How Daenerys used tactics that made the Red Baron famous

Warning: Contains spoilers from Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5.After last week's sh*t show, Khalees…
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Warning: Contains spoilers from Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5.

After last week’s sh*t show, Khaleesi fans have been waiting for her revenge against Euron Greyjoy. Who knew that the secret to destroying the Iron Fleet would be found in the Bloody Red Baron’s playbook?

(Maybe we all should have — there’s a reason he’s the most infamous fighter pilot of all time…)

One move in particular was the key to her success:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtmGP1RsOCc

Daenerys attacking Iron fleet with dragons | Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5

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Baron Manfred von Richtofen has been credited with 80 kills, most of which were won in planes painted bright red — not exactly the camouflage used on military aircraft today. He faced many obstacles in his military ambitions, but he had one major thing going for him: he was recruited by Lt. Oswald Boelcke, one of the most skilled fighter pilots of his time.

In World War I, Boelcke codified 8 rules for rookie combat pilots. The Red Baron — and the Mad Queen, it turns out — would secure victory through number 1: keep the sun behind you.

Also read: How ‘Game of Thrones’ went WW2 on the penultimate episode

When target acquisition is accomplished through a visual scan of the skies, keeping the sun to their back blinds an aviator’s adversary. Just ask Euron Greyjoy.

Oh wait. You can’t.

There were many ways Daenerys could have attacked those ships. The nice thing about airpower is that gravity will really step up when taking care of your enemies. I always envisioned staying out of range and dropping barrels of burning pitch onto the ships, but of course she’d lose accuracy.

Instead, she chose to reward his ambush with one of her own, popping in from the clouds to overwhelm the naval sharpshooters. She then took advantage of their slow recovery time and destroyed them at close range as they attempted to re-load.

Well done, Dany.

The desolation and surrender of the Lannister military forces were fantastic, but of course, the episode didn’t end there…

Why was the Red Baron so legendary?

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