I ended season 3 on Team Dragon. Dany seems noble in her freeing of slaves and empathy for the peasantry but I realize they may be setting her up to go full on evil (or die).
I love the show and it’s going to be a lonnng wait for it to be released on DVD/Online which is the only way I get to see it.
Well, even those of us reading the books can argue about who the current protagonists are. But as the series is actually called “A Song of Ice and Fire” I’d have to say Jon and Dany are the most likely answers. The real question is: Who is the third head of the dragon?
I’ll show you my ‘head of the dragon’! Then I’ll torture you some more.
– Joffrey Baratheon
Every single noble & royal is a moron, not to mention other bad things. Even Tyrion. Yes, I know he’s rather clever and witty and has some IQ, but then
(Spoiler ahead referring to book- note that the title does warn you)
[spoiler]
He kills his father in a fit of anger- which might even be justified. But then, rather than just going back to bed and saying “What, someone killed my Father, the most hated man in the world! Round up the usual suspects!” he runs off, which is basically admitting his guilt.[/spoiler]
I reported the post above just because it contains a pretty huge spoiler that has not been shown on the TV show yet, and the OP indicated he had not read the books. It should have at least been spoiler-boxed.
Is not the word “Spoilers” in the title of this thread? But if a Mod wants to spoiler box it, fine by me.
That is an excellent question that you are asking. I will attempt to give you a straight answer. At this point, I would venture a guess that one good man remaining alive is Tyrion and I would root for him. It doesn’t matter that he has some physical deformity (being a dwarf and all). He has some truly good inner qualities and he deserves to come out of this horrible brainfart unscathed or at least any more unscathed than he already is.
Go, Tyrion, Go!
He was already condemned as Joffrey’s poisoner and flees the night before his execution date :). Jaime and Varys were springing him when Jaime shamefully confessed the hideous goings on with his wife. Tyrion then detours to kill dear old dad before taking off. Cersei wouldn’t have hesitated for half a second - she would have had his head adorning her bedroom wall.
The [spoiler] tag in the title referred to the tv series. I agree that it wasn’t made explicit, but if you read the OP you’d realize I’m talking about the tv series and not the books. So your spoiler was a major spoiler for me at least.
luckily for me, i’ve read that far into the books, but that is a huge spoiler for tv folks. for a unique series where deaths come unexpected and on a message board where this very issue is a known, touchy subject, you really need to spoiler that in triplicate with warning signs.
as for the OP, after Ned Stark i viewed the series as a dramatic history of Westeros with no plot nor a central character. you read to find out what happened to the major players. you might want to root for a person nevertheless, but do not expect a plot driven character arc, because in “real life”, shit happens and people on history books can be even more one-dimensioned. after all, this makes for a better, and more believable reality tv show than most of what is available.
DrDeth sneaking in a Game of Thrones spoiler? I’m shocked.
I’m not sure how someone wouldn’t be rooting for Jon Snow?
He’s not flawless, but he’s pretty much a straight-up hero character.
Tyrion and Sansa are “root for-able”
I’m actually a big fan of Stannis and Davos.
John Snow is such a boring character. He is always reacting not trying to impose his will on events it makes him hard to root for. The same goes for Sansa but she has the excuse that she is a young girl so she does not have the power to try and impose her will on things. Pretty much all of the other major characters are trying to exert some personal control over their circumstances and that make them interesting and sympathetic. John Snow is a boring Sunday school lesson.
Oh dear! I am so sorry. I did not read all the posts in this thread before I answered the OP. I did not see that someone else had suggested that Tyrion would be a good person to root for.
I hope you all will accept my apology. I am truly sorry and I hope you all will forgive me my trespass.
How sad I am.
You forgot to add, he knows nothing.
I don’t need a story with a likable protagonist – MACBETH comes to mind – but I need a sympathetic one. And even then, I can only put up with them for so long. I dropped THE SOPRANOS after the second season, when it was clear that they were all irredeemably evil, and ditto THE MEDICIS, and ditto the British HOUSE OF CARDS THRONES (got through three seasons of that one; couldn’t manage even one season of the US version.)
IMHO: If there’s no sympathy for the main characters, no concern whether they live or die, then why bother to watch? Watching something when I don’t care about the outcome, I might as well watch basketball.
Sam and Davos, that’s about it.
I mean, the ones you are SUPPOSED to root for are Jon Snow, Daenerys, and Tyrion, but people seem to like to complain about them more than root for them.
Personally, I find many of the villainous characters in GoT to be very interesting. The Lannisters are my favorite House, and I count Cersei, Tywin, Jaime, and Baelish amongst my favorite characters. However, if you insist on likable or relatable characters, there are still plenty.
Daenerys is trying to save kingdoms and cultures based on slavery. It is short-sighted, but is a noble goal
Tyrion is reasonably kind, and is generally very likable and relatable despite being the scapegoat of his family and despised by the general population for the circumstances of his birth.
Jaime losing his hand will cause a significant shift in attitude that will soften his character considerably. He becomes very much a tragic hero.
Brienne is just as obstinately honorable as Ned Stark was.
Arya, Sansa, and Bran are all tragic figures doing the best they can to survive in a world where they have been unjustly orphaned, as well as kidnapped, imprisoned, and/or crippled.
Stannis is the rightful heir to the throne and though he is draconian, he is generally honorable.
Davos is likewise honorable.
Jon and Sam are good men doing the best they can to save their kingdom from a supernatural threat.
Margaery is nakedly ambitious but does not seem to be cruel or vicious. I find her very likable.
Before I take a drive through Spoilersville, is this restricted to TV or not?
I think the show runners made a mistake renaming the series to “Game of Thrones” instead of the orginal “A song of Fire and Ice” which makes it a bit more clear what it really is about. The struggle for the Iron Throne is more background and filler, it doesn’t really matter one whit who sits on it. Tywin Lannister gave the kingdom 20 years of peace and prosperity under the mad king while King Robert drove the kingdom to near bankruptcy. Joffrey’s only real power is his petty evil acts, he doesn’t actually rule anything and technically only 2 of the 7 kingdoms even back him.
The old guy who only wanted his grand daughter to be a queen before he died so he joined a hair brained rebellion against the crown who was then betrayed by the supposedly “good” guys? He watched Robb and Cat sink any chance of winning the war despite his support and did the only thing he could to atone for his rebellion and save his family. Sure, he was also a complete asshole but he was a complete asshole who was out of options, it wasn’t selfish and evil to attempt to save your family from the complete debacle that was Robb’s rebellion. I think it’s a disservice to the show to peg him as simply evil.