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Lady Olenna knew that Daenerys had dragons. Then why didn't Highgarden send a raven for help to Daenerys? Surely there would have been enough time for Daenerys to come to Lady Olenna's aid by mounting her dragons.

The only reason I could think of was that they did not want Daenerys to be a part of the battle at such an early stage. But was this reason worth losing a Westerosi ally?

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Lady Tyrell and Highgarden were caught off-guard, and when you include that one of Tyrell's most prolific bannermen, Tarly, defected to keeping their oath to the Queen rather than House Tyrell, they didn't stand much of a chance.

Earlier in either this episode or the previous one Daenerys even discusses mounting her dragons and attacking with just the three of them and her confidants tell her that's not a great idea. So just Danny responding probably wouldn't have happened in any case.

Also, remember that Danny's main fleet was occupied by taking Casterly Rock, and subsequently heavily damaged if not destroyed by Euron Greyjoy, so responding by sea wouldn't exactly have been a choice either.

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  • Good answer (well rounded and detailed), though I am missing the key factor (Jaime's attack was a surprise attack, which is why she was caught off-guard). Upvote from me.
    – Ghoti and Chips
    Aug 4, 2017 at 20:26
  • Same question that I posed to @GhotiandChips. Shouldn't there have been sentries posted for this? Is it safe to assume that Tarlys would have taken them out before allowing them to send a warning raven back to Highgarden? An army as large as Lannisters would have been hard to miss now, wouldn't it?
    – rusk
    Aug 4, 2017 at 20:32
  • @rusk in the real world, yes, the lannister army would have been detected long before they reached highgarden. it's left to the viewer's imagination how they did this. did they kill everyone? bribe them? we don't really know and we haven't been given an answer in the show.
    – DForck42
    Aug 4, 2017 at 20:51
  • there also could have been some spy vs spy games going on with misinformation about where the army was, but again we aren't given this in the episode. it was meant to be a shock to the audience just as much as a shock it was to High Garden.
    – DForck42
    Aug 4, 2017 at 20:52
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By the time Olenna found out she (Highgarden) was under attack, they were already at her gates, and it was far too late to send word.

OLENNA: And you took your army, your real army and went where they [Daenerys' Unsullied] weren't.

JAIME: As Robb Stark did to me at Whispering Wood. There are always lessons in failures.

Jaime's entire strategy was a surprise attack he'd orchestrated, after learning the move from Robb Stark.

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  • Yes. I'm aware of this dialogue between the two. But, shouldn't there have been sentries posted by Highgarden to inform them of such attacks beforehand? It would have been very unusual for them to miss such a large army. But then again, one could argue that the Tarlys would have known about such sentry posts and taken them out. The whole affair just seems pretty convenient.
    – rusk
    Aug 4, 2017 at 20:26
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    @rusk Tarly could have also been in control of the sentries. Remember, Lady Olenna admits her armies are pretty terrible fighters, and Tarly is (suddenly) one of the greatest generals in the realm.
    – J Doe
    Aug 4, 2017 at 22:28
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Because it was a surprise to them, not necessary a surprise as they didn't know until the army was at the gates, maybe they knew a few hours earlier or a day or even more but it was still too late to do anything (How much exactly is left to speculations) and by the time they'de send a word to Daenerys it would be over.

And who knows, may be in the next episode, Daenerys will receive a letter from Highgarden asking for help, then another one to report that it has already fallen.

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If you check map of Westeros and consider that marching of armies takes weeks, it should be clear. Sailing is faster but not fast enough for this case. Yes, Olenna was caught off-guard since all her bannermen betrayed her, so there was noone to inform her of incoming troops until they were on direct Tyrell's land. It is highly unlikely that nobody loyal to Tyrells could spot the army until they actually reached the Highgarden, it was just a better and simpler scene for the show. Still, even if Olenna knew about the approaching army few days before they reach her gates, there wouldn't be enough time for Danny to arrive.

But regardless of Danny not arriving, it is impossible that ravens were not sent to inform both about attack and defeat (maeseter sends ravens when castle's defenses are broken, but fighting is still in the garden, maester has some time in his chamber). However since there was obviously no siege but attack (regardless of missing siege weapons) and victory, there was no time for Danny to react as her armies would need weeks.

However since Dragonstone is close to King's Landing and army must go back there with captured gold and supplies, it is doable for Danny to attack the returning army on time, which she did.

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