight we see Drogo engage in, he drops his weapon and relies purely on his own physical strength. With his bare hands, Drogo manages to almost literally tear his opponent, Mago, apart, by tearing Mago’s tongue out through his open throat. He even takes a strike to the chest and barely flinches, showing immense strength.
- Jon Snow
Here’s where we start delving into the mystical. There’s much more to Jon Snow than meets the eye. His return from death proves that the Lord of Light watches over him. Whether or not R’llor aided him in battle is up for debate. What’s certain is the fact that Jon has proven himself more capable than most other characters in the show. He’s fought everything from rogue members of the Night’s Watch and Free Folk to White Walkers.
He doesn’t run from battle; in fact, even when death seems certain, he charges into it and so far, he has always emerged victorious, thanks to pure might and fury. For his strength, both physical as well as his strength of character, those he leads are generally incredibly loyal.
- Brienne of Tarth
Brienne wasn’t like other ladies in Westerosi society. For one thing, she was bigger. She also enjoyed fighting, which is why her father, Lord Selwyn Tarth, decided to have her trained in the use of swords so she could fight properly. Her skill and strength has served her extremely well. She was easily able to defeat Loras Tyrell in a duel, earning her the title of Kingsguard to Renly Baratheon.
In a great show of her strength, Brienne was able to take on Sandor Clegane. She fought him first with her sword before they both moved on to using their fists and brute strength. Unfortunately, we’ll never know if Brienne would have truly emerged victorious since it was gravity that ended up defeating the Hound.
- The Hound
There’s a reason why Sandor Clegane has been able to move about Westeros with the kind of freedom no other character seems to possess. Remember that this is the man who insulted the king and walked away from his place in King’s Landing, confident that no one would stand in his way. Sandor is one of the strongest fighters in Westeros and that was made clear in the first season at the Hand’s tourney.
Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, lost his joust against Loras Tyrell and in a fit of rage, attacked Ser Loras. Luckily, Sandor intervened and duelled his brother to save the Knight of the Flowers. He held his own in that duel, which is impressive, considering the Mountain’s size and elephantine strength.
- Grey Worm
Each of the Unsullied were trained, often from birth, to fight. They trained from dawn to dusk with a variety of weapons. They were broken down from the inside so simple, thoughtless soldiers could be forged. The process was cruel — Master Kraznys stated that only one in four survived — but it produced soldiers of purportedly unmatched skill.
Grey Worm was one out of eight thousand and has proven himself to be an exceptional soldier of the Unsullied. He has proven himself to be at least as strong as Daario Naharis. What distinguishes him in strength is the fact that, unlike other Unsullied, who perished at the hands of the Sons of the Harpy, Grey Worm managed to survive his ambush, fighting the Sons to the last man.
- Daario Naharis
The former lieutenant of the of the Second Sons sellsword company, Daario, was molded by the unforgiving societies of Essos. He told Dany that he was sold by his mother at the age of 12 and ended up fighting in the pits where he earned fame. When his master died, he offered his strength and skills to any who could afford it, as a sellsword.
Aside from that little contest he had with Grey Worm where they held their swords in the air the entire morning, Daario proved his strength once again in the fighting pits, when he helped to defend Daenerys and Missandei from the swarm of Sons of the Harpy before Drogon arrived to end the attack completely.
- Drogon
The largest of Daenerys’ dragons was given the nickname, the Winged Shadow, owing to the black of his scales and wings and the sheer size of him. Drogon has always been the most aggressive of the three and because he was able to roam free, he has proven himself to be the most powerful.
Drogon is no stranger to combat. Even when he was a much smaller, younger dragon, Drogon was clearly stronger than any human and managed to incinerate Master Kraznys, easily. When he grew larger, he was able to take on dozens of Sons of the Harpy during the attack in the fighting pits, enduring their spears. It was easy to see how terrifying Drogon would become later on. When he finally unleashed his power upon the Lannister army, the raw power of his fire and his ability to keep flying, even after being wounded by the scorpion, was something we all knew he was capable of.
Well! There it is guys, although they are more strong characters in the series this are the strongest we could make out of them.
