Kings Game Of Thrones
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'Game of Thrones' has never been shy about killing major characters, but Sunday's penultimate episode of HBO's hit series saw death and destruction on a massive scale. Daenerys Targaryen's highly anticipated sack of King's Landing quickly turned horrific when she decided to ignore the city's surrender and burn it to the ground. A quasi-weekly discussion of the plots, themes and highlights of the HBO series 'Game of Thrones.' Your hosts Dave Chen (The /Filmcast and The Tobolowsky Files) and Joanna Robinson (contributor for VanityFair.com) will dish up both praise and criticism and will try not to sound too pompous if the bo.
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When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. Those infamous words were nothing more than a thinly veiled threat from Cersei Lannister to Eddard Stark. And while Cersei wasn’t too off the mark, her understanding of what it means to actually sit upon the throne and rule leaves much to be desired. Cersei certainly knows how to wield power; it’s her lack of empathy and compassion that makes her such a terrible leader.With Season 9 of Game of Thrones still at least a year off, I thought it might be fun to look at the rulers and potential rulers of our favorite fantasy kingdom and see what makes them tick.
The twists that made “Game of Thrones” such a thrill ride over the Essos and Kings Landing, the Iron Islands and The North, couldn’t of course last forever.
In this post, I’ll be looking at the leading men of Westeros. In a follow-up I’ll tackle the leading ladies.So what does make a good king or queen? From a historical perspective (rather than a modern one, in which monarchy is generally frowned upon) there are quite a few factors. I’ll list off just a handful (and feel free to add to the discussion on or.). To some degree, martial prowess and the ability to maintain lands and defend them from enemies makes for a good king. This is why kings like Richard I Lionheart and Edward I Longshanks are so renowned, and why King John is often considered one of—if not the—worst kings of England.
(I don’t think he was the worst, but he was a terrible commander and lost almost all England’s continental lands.). Being able to win wars without bankrupting one’s country is also an important part of being a good king. This is where a king like Richard I falls regrettably short, taxing his people far too much to go off on crusades, not to mention pay his king’s ransom after being captured on his return voyage. Many “great” English kings taxed the English people far too much in order to wage wars overseas, neglecting the important domestic business in favor of marshal glory. Another important kingly quality is being mindful of the laws and customs of the land. This is what made Henry I, Henry II and Edward III such great kings.
They expanded English common law and, in the case of Henry I, began undoing some of the damage done by William the Conqueror. Finally, at least for the purposes of this list, a good king or queen surrounds him or herself with good advisers and wise counsel. Kings like Edward II failed to do this, choosing to cavort with toadies and sycophants, and suffered the consequences. Meanwhile, someone like Elizabeth I enjoyed a long and prosperous reign thanks to her ability to pick the right people to have by her side. (Of course, even a good adviser can become a thorn in a king’s side.
Thomas Beckett and Henry II, once great friends, ended up bitter rivals and Beckett’s death haunted Henry II for the rest of his days.)So using this basic criteria, who makes the best king and queen in Game of Thrones?In the following ranking, I don’t include just those characters who self-style themselves as royalty. Yes, I include the men and women who were actually kings as well as those who wanted to be king, but I also include potential royalty, those who could theoretically have sat upon the Iron Throne.
After all, as Robert proved well enough, all one really needs to do to become king is topple the old regime and usurp the throne.Nor do I include every potential character. The vicious Ramsay Bolton and his father, Roose Bolton are two characters I leave out of the running. Neither man ever really held very much power, and Ramsay is simply too much the cartoon villain. He’s the worst of the worst by leaps and bounds and regardless, he never had a chance of being king. I’m also leaving the Martells off the list. Oberyn ‘The Viper’ Martell would have made an okay king, but he probably never wanted the job and we don’t really know enough about him outside of his brief and tragic sojourn in King’s Landing, at least beyond his sexual proclivities. Meanwhile, his elder brother Doran Martell is presented as a total incompetent in the TV show and is still shrouded in mystery in the books, so it’s simply not possible to fit him into the rankings.Likewise, I’m not including characters like Sam Tarly or Bran Stark, and the same goes for the Hound, Ser Barristan Selmy and various other largely apolitical characters, if only because they really don’t stand a chance at the crown.
Khal Drogo and other foreign leaders are also out of the running, because they’re foreign and have neither claim nor inclination to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Drogo would not be able to rule Westeros even if he managed to conquer it.
Nor do I include the Night King. Yes, he’s a king and he’s got an army but I don’t think he “rules” in the traditional sense.“Off-screen” characters like the Mad King Aerys or his son Rhaegar will also not be included, simply because both were dead long before the story began. Indeed, one might argue that the worst king was the Mad King Aerys and that the best would have been Rhaegar, but these characters are just backstory for all intents and purposes.So, without further ado, I give youThe Worst Kings Of Westeros (from least bad to worst)#7 Ned Stark.
Ned Stark (Sean Bean)Had Ned Stark simply toppled Cersei when he had the chance, everything would have been different. Everything certainly would have been better. Many lives would have been saved.But what kind of king would Ned have made? He’s a good and honorable man, and he was well suited for his role as Warden of the North. But as king of the Seven Kingdoms, Ned would find himself navigating unfamiliar waters. Ned has no head for politics, you might say. His honor made him too unbending in his convictions and too rigid in his politics.
I imagine a King Ned Stark would quickly discover that honor and soldiering have very little to do with being the ruler of seven disparate kingdoms. Ned is a general, not a king. He can manage relatively hands-off governance in the North, but he would soon find himself overwhelmed by the politics of King’s Landing. Despite his best intentions Eddard’s unwillingness to budge or compromise would make his reign difficult and fraught with instability as the other major Houses took advantage of his total lack of duplicity and scheming.#6 Stannis Baratheon.
Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane)Stannis is basically Ned without any of the compassion. His version of honor is really just blind subservience to abstract rules. These rules and the ambition they dictate ultimately matter more than kin to the middle Baratheon child. After all, before he was introduced to the point of Brienne’s blade, he killed off both his brother and daughter in his quest for power.
The strange thing about Stannis is that he didn’t want power just so that he could be powerful, he wanted power because he believed deeply that it was his right. Everyone else was breaking the rules by backing other contenders. He was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne after Robert’s death, and nothing would stop him from taking it, not even the most basic shred of morality. While Ned tempers his own rigid sense of honor and duty with kindness and compassion, Stannis is only cold logic and ambition. Like Ned, he makes a better general than politician. He would be a much-hated king, and with good reason.Note: In the books, Stannis isn’t (yet) as terrible as he was in the show. You can make a better case for Stannis as king based solely off the books, where he was the only of the Five Kings to ride North to help at the Wall.
It’s a bit difficult to discuss Stannis in light of how different his character is across both mediums, so I’m using “TV Stannis” here, if only because we have more of the story in the HBO show than in Martin’s novels at this point.#5 Balon Greyjoy. Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide)Balon, the father of Theon Greyjoy, was a lousy father and a lousy king. He tried to rebel after Robert successfully overthrew the Targaryen dynasty and was quickly put down by Ned Stark. When he rebelled again the span of his ambition only reached the shores of Westeros proper. Balon was content to raid villages while puffing up his chest and acting like he was a powerful reaver king. He’s kind of a pathetic figure all around, and his younger brother made short work of him in his bid for the crown of the Iron Islands.#4 The High Sparrow.
The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce)The High Sparrow was intent on instituting an extremist theocratic government to replace the monarchy until, in the show at least, Cersei blew him to pieces. In the books the High Sparrow is still very much alive. The wise old man seems kindly enough at times, but his vision for Westeros is even more retrograde than the feudal system he would replace. For all his talk about aiding the poor, ultimately he’s just a religious zealot out to punish sinners and exert his own power. Any gains made by the Sparrows would be a loss not just for the aristocracy, but for the entire populace.#3 Robert Baratheon. Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy)The first non-Targaryen to rule the Seven Kingdoms in hundreds of years, Robert completely abandoned his duties and responsibilities to his kingdom and family. He spent his time spending money on tournaments, drinking copious amounts of liquor, and whoring.
He fathered bastards right and left, and left them scattered about King’s Landing in plain sight. He neglected his (admittedly awful) wife, and even beat her occasionally. And he allowed his eldest son (or “son” as the case may be) to turn into a vicious, spoiled brat. He squandered everything he achieved in his rebellion, and left the kingdom in the tattered, indebted and chaotic place it was upon his death. Far from restoring glory and rule of law to the Seven Kingdoms after the Mad King’s death, Robert just drove it into the ground.#2 Viserys Targaryen.
Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd)Viserys always dreamed of being king. He wanted it so badly that he told his sister he’d let every one of Khal Drogo’s men (and their horses) have their way with her if it meant he’d get his crown.
That’s not the temperament you want in a ruler. Indeed, he took after his father—the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen—just a little too much. The Seven Kingdoms under Viserys would have likely looked a lot like the Seven Kingdoms under the previous Targaryen ruler. Fire and blood and ruin and, eventually, more civil war.#1: Joffrey Baratheon. Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson)Joffrey earns the ‘Worst King’ award not because he’s the worst character in Game of Thrones but because he’s demonstrably the worst king.
Petty, selfish, cowardly and vain, Joffrey is everything a king shouldn’t be. He treated his nobles poorly, surrounded himself with thugs, and didn’t care at all about the common people. He abused and even murdered women, and he made foolish decisions based off of his petty grudges. The only smart and kingly thing Joffrey ever did was tell Cersei that the king should have his own standing army. Alas for Joffrey, had he even lived long enough to see that happen he would have made a terrible commander. After all, in his very first battle he ran back to his mother with his tail between his legs, leaving Tyrion to lead the defense of King’s Landing against Stannis.
Quite literally only one person in the entire Seven Kingdoms shed a tear when he died.The Best Worst King Of WesterosThe next two awards go to one character each.Tommen Baratheon. Tommen Baratheon (Dean-Charles Chapman)Let’s face it, Tommen was a terrible king. He all but gave over the government to the High Sparrow without lifting so much as a finger. Then again, he was just a young boy. And his only counselor was Cersei, who also happened to unleash the High Sparrow and his army of zealots on King’s Landing and the rest of Westeros.
Imagine being a young boy, having lost your father and brother and sister, and suddenly you’re named king while the world around you is tearing itself to pieces in bloody wars. I don’t know how well anyone would handle such an impossible task, let alone a boy whose only counsel is his ridiculous mother.Tommen, I suspect, would have been a fine king had he been allowed to grow up first. If Tywin or Tyrion had been there to counsel him instead of Cersei, he might have even survived.
(The Sparrows would have flown the coop quick enough had Twyin still been Hand, so in a sense Tyrion placed Tommen directly in the line of fire, much as he did with Tommen’s sister.) So even though Tommen completely dropped the ball, allowing the High Sparrow to run roughshod over his rule, I think he was simply given the short end of the scepter to begin with. Besides, he was kind and fair and would almost certainly have grown into a man more like Renly or Robb than Joffrey.The Worst Best King Of WesterosLittlefinger.
Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish ( Aidan Gillen)Littlefinger is a bad man but a savvy politician, and while I think he would have ruled with his own neck as his first priority, he’s smart enough to get the job done well. I could see him running an effective Make Westeros Great Again campaign, and greasing all the right wheels of power. Of course, the show gave Lord Baelish a humiliating farewell, undermining all his credibility as a schemer’s schemer, so maybe once he was on the Iron Throne he would have been out of his depth. But the scheming Littlefinger we know from the books and earlier seasons of the show would likely make an effective ruler who most of the aristocracy despised.Okay, now on to.The Best Kings Of Westeros (from least good to best)#7 Euron Greyjoy.
Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance)Tywin is a cruel man but he’s an effective leader. He wouldn’t be a well-loved king but he’d be a well-respected king. His occasional pettiness might be a liability, but it’s well-tempered by a sound mind for both politics and war. Tywin would balance the books and rule with an iron fist, but he’d never engage in pointless frivolities like Robert or pointless cruelty like Joffrey. I picture him as a sort of Edward I, with a keen military and political mind and very little charisma.
He’s a realist, at the very least, even if he’s occasionally blinded by his own arrogance.#5 Jon Snow. Jon Snow (Kit Harrington)In the show, Jon has become King in the North. In the books he’s still dead. What I like best about Jon as king is just how little he wants the job. Some men have greatness thrust upon them, and that’s Jon Snow in a nutshell. He never set out to be king and he would have happily given the top job to Sansa if she’d insisted. Jon Snow is also committed to doing the right thing, no matter what, even if it means turning his allies against him.
That’s both a curse and a blessing. Even though Ned isn’t his father, he’s probably the Starkiest of the Starks. He’s stubborn and unbending and has no head for politics. I’m not sure he has a head for military strategy either. He’s certainly brave and good and just, but I think he’d make a better knight than a king. Kind of ironic, I suppose, that he’s the true heir to the Iron Throne. But he wouldn’t make the worst king ever, and I imagine he would do a good job surrounding himself with wise counselors whose advice he took seriously.
I’m just not sure he’d be very good at all the other stuff, the pageantry and diplomacy and all the rest, but he’d get the job done.#4 Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage)Inspiring the common folk and being able to rally the noble houses is also why Tyrion probably wouldn’t have much luck as king.
As the King’s Hand, Tyrion is perhaps unparalleled. He was able to rein in (at least to some degree) his vile nephew and quickly put the members of the Small Council, as well as the Queen Regent, Cersei, in their place. Had he not been undermined at every turn by his father and sister, he might have made a great King’s Hand.
But as the king I fear he would always be reviled and mocked as “the Imp” and any bad luck, from a poor harvest to a plague, would be pinned on his deformities. Tyrion would be a great king that nobody loved, which is quite an awkward position for anyone sitting on the Iron Throne.#3 Robb Stark.
Robb Stark (Richard Madden)Robb Stark’s greatest sin was being a young romantic wracked with hormones. He broke his vows, married the wrong girl, and fell into a trap. But Robb was a good commander, a fearless and well-loved leader of men, and never as rigidly honorable as his father. He would have made a good king in the North and probably a good good king of Westeros, but since we saw so very little of him actually governing it’s really hard to say. Maybe his ill-fated marriage would have been just the first of many political blunders.
Maybe, like his father, he would have made a fine general and a terrible king. But the feeling I got from the Young Wolf is that he was a charismatic and serious leader who would have suffered only some of his father’s political shortcomings. Robb would have made a great king, inspiring love from the masses and respect from the nobles. It makes his death all the more tragic.#2 Mance Rayder.
Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony)I give Renly the ”Best King” award for a number of reasons. Setting aside how foolish it was to cross swords with his brother, the fact remains that Renly really wasn’t wrong about Stannis. Stannis proved Renly’s point many times over. Download mod jetbus hd2 edit face jbhd ukts. Besides, Renly has all the makings of a great king. He’s charming, well-loved, intelligent, kind and yet still politically savvy enough to play the game of thrones. Had he not been murdered by his brother, he very well could have taken the Iron Throne.
After all, commanded the largest and wealthiest army, having quickly drawn the support of the wealthy southern Houses.And while he may have indulged in some frivolous activities like tournaments and other chivalric pursuits, I suspect he would have been a far better king than either of his brothers. Indeed, maintaining a kingly image, throwing tournaments and so forth can all be very useful to a king. (Even a rather bad king like Henry III knew the importance of pageantry.) Granted, Renly was no renowned warrior like Stannis or Robert, but I suspect he would have been intelligent enough to surround himself with wise counselors and skilled military advisers had he become king. Renly, more than almost any other character, seemed well suited to the job. Even his vanity would have worked in his favor.
And he never made such a galling political error as Robb Stark. He had no way of anticipating his brother’s Red Priestess, Melisandre, and the deadliness of her dark magic.That’s all folks.What do you think? Who would you want to see wearing the crown?
Who would make the worst possible king of Westeros?And stay tuned for my second list in which I rank the best and worst possible queens of Westeros. That might be even tougher than this one.Game of Thrones returns in 2019.
When George R.R. Martin will finish The Winds Of Winter remains a mystery, thoughI’d love it if you followed me on and and subscribed to my channel on.
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