0:03 Who or what is the Golden Company? What
0:05 is their origin, their association with
0:07 House Blackfire, and their role in A
0:10 Song of Ice and Fire? Hi everyone, this
0:12 is Robert. Welcome to InDeepge Geek. On
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0:31 There's a link in the
0:33 description. Boasting 10,000 fighters,
0:36 the Golden Company is the largest Salord
0:39 free company in the known world. Most
0:41 are far smaller. The Windb Blown under
0:43 the Tattered Prince is at 2,000. The
0:46 Second Sons under Brown Ben Plum 500.
0:49 The Brave Companions, aka the Bloody
0:52 Mummers under Vargo Hot, were only 100.
0:53 While their great size makes them all
0:56 the more formidable and expensive to
0:57 hire for whatever war you wish to fight
1:00 in Essos, we are more interested in the
1:02 Golden Company because of the many ways
1:03 they interact with the plot of A Song of
1:06 Ice and Fire and going back in time,
1:09 Duncan Egg. Going back all the way to
1:11 the first Blackfire rebellion, 13 years
1:13 before the first Duncan Egg story, when
1:15 Damon Blackfire was slain on the Red
1:17 Grass Field, his half-brother,
1:19 Bittersteel, rallied the survivors,
1:21 recovered the symbol of their cause, the
1:24 Valyrian steel sword Blackfire, and fled
1:26 overseas with the remainder of Damon's
1:28 sons, vowing to continue the fight. The
1:31 rebellion was over, but the surviving
1:33 rebels fled across the narrow sea to
1:35 Tyro, which had supported them during
1:37 the war. Damon's wife, Rohan, was
1:39 Tyroshi herself, making their children
1:42 Tyroshi as well. Bittersteel himself had
1:44 already married Damon's daughter, Kala,
1:46 thus strengthening the ties between them
1:48 all. They would be safe there for a
1:50 while. Back in Westeros, the victorious
1:52 King Darren II and his council,
1:54 including Blood Raven, formally stripped
1:57 land and titles from the rebels. Zero
2:00 tolerance. The rebels knew that the only
2:02 way they could now return was at the
2:04 point of a sword. They could never
2:06 return home except as
2:09 conquerors. Moving forward a few years,
2:10 then came the events of the mystery
2:13 knight, the third Duncan egg story.
2:15 Following a dream, Damon II Blackfire
2:17 went to Westeros without an army,
2:19 thinking to raise one from within and
2:22 somehow reclaim the throne. Bittersteel
2:24 saw the plan as folly and did not
2:26 support it. And he was right. It was an
2:29 abject failure. Partly because of Duncan
2:31 Egg, a lot due to blood raven, but
2:33 mostly due to the rather lax approach to
2:36 planning by the Blackfire pretenders.
2:38 Bittersteel recognized that if he wanted
2:39 to finally put a Blackfire on the
2:42 throne, he'd have to make his own army
2:44 in Essos to lead the invasion.
2:46 Thankfully, he had a lot to work with.
2:48 There were lots of lords and knights and
2:50 various hangers on who had been a part
2:52 of the first Blackfire Rebellion and
2:54 were now exiled in Essos. their homes
2:56 and lands in Westeros now confiscated
2:59 and given to someone else. Many had
3:01 spent the intervening years fighting for
3:03 various cells sword companies, meaning
3:05 they were quite experienced at warfare.
3:07 But more importantly, they all held a
3:08 grudge against the current regime in
3:11 Westeros, an army with a mission.
3:13 Bittersteel gathered them back together
3:16 and gave them a purpose. And so, 16
3:18 years after the first Blackfire
3:20 Rebellion, the Golden Company was
3:22 formed. They would not fade into
3:24 obscurity. After all, they would return
3:26 again to take back their homes or die
3:29 trying. Their battlecry became, "Beneath
3:32 the gold, the bitter steel," in honor of
3:34 their founder. However, their official
3:36 motto became, "Our word is as good as
3:38 gold." Because they made it a point of
3:40 principle to always stick to their
3:42 contracts. In a cutthroat world, this
3:45 was rare. Bittersteel led the Golden
3:47 Company throughout Essos for 7 years,
3:49 gaining combat experience and earning
3:51 reputation unlike any other cells sword
3:53 company. They never once broke a
3:55 contract, never failed to act
3:57 professionally, and perhaps most
3:58 important of all, left a series of
4:01 victories behind them. Make no mistake,
4:03 the Golden Company forged a reputation
4:05 as the gold standard when it came to
4:08 SOCord companies, and their honor went
4:11 both ways. When Cohore tried to renegade
4:13 on a payment, Bittersteel ordered an
4:15 attack on the city itself, they were
4:18 successful and took payment by way of
4:21 loot. This was a high-profile moment for
4:23 them that sent a powerful message. They
4:26 won't break a contract, and expect the
4:28 same from their employers. Still,
4:30 Bittersteel and the Golden Company
4:31 didn't lose sight of their ultimate
4:34 objective, to return to Westeros and
4:36 reclaim their lands and inheritance. In
4:40 the year 219 AC, 23 long years after
4:42 Bittersteel fled into exile, he returned
4:44 at the head of the Golden Company,
4:47 intending to overthrow King Aries I
4:49 Targaryen in favor of King Hagen the
4:52 First Blackfire. Many in Westeros took
4:54 their side, the third Blackfire
4:57 Rebellion, but the first headed by the
5:00 Golden Company. The Golden Company was
5:02 ultimately defeated after a long and
5:04 difficult struggle against notables like
5:07 Prince Mar, his sons Aegon and Aryan and
5:10 Blood Raven. Powerful houses like
5:12 Ironwood and Greyjoy sided with the
5:14 rebels, at least for a time, but
5:15 eventually the Golden Company had to
5:17 retreat back to Essos with their tail
5:20 between their legs. Bittersteel was
5:22 captured and allowed to take the Black.
5:24 But like a scene from an action movie,
5:26 he escaped on his way to the wall. The
5:28 ship he was on apparently overtaken and
5:31 boarded by Blackfire sympathizers. In
5:33 other words, someone on the inside knew
5:35 exactly when Bittersteel would take ship
5:37 for the wall and passed that information
5:39 on to the Golden Company. This is
5:42 notable. Even after the failure of three
5:44 Blackfire rebellions, the Golden Company
5:46 still had spies and sympathizers in the Red
5:47 Red
5:49 Keep. Cut forward another couple of
5:51 abortive rebellions. This is how the
5:54 Golden Company operates today as well.
5:56 They are not simply a cell sword
5:58 company. They are a complete
6:00 self-sufficient military organization.
6:03 For example, they have a spy master to
6:04 keep them a breast of world news,
6:06 something no other cells sword company
6:09 seems to have. His name is Lysono Mah of
6:12 the free city of lease. And they employ
6:14 everyone they need from pay masters to
6:17 cooks to grooms to smiths to squires.
6:19 They have health care, disability pay,
6:20 and the benefit of membership of the
6:22 most famous and respected company in the
6:25 known world. Mess with a member of the
6:27 Golden Company, and you mess with his
6:31 9,999 well-armed brothers. In summary,
6:33 they aren't just a cell sword company.
6:35 They remain a community with a shared
6:39 aim, a grouping of exiles ready to serve
6:41 and ready to return home as soon as the
6:43 timing is right. At the time of the
6:45 third Blackfire Rebellion, which was
6:47 only seven years after the company's
6:49 founding, they surely looked nearly
6:51 identical to any other Wester Rosie
6:53 army. Ditto the fourth Blackfire
6:56 Rebellion of 236 AC, which was another
6:58 failure, but it appears to have been
6:59 despite rather than because of the
7:02 Golden Company's professionalism.
7:05 5 years later in the year 241 with King
7:07 Aegon V on the throne and Blood Raven
7:09 Lord Commander of the Night's Watch,
7:11 Bittersteel, the founder and leader of
7:13 the Golden Company, died, having taken a
7:15 mortal wound in the disputed lands
7:17 during a forgotten skirmish between Tyro
7:19 and Mia. It seemed as though the
7:21 Blackfire cause would end with him,
7:23 leaving the Golden Company as just
7:26 another cell sword company in Essos. Yet
7:28 as he lay dying, Bittersteel commanded
7:30 his men to boil the flesh from his
7:33 bones, dip his skull in gold, and mount
7:37 it on a pole. His final command was for
7:39 the Golden Company to carry his skull on
7:40 their standard before them as they
7:44 retook Westeros, whenever that day may
7:46 come. Those who have followed him as
7:48 Captain General have continued this
7:50 tradition. Every fallen captain general
7:52 has their skull dipped in gold and
7:54 planted on a pike, forming a circle
7:56 around the current captain general's
7:59 command tent. Quite the sight. The
8:02 company is now 88 years old as of A
8:04 Dance with Dragons, and Bittersteel has
8:07 been dead for 59 years. 42 years have
8:08 passed since the Golden Company last
8:10 attempted to place a Blackfire Pretender
8:13 on the Iron Throne. In total, they tried
8:15 that three times, with their founder,
8:17 Aigor Rivers, obviously having tried one
8:19 more time before that. But during the
8:22 decades that followed, much has changed
8:24 with the Golden Company. The Blackfire
8:26 line is believed in worlds to have died
8:29 out with me the monstrous in 258 AC. So
8:31 he was the last Blackfire captain
8:33 general of the Golden Company. Following
8:35 him were various other less storied
8:38 Wester Rosies. Most recently, Sir Miles
8:40 Toin called Blackheart. The Toys were
8:43 exiled from Westeros back in the time of
8:45 Aegon IV whom they tried to assassinate.
8:48 They failed but slew Prince Aemon the
8:50 Dragon Knight in the process. And now
8:53 the leader is Harry Strickland, a less
8:55 than impressive figure and seemingly a
8:57 company man born and brought up within
9:00 the Golden Company like his father and
9:02 his father before him. The Stricklands
9:04 were original Blackfire supporters in
9:06 the first Blackfire Rebellion, fighting
9:08 hard alongside Bittersteel and the
9:10 others, but Harry is now heard
9:13 complaining about blisters on his feet.
9:15 a red flag that this is not a tough man.
9:18 John Conington thinks that he is no
9:21 blackheart, no Bittersteel, no Meiss.
9:23 Even young Griff or Aegon refers to him
9:27 as an old maid. And as another red flag,
9:29 at one point Strickland says that while
9:31 waiting for John Cunnington to arrive,
9:33 he could have accepted a contract where
9:35 the company would be paid in slaves,
9:37 something that would be anathema to true
9:39 Westerosis, not to mention Daenerys
9:41 Targaryen. There wasn't even a flicker
9:43 of suggesting that he didn't want the
9:45 slaves, just wanting Jon to know what
9:48 had been given up to join Aegon's new
9:50 invasion. And it does seem that the
9:53 original Westerosi exile ethos has been
9:55 diluted somewhat over the years. For
9:57 example, there are now quite a few
9:59 non-Westeri men among the company's
10:01 officer corps. The captain of their
10:04 archer corps is a summer islander called
10:07 Black Balac. He leads a thousand men of
10:10 the 10,000 total. Some wield crossbows,
10:12 some wield esozie bows, some wield
10:15 westerosi bows, and a few more use the
10:17 golden heart bows of the summer islands.
10:19 Quite a mix. Their pay master is from
10:21 Volantis and their spy master from
10:25 Lease. And they have elephants, a
10:27 strange sight in Westeros, though some
10:29 have managed to make the crossing across
10:31 the narrow sea with the Golden Company
10:33 because yes, the Golden Company are once
10:36 more attempting to return to Westeros.
10:38 Which brings us to the innate
10:40 contradiction of the Golden Company.
10:42 They were founded as a free company of
10:44 Westerosi exiles and invaded three times
10:47 in an attempt to return home and reclaim
10:48 what they view their rightful
10:51 inheritance. 500 of the company are
10:53 knights and they remain core to the
10:54 company's fighting strength and
10:56 connection to Westeros. And they retain
10:58 a formidable reputation as the
11:00 preeminent cells sword company in Essos.
11:02 They build orderly, defensible camps
11:05 every night, operating with schedules,
11:06 rigid routines, and extensive
11:09 pre-planning. John Conington notes that
11:11 these were the heirs of Bittersteel, and
11:14 discipline was mother's milk to them.
11:17 They know how to fight, but this is
11:20 clearly not the same golden company that
11:22 was formed by Aigor Rivers. They are
11:25 their great grandchildren, or more.
11:26 Their personal allegiance to the
11:29 Blackfire cause is gone with the
11:31 Blackfire line. Many of them, including
11:33 several of their senior management team,
11:35 are not even from Westeros. Their
11:37 Westerosi values are clearly diluted by
11:40 decades in exile. Their current captain
11:41 general seems more interested in
11:43 contracts than battle. And although he
11:45 is honoring the deal struck by his
11:48 predecessor with Yo and John Conington,
11:50 he doesn't seem enthused by it. John
11:52 Conington may have been impressed by the
11:54 Golden Company's military discipline,
11:57 but he also considers them ghosts and
12:00 liars, revenants from forgotten wars,
12:03 lost causes, failed rebellions, a
12:04 brotherhood of the failed and the
12:06 fallen, the disgraced and the
12:10 disinherited. This is my army. This is
12:12 our best hope. He doesn't sound that
12:15 optimistic. So, there's a balance here.
12:17 The corruption of the Golden Company's
12:19 values through weakness and profit
12:22 motive is significant, but should not be
12:23 taken as a reason to see the entire
12:26 company as soft. All of which is to say
12:28 that although the Golden Company remain
12:31 an impressive fighting force, this is
12:33 not a personal mission for them in the
12:35 way that perhaps Yo and even Tyrion
12:39 think. Tyrion asks Yo why the Golden
12:41 Company, Blackfire Loyalists, should
12:43 fight for Aegon or Daenerys as
12:47 Targaryenss. Yo's response is that black
12:49 or red, a dragon is still a dragon. When
12:51 me the monstrous died upon the
12:53 stepstones, it was the end of the male
12:56 line of House Blackfire. And Daenerys
12:58 will give the exiles what Bittersteel
13:01 and the Blackfires never could. She will
13:02 take them
13:05 home. Yo is, of course, hinting that
13:07 there are still Blackfire descendants
13:09 from the female line out there. One of
13:11 those may very well be young Griff, as
13:13 we discussed in Is Griff a Blackfire?
13:16 But Yriio simultaneously asserts that it
13:18 doesn't really matter because a dragon
13:21 is a dragon. The exiles want lordships
13:23 and lands. They don't care all that much
13:26 who leads them to it. John Conington, a
13:28 member of the company for 5 years,
13:30 introduces Prince Aegon, clearly
13:33 expecting a response, but they seem
13:35 unsurprised, prompting John Conington to
13:37 realize that they already know Young
13:39 Griff's identity, and they don't really
13:41 care. There is no bending of the knee to
13:44 a true king, nor bearing of steel to an
13:47 enemy of the Blackfires. As Olivio said,
13:50 fake, real, Targaryen or Blackfire, he's
13:53 a ticket to Westeros. They may be
13:54 supporting him because of the historical
13:57 ties of the Golden Company or agreements
13:59 by previous captain's general. And they
14:01 may have broken a contract for the first
14:03 time in their 88year history to do so.
14:06 But to most of them, this is just a job,
14:09 not personal. If they want to get to
14:12 Westeros, this is the time to do it. It
14:15 is time to win or die. And it's probably
14:17 the pragmatically wise move to side with
14:20 the people who have dragons. Of course,
14:22 going against dragons ended them in
14:25 moments in the TV show, but they are
14:27 unlikely to line up in tight formation
14:30 to make Drogon's job easy in the books.
14:32 They haven't faced a dragon before, but
14:33 they are probably wise enough not to
14:36 take one head on. Not that they will
14:38 wait for Dany. She has disappeared into
14:41 the Dothraki sea and they've lost enough
14:43 contracts already just waiting for her
14:46 and John Conington. So, it is onto the
14:48 Stormlands. A sensible place to start
14:50 given that Renley is dead. Stannis is
14:52 headed north with his army and John
14:54 Conington will be well known there. And
14:56 judging from the pre-released chapters
14:58 from the Winds of Winter, they're doing
15:00 well. Several castles have fallen,
15:03 including Storm's End. We'll cover off
15:04 whether Aegon's new invasion will be a
15:07 success in the final part of this rather
15:09 slow and ad hoc series of videos, but
15:11 for now, let's focus on the Golden
15:13 Company. If they were the original
15:15 Golden Company, we might expect them to
15:17 support Young Griff because he is the
15:19 rightful Blackfire heir. And when the
15:22 Iron Throne is one, we might expect them
15:24 therefore to disband. They are a free
15:26 company of exiles, not a true sellord
15:28 company. And once they have returned
15:30 home and had their lands and honor
15:32 returned to them, there is no reason for
15:35 them to stay together. But this isn't
15:37 the Golden Company of old. They are led
15:39 by a company man. They appear unbothered
15:42 by the reveal of young Griff's identity.
15:44 Several of their leaders aren't even
15:46 Westerosi. What will they do when
15:49 Daenerys arrives with dragons? In
15:50 contrast to what happened on the TV
15:52 show, they are an experienced and
15:54 renowned company of professional
15:56 fighters. Surely they will have enough
15:58 sense not to just line up in straight
16:00 lines for Drogon to firebomb. Assuming
16:02 they keep to Young Griff's side. They've
16:05 broken one contract. Why not another?
16:06 They don't seem to have any particular
16:08 allegiance to Young Griff because he's a
16:10 Blackfire. Or perhaps that information
16:13 died with Miles Toin, their last leader
16:15 who met with Yo and John Conington.
16:17 Perhaps to them he's just another
16:19 Targaryen. Young Griff's whole claim on
16:21 the throne stems from that. And
16:24 certainly he seems to believe it. But
16:26 why side with the Targaryen without any
16:29 dragons? The Golden Company are a
16:31 deliberate gray area in George R.
16:33 Martin's world, a world of
16:35 contradictions. They have never broken a
16:38 contract, and yet they have now for
16:40 someone they seem very underwhelmed to
16:43 meet. Why? They are led by a very
16:45 unimpressive captain general, but still
16:47 remain professional and unbeaten in
16:49 combat. They play up their credentials
16:52 as Westerosi exiles, but most of them
16:54 have never even set foot in Westeros,
16:56 and some of their senior leadership have
16:58 no connection to there. Plenty of them
17:00 claim Westerosi surnames and therefore
17:02 inheritances that are very clearly not
17:05 theirs, or with very clearly overlapping
17:07 inheritance claims, if they even were
17:10 true. Lothston's, Strongs, and Peaks.
17:12 The contradictions abound, which makes
17:15 it very hard to see exactly where their
17:16 story will go in the last couple of
17:19 books. For now, they are the focus of
17:21 Young Griff's invading army, and there's
17:22 no reason to think that they will give
17:25 that up easily. It is early days, but
17:28 their plan seems to be working so far.
17:30 Key strongholds have fallen to them, and
17:31 the enemies of the Lannisters are
17:33 exploring potential
17:36 alliances. What then? Well, let's save
17:38 that for the last video in this series.
17:40 But for now, the key question is, how
17:42 bought in are the Golden Company? How
17:45 loyal are they to Aegon V 6th? Would
17:47 they fight to the death, disband once
17:48 they get back the lands they claim on
17:50 mainland Westeros, or break another
17:53 contract when the dragons come? Let me
17:54 know what you think in the comments
17:57 below. If you'd like to see more A Song
17:59 of Ice and Fire videos, please click on
18:01 the link to my playlist appearing now on
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18:04 this channel, thank you. There's a link
18:06 to my Patreon page on the right of your
18:09 screen. That's all for this time. Thanks
