Place Your Bets: GoT Characters Reviewed

The new season of Game of Thrones is finally here. After two years of impatiently waiting, catching up on conspiracy theories and maybe reading up some fan fiction, the wait is over. We will finally know how the greatest TV show in the history of entertainment is going to end.

The writing on the show has led to the development of some really interesting characters. Here is our rundown of their pros and cons as we bet on who is going to end up on the Iron Throne (if it continues to exist, that is).

Jon Snow

Current Status: Warden of the North

Pros:

He’s easily one of the best warriors on the show having taken on Ramsey’s army single-handedly with meme-worthy finesse. A devoutly dedicated leader to his people, he will put his life on the line for them without a second thought. He managed to remain as one of the most revered characters even after having broken a certain rule pertaining chastity of the night’s watch. (wink, wink). He is fiercely driven by his idealistic morals, enough to make your momma proud. If you weren’t bawling your eyes out when he was sworn King in the North, do you even have a heart?

Cons:

Jon Snow knows nothing. Literally. He doesn’t know about the political workings of the court, how to manipulate people to work towards his cause and the fact that he’s fallen for his aunt (the Stark in him would be appalled when he realises). He’s too good of a guy in a situation where everyone’s out for blood. We’ve seen incredibly twisted (albeit successful) rulers on the Iron Throne–does the poor, little naïve bastard of Winterfell really match up to them?

Daenerys Targaryen

Current Status: Y’all know who she is.

Pros:

Having gone through a traumatic past spent running for her life, fuelled by death threats, an abusive elder brother, and getting married to a man roughly five times her size coming from a completely different culture than hers, Daenerys has come a long way in this series. She makes mistakes and learns from them, makes sure she has the guidance of wise men like Jorah and Tyrion. She is forgiving and stands up for herself and her people. She realises her powers and uses them to her advantage deftly. Can’t really go wrong when you’re the Mother of Dragons, after all

Cons:

“Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons,” – why is this title so big, and how self-obsessed do you have to be to keep repeating it again and again?

Cersei Lannister

Current Status: Queen of the Seven Kingdoms

Pros:

A natural leader, she dominates King’s Landing like no man can. She’s politically adept to know to get her way around the most complex situations effortlessly. She has even the strongest rulers of the seven kingdoms under her thumb. She has a dynamic emotional capacity, from being ferociously protective over her children to wanting her own brother dead. Unflinchingly bold, ambitious and unexpectable, this lady could give all your conspiracy theories a run for their money. Watching her summon yet another glass of wine with that signature evil smirk will leave you squirming and wanting to rip your hair apart.

Cons:

She’s evil. Hands down possibly one of the finest female characters written but there’s something so scarily unsettling about how cruel she is. She blew up the Sept of Baelor, for pure revenge and established herself on the Iron Throne. Her need for power has driven her to isolate her dearly loved brother, Jaime and she’s opted out of potentially saving the land of the living from ice zombies.

Tyrion Lannister

Current Status: The Hand of Daenerys Targaryen

Pros:

You’ve got to love the Imp.  He’s intelligent, noble and possibly the only Lannister who gives a shit about the ordinary subjects of Westeros. Despite having a sad childhood mocked by his father and taunted by his sister, he tried to have a healthy relationship with them. He is strangely a good motivational speaker, the result of a traumatic past perhaps. With his wit and tongue, Tyrion Lannister is far bigger than his stature suggests.

Cons:

Killed the only guy who understood the game of thrones, and has basically done nothing relevant since then. Tyrion is going through a midlife crisis (clearly) and jokes way too much about his drinking problem. Also, we can’t forget about the time he tried to make a deal with the slavers. Might have developed a crush on Dany that can potentially screw the seven kingdoms.

Jaime Lannister

Current Status: An ordinary knight

Pros:

The most skilled swordsmen in the seven kingdoms, he is certainly not a force to be reckoned with. His arc is unique as it brings out everything from stone cold hatred, change, adventure and empathy in the viewer. He’s the lesser of the two evils. He’s always been loyal to his brother, Tyrion, even while the whole world’s plotting against him. Conscious of the hypocrisy around him, he takes the reins of his life in classic flawed anti-hero fashion. Packed with surprises, here’s your typical bad boy turned good with flair.

Cons:

Since he’s had either his daddy dearest or his sister do everything for him, he doesn’t have much to call his own. The one thing he had going for him was his swordsmanship, but with his dominant hand cut off, he’s reduced to your average knight. Without his sister controlling his every move, will he really be able to survive the Game of Thrones?

Sansa Stark

Current Status: The Lady of Winterfell

Pros:

Sansa is no longer the naïve girl with an obsessive crush on Joffrey. Having been in the Red Keep, she’s learnt to master her emotions and play the Game of Thrones from Cersei herself. Despite being severely underestimated, she’s established the fact that she’s the first Stark to know how to twist words and watch people do her will. Her character arc has so far been the best the show has seen, and only more can be expected. She’s a survivor who knows what to do to simply stay alive. It’s true she’s a slow learner, but she does learn

Cons:

She has made so many dumb decisions from the beginning that it is hard not to hate her. There were points when you thought she would improve but no—someone always manipulated her into doing something stupid. Sansa has also been a part of some of the worst plotlines on the show. Case in point: Littlefinger’s death—HE COULD’VE ASKED FOR A TRIAL BY COMBAT.

Arya Stark

Current Status: A faceless woman

Pros:

Ever since she rejected conventional feminity and chose to be a badass warrior – Arya Stark has had fans rooting for her since the beginning of the show. She’s fearless and strong, with a vengeance to kill everyone who took her family away from her. She has a strange sense of morality, something that one can kind of get behind. Plus she’s a faceless man (woman?) now and Fray’s death had us all watching the scene on repeat. A girl has no mercy.

Cons:

Arya is so terribly naive and condescending. She is too obsessed with her killing spree to wrap her head around the politics of Westeros. She can be very overconfident, and misjudge situations like when the Waif tried to kill her. Speaking of the Waif, don’t even get us started on how obnoxiously repetitive and boring the whole Bravos arc was.

Bran Stark

Current Status: The Three-Eyed Raven

Pros:

Bran’s plotline paves way for the best reveals and ancient stories that this show has to offer like the Knight of the Laughing Tree, the Rat Cook, Old Nan’s story, R+L. The mystic aura he creates every time he’s on the screen will surely leave you gaping. He’s quite likely the key to a lot of mysteries being unravelled. You can really get behind this extremely cute, paralytic, ultra weirdo and his potential of becoming a god.

Cons:

Bran has become, erm, creepy. The three-eyed raven told his sister she looked beautiful on her wedding night, during the time she got raped by Ramsay in her own home. He’s overly dramatic and talks in circles for the extra pizzazz but why can’t he just get to the point?

Euron Greyjoy

Current Status: King of the Iron Islands

Pros:

Yes, he seems slightly crazy, but who isn’t on this show? Apart from being the best person to lead a fleet of ships, he also seems like someone who knows how to play the game. Also, he might have a wedding soon, so that’s cute.

Cons:

One of the most morally one-sided characters on the show. He is pure evil and no one alive even comes close to him in that regard. He has an unwarranted lust for power, capable of giving Ramsey Bolton a run for his money. Also, he clearly can’t rock a wooden crown.

Jaqen H’ghar and the Faceless Men

Current Status: Unknown

Pros:

One of the most interesting, and mysterious character or faction of characters, the Faceless Men are integral parts of a bunch of theories around the show. A lot of people think that a faceless man might have died in Littlefinger’s place, who is actually alive, and we can’t stop rooting for our favourite antagonist.

Cons:

The uncertainty surrounding who he actually is downright annoying more than anything at this point. There’s no consistency or definition to his character. Also, who wants Littlefinger to come back?

Samwell Tarly

Current Status: Jon’s BFF

Pros:

We simply can’t think of anyone more adorable than this boy. From being crippled by insecurity and self-doubt, he sets out to carve his own path by leaving the citadel with his progressive ideas. With his unabashed love for books and hatred to climb up the stairs, he’s relatable to the highest degree. Oh and his romance with Gilly? Absolutely SWOON worthy. He is spectated to be back at the heart of things this season and is definitely someone whose intelligence you don’t want to underestimate.

Cons: 

Some conspiracies argue that Samwell is nothing but an incarnation of George R.R Martin himself on the show. Apart from that, his storyline has no real consequences in the grand scheme of things. Even for comic relief, can Sam’s cravenness make him anywhere close to being a fit ruler?

The Night King

Current Status: Well his name is pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it?

Pros:

Seems like a good leader TBH. He can fight well, an excellent military tactician and has cool ice powers. Also a very fancy ice crown. He can raise the dead and has a dragon that can now essentially make him invincible. Is also really good with pacifying babies. He also seems like a liberal, with wanting to tear walls down and all.

Cons:

Not much to say here, he seems to be such a sweetheart. The only minor issue is that he wants to destroy the land of the living.

Lyanna Mormont

Current status: Lady of House Mormont of Bear Island

Pros:

No one stole the show the way this young lady did last season. A quick fan favourite and with good reason, she is a badass in the truest sense. She is far from a child, packing quite a punch with her shrewdness, having convinced all the banners to swear loyalty to Jon Snow. You know she’s made out of some entirely otherworldly stuff when you see her riding on horseback with her people during the Battle of Bastards. A smart girl who takes no sass, her prowess is unmatched and just jeez…WHAT A QUEEN.

Cons:

Lyanna Mormont is invincible. Can we make the whole show about her already?

~Written by Chintan Gandhi, Siri Rajanahally, and Shuba Murthy for MTTN

~Pictures from HBO