Not only is it WAY oversized, it’s design is terrible with that rounded striking head which will encourage offensive strikes to deflect off enemies and not transfer nearly as much force as it could generate.
Yeah I can see the head being mostly if not fully hollow to reduce the weight but even then it would weigh as much as a regular sledgehammer. I know he's a blacksmith who uses sledgehammers a lot but that doesn't mean he can fight with them as well as a normal warhammer. But what really bothers me about it is the round handle.
Of course it's a silly hammer, unless Westoros is a "lost interstellar colony" with a basic gravity (along with a rather variable orbital course!) of say .75 G, and somehow after 12000 years humans physiology has not altered to match that lower gravity? In pictures, it seems that a Robert had a rather thin metal handle and a Hammer Head like the first sample, but with a spike on top and again more of a very thin axe or spike on the backside of the hammer. That much metal would be rather expensive, but Robert could afford it. The piece of silliness the Gendry made is flatly useless!
There is no wonder he still had this on stock while all others hammers was sold out already,... I am looking wrog or it also have antlesr as decoration?
Well the costume designer for the first 5 seasons recently said that they were using IKEA rugs for the Night Watch's cloaks, so I wouldn't be surprised. :D
Red Head Redemption You ever get the amber warhammer from Oblivion? It looks quite good. If you contoured it like a real warhammer it would be pretty usable.
Davos: "Aren't you going to grab one of these swords?" Gendry: "I wouldn't know to use it. I will take this." Davos: "Clearly, you indeed know little about fighting.'"
It was not aluminium. It was rubber thing, like they use in role playing. He said in an interview, it also doesn't look like metal. xD It looks bad imo, sadly. Cartoony.
For me, just as bad as the absurdly large & heavy size of the head, was ... (a) The absurdly sloped edges of the face, and (b) The lateral imbalance between the front and rear of the head. The former is laughably counterproductive because the goal of a blow is to gain purchase on the target in order to impart the energy of the blow, whereas a sloped edge would cause the hammer to deflect off. Historically, the head should be either a coronet, or at least squared with pointed corners. As for the lateral imbalance - although the spike on the rear of the head is moderately accurate, the oversize frontal hammer would make the already head-heavy weapon even more awkward and fatiguing to wield by causing it to torque/twist in one's hand. It's a gobsmackingly stupid design, even for a fantasy weapon.
Glad to find this video. When he brought out the hammer, I laughed. Even if it was pure steel, it would be impractically heavy. But the finish makes it almost like a rubber mallet.
Not really, he just got his super strength from big Bobby B, who uses a warhammer in one hand that was so heavy Ned couldn't even lift it with both hands.
Yeah, it is quite jarring. Many of the swords and polearms are at least functionally believable, so suddenly introducing a warhammer of that size and shape doesn't even feel consistent with the rest of the setting.
This is also my problem with the Catspaw assassin dagger (Arya's). All the other weapons look great and realistic. Whereas that dagger looks too fantasy imo.
Thor's hammer was supposed to be a long handled war hammer to be used with two hands. Loki who was to pay for the weapon and didn't want to pay sabatoged the forging of the shaft so it broke leaving a very short handle. Loki upon receiving the hammer refused to pay for a defective good, but took it anyway. Thor in the original mythology was the only one that could wield it because his strength could compensate for the defective design.
Actually according to norse mythology Thor could increase and decrease the length of the handle and size of the hammer at will depending on what purpose he would use it for what you said is simply just a pile of bullshit
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 no it isn't, what he says is the actual mythical story. The resizing thor is able to do is of the hammer as a whole, furthermore mjolnir is so heavy only thor is able to lift it.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 well since the paying loki had to do was having his head chopped off, and used by the dwarves who forged mjolnir, I think he gets a pass on this one.
I do remember this part of the mythology, although I wonder if that part was added to explain to picky weapon experts back in the day why Thor's hammer did not look like a proper war hammer. You can imagine some 8th century Matt Easton standing on the village green explaining to people why Thor's hammer should really have a longer handle.
As soon as I saw the episode I knew this video would be coming, and it was every bit as enjoyable as I could have hoped! Just to add an extra point for consideration: Gendry is a medieval blacksmith, a profession often portrayed as producing men with prodigiously powerful muscles. Regardless of the accuracy of that trope, such strength could make a massive a bit more viable as a weapon for him than the average bloke. Love the video's, keep up the good work!
I mean, from that perspective... "what [...] gave Gendry the idea" might be the key here. Ministrels would overexxagerate the Battle of the Trident to quite a notch, maybe up to a point where Robert is like 3 meters tall and his weapon being a small tree, and Gendry might have grown up hearing those stories all the time. And he is not an experienced warrior. Maybe Gendry actually believes in the hammer being usable. I mean, a little bit far fetched, since he is a smith and probably used an actual sledgehammer before, but maybe he believes in the heroes of the stories having all sorts of great powers and wants to be like that, thinking that such a hammer would be what such a hero uses.
Utherix do you remember his helmet? He likes highly stylized gear (probably enough to make a hollow hammer to make it look like he can swing something absurdly large).
Too ornate for Gendry? WTF? Look at his S1 helmet... he liked to make his stuff ornate. Almost... regal. c1.staticflickr.com/9/8406/8622997166_c950f4e051_b.jpg
Because swords are mainstream stuff since medieval times in fiction/drawings. That also happens in today warfare, the emblems/badges/war symbols do have some kind of knife in. But everyone mainly uses firearms instead. It probably has some philosophical context in. Like courage (due short range) and your last hope to win a battle (due it being a back-up weapon).
+pixel "Any peasant can use a polaxe, but it take training to use a sword, that's why swords are the weapons of heroes." i'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or simply ignorant!? using a poleaxe requires just as extensive training as a sword. arguably, it might even require more training, since you'd only use one while fighting in harness, or at least opponents in harness. "swords are the weapons of heroes" sure they are, that why they were mostly back-up weapons on the medieval battlefield.
I remember watching a post by Matt last year about the huge axes and warhammers shown on Conan the Barbarian (great film!) and when I watched this episode I immediately thought "oh Matt isn't going to be overly impressed by Gendry's hammer"! Interesting post as ever, thanks Matt!
If they had made it as big as a sledgehammer, it still would have been awful for a weapon but at least relatable. But that thing is at least 2 or 3 times as heavy as a sledgehammer.
New rule, if you design an oversized weapon, you're sent to the Thunderdome to fight with that weapon until your arms come off or you're so exhausted the Quakers only have to sit on you to win.
Thank you Matt! I'm so relieved that some said something about the ridiculous hammer. Thou it's agreeable that real life war hammer doesn't have powerful/massive look it's certainly that at least the hammer could have texture of a real one, like so Roberts... WTF GoT At least they could have gone for a polarm to match massive look they needed... again WTF
I've been "corrupted" by you (& knowledge in general), Matt. I liked the idea, just as you did, but instantly cringed at the silly oversized hammer head. Moreover, as an armorer, why the hell didn't he take a suit of plate armor? It would be a key component to fighting with a polax or lucern hammer, no?
Indeed, although I have some sympathy in the case of helms. Sound issues, audience tracking/focus on characters, etc. Still, for a battle, here or there, a distinctive helm maybe?
Might be that he did not have the material and/or time to make the suit. But yes, everyone entering a battle will want to have the best available armor.
Matt, I love your interpretation of Robert Baratheon’s war hammer! I had always imagined him wielding the classic war hammer but it never seemed right in my mind’s eye. This legendarily massive man in armor wielding a dinky hammer one could use from horseback was just not that fearsome. But I can see him smashing in Rhaegar Targaryen’s breast plate and scattering rubies into the waters of the Trident with something like what you are describing! Thanks for that!
In the novels Robert made reference to "driving the spike through [Rheagar's] black plate and into his black heart." which implies his war hammer had a vertical placed spike or one opposite the hammer-head.
I hadn't thought about it before but it makes sense that English archers would carry mauls. Being unskilled at melee combat but really strong turns a big hammer into a logical choice, especially if it persuades your opponents to go find someone who can't just break them in half :)
That "coup de grâce". I know that mr Easton has always been quite good with french words, but it's still refreshing to see this type of expression being pronounced correctly for a change (and not "coup de gras"). So kudos for that and for all the rest. And about Thor's hammer, if I recall correctly, it was suppose to have a much longer handle, but in some tales, Thor was so strong that he broke the long shaft while swinging it for the first time, hence, the short handle (even though the large head is still silly); so at least there's an explanation. Typical depiction of Mjöllnir also have a twin-head as long as the handle, though much thinner.
Pompadour_Gagarin I was under the impression that it was a grand contest of gift forging by dwarves that Loki sabotaged, causing Mjolnir to come out super short.
Ah maybe... maybe there's multiple explanations, but regardless, the shortness of Mjöllnir's shaft is suppose to be some sort of joke in the original stories (for what I remember anyway). But yeah... it's probably Loki... somehow...
Stormtalus yup, Loki cut all the hair off Lady Siff to get revenge on Thor while drunk. Thor found out and was about to kill him until Loki promised to replace the hair along with a gift for Thor, Odin and Njord. After getting the three gifts from Dwarves who owed him favours, he passed by the shop of two dwarf smiths he knew. Being arrogant once the dwarves mentioned his gifts, Loki stated he'd bet his head even they wouldn't be able to make anything better. Dwarves are infamous for taking all bets seriously so they said deal and started to work. Freaking the fuck out after he saw the first two items they made (a golden boar and a longship that could shrink and grow to be usable and also fit in your pocket), Loki turned into a mosquito as they worked the forge to make Thor's hammer, he then proceeded to jab the dwarf working the bellows in the eye to throw him off while they added the magic, meaning the full handle wasn't created with the spell. Eventually the three gods liked the Dwarves items better and they said the short handle was so Thor could conceal the weapon if he was sneaking into Jötunheim. Just before they cut his head off Loki screamed they only had rights to his head so they couldn't damage his neck. Pissed that they'd been cheated they took a needle and some leather thread and sowed Loki's mouth shut before they left so he could never cheat his way out again.
Please point out how Danaerys acted like an idiot. She didn't surprise them by flying down the line of soldiers from the side, nuking them all in one go. Then she knowingly flew straight at a ballista that she had seen with her OWN EYES could shoot 5-foot iron-shod bolts with great accuracy.
This was very interesting, thanks. Interestingly, in fantasy, I've noticed that from the 70's till 2000, Dungeons and Dragons actually featured historical style warhammers... it was in 2000, with D&D 3e, published under the auspices of WotC and their parent company, Hasbro, that the statistics of warhammers were changed to align them with long swords and battle axes and that iconography started representing them in the 'Fantasy Dwarven' type (previously, I never noticed iconography, the warhammer was just a weapon on the tables whose statistics showed it was not very large)
I am not an expert but from a previous video of Matt's and what a know of the Hussite rebellion I would say quite effective. Like the hammers in this video it was a effective weapon against armoured foes. The chain effective increases the length of the weapon while allowing it to still be manageable, allowing it to generate a lot of concussive force. I am not sure how well it would work in normal melee skirmishes, but the Hussites who are strongly associated with flail use fought a lot of times from field fortifications like circled carts. Striking from their boxes they were presumably able to windup without striking comrades. Also in Japan versions of flails were used to defend walls primarily. So perhaps in defense of a structure is where they functioned best. But also they had cavalry applications and were widely used by horsemen in russia, central asia and korea.
Leaked GOT Episode 6 Spoiler & Weapon Questions: To be honest, as much as I liked Benjin's scene with the ball and chain, I've been wondering what would happen if used on a battlefield the same way that Benjin did. He swung it, hitting many wights at a time with each swing. Would a ball and chain really have enough momentum to do such a thing? I'm hoping Matt reads this sometime after the episode is released and makes a video. There's a lot of other things I've wondered about, too: What is the practicality of its use on horseback? When was it used- It's not the kind of weapon that you'd want in crowded conditions or near dispersed friendly troops, surely? How would a combatant decide when to use it? Was the length of chain related to a combatant's height and strength, or a universal factor? What kind of sidearms were carried with it? How does the enemy defend themselves against the heavy, high speed ball and chain?
AFAIK, it was rarely used. They rather used weaponised corn thrashers (or whatever those peasant tools are called). Long chains require a lot of skill and take way too long to recover, but allow bending around parries.
Not very. Huge disadvantages and all advantages are generally overblown. It was a niche weapon that saw occasional use, but I think that largely has to do with it being such a different weapon, people often didn't know how to fight against it, IMO. Sometimes strange weapons are only effective as long as you're the only one in the fight that knows the thing.
If Matt, Skallagrim and Lloyd be allowed to form their own band of mercenaries in Game Of Thrones fighting for one or the other faction, that would be amazing... As long as these musketeers would be allowed to choose their own weapons, armour and equipment
For the record, Warhammer Fantasy gets around poorly designed weapons by the world being high fantasy as opposed to low fantasy a la Game of Thrones. The Warhammer you showed was Dwarven, creatures which in the universe are considerably stronger than Human counterparts. The Dwarves also like to put runes in their weapons, and considering how ornate that weapon you showed is, it has most definitely some runes inscribed on it. 2 which I would bring to attention are "Rune of Parrying - A weapon with this rune moves to block incoming attacks, making its wielder extremely hard to hit. Rune of Speed - This rune enhances its bearer’s awareness and quickness so that he moves more fluidly, taking faster opponents by surprise. ", which both effectively allow the user of the weapon to cheat in combat. The Empire uses warhammers as well, and excluding Ghal Maraz (a legendary hammer, dwarven made again), they're much more realistically designed and are designed roughly in tune with medieval sources.
Isenskjold D one of the worst scenes tbh. even if they get out alive, why isn't Dany seeing all this. and they know he is alive 5 minutes later trion goes to kingslanding to meet with Jamie. totally knows he is alive. wtf
PrimiFit No, they're not the gold standard, but they're still much stronger than most people, and they rank among the strongest athletes. On average, they're not as strong as powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, Strongman competitors, or NFL linemen and linebackers, but they're stronger than boxers, wrestlers, basketball players, runners, etc.
I do agree. As you mentioned, there are plenty of better examples. I commented because this is not the first time Matt has referred to bodybuilders in this context.
To most people, anyone that lifts heavy weights is a bodybuilder. Honestly, the differentiation between them is unimportant unless you are interested in it yourself. I realise that they should actually all fall under "weightlifter", but bodybuilder isn't any less descriptive to outsiders.
Makes sense. From my viewpoint serious fencers should look into proper weight training for better performance. Using the term bodybuilding as an umbrella term for all weightlifting can conjure up an image of a big huge, muscle bound person who's pretty strong but not very athletic. This image of weightlifters stops many martial artists from doing weightlifting. That is my experience anyway.
Weight lifting works for both. What you are talking about sounds more like bodybuilding. Strength training is not about simulating the specific techniques and movements. It's about getting your basic strength levels, power and speed up. Some muscles will have to be given more focus because you use a lot of shoulders and forearms in handling the swords. When you do that alongside your sword fighting, you'll be able to move faster and better. Also, why would weight lifting help olympic fencers, who after all according to you, are pussies, and not actual sword fighters?
HAHAHA, I KNEW this was coming. I hate that damn thing, and its the only weapon I've noticed that looks completely unusable. It kinda spoils any scene in which it can be seen :(
Completely...The scene built up with this really great feeling of something amazing is gonna happen...and then... Such a disappointment... Now I know what it feels like to be a girl when the guy suffers P.E. Thanks G.o.T.
Chris What are you on about? There's still a continuity of realistically balanced weapons in this show. The physics of the object makes no sense! It looks utterly ridiculous even being picked up by gendry, not just being swung around. Cringe inducing to new levels. This isn't like I'm say, lord of the rings, where Sauron or the witch King wielded large maces because they were otherworldly creatures, and therefore otherworldly or fictitious weapons looked reasonable on them. Gendry is a normal man, a rather small one at that. The most annoying thing is that Robert baratheon isn't described as using a huge warhammer, I don't think it's even meant to be two handed, and historical warhammers look cool and brutal anyway. So why they assumed he used a sledgehammer, a tool not a weapon, I have no idea.
It would be really cool for you to do a Q&A with one of the Game of Thrones costume designers (or from other medieval TV and Film) by the end of the series - I'm sure you know many of the reasons why they make some of the common mistakes we know and love but would be cool to see it from their perspective too.
just after the episode I thought that Gendry's warhammer doesn't make any sense Also warhammers are used against armor, and he's gonna fight dead people, so a sword or a poleaxe would be better even if he doesn't know how to use it
Well, stabbing would be completely useless against a man who doesn't need his vital organs to live, so I'd say the hammer is better than a sword in this case because many of the undead are shown to be affected by having their bones broken. For example, many of the skeleton-type Wights shatter into smithereens after a heavy hit.
Skeggs of Horkabjork - Yes, but a sword (I mean an actual war sword, like, say, Brienne's, as opposed to a smallsword like Needle) can *cut*. A heavy enough sword in the hands of someone sufficiently strong can do a number on someone, it could possibly cut through bones and organs and sever limbs. What it can't do is slicing through plate, and it will have serious difficulties even against mail or even a padded jack, but most wights we've seen don't really use armor.
SquidwardAF - his warhammer makes little sense, it's true, as explained in the video it's not really of ideal shape and size. But it's still a good weapon even against wights - it can crush skulls and bones quite easily. Also, I really don't think a sword or pollaxe would be better if Gendry doesn't know how to use them - you use what you know, handling a weapon you have no familiarity with in a life or death situation is a surefire way to get killed. If he *somehow* can swing warhammers (who the hell taught him? whatever) then let him use a warhammer, not some other weapon he doesn't know how to handle. If you can fight with a sword or a warhammer equally well then you can choose, if you only know one, stick to that.
I completly agree with this assesment of Gendry's warhammer, but taking a look at it from the perspective of the people making the series, I think it makes a kind of sense: People have become used to seeing warhammers as these big hulking weapons through other fantasy (and in some cases non-fantasy "historical") media, so with the backstory of Gendry being of a bloodline of massive humans, I think a lot of people, who are not as well versed in historical weapons, would think what is this titan of a man doing with such a wimpy weapon. I of course don't know if this have factored into the decision, but I could imagine that it had.
To back up the point made around 9:50 about nimble opponents dodging large weapons, there is a perfect example within Game of Thrones itself, in the 1-on-1 fight between Gregor Clegane and Oberyn Martell in season 4. Gregor is a massive man, and uses a massive sword. One hit would kill a man, no doubt, but he's not able to make contact. Meanwhile, Oberyn gets through his slow defenses easily, and would have won the fight if it hadn't been for his arrogance and petty obsessions.
@scholagladiatoria for Filming, Gendry's hammer is probably resin cast or milled plastic or sculpted EVA foam for the head, with maybe a milled aluminum one for 'hero' shots.
That said, Robert Baratheon was said to use the hammer as he was more skilled with it and was strong enough to use it effectively. It would surprise his enemies as not even Ned Stark found it very difficult to lift, much less use. Gendry is fairly strong, but he has a smaller frame, it would make sense for him to carry a deceptively useful (for him) weapon, and also something which links him to his father and the house Baratheon.
Yeah, the books do tend to be a bit problematic with weapons and armor, and that was the worst offender. From the mentions, I'm pretty sure it was intended as a big fantasy sledge in the books, which is silly. The whole "Ned could barely lift it." thing was really dumb. But GRRM also loves to describe characters wearing 'ringmaile' and one handed swords as longswords, guys in plate harness wearing a 'Great Helm' etc. I think he just has a D&D style outlook on weapons and armor or is simply writing for people who do.
that's just ridiculous and so impractical. if someone is so massively strong to be able to wield that impractical a weapon, think of the sheer damage they could do with a proper sword and so much faster too.
Bogish Hogish Well it looks cool, and it also has some symbolic value. Also why not? Soldiers and even knights are used to defending against swords and the occasional axe not giant fucking hammers. If he can effectively wield a powerful weapon which won't easily break or dull, and which isn't commonly defended against, I'd say he's got a pretty good chance of coming out on top. The sword is fast, and he could use it quickly, but if he could use a far stronger weapon to deal far more crushing blows with the same amount of effort, it makes sense. Also the show needed some variety, not everyone can have an iconic sword.
I'd love to hear your analysis of the Richard Lester directed Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers. They were touted as being so much more realistic than previous films because the swords were heavier than fencing swords. They always looked to me like they made the swords seem much too heavy. Robin and Marian, around the same time, had the same flaw.
M TODD the thing is, if they are going to make that huge piece of metal hollow to make it lighter, why don't make it just smaller and solid, for the same weight but less surface, to concentrate the impact force and make it more efficient? No matter how you look at it, the design of Gendry's hammer is lackluster at best.
Pajarraco Maybe for intimidation? I agree it looks kinda lame, the design could be instantly improved by splitting the head into four prongs giving it a Bec de Corbin look. Perhaps it's steel over hollowed wood core? That would lighten it up a bit...
I dont really mind fantasy warhammers in media typically. I prefer historically designed stuff of course, but hey, huge hammers look neat. What bugs me about Gendrys hammer is how rounded it is- it looks lame! Seriously, it looks like a larp weapon after an overly protective group leader went after it with some scissors...
I find that in most universes, technical accuracy improves the design. Look at what realism did for Kingdom Come. A Song Of Ice And Fire has some very good fan art about the Battle of the Trident featuring a realistic hammer, like the picture he briefly shows in the video. Only universes where I would not go for realistic weapons are over the top universes like Warhammer.
Yeah no. Huge warhammers look stupid. Not neat. They dont even look cool or interesting. All it conveys is stupidity on the designers and they serve no practical function.
Suprised with all the talk about real warhammers having points to "bite" and reduce the liklihood of a glancing blow, you didnt mention gendry's hammer having a rounded head. Seems like the absolute worst design possible. No?
I've used used splitting axes, mauls & pickaxes. These tools are designed to work in the vertical plane & are very unwieldy if used any other way. That being said, GoT usually does pretty well in the armaments dept so I can forgive them a bit of a lapse like Gendry's hammer.
Two notes on Warhammer Fantasy and 40k to explain the ridiculously large weapons: 1. Warhammer in general is meant to set the bar for exaggerated design and I don't think anyone would claim otherwise. 2. Because they are small plastic models, the weapons need to be larger to make them easier to paint and less likely to break when handled or dropped.
i think it could work out in a battle scenario - at least 2 rows similiar to how Zweihänder were used in Combat as "Gassenhauer" - i can imagine your frontman having a shield and an axe like weapon against heavy armor - he tries to hook the opponent or make him immpbilised just long enough so that the guy with the supermassive hammer can strike once. That way he doesnt have to swing often, doesnt have to worry about defense and can just finish the guys quickly
In that case, a longer hammer with a beak would still be the better choice. Plus, we also talk about Robert's weapon, and in the Battle of the Trident, it was used in the duel with Rhaegar.
ha! this is awesome! your ears must have been burning from all the warhammer talk on EmergencyAwesome's latest GoT video. thanks and keep up the brilliant videos!
I think there's one historical polearm that you neglecting to mention Schola. Now I'm an amateur medievalist, but a real life comparison to Baratheon's big hammer I thought was the Lucerne which was around the 15th through 17th century, and was a warhammer essentially made into a two handed polearm, with a beak, spear like spike, and hammer head. Granted from the surviving historical examples there's still the case of the head being rather small by comparison to the hammer in the show, but I still thought it would be a good example to bring up as a weaponized hammer, rather than the poleaxe.
but wasn't Robert supposed to be inhumanly strong so a normal person would be stuck with a real or realistic warhammer but someone like Robert or Gendry could use there oversized blocks of metal on a stick as a practical weapon
Nope. Being strong isn't enough. You would also need to be very heavy in order to stop the weapon from throwing you around. Even if you are a strong as Superman, if you only weigh 180 pounds, a 40 pound hammer is still basically impossible to use effectively.
Because "inhuman" strength does not equal greater mass, therefore he still would not be able to counterbalance that hammer effectively. This point of physics is often overlooked.
Even if we assume that Robert and Gendry are strong enough to use an oversized weapon effectively in battle, I'm not sure how that's helpful. A normal warhammer is already good enough to kill a man, making a bigger one that SUPER kills someone doesn't change the end result. They'd be better off using their monster strength to use a normal warhammer better or faster or for a longer stretch of time in battle than wasting time on a weapon that your comrades can't even borrow if you die on the first charge.
If you are monstrously strong, you should use a longer poleaxe or lance or throw spears or use a super-heavy bow. It makes no sense to use an extra heavy hammer unless you are fighting an army of really large nails.
as a fan of warhammer i can say that for the most part they do pay head to realities of weapon phisychs reguarding humans races such as dwarfs or chaos however are phisicaly capable of weilding such weapons and the big weapons used by humans such as warhammers are few and fare indeed dwarfs in fantasy for example simply do not believe in being tired as an option in battle and will swing his oversized hammer with gusto for hours if he must
Regarding 14:15, I can already see the heft in that sledgehammer, and the head on Gendry's hammer is a good 4 times bigger, plus the haft is longer and possibly thicker. If you got even that sledgehammer head, put it on the end of a longer haft, and held it out at arm's length as Gendry did (well, swung it), you'd feel it tugging down.
It's true; you DO make lovely videos. :D Bless you for mentioning the maul. So many people either leave it out of their reckoning, or mislabel it as another word for 'war hammer', which is a bit like saying stock car is the same as a formula 1 racer. BTW; send us a PM; I'd be happy to create a musical theme for your intro/outros, if you'd like. :) Cheers!
didn't watch the video, the war hammer is a ghastly abhorrent piece of shit comparable only to 70's movies prop hammers made of colored foam. I was disappointed in game of thrones costume designers when i saw this piece of shit on a stick.
i've seen a lot of fantasy movies like conan, but i really believe game of thrones has higher quality standards, so far most of the weapons were decent, i don't see why should they lower these standards which made the show look authentic and made me start watch it in the first place. Dual wielding and dancing and jumping arya stark were a bit cheesy, but ok whatever, could be worse. Well now it's worse. Like giant foam war hammer type of worse.
I'd say it was designed by someone not familiar with real warhammers. But was trying to avoid say LOTR witch king flail levels of big. But yeah I agree this is rather a departure.
The Dorne incident drove away the real costume designer and they had to use a sub-par one. apparently, no-one wears undergarments in the seven kingdoms.
One Question -- You showed the Conan shot -- if I am not mistaken it looks like the hammer head is iron bound wood -- on a stick -- this theoretically could allow for a large and light head -- are there historical examples of wood headed hammers? -- I have my G.Grandfathers Carpenters hammer which has a 4"diam x 9" long head on it -- which strikes with some force -- just curious -- and thanks for the ongoing good work. -- sorry answered @ 14:28 -- thx -- (commented as soon as I saw the Conan picture) -- should have been patient -- of course you would get to this -- ST
I actually groaned when I saw that thing on GoT. If the head is not hollow, that thing would weigh every bit of 30 pounds. Not a practical weapon at all.
All very good points, but Robert Baratheon's War-hammer was so heavy that Ned Stark couldn't even lift it from the gorund. Baratheons are actual demigods.
Even if he was really strong, the historical design would have been better for him. The thing about Ned not being able to lift it sounds like overexxageration, like ministrels singing songs about how extremely powerful their king is. If you make a hammer that a trained fighter like Ned cannot lift, then it would be impossible to use it - a high weight means a huge centripetal force when swinging it, and at some point, it will be strong enough to carry the wielder off his place.
If the metal is light enough to not tire you out, then the size does not help because you're just increasing surface area making each blow less effective. If the metal is heavy enough to do damage over that large of a surface area, then even the mountain couldn't handle that thing effectively.
Great video, I was counting on it. Could you do a video on the weapon & armor design process? Did metal workes get feedback after battles? Did they test prototypes before going into production? Something like that. Thanks.
That warhammer looks to be very similar in size, weight, and shape profile to a framing hammer. framing hammers are designed to deliver very hard blows but not fatigue the user allowing them to drive large framing nails all day long. It is interesting to see the parallel in design and intended use.
Not only is it WAY oversized, it’s design is terrible with that rounded striking head which will encourage offensive strikes to deflect off enemies and not transfer nearly as much force as it could generate.
Shadiversity Yeah the surface area of the thing is ridiculous!
Well, it's kinda beaked. But still... I reckon Conan the Barbarian at his peak would have trouble swinging that swag.
Yeah I can see the head being mostly if not fully hollow to reduce the weight but even then it would weigh as much as a regular sledgehammer. I know he's a blacksmith who uses sledgehammers a lot but that doesn't mean he can fight with them as well as a normal warhammer. But what really bothers me about it is the round handle.
Of course it's a silly hammer, unless Westoros is a "lost interstellar colony" with a basic gravity (along with a rather variable orbital course!) of say .75 G, and somehow after 12000 years humans physiology has not altered to match that lower gravity?
In pictures, it seems that a Robert had a rather thin metal handle and a Hammer Head like the first sample, but with a spike on top and again more of a very thin axe or spike on the backside of the hammer.
That much metal would be rather expensive, but Robert could afford it.
The piece of silliness the Gendry made is flatly useless!
There is no wonder he still had this on stock while all others hammers was sold out already,...
I am looking wrog or it also have antlesr as decoration?
Tell me Gendry, did you pay the Fisher Price? Or the Iron?
Steve P. This is an underrated comment hahaha.
It honestly looks like those plastic toy hammers you can get from toys r us..
It is such a thing. xD They should at least have made a proper one for when they just do closeups and not fight. xD
Schmidteren I know GoT isn't known for its realism but fuck me it ruins the suspension of disbelief
Well the costume designer for the first 5 seasons recently said that they were using IKEA rugs for the Night Watch's cloaks, so I wouldn't be surprised. :D
Don Antonio it really does. Kind of shitty!
My first thought when I saw it.
"The shaft would be... more important than the head itself." - Matt Easton, 2017
no one 'Get shafted' heh.
Lolz
that hammer gives me oblivion flashbacks
Totally!
Red Head Redemption Glass warhammer 😂😂
BadPeople1100 it would still strike so hard that my mother in orsinium would start bleeding
Red Head Redemption You ever get the amber warhammer from Oblivion? It looks quite good. If you contoured it like a real warhammer it would be pretty usable.
General Vic Rattlehead nah I remember getting the madness claymore though
Davos: "Aren't you going to grab one of these swords?"
Gendry: "I wouldn't know to use it. I will take this."
Davos: "Clearly, you indeed know little about fighting.'"
D maybe that wasn't an irony..
But being a smith would know how to use a hammer to hit things, hard.
It was not aluminium. It was rubber thing, like they use in role playing. He said in an interview, it also doesn't look like metal. xD It looks bad imo, sadly. Cartoony.
Schmidteren Tommy Dunne. Armoury boss
Latex foam is the material you mean.
The dragon CGI budget was so much the prop department had to get their stuff from Toys R Us.
Ive seen toy weapons that looked better than that ugly monstrosity
Should you ever by accident knock your camera out, please don't edit it out.
*Edit that in.*
For me, just as bad as the absurdly large & heavy size of the head, was ...
(a) The absurdly sloped edges of the face, and
(b) The lateral imbalance between the front and rear of the head.
The former is laughably counterproductive because the goal of a blow is to gain purchase on the target in order to impart the energy of the blow, whereas a sloped edge would cause the hammer to deflect off. Historically, the head should be either a coronet, or at least squared with pointed corners. As for the lateral imbalance - although the spike on the rear of the head is moderately accurate, the oversize frontal hammer would make the already head-heavy weapon even more awkward and fatiguing to wield by causing it to torque/twist in one's hand.
It's a gobsmackingly stupid design, even for a fantasy weapon.
Glad to find this video. When he brought out the hammer, I laughed. Even if it was pure steel, it would be impractically heavy. But the finish makes it almost like a rubber mallet.
If only he could have lent it to Wun Wun...
It's just a bad prop. It even looks fake. Not from a battle prospective but as looking like it's made of the material it should be
Looks like plastic or diecast metal
Gendry has developed super strength after all his time rowing, so he can swing the big hammer
Can swing != is efficient.
He was fantasizing about Arya all that time...
Not really, he just got his super strength from big Bobby B, who uses a warhammer in one hand that was so heavy Ned couldn't even lift it with both hands.
Rowing ain't magic.
They went from realistic to World of Warcraft real quick.
Yeah, it is quite jarring. Many of the swords and polearms are at least functionally believable, so suddenly introducing a warhammer of that size and shape doesn't even feel consistent with the rest of the setting.
Should have gone with Blackhand's warhammer. Full of fire, should be good against wights.
WoW humans aren't really normal humans.
This is also my problem with the Catspaw assassin dagger (Arya's). All the other weapons look great and realistic. Whereas that dagger looks too fantasy imo.
yup, cause firebreathing dragons are sooo real.
Thor's hammer was supposed to be a long handled war hammer to be used with two hands. Loki who was to pay for the weapon and didn't want to pay sabatoged the forging of the shaft so it broke leaving a very short handle. Loki upon receiving the hammer refused to pay for a defective good, but took it anyway. Thor in the original mythology was the only one that could wield it because his strength could compensate for the defective design.
So basically they're just cheap. The god are frugal. I love that.
Actually according to norse mythology Thor could increase and decrease the length of the handle and size of the hammer at will depending on what purpose he would use it for what you said is simply just a pile of bullshit
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 no it isn't, what he says is the actual mythical story. The resizing thor is able to do is of the hammer as a whole, furthermore mjolnir is so heavy only thor is able to lift it.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 well since the paying loki had to do was having his head chopped off, and used by the dwarves who forged mjolnir, I think he gets a pass on this one.
I do remember this part of the mythology, although I wonder if that part was added to explain to picky weapon experts back in the day why Thor's hammer did not look like a proper war hammer. You can imagine some 8th century Matt Easton standing on the village green explaining to people why Thor's hammer should really have a longer handle.
As soon as I saw the episode I knew this video would be coming, and it was every bit as enjoyable as I could have hoped!
Just to add an extra point for consideration:
Gendry is a medieval blacksmith, a profession often portrayed as producing men with prodigiously powerful muscles. Regardless of the accuracy of that trope, such strength could make a massive a bit more viable as a weapon for him than the average bloke.
Love the video's, keep up the good work!
Yeah, he's also used to hitting things with hammers - but given that, why would he even MAKE one that looked like that thing?
"The shaft is as important, if not more important, than the head."
Gendry toy hammer looked like some prize you win during a carnival game
Roberts warhammer was actually pretty realistic as far as I know so what the frick gave Gendry the idea that the hammer was that uselessly big.
I mean, from that perspective... "what [...] gave Gendry the idea" might be the key here. Ministrels would overexxagerate the Battle of the Trident to quite a notch, maybe up to a point where Robert is like 3 meters tall and his weapon being a small tree, and Gendry might have grown up hearing those stories all the time.
And he is not an experienced warrior.
Maybe Gendry actually believes in the hammer being usable. I mean, a little bit far fetched, since he is a smith and probably used an actual sledgehammer before, but maybe he believes in the heroes of the stories having all sorts of great powers and wants to be like that, thinking that such a hammer would be what such a hero uses.
@@ksortakhkraxthar5019 ruclips.net/video/v8cx_zu_rC0/видео.html
Happy Gendry's back. Upset his Warhammer looks like a vibrator.
Number of likes checks out.
Worse than being huge is that it looks like shit.
It does look too toy-like. Too ornate too for Gendry
Utherix do you remember his helmet? He likes highly stylized gear (probably enough to make a hollow hammer to make it look like he can swing something absurdly large).
Too ornate for Gendry? WTF? Look at his S1 helmet... he liked to make his stuff ornate. Almost... regal.
c1.staticflickr.com/9/8406/8622997166_c950f4e051_b.jpg
it looks badass if it were in skyrim or something
rofl it sucks
Here's a question, why does nobody ever use a poleaxe in medieval media? Like, at all...
because swords and huge hammers/axes are cooler obviously
Pole axe are too epic for fantasy
Aidan Owen-Jones not sexy enough
Because swords are mainstream stuff since medieval times in fiction/drawings. That also happens in today warfare, the emblems/badges/war symbols do have some kind of knife in. But everyone mainly uses firearms instead.
It probably has some philosophical context in. Like courage (due short range) and your last hope to win a battle (due it being a back-up weapon).
+pixel "Any peasant can use a polaxe, but it take training to use a sword, that's why swords are the weapons of heroes."
i'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or simply ignorant!? using a poleaxe requires just as extensive training as a sword. arguably, it might even require more training, since you'd only use one while fighting in harness, or at least opponents in harness.
"swords are the weapons of heroes" sure they are, that why they were mostly back-up weapons on the medieval battlefield.
I remember watching a post by Matt last year about the huge axes and warhammers shown on Conan the Barbarian (great film!) and when I watched this episode I immediately thought "oh Matt isn't going to be overly impressed by Gendry's hammer"! Interesting post as ever, thanks Matt!
If they had made it as big as a sledgehammer, it still would have been awful for a weapon but at least relatable. But that thing is at least 2 or 3 times as heavy as a sledgehammer.
New rule, if you design an oversized weapon, you're sent to the Thunderdome to fight with that weapon until your arms come off or you're so exhausted the Quakers only have to sit on you to win.
Monster Hunter: "Hold my potion."
Thank you Matt!
I'm so relieved that some said something about the ridiculous hammer. Thou it's agreeable that real life war hammer doesn't have powerful/massive look it's certainly that at least the hammer could have texture of a real one, like so Roberts... WTF GoT
At least they could have gone for a polarm to match massive look they needed... again WTF
I've been "corrupted" by you (& knowledge in general), Matt. I liked the idea, just as you did, but instantly cringed at the silly oversized hammer head. Moreover, as an armorer, why the hell didn't he take a suit of plate armor? It would be a key component to fighting with a polax or lucern hammer, no?
Yeah... he really should have had armour! Same for all of them actually - they all need helmets.
Indeed, although I have some sympathy in the case of helms. Sound issues, audience tracking/focus on characters, etc. Still, for a battle, here or there, a distinctive helm maybe?
Might be that he did not have the material and/or time to make the suit. But yes, everyone entering a battle will want to have the best available armor.
Gendry made his helm waaayyy back in season one. Ned Stark sees it. Not that he ever uses it.
Genghis Don Because they couldn’t afford another suit I bet
Matt, I love your interpretation of Robert Baratheon’s war hammer! I had always imagined him wielding the classic war hammer but it never seemed right in my mind’s eye. This legendarily massive man in armor wielding a dinky hammer one could use from horseback was just not that fearsome. But I can see him smashing in Rhaegar Targaryen’s breast plate and scattering rubies into the waters of the Trident with something like what you are describing! Thanks for that!
In the novels Robert made reference to "driving the spike through [Rheagar's] black plate and into his black heart." which implies his war hammer had a vertical placed spike or one opposite the hammer-head.
As soon as he grabbed it i was like "Ah cool Gendry got into LARPING."
I hadn't thought about it before but it makes sense that English archers would carry mauls. Being unskilled at melee combat but really strong turns a big hammer into a logical choice, especially if it persuades your opponents to go find someone who can't just break them in half :)
Yes! I knew you were gonna make a video about this as soon as I saw that hammer. It's grotesque! ;)
Lol, i just watched that episode for the first time yesterday. When i saw the hammer, i was thinking the same thing as you! ;)
Knew*
@@TheHeroRobertELee Thanks.
Easily one of the best channels on RUclips! Absolute legend.
That "coup de grâce".
I know that mr Easton has always been quite good with french words, but it's still refreshing to see this type of expression being pronounced correctly for a change (and not "coup de gras"). So kudos for that and for all the rest.
And about Thor's hammer, if I recall correctly, it was suppose to have a much longer handle, but in some tales, Thor was so strong that he broke the long shaft while swinging it for the first time, hence, the short handle (even though the large head is still silly); so at least there's an explanation. Typical depiction of Mjöllnir also have a twin-head as long as the handle, though much thinner.
Pompadour_Gagarin I was under the impression that it was a grand contest of gift forging by dwarves that Loki sabotaged, causing Mjolnir to come out super short.
Ah maybe... maybe there's multiple explanations, but regardless, the shortness of Mjöllnir's shaft is suppose to be some sort of joke in the original stories (for what I remember anyway).
But yeah... it's probably Loki... somehow...
I've heard several versions, but it's always Loki's fault (as usual).
Stormtalus yup, Loki cut all the hair off Lady Siff to get revenge on Thor while drunk. Thor found out and was about to kill him until Loki promised to replace the hair along with a gift for Thor, Odin and Njord. After getting the three gifts from Dwarves who owed him favours, he passed by the shop of two dwarf smiths he knew. Being arrogant once the dwarves mentioned his gifts, Loki stated he'd bet his head even they wouldn't be able to make anything better. Dwarves are infamous for taking all bets seriously so they said deal and started to work. Freaking the fuck out after he saw the first two items they made (a golden boar and a longship that could shrink and grow to be usable and also fit in your pocket), Loki turned into a mosquito as they worked the forge to make Thor's hammer, he then proceeded to jab the dwarf working the bellows in the eye to throw him off while they added the magic, meaning the full handle wasn't created with the spell.
Eventually the three gods liked the Dwarves items better and they said the short handle was so Thor could conceal the weapon if he was sneaking into Jötunheim. Just before they cut his head off Loki screamed they only had rights to his head so they couldn't damage his neck. Pissed that they'd been cheated they took a needle and some leather thread and sowed Loki's mouth shut before they left so he could never cheat his way out again.
I do believe it was also supposed to be a smith's hammer, but I could be remembering wrong.
As soon as I saw Gendry's hammer I started looking forward to this video.
Are you going to do a review on the battle Danaerys Vs Jaime?
Maybe. I've been away for a week so didn't get time, but maybe in the next few days I will be able to.
scholagladiatoria What do you mean "maybe"? How will we ever know if dragons were ever used like that, in the middle ages?!
Philipp2040
LOL! You just earned five points for Gryffindor!!!!
Please point out how Danaerys acted like an idiot. She didn't surprise them by flying down the line of soldiers from the side, nuking them all in one go. Then she knowingly flew straight at a ballista that she had seen with her OWN EYES could shoot 5-foot iron-shod bolts with great accuracy.
And that she destroyed the loot train, while she could have steald the loot instead.
This was very interesting, thanks. Interestingly, in fantasy, I've noticed that from the 70's till 2000, Dungeons and Dragons actually featured historical style warhammers... it was in 2000, with D&D 3e, published under the auspices of WotC and their parent company, Hasbro, that the statistics of warhammers were changed to align them with long swords and battle axes and that iconography started representing them in the 'Fantasy Dwarven' type (previously, I never noticed iconography, the warhammer was just a weapon on the tables whose statistics showed it was not very large)
How effective was the ball and chain in medievel combat?
I am not an expert but from a previous video of Matt's and what a know of the Hussite rebellion I would say quite effective. Like the hammers in this video it was a effective weapon against armoured foes. The chain effective increases the length of the weapon while allowing it to still be manageable, allowing it to generate a lot of concussive force. I am not sure how well it would work in normal melee skirmishes, but the Hussites who are strongly associated with flail use fought a lot of times from field fortifications like circled carts. Striking from their boxes they were presumably able to windup without striking comrades.
Also in Japan versions of flails were used to defend walls primarily. So perhaps in defense of a structure is where they functioned best.
But also they had cavalry applications and were widely used by horsemen in russia, central asia and korea.
It would probably depend on how annoyed she was.
Leaked GOT Episode 6 Spoiler & Weapon Questions:
To be honest, as much as I liked Benjin's scene with the ball and chain, I've been wondering what would happen if used on a battlefield the same way that Benjin did. He swung it, hitting many wights at a time with each swing. Would a ball and chain really have enough momentum to do such a thing? I'm hoping Matt reads this sometime after the episode is released and makes a video.
There's a lot of other things I've wondered about, too:
What is the practicality of its use on horseback?
When was it used- It's not the kind of weapon that you'd want in crowded conditions or near dispersed friendly troops, surely? How would a combatant decide when to use it?
Was the length of chain related to a combatant's height and strength, or a universal factor?
What kind of sidearms were carried with it?
How does the enemy defend themselves against the heavy, high speed ball and chain?
AFAIK, it was rarely used. They rather used weaponised corn thrashers (or whatever those peasant tools are called). Long chains require a lot of skill and take way too long to recover, but allow bending around parries.
Not very. Huge disadvantages and all advantages are generally overblown.
It was a niche weapon that saw occasional use, but I think that largely has to do with it being such a different weapon, people often didn't know how to fight against it, IMO.
Sometimes strange weapons are only effective as long as you're the only one in the fight that knows the thing.
Good show, sir! Once again, entertaining & educational. I am admire your expertise, as a martial artist/ martial scientist. Great work!
If Matt, Skallagrim and Lloyd be allowed to form their own band of mercenaries in Game Of Thrones fighting for one or the other faction, that would be amazing... As long as these musketeers would be allowed to choose their own weapons, armour and equipment
This is the first video if yours ive seen, good work! I enjoyed how clearly you explained each difference.
*Poleaxe is mentioned*
my brain: *AD MORTEM, INIMICUS!*
The SECOND I saw that Toys-R-Us ridiculous warhammer I thought "Can't wait to hear Matt on this one". Another great video, mate. Cheers.
For the record, Warhammer Fantasy gets around poorly designed weapons by the world being high fantasy as opposed to low fantasy a la Game of Thrones. The Warhammer you showed was Dwarven, creatures which in the universe are considerably stronger than Human counterparts. The Dwarves also like to put runes in their weapons, and considering how ornate that weapon you showed is, it has most definitely some runes inscribed on it.
2 which I would bring to attention are
"Rune of Parrying - A weapon with this rune moves to block incoming attacks, making its wielder extremely hard to hit.
Rune of Speed - This rune enhances its bearer’s awareness and quickness so that he moves more fluidly, taking faster opponents by surprise. ", which both effectively allow the user of the weapon to cheat in combat.
The Empire uses warhammers as well, and excluding Ghal Maraz (a legendary hammer, dwarven made again), they're much more realistically designed and are designed roughly in tune with medieval sources.
"The shaft, more important, than the head, itself." Too true.
Obviously metal in game of thrones doesn't have the same weight as real world metal, you can swim in armour so the warhammer makes sense:D
Except that Jaime and Bronn getting out of that lake alive is totally reasonable...
The Blackwater Rush is a fast-flowing River.
Yes! At last someone else agrees; Everyone else said "No its possible, Or plot Armour etc. etc."; Also wet furs are heavy AF!
Isenskjold D one of the worst scenes tbh. even if they get out alive, why isn't Dany seeing all this. and they know he is alive 5 minutes later trion goes to kingslanding to meet with Jamie. totally knows he is alive. wtf
Fair point, I guess he would have been washed up a few days later; Doesn't explain how he managed to keep breathing though...
You swing the hammers so smoothly and deadly! Awesome to watch!
Bodybuilders are not the gold standard for strong people :D.
PrimiFit
No, they're not the gold standard, but they're still much stronger than most people, and they rank among the strongest athletes. On average, they're not as strong as powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, Strongman competitors, or NFL linemen and linebackers, but they're stronger than boxers, wrestlers, basketball players, runners, etc.
I do agree. As you mentioned, there are plenty of better examples. I commented because this is not the first time Matt has referred to bodybuilders in this context.
To most people, anyone that lifts heavy weights is a bodybuilder. Honestly, the differentiation between them is unimportant unless you are interested in it yourself. I realise that they should actually all fall under "weightlifter", but bodybuilder isn't any less descriptive to outsiders.
Makes sense. From my viewpoint serious fencers should look into proper weight training for better performance. Using the term bodybuilding as an umbrella term for all weightlifting can conjure up an image of a big huge, muscle bound person who's pretty strong but not very athletic. This image of weightlifters stops many martial artists from doing weightlifting. That is my experience anyway.
Weight lifting works for both. What you are talking about sounds more like bodybuilding. Strength training is not about simulating the specific techniques and movements. It's about getting your basic strength levels, power and speed up. Some muscles will have to be given more focus because you use a lot of shoulders and forearms in handling the swords. When you do that alongside your sword fighting, you'll be able to move faster and better. Also, why would weight lifting help olympic fencers, who after all according to you, are pussies, and not actual sword fighters?
I have watched a total of 5 minutes(!) of unskippable adds to watch this whole video. You're bloody welcome
HAHAHA, I KNEW this was coming. I hate that damn thing, and its the only weapon I've noticed that looks completely unusable. It kinda spoils any scene in which it can be seen :(
Yeah it seems really out of place in a relatively realistic show.
Completely...The scene built up with this really great feeling of something amazing is gonna happen...and then...
Such a disappointment...
Now I know what it feels like to be a girl when the guy suffers P.E.
Thanks G.o.T.
TheBaconWizard Yeah I hated it as soon as I see it, is kind out off place in the show.
GOT is fiction, if a simple warhammer spoils a scene for you, consider only watching documentaries then.
Chris What are you on about? There's still a continuity of realistically balanced weapons in this show. The physics of the object makes no sense! It looks utterly ridiculous even being picked up by gendry, not just being swung around. Cringe inducing to new levels. This isn't like I'm say, lord of the rings, where Sauron or the witch King wielded large maces because they were otherworldly creatures, and therefore otherworldly or fictitious weapons looked reasonable on them. Gendry is a normal man, a rather small one at that. The most annoying thing is that Robert baratheon isn't described as using a huge warhammer, I don't think it's even meant to be two handed, and historical warhammers look cool and brutal anyway. So why they assumed he used a sledgehammer, a tool not a weapon, I have no idea.
It would be really cool for you to do a Q&A with one of the Game of Thrones costume designers (or from other medieval TV and Film) by the end of the series - I'm sure you know many of the reasons why they make some of the common mistakes we know and love but would be cool to see it from their perspective too.
just after the episode I thought that Gendry's warhammer doesn't make any sense
Also warhammers are used against armor, and he's gonna fight dead people, so a sword or a poleaxe would be better even if he doesn't know how to use it
Well, stabbing would be completely useless against a man who doesn't need his vital organs to live, so I'd say the hammer is better than a sword in this case because many of the undead are shown to be affected by having their bones broken. For example, many of the skeleton-type Wights shatter into smithereens after a heavy hit.
In some RPG games the blunt edged weapons tend to get a bonus against skeletons and such. Just saying.
A normal mace or club would do the job against skeletons.
Skeggs of Horkabjork - Yes, but a sword (I mean an actual war sword, like, say, Brienne's, as opposed to a smallsword like Needle) can *cut*. A heavy enough sword in the hands of someone sufficiently strong can do a number on someone, it could possibly cut through bones and organs and sever limbs. What it can't do is slicing through plate, and it will have serious difficulties even against mail or even a padded jack, but most wights we've seen don't really use armor.
SquidwardAF - his warhammer makes little sense, it's true, as explained in the video it's not really of ideal shape and size. But it's still a good weapon even against wights - it can crush skulls and bones quite easily. Also, I really don't think a sword or pollaxe would be better if Gendry doesn't know how to use them - you use what you know, handling a weapon you have no familiarity with in a life or death situation is a surefire way to get killed. If he *somehow* can swing warhammers (who the hell taught him? whatever) then let him use a warhammer, not some other weapon he doesn't know how to handle. If you can fight with a sword or a warhammer equally well then you can choose, if you only know one, stick to that.
I love all your content, but I really crave for the Game of Thrones-stuff. Allways fun to watch, keep up with the good work!
In a work that got so much right that silly prop stood out like a booger on your tuxedo lapel. Sigh. So much to lament in the later seasons.
"Large, rounded and thick", the ladies are going to love this guy!
I completly agree with this assesment of Gendry's warhammer, but taking a look at it from the perspective of the people making the series, I think it makes a kind of sense: People have become used to seeing warhammers as these big hulking weapons through other fantasy (and in some cases non-fantasy "historical") media, so with the backstory of Gendry being of a bloodline of massive humans, I think a lot of people, who are not as well versed in historical weapons, would think what is this titan of a man doing with such a wimpy weapon. I of course don't know if this have factored into the decision, but I could imagine that it had.
To back up the point made around 9:50 about nimble opponents dodging large weapons, there is a perfect example within Game of Thrones itself, in the 1-on-1 fight between Gregor Clegane and Oberyn Martell in season 4. Gregor is a massive man, and uses a massive sword. One hit would kill a man, no doubt, but he's not able to make contact. Meanwhile, Oberyn gets through his slow defenses easily, and would have won the fight if it hadn't been for his arrogance and petty obsessions.
"it doesn't matter what size Thor's hammer is, he's a god"
I'm pretty sure Lady Sif and Jane Foster disagree.
@scholagladiatoria for Filming, Gendry's hammer is probably resin cast or milled plastic or sculpted EVA foam for the head, with maybe a milled aluminum one for 'hero' shots.
That said, Robert Baratheon was said to use the hammer as he was more skilled with it and was strong enough to use it effectively. It would surprise his enemies as not even Ned Stark found it very difficult to lift, much less use. Gendry is fairly strong, but he has a smaller frame, it would make sense for him to carry a deceptively useful (for him) weapon, and also something which links him to his father and the house Baratheon.
Sizable Recon yeah but thats the bullshit, if somebody like ned can barely lift it its to heavy to be used even for somabody almost inhumanly strong
Plus his muscles oughta be rather beefy from all that rowing
Yeah, the books do tend to be a bit problematic with weapons and armor, and that was the worst offender. From the mentions, I'm pretty sure it was intended as a big fantasy sledge in the books, which is silly. The whole "Ned could barely lift it." thing was really dumb.
But GRRM also loves to describe characters wearing 'ringmaile' and one handed swords as longswords, guys in plate harness wearing a 'Great Helm' etc. I think he just has a D&D style outlook on weapons and armor or is simply writing for people who do.
that's just ridiculous and so impractical. if someone is so massively strong to be able to wield that impractical a weapon, think of the sheer damage they could do with a proper sword and so much faster too.
Bogish Hogish Well it looks cool, and it also has some symbolic value. Also why not? Soldiers and even knights are used to defending against swords and the occasional axe not giant fucking hammers. If he can effectively wield a powerful weapon which won't easily break or dull, and which isn't commonly defended against, I'd say he's got a pretty good chance of coming out on top. The sword is fast, and he could use it quickly, but if he could use a far stronger weapon to deal far more crushing blows with the same amount of effort, it makes sense. Also the show needed some variety, not everyone can have an iconic sword.
I'd love to hear your analysis of the Richard Lester directed Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers. They were touted as being so much more realistic than previous films because the swords were heavier than fencing swords. They always looked to me like they made the swords seem much too heavy. Robin and Marian, around the same time, had the same flaw.
Matt could the GOT Warhammer be hollow ? Cast bronze , or welded & still be a fighting weight & strength ? I enjoy these type videos , thank you .
M TODD the thing is, if they are going to make that huge piece of metal hollow to make it lighter, why don't make it just smaller and solid, for the same weight but less surface, to concentrate the impact force and make it more efficient? No matter how you look at it, the design of Gendry's hammer is lackluster at best.
Copper is a bit more dense than iron.
Pajarraco Maybe for intimidation? I agree it looks kinda lame, the design could be instantly improved by splitting the head into four prongs giving it a Bec de Corbin look. Perhaps it's steel over hollowed wood core? That would lighten it up a bit...
General Vic Rattlehead can't say its purpose is intimidation when the damn thing looks like a Toys R Us plastic toy.
Pajarraco It looks like a larp foam weapon
That was not only moderately, but rather really interesting. Thanks.
Q: How often have you hit your camera with a weapon? :D
Cracked dubbed squeaky sound effects over Gendrys fight scene on the beach at kings landing. It sounded very appropriate
Watching all this artwork i really wish they had given Wun Wun a weapon like this in the battle of the bastards.
As someone who spent way more time than I should have learning to use a Maul properly in ECS this makes me very happy to watch.
I dont really mind fantasy warhammers in media typically. I prefer historically designed stuff of course, but hey, huge hammers look neat. What bugs me about Gendrys hammer is how rounded it is- it looks lame! Seriously, it looks like a larp weapon after an overly protective group leader went after it with some scissors...
I find that in most universes, technical accuracy improves the design. Look at what realism did for Kingdom Come.
A Song Of Ice And Fire has some very good fan art about the Battle of the Trident featuring a realistic hammer, like the picture he briefly shows in the video.
Only universes where I would not go for realistic weapons are over the top universes like Warhammer.
Yeah no. Huge warhammers look stupid. Not neat. They dont even look cool or interesting. All it conveys is stupidity on the designers and they serve no practical function.
The moment I saw that warhammer I was expecting (and wanting) a video like this.
Suprised with all the talk about real warhammers having points to "bite" and reduce the liklihood of a glancing blow, you didnt mention gendry's hammer having a rounded head. Seems like the absolute worst design possible. No?
I've used used splitting axes, mauls & pickaxes. These tools are designed to work in the vertical plane & are very unwieldy if used any other way. That being said, GoT usually does pretty well in the armaments dept so I can forgive them a bit of a lapse like Gendry's hammer.
Usually the weapons in Game Of Thrones look pretty good but this one looks dumb
Two notes on Warhammer Fantasy and 40k to explain the ridiculously large weapons:
1. Warhammer in general is meant to set the bar for exaggerated design and I don't think anyone would claim otherwise.
2. Because they are small plastic models, the weapons need to be larger to make them easier to paint and less likely to break when handled or dropped.
Matt one question, what weapon would be easiest for a modern person to learn to use effectively. Kind of like how Gendry used his hammer ?
i think he said in one of the last vids that a bastard sword would be good but i would say a spear since what can go wrong
Or a mace, if you are worried that you couldn't get the edge alignment right.
Spear. Thrust thrust thrust thrust mindlessly until you die
Shotgun. Point in general direction of bad, pull trigger. Bad is now gone. Doesn't get much easier than that.
A pommel
Well, I just pommelled that joke further into the ground
When I saw Gendrys hammer, a part of me died, thank you for making this video about this ridiculous hammer.
is the shaft more important than the head though, Matt? ;)
Yes, it gives more control. But a proper head gives momentum and penetrating power, so it's a balanced importance really.
i think it could work out in a battle scenario - at least 2 rows similiar to how Zweihänder were used in Combat as "Gassenhauer" - i can imagine your frontman having a shield and an axe like weapon against heavy armor - he tries to hook the opponent or make him immpbilised just long enough so that the guy with the supermassive hammer can strike once. That way he doesnt have to swing often, doesnt have to worry about defense and can just finish the guys quickly
In that case, a longer hammer with a beak would still be the better choice.
Plus, we also talk about Robert's weapon, and in the Battle of the Trident, it was used in the duel with Rhaegar.
Maybe they worked out refining Aluminium quite early in their universe, so the Hammer is made out of that... and Jamies Armor too.
Kingsguard be wearing Stormtrooper armor.
Their civilisation exists for a few thousand years , so it isn´t that early :D
cuteshadowKIA bronn lifted Jamie yes but his feet were touched the bed of the lake...
Aluminum armor would be useless. You'd be better off not wearing armor at all
Refining Aluminium ore relies on having electricity
ha! this is awesome! your ears must have been burning from all the warhammer talk on EmergencyAwesome's latest GoT video. thanks and keep up the brilliant videos!
if you think about it, Gendry's father Robert Baratheon killed Jon Snows father Rhaegar Targaryen.
Ok?
I think there's one historical polearm that you neglecting to mention Schola. Now I'm an amateur medievalist, but a real life comparison to Baratheon's big hammer I thought was the Lucerne which was around the 15th through 17th century, and was a warhammer essentially made into a two handed polearm, with a beak, spear like spike, and hammer head. Granted from the surviving historical examples there's still the case of the head being rather small by comparison to the hammer in the show, but I still thought it would be a good example to bring up as a weaponized hammer, rather than the poleaxe.
but wasn't Robert supposed to be inhumanly strong so a normal person would be stuck with a real or realistic warhammer but someone like Robert or Gendry could use there oversized blocks of metal on a stick as a practical weapon
Nope. Being strong isn't enough. You would also need to be very heavy in order to stop the weapon from throwing you around. Even if you are a strong as Superman, if you only weigh 180 pounds, a 40 pound hammer is still basically impossible to use effectively.
Because "inhuman" strength does not equal greater mass, therefore he still would not be able to counterbalance that hammer effectively. This point of physics is often overlooked.
Even if we assume that Robert and Gendry are strong enough to use an oversized weapon effectively in battle, I'm not sure how that's helpful. A normal warhammer is already good enough to kill a man, making a bigger one that SUPER kills someone doesn't change the end result. They'd be better off using their monster strength to use a normal warhammer better or faster or for a longer stretch of time in battle than wasting time on a weapon that your comrades can't even borrow if you die on the first charge.
If you are monstrously strong, you should use a longer poleaxe or lance or throw spears or use a super-heavy bow.
It makes no sense to use an extra heavy hammer unless you are fighting an army of really large nails.
This was in my recommended videos and I'm happy I watched it! Great video! Very interesting you deserve a sub!
I can't stop staring at that Zweihander...
XOLiD Drop the BASS CANNON!!!!
I was meaning to look up two-handed hammers. Thanks!
My cringe level was so high when i saw that monstrosity...
as a fan of warhammer i can say that for the most part they do pay head to realities of weapon phisychs reguarding humans races such as dwarfs or chaos however are phisicaly capable of weilding such weapons and the big weapons used by humans such as warhammers are few and fare indeed dwarfs in fantasy for example simply do not believe in being tired as an option in battle and will swing his oversized hammer with gusto for hours if he must
Guess it just comes down to Rule of Cool vs being realistic.
It doesnt looks cool at all
I think that majority of fantasy fans would disagree with you.
Noblesse Oblige majority of fantasy fans are mindless idiots
I think it looks Like shit.
Regarding 14:15, I can already see the heft in that sledgehammer, and the head on Gendry's hammer is a good 4 times bigger, plus the haft is longer and possibly thicker. If you got even that sledgehammer head, put it on the end of a longer haft, and held it out at arm's length as Gendry did (well, swung it), you'd feel it tugging down.
i cringed so hard when i saw that hammer.
It's true; you DO make lovely videos. :D
Bless you for mentioning the maul. So many people either leave it out of their reckoning, or mislabel it as another word for 'war hammer', which is a bit like saying stock car is the same as a formula 1 racer.
BTW; send us a PM; I'd be happy to create a musical theme for your intro/outros, if you'd like. :)
Cheers!
didn't watch the video, the war hammer is a ghastly abhorrent piece of shit comparable only to 70's movies prop hammers made of colored foam. I was disappointed in game of thrones costume designers when i saw this piece of shit on a stick.
Lol clearly haven't seen most fantasy warhammers.
i've seen a lot of fantasy movies like conan, but i really believe game of thrones has higher quality standards, so far most of the weapons were decent, i don't see why should they lower these standards which made the show look authentic and made me start watch it in the first place. Dual wielding and dancing and jumping arya stark were a bit cheesy, but ok whatever, could be worse. Well now it's worse. Like giant foam war hammer type of worse.
I'd say it was designed by someone not familiar with real warhammers. But was trying to avoid say LOTR witch king flail levels of big. But yeah I agree this is rather a departure.
The Dorne incident drove away the real costume designer and they had to use a sub-par one. apparently, no-one wears undergarments in the seven kingdoms.
"dorne incident"? could you elaborate on what happened to the previous costume designer?
One Question -- You showed the Conan shot -- if I am not mistaken it looks like the hammer head is iron bound wood -- on a stick -- this theoretically could allow for a large and light head -- are there historical examples of wood headed hammers? -- I have my G.Grandfathers Carpenters hammer which has a 4"diam x 9" long head on it -- which strikes with some force -- just curious -- and thanks for the ongoing good work. -- sorry answered @ 14:28 -- thx -- (commented as soon as I saw the Conan picture) -- should have been patient -- of course you would get to this -- ST
I actually groaned when I saw that thing on GoT. If the head is not hollow, that thing would weigh every bit of 30 pounds. Not a practical weapon at all.
Imagine groaning because of this thing lel
this video was highly anticipated :-)
All very good points, but Robert Baratheon's War-hammer was so heavy that Ned Stark couldn't even lift it from the gorund. Baratheons are actual demigods.
Even if he was really strong, the historical design would have been better for him.
The thing about Ned not being able to lift it sounds like overexxageration, like ministrels singing songs about how extremely powerful their king is. If you make a hammer that a trained fighter like Ned cannot lift, then it would be impossible to use it - a high weight means a huge centripetal force when swinging it, and at some point, it will be strong enough to carry the wielder off his place.
If the metal is light enough to not tire you out, then the size does not help because you're just increasing surface area making each blow less effective. If the metal is heavy enough to do damage over that large of a surface area, then even the mountain couldn't handle that thing effectively.
Great video, I was counting on it. Could you do a video on the weapon & armor design process? Did metal workes get feedback after battles? Did they test prototypes before going into production? Something like that. Thanks.
That warhammer looks to be very similar in size, weight, and shape profile to a framing hammer. framing hammers are designed to deliver very hard blows but not fatigue the user allowing them to drive large framing nails all day long. It is interesting to see the parallel in design and intended use.