The 15 Best Fighters on Game of Thrones, Ranked
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the greatest swordsman of them all? There are many legendary knights and warriors in A Song of Ice and Fire’s‘ sprawling lore, but we are going to limit this list to the swordsmen who have made appearances on Game of Thrones. Everybody has their favorites, but here is our ranking on who best swung the steel (or equivalent weapon) in their prime. Let’s look to the Second Sons for starters.
15) DAARIO NAHARIS
An orphan of the street, Daario learned the arts of war to gain status in the Meereen fighting pits and eventually escaped slavery to earn a command position among the Second Sons. Despite his lowly status, Daario maintains a higher code of conduct than many anointed “knights” on this list: he won’t harm civilians, and he’ll only kill soldiers who are trying to kill him. Daario’s superb fighting skills and intuition are evident when he easily destroys the champion of Meereen.
14) TORMUND GIANTSBANE
Though a Wildling of questionable professional training, the gregarious Tormund proves his mettle over and over again by surviving in the North, killing wights, Crows, and Boltons. A man can’t survive in a world like that if he isn’t good with the sword. And anybody who can both obliterate The Lord Of Bones with his own staff and ask Brienne of Tarth out on a date (or whatever the Westerosi equivalent of that its) has got the real steel cojones.
13) JORAH MORMONT
Though disgraced, Jorah was raised in an ancient house and trained as a master swordsman. We watched Jorah fight his way up through the fighting pits of Meereen and emerge the winner in Daznak’s Pit. Plus, that spear throw to save Daenerys from the Son of the Harpy, that was one for the ages. Legendary status works itself out in the field, and Jorah has risen to new heights in his crusade to be a champion of Daenerys Targaryen.
12) SYRIO FOREL
Syrio Forel is a bravo and master sword-fighter from Braavos who teaches Arya Stark the art of the water dance. Syrio is able to fight off a squad of Kingsguards and Lannister soldiers with nothing more than a wooden practice sword before apparently being killed by the heavily armed and armored Meryn Trant. It would have been something to see him go into action with a real sword.