I don’t know why you guys are so intent on reducing characters to “good”/“bad”, when the whole point of this series is that most characters, like in real life, are shades of grey (although given the brutality of the world they live in, most of them are likely to do things that our modern society would not approve of but that doesn’t make them necessarily “bad” in the GoT world).
I don’t think anyone is failing to recognize that. It’s a shorthand for characters we’re rooting for, vs. those we want to suffer painful deaths. And most characters are predominantly on one side or the other. Some of the good guys have done bad things (like Dani burning people alive, or Tyrion murdering his father and lover, or Arya becoming obsessed with revenge), and some of the bad guys have good qualities (like Tywin’s intelligence or Cersei’s love for her children). Even Ramsay is an excellent torturer. We’re on the side of the good guys, despite their flaws, and hate the bad guys, despite an occasional redeeming act. There are a few characters who are ambiguous, who have done horrible things but have redeemed (or started to redeem) themselves, like Jaime, Theon, and The Hound.
So saying good guys and bad guys is a simplification, and there is a continuum between almost entirely good characters (Bran) and nearly pure evil characters (Joffrey). But I’m sure people felt completely different about Robb Stark and Roose Bolton being killed.
That actually brings up an interesting question… what character on the show is closest to dead even gray? That is, if we took all the characters, and for each character polled the audience and said you must pick one, is this character good or evil, what character would end up closest to 50/50?
I think up until the last few episodes of last season, Stannis might have been a good guess, but then he took a turn for the worse.
Maybe Jaime? Jorah? Robert Baratheon? Varys? Mance Rayder?
I’d probably vote for Jaime. He’s tried to kill a child, strangled his own cousin, raped his sister next to their son’s corpse, and is still fighting on the Lannister side. On the other hand (so to speak), he’s risked his life to save Brienne and (unsuccessfully) his daughter, rescued his brother, and is trying to save the Stark girls. He’s probably the character who has grown the most so far.
Of the others you mention:
Jorah: Definitely a good guy at this point. He did sell slaves, but now has helped liberate many thousands of them. I wouldn’t hold spying on Dani against him because he was working on behalf of his homeland at that point.
Robert Baratheon: Maybe not good, but we were rooting for him rather than against him most of the time. A bad king, but not outright evil. Ordering Dani’s assassination was pragmatic rather than malicious.
Varys: A good guy at this point, certainly. Even if he did momentarily agree to Robert’s order to assassinate Dani, he’s mostly been on the side of her and other good guys.
Mance: An antagonist, but not a bad guy. I think most people were rooting for him to survive and help lead the wildlings against the White Walkers.
Agreed. He’s one of the most nuanced, not-totally-evil-but-not-all-good characters on the show. Also in the plus column for him: killing the Mad King before his boss could lay waste to King’s Landing.
That was a fun link, thanks! It’s interesting to note that Maester Aemon is the only person in the entire series who has died of old age. I would imagine that’s rare in Westoros these days, probably Essos, as well.
Whether we were rooting for Stannis or not depended on who he was up against. I think most people were rooting for Renly against Stannis (even though Stannis had a better claim to the throne), but for Stannis against Joffrey. And they were rooting for Stannis against the Boltons until he sacrificed Shireen, after which I think people were happy to see him defeated even by one of the most evil characters on the show.
Per the Time link, Catelyn’s father dies if illness, which is kind of the same thing. I can’t remember if he was ever shown alive.
No. Like Jon Arryn, he appears only as a corpse.
I think we have to knowingly exposing Dany and others to a horrible fatal disease to his list.
I don’t think he’s going to get a chance to touch Dany, which seems to be main way it spreads. Tyrion was groped by the stonemen pretty thoroughly but apparently didn’t get it because they only touched his clothes. (On the other hand, Shireen got it from a doll.)
If I were Jorah I would probably chop off my arm, although I’m not sure that would stop it.
Jorah DID touch Dany. During the arena battle he leads her off by the hand, hugely irresponsible.
Speaking of hugely irresponsible, Dany. She wants to conquer a kingdom that she has no right to, causing huge amounts of death and destruction, and she can’t produce an heir, guaranteeing more war after she dies. In her current quest she’s freeing slaves, but invading Westeros is just for the gratification of her own ego. Probably the worst reason possible to start a war.
She has as much right as Robert Baratheon did, maybe more, as the daughter of the Mad King. Though in Westeros, the rightful monarch is who ever has the power to seize and hold the throne.
There’s also the small matter that all the actual Baratheons are now dead, and most people are aware that Tommen is a bastard. No one in Westeros has more right than Dani does. The Westerosi have been killing each other off due to disputes between houses without Dani’s help for years, and will continue to do so indefinitely. The best hope for peace is for someone who actually has some legitimacy to enter the picture. And as Dani says to Tyrion, her goal is to break the cycle of the great houses successively gaining supremacy and breaking the commoners beneath them.
No, it was the opposite hand (he had it on his left wrist, but he took her by his right hand). There’s no reason to believe that would expose her to any risk whatsoever.
If all she wanted to do was to conquer Westeros, she should have just plundered the cities of Slaver’s Bay, taken the Mereneese fleet, and sailed off. Instead she has risked all her plans solely for the purpose of ensuring that the slaves stay free. Her motivation for conquering Westeros, after her conversation with Tyrion, also seems to free the common folk of the tyranny of the Great Houses.
I don’t think Olenna & Baelish had anything to do with Cersei’s arrest; that’s a result of Lancel confessing everything to the High Sparrow. Baelish did promise Olenna that same thing he promised Cersei, “a handsome young man”. He’s clearly referring to Olyvar, who’s testimony gave the Faith the pretext it needed to arrest Loras & Margaery. I think either Olyvar is going to publically recant at the eventual trial, or she’ll just have him killed so he can’t testify. Of course if it’s the former she’ll have to kill him anyway afterward so he can’t recant his recantation. 
Natural causes is probably still the default cause of death, especially among the anonymous peasants who back up the vast majority of the population.
Also true in every monarchy that’s ever existed on Earth.
I didn’t say conquering Westeros was her only ambition. It’s obviously not. However, she doesn’t have an altruistic motive in wanting to do that, she wants to do it because she thinks it’s hers by right.
The tyranny she has no knowledge of? The tyranny she has shown no ability to combat in the least and has, in fact, made worse in every place she’s conquered?
Any reason to believe it wouldn’t expose her? Does Jorah know for a fact that there’s zero risk? Do you think he considered that at all, or just couldn’t stand being so close to the only thing he desires without reaching out without thinking?
The handsome young man in question was Lancel, Who waited until Baelish gave him the thumbs up to testify. Olenna gets some serious payback on Cersie, Baelish gets to create even more chaos in Kings Landing, it’s a win win.
Her conversation with Tyrion indicates otherwise. If you want to ignore what she actually says go ahead, but the evidence is against you.
No she hasn’t.
Yes.