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The unresolved succession of King Robert I Baratheon led to the War of the Five Kings in Game of Thrones after his death. One of the earliest battles of the conflict was the Battle of the Green Fork between the Starks and the Lannisters. It took place between the Kingsroad and the eastern bank of the Green Fork of the river Trident.
However, HBO’s Game of Thrones cut out several scenes from the series due to the sheer length of the plot, including the Battle of the Green Fork. Not only did this downplay Robb Stark’s brilliant ruse, but it also excluded Tyrion Lannister’s surprising skills on the battlefield.
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Who Fought in the Battle of the Green Fork?
Date | 299 AC |
|---|---|
Location | Alongside the Green Fork in the riverlands |
Factions | House Lannister vs. House Stark |
Participants | ~20,000 Lannister soldiers against ~18,000 Stark soldiers |
Outcome | Victory for House Lannister, but overall strategic victory for House Stark |
After the arrest of Eddard Stark in King’s Landing, House Lannister invaded the riverlands and placed Riverrun under siege. Tywin Lannister’s army occupied the crossroads near the Ruby Ford. Robb summoned his father’s banner men and marched towards the south with a host of around 12,000 men. By the time he reached Moat Cailin, 6000 more men had joined them. Catelyn Stark met them there, along with 1500 men from White Harbor — bringing the total to almost 20,000. She managed to convince Walder Frey to ally with Robb in exchange for the promise that he would marry one of his daughters (which, of course, ended disastrously later on).
After Walder contributed 4000 men to his army, Robb divided his forces: while Roose Bolton continued to march on the Kingsroad with more than 17,000 men, Robb secretly crossed the Green Fork at the Twins with the rest. The latter planned to surprise and ambush Jaime Lannister at the Tully capital. Meanwhile, Addam Marbrand’s outriders reported that Robb was heading for battle, so Tywin led his army on the Kingsroad to meet them. Brynden Tully killed some of the scouts, so the Lannisters remained unaware of Robb’s army splitting. The northmen proceeded ahead during the night, hoping to catch them off guard. They arrived before dawn, and prepared to attack.
From a hilltop, Tywin commanded an unusually large reserve of 5000 men. Kevan Lannister was in charge of 10,000 men in the center, with 300 heavy horsemen surrounding them. On the right, Addam led 4000 knights and heavy lancers, whereas the left flank was headed by Gregor Clegane (the Mountain). The vanguard was deliberately made an easy target, comprising freeriders, fieldhands, sellswords and the smallfolk from Lannisport (a total of 1000 men). Tyrion was also stationed there, along with Bronn and 300 Vale mountain clansmen. Tywin wished to leverage the latter’s “lack [of] discipline”:
I anticipated that they would break. Robb Stark is a green boy, more like to be brave than wise. I’d hoped that if he saw our left collapse, he might plunge into the gap, eager for a rout. Once he was fully committed, Ser Kevan’s pikes would wheel and take him in the flank, driving him into the river while I brought up the reserve.
Who Won the Battle of the Green Fork?
Tywin’s plan ultimately failed as the left wing unexpectedly fought well, smashing through the enemy’s right wing. Kevan’s men pushed the Stark forces against the river and the hills behind, while Addam’s contingent defeated the northmen’s left flank. Tywin and his men joined, and “the remnants of the Stark lines shattered like glass beneath the hammer of their charge”. Once Roose realized that they had lost the battle, he withdrew with a large portion of his army. About 5000 of his men were killed, while several were taken prisoners. In a preview chapter of The Winds of Winter, Tyrion reflects on the Battle of the Green Fork:
When I saw my father’s host deploy, I remember thinking how beautiful it was […] And my father, ah, he had never looked so resplendent […] His lordship watched the whole battle from atop that horse and never got within a hundred yards of any foe. He never moved, never smiled, never broke a sweat, whilst thousands died below him.
Tywin’s victory was only short-lived though, as the captives revealed Robb’s real plan. Instead of following Roose’s retreating forces, Tywin marched south to help his son in Riverrun. However, Robb successfully captured Jaime at the Battle of the Whispering Wood and lifted the siege. As a result, the riverlords swore fealty to Robb in his war against the Lannisters.
The Battle of the Green Fork in HBO’s Game of Thrones
In A Game of Thrones, the Battle of the Green Fork is narrated from Tyrion’s point of view. He even fights with five men separately, killing one of them. In contrast, the HBO show greatly diverged from the book at this point. In season 1, episode 9, “Baelor”, Tyrion was accidentally knocked unconscious by one of his own men before the battle even began, and was only revived after it was over.
Other changes in the on-screen depiction of the Battle of the Green Fork included the complete absence of Roose; the increased number of Tywin’s forces (30,000); and a much smaller host (2000 men) sent by Robb as a diversion.
Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss addressed the battle’s omission in the UFC Unfiltered podcast:
We were going to have the camera at Peter Dinklage’s eye level and have him follow this giant, the Mountain, into battle and just see everything […] Frankly, we just run out of money and we couldn’t do it. So that was one of the big battles from the book that we hoped we could get on screen and we never managed to do it.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, Westeros is also threatened by the re-emergence of dragons, and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall.
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