re: GoT S4:E9 "The Watchers On The Wall" BOOK MAESTERS Thread SPOILERS

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As far as TWOW not being this year and GRRM adding another book - I'm starting to think maybe he's hit some kind or a wall or block on the story or lost his mojo on it. Certainly hope not

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Or he's just got that much material and he's figuring out how to make it work

Love it!!!

Emilia's playing Sarah Connor in the Terminator reboot.

10 hours 13 minutes to go .

That's amazing

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Or he's just got that much material and he's figuring out how to make it work

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That's how we ended up with AFFC and ADWD. Doing a boiled leather reread now and I looked at Martin's comments at the end of AFFC and laughed when he said that ADWD would be out next year and would be about the same size as AFFC.

I'm betting that this talk of an 8th book is him wanting to cut what he has so that he can get a book out to try to keep ahead of the show. It would be like him to do that.

10 characters that could defeat the mountain. Thoughts?

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10. Robert Baratheon

A clash between Robert Baratheon and his former subject Gregor Clegane – before the days when Robert had ever even heard of a breastplate stretcher – would be a fascinating one. Ostensibly, The Mountain has an advantage – both warriors’ strength is their insane power, but you would expect the gigantic elder to Clegane be stronger even than Robert. However, Robert – in his younger years at least – would certainly have had a speed advantage over Gregor Clegane and his having fought the likes of Rhaegar Targaryen in one-on-one combat would give him an edge in experience. Moreover, Robert has been used to fighting (and defeating) quicker, more agile opponents so he would easily be able to connect his warhammer with Clegane’s oversized frame.

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9. Daario Naharis

aario Naharis professes to be skilled in the ways of women and war. His persistent approach to winning the affections of Daenerys have shown the former to be true and – based on the evidence – it seems fairly likely that the latter is equally accurate. With his choice of Dothraki weaponry, Daario would be significantly faster than The Mountain and his documented ruthlessness means he wouldn’t give Clegane any recovery time after inflicting first blood.

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8. Jaqen H’ghar

H’ghar’s miraculous ability to remain unseen, change his appearance and kill seemingly anyone at any time means that he would be far too much for The Mountain to handle. Gregor Clegane is a master of cleaving apart foot soldiers on the battlefield and using his size to crush his enemies, but the nameless Faceless Man of Braavos represents an opponent which Clegane’s size cannot help him against. Here’s hoping that the assassin who was of such assistance to Arya will be contracted to avenge Oberyn.

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7. Sandor ‘The Hound’ Clegane

Other than Oberyn, Sandor Clegane has more motivation than anyone for killing his hateful brother. In the past, his loyalty to the crown has prevented him from exacting his revenge – now he has no affiliation with a house, The Hound is free to act as he pleases. He may not have the insane power or strength of The Mountain, but Sandor’s imposing size means he is more than capable of instantly inflicting a fatal wound. Forever being the younger child who grew up being savaged by the psychotic Gregor has likely fortified Sandor’s resolve meaning that he is the mentally stronger of the two siblings. His slightly smaller stature may not necessarily be such a disadvantage anyway. We saw in his fight with the Red Viper how effective speed is against The Mountain and – though he is nowhere near as fast as the Dornish prince – The Hound is certainly more rapid than Gregor.

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6. Oberyn Martell (Pre-Elia’s Murder)

Had Elia never been killed, we can assume the fight would have been exactly the same but Oberyn wouldn’t have wasted time asking for a confession. Though the Red Viper is quite evidently a natural showman, we can assume that he wouldn’t have taken such a crazy risk in letting Clegane draw another breathe had he not been so emotionally invested.

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5. Syrio Forel

Syrio Forel is one of the worst possible style match-ups for the mountain. Forel may be half his size, but he could use his skill and speed to weave within the cumbersome swings of Clegane’s great sword and inflict some serious damage (provided that he is given a non-wooden sword). Water dancing is designed to exploit the plodding nature of Westeros warriors so when matched against the particularly slow Mountain, Syrio Forel would be sure to show why he was first appointed as the First Sword of Braavos.

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4. Jaime Lannister (With Both Hands)

When facing The Mountain, Jaime would be able to use his exceptional swordsmanship and footwork to avoid the instantly fatal attacks of Gregor and – like the Red Viper – chip away at the granite Mountain until he fell to his knees. Jaime is quoted above as saying he has never been hit – the likelihood of one of Clegane’s leisurely, arcing swings being the first to hit the knight is extremely unlikely.

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3. Kahl Drogo

Much like Oberyn, Drogo forgoes the heavy armour customarily worn by Westeros soldiers, sacrificing security for speed. Drogo seems to be every bit as fast as Oberyn but is also incredibly powerful. If Drogo managed to get inside the reach of The Mountain’s huge sword, he would be able to go to work with his arakh (curved Dothraki blade) and dual daggers. However, Drogo also shares the same weakness as Oberyn – Drogo is so contemptuous of the challenge of insubordinate Mago that he allows him to cause a minor wound. Though Drogo annihilates Mago in some style with his own blade, the wound he allowed the rebel to inflict would eventually fester and kill him. Khal Drogo would end up the same way as Oberyn if he showboated against an opponent as dangerous as Gregor Clegane. As long as he remained respectful of the threat posed by The Mountain, Kahl Drogo’s natural killing ability would come to the fore, allowing his braid to grow even longer.

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2. Barristan Selmy

Were he to fight Gregor Clegane in his prime, Barristan Selmy’s skill and mastery of tactics combined with the strength and speed of his youth would mean that he would easily best the larger man. As per the books, Barristan entered a tourney disguised as a knight and jousted with Targaryen royalty aged only ten. Since this point, Barristan Selmy established a reputation as being one of the greatest knights in the history of Westeros, both in the heat of battlefield and in tourneys. Even after having fought for the losing side, Robert Baratheon spared the life of Selmy in virtue of his legendary skill and honour as a knight. Hulking brutes like The Mountain come and go in Westeros, but a warrior of Barristan Selmy’s calibre comes once in a lifetime.

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1. Arthur Dayne

In the books, Dayne is repeatedly described as being the greatest knight of his generation. Indeed, even the legendary knight Barristan Selmy believes that the Mad King’s guard was his superior in every way. With a knight of Selmy’s credentials giving this account of Arthur Dayne, it is safe to assume that the warrior whose deeds have not been forgotten in spite of his service to the Mad King could easily dispatch Gregor Clegane.

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LINK

Came across a little quiz on the Night's Watch:

QUIZ

Enjoy.

I think Sandor could take Ser Robert Strong. It wouldn't be easy but he too has vengeance to seek like Oberyn did on him.