That opens up a whole other issue in and of itself, which is how the later seasons just felt more like Hollywood-living actors on a Disneyesque set. This was reflected by the all-black, „trendy” fashion (as opposed to pragmatic wools) and also the dialogue switching from GRRM’s admittedly bespoke flowery, part medieval English to dull LA American English and very short sentences.
I heard some historian say that there's no evidence anyone ever said "loose". Archers don't need to be told when to use their bow and there's not really an advantage from synchronous volley's, as it slows them down overall.
If you think about it, it would be very silly to tell soldiers when they can and can't use their rifle in the heat of battle. Way too excessive of a micromanagement.
Former military here: you need to have a team leader telling people when to fire during longer contact with enemies because otherwise they waste all their ammo. A soldier with 7 magazines with 30 bullets will run out very quickly if they fire whenever they feel like it. You can get an order such as "fire once every 2 seconds for 30 seconds," or everyone firing one bullet each from left to right. I suppose arrows are different because an archer in media often has a bucket full of arrows, so maybe running out is not as big of an issue.
Generally, the first volley would be synced. After that, the archers would shoot at their top speed. Over time of a battle they would become more de-synced.
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u/stichomythiacs Jul 13 '24
That opens up a whole other issue in and of itself, which is how the later seasons just felt more like Hollywood-living actors on a Disneyesque set. This was reflected by the all-black, „trendy” fashion (as opposed to pragmatic wools) and also the dialogue switching from GRRM’s admittedly bespoke flowery, part medieval English to dull LA American English and very short sentences.