Game Of Thrones Season 7: 8 Things You Might've Missed In 'The Spoils Of War'

6. The Golden Company

Game Of Thrones Iron Bank Cersei
HBO

With Cersei about to settle her debts, she's about to take out a new loan from the Iron Bank to hire the Golden Company, giving her an army of around 10,000 sellswords.

The Golden Company have been mentioned on the show before, as Davos suggested to Stannis that he purchase them (the Mannis refused), while part of Jorah Mormont's backstory on the show is that he was once a member of them (this isn't expressly mentioned in the books, though he was a sellsword).

What's more interesting is the fact that, if the Golden Company do indeed come fight for Cersei against Daenerys, we're getting something of a symbolic Targaryen Civil War. The Company was formed by Aegor 'Bittersteel' Rivers, one of the Great Bastards of Aegon IV Targaryen, after fleeing Westeros following the First Blackfyre Rebellion. Though they mainly fought in the Disputed Lands of Essos after that, they were involved in the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion, aka The War of the Ninepenny Kings, but the rebelling side was ultimately defeated (with a lot of credit to Barristan Selmy).

When fleeing to the Free Cities, Aegor also took with him the Targaryen ancestral blade Blackfyre, made of Valyrian steel, though it's whereabouts have long been unknown. It feels like a bit of a long shot, but could the Golden Company coming into the show now bring with it another Valyrian steel sword to be used against the White Walkers?

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