10 Worst Decisions Made by Major ‘Game of Thrones’ Characters

Let’s face it: Not every single person in Game of Thrones is a super genius, just like people in real life. Humans are known for how commonly we make bad decisions, but these bad decisions are what allow us to learn and grow. Likewise, characters in Game of Thrones don’t always make the most sound choices over the series, even if they had good intentions or felt that it might be okay in the end.

It happens so often that it’s literally the primary reason the plot is driven forward in the first place, and it’s not restricted to just one individual. In fact, pretty much everybody in Westeros makes a terrible choice at some point in the series, with some consequences seriously outweighing the others. These are the worst decisions made in Game of Thrones, all of which were made by some pretty major characters, which had suitably major repercussions in Westeros and across the Narrow Sea.

10

Daenerys Burns King’s Landing

“The Bells” (Season 8, Episode 5)

The final season of Game of Thrones generated a lot of negative buzz, as many felt it was rushed and that many of the decisions didn’t make a lot of sense. Whether you love the ending or hate it, it’s absolutely indisputable that Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) decision to raze the city of King’s Landing to the ground was very poor, to put it mildly.

Daenerys comes to King’s Landing for fire and blood. Her plan is abruptly stopped when the city rings its bells, signalling that they wish to surrender, which is actually pretty smart because there’s clearly no way that the city can win against Dany’s dragon after it destroyed their prototype dragon-killing weapons. The city is basically laid out on a silver platter for Daenerys; they’ve given up, she’s won. Yet, she decides to make it personal, using her dragon to burn the city and everyone in it. Her actions would later result in her death at the hands of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who begrudingly killed her in order to prevent any more bloodshed.

9

Oberyn Gloats During The Duel

“The Mountain and the Viper” (Season 4, Episode 8)

After Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) is falsely imprisoned for poisoning Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), he desperately pleas to receive a trial by combat because pretty much everyone discriminates against Tyrion due to the fact that he is a little person. This infamy basically means that he stands no chance in a traditional trial, with a trial by combat being his only viable escape. His family chooses Ser Gregor Clegane, aka “The Mountain” (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson), as their champion. His hulking figure means few are eager to fight him, but fortunately, Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) is eager to get revenge on the Mountain after his murder of Oberyn’s sister years prior.

Oberyn utilizes his agility to his advantage, and the Mountain proves to be no match for him. In the end, Oberyn bests Gregor and has him on the ground; all he needs to do is finish the job. Now, there’s a running joke amongst cheesy action movies where the villains ought to just off the heroes when they have the chance, but they inexplicably decide to gloat. Oberyn decides to do exactly that, gloating over the Mountain and demanding a sort of apology. Gregor promptly knocks Oberyn to the ground and crushes his head, which is why one should never celebrate too early.

8

Theon Invades Winterfell

“The Old Gods and the New” (Season 2, Episode 6)

Prior to the events of the show, Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) was given to the Starks to serve as a ward, as a price for the Greyjoys rebelling against the Iron Throne. Though Theon is assumed to be a prisoner for the Starks, he’s actually treated very well and becomes a sort of honorary son and brother for the family. Ned Stark (Sean Bean) raises him alongside his sons and daughters, and Robb (Richard Madden) easily considers him as an older brother.

When the Starks entrust him to head off to his hometown of Pyke to garner support from them, he finds he is not exactly welcomed by his cantankerous father. Feeling inadequate and desperate to please his biological father, Theon decides to take a band of raiders and invade Winterfell. This brash choice not only results in a whole slew of problems later on down the line, but it paints Theon as a truly awful person, who couldn’t appreciate the (objectively better) life he was given by the Starks. Worse still, it later paved the way for Winterfell’s capture by the Boltons, which caused Theon to endure unimaginable abuse and torture for an extended period.

7

Robb Marries Talisa

“Valar Morghulis” (Season 2, Episode 10)

In Season 1, as Robb leads a band of Northerners against the crown as retribution for the capture and eventual execution of his father, he comes across the Twins, two identical castles on either side of a river, with a bridge connecting them. The castles are run by Lord Waldey Frey (David Bradley), a crusty old fuddy-duddy who doesn’t just hand out favors.

Lord Walder agrees to let the Starks use his crossing, but only if Robb agrees to marry one of his daughters, with Walder being the one to choose. Robb agrees, but later falls in love with Talisa (Oona Chaplin), a nurse from Volantis. They marry, with Robb deferring the betrothal to the Freys to his uncle. Unbeknownst to Robb, Lord Walder secretly begins plotting Robb’s murder, which later culminates in the iconic TV plot twist known as the Red Wedding, wherein Robb, his mother, and Talisa meet their brutal ends.

6

Cersei Gives the Sparrows Too Much Power

“High Sparrow” (Season 5, Episode 3)

Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) loves being in control, though she might never publicly admit it. But when her youngest son, King Tommen Baratheon (Dean-Charles Chapman), marries Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer), Cersei really meets her match, finding someone who is just as ambitious and power-hungry as she is. The thing is, Margaery is much better at playing the game and knows how to win the favor and support of the people, which causes her to explode in popularity.

In a last-ditch effort to try and curb Margaery’s rise, Cersei creates a partnership with the Sparrows, an extremist branch of the Sept that is newly emerging. She gives them power over the Great Sept of Baelor, causing them to imprison Margaery and her family for their transgressions. This decision would later come to bite Cersei in the butt, as she, too, is imprisoned for committing incest. Following that, the Sept slowly grows to seize power over the entire city. So, in an effort to maintain power, Cersei basically gift-wrapped it and gave it to a bunch of religious zealots, causing chaos in the city. How ironic is that?

5

Stannis Sacrifices His Daughter

“The Dance of Dragons” (Season 5, Episode 9)

Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) might be the rightful heir to the throne, but he has fallen too deep with a priestess of the Lord of Light named Melisandre (Carice van Houten). She preaches the salvation of her god, R’hllor, to him, and he and his followers believe it more than anything, relying on their religion to win their conquests. Late in Season 5, the harshness of the Northern winter bears down upon Stannis’ army, with many of his much-needed troops succumbing to starvation and hypothermia.

In a desperate effort to get his army moving again, he listens to Melisandre when she suggests sacrificing his daughter to the Lord of Light by burning her at the stake, with R’hllor ostensibly providing respite for Stannis in exchange. He sacrifices his daughter, but surprise, surprise, nothing comes of it; his army does not magically get moving again and is just as bad, if not worse off, than they were before. Killing his child is pretty low, but the fact that nothing came of it is even worse.

4

Stannis Invades Winterfell

“Mother’s Mercy” (Season 5, Episode 10)

Following the unsuccessful sacrifice of his daughter, Stannis finally arrives at Winterfell with a broken force of supporters. Their numbers are dwindling, morale is low, and the army is clearly in no shape to take on the Bolton forces at the Northern capital. Any experienced military leader could likely see the folly of assaulting such a well-defended castle in harsh weather conditions, with a cold, hungry, and exhausted force that’s only a quarter the size of what it should reasonably be.

Any normal person wouldn’t just do it anyway and hope for the best. Yet, Stannis does so, causing the violent engagement known as the Battle in the Ice, which unsurprisingly, is over very quickly, with all of Stannis’ forces being dead, or fleeing for the hills, Stannis himself included. This lackluster display marks the last effort of Stannis’ army, as the battle decimated every remaining bit of strength he had left and scattered the remains, ending his attempt to seize the Iron Throne.

3

Littlefinger and Lysa Kill Jon Arryn

“Winter is Coming” (Season 1, Episode 1)

Covertly poisoning Jon Arryn (John Standing) in the very first episode of the series might just take the cake for being the absolute worst decision ever made by literally anybody in the show. The assassination was performed because Jon, as Hand of the King, began to realize that Cersei’s children were products of incest and did not biologically belong to King Robert (Mark Addy). To cover up the conspiracy, Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), conspires with Jon’s wife, Lysa (Kate Dickie), to have the man murdered, intending to both keep the incest rumours hush-hush and use the resulting political turmoil to his advantage.

This single murder proved to be the catalyst that caused the rapid decline of life in the Seven Kingdoms, resulting in even more political conspiracies, a civil war, and a country in chaos, which all could have been avoided if Littlefinger had let the Lannisters get what they deserved. But Littlefinger doesn’t exactly do things that way. Worse still, he never showed remorse for launching the realm into yet another civil conflict and never seems to realize what a monumentally stupid thing he’s done.

2

Sansa Doesn’t Leave With Brienne

“The House of Black and White” (Season 5, Episode 2)

In the second episode of the fifth season, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) meets up with Littlefinger, who is taking care of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), not out of the goodness of his heart but because he was in love with Sansa’s mom, and, by extension, her. Sansa is still a child and is being manipulated by Petyr, who acts as a predatory uncle towards her.

When Brienne meets with Sansa, she asks to take her away to fulfill the oath to Sansa’s mother. But Sansa has never seen Brienne before, so she is understandably apprehensive about going with her rather than staying with someone whom she is at least vaguely familiar with. It’s not like Sansa could have foreseen the consequences, but this single choice later resulted in her suffering unthinkable abuse at the hands of her new husband, Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), whom she is forced to marry by Littlefinger. Understandably, Sansa made the choice she did since she was a child and didn’t know any better, nor could she have guessed what would have happened, but it’s still a pretty awful decision.

1

Daenerys Enters the Tent

“Fire and Blood” (Season 1, Episode 10)

During the first season’s finale, Daenerys’ husband, Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), succumbs to an infection and is approaching death fast. To save him, Daenerys enlists the help of a local Lhazareen witch named Mirri Maz Duur (Mia Soteriou), who makes it clear that she can save Drogo and bring him back to life. However, she must perform the ritual in a tent, which Daenerys must not enter under any circumstances. Daenerys agrees, but during the ritual, she goes into labor.

Daenerys’ friends whisk her away into the tent, despite explicitly being told not to, which results in Daenerys delivering a stillborn child. To make matters worse, Drogo comes back to life in a vegetative state. Sure, Mirri Maz Duur was manipulative and didn’t mention what Drogo would be like coming back, since Drogo destroyed her people. Still, Daenerys was a fool to enter the tent with her friends when she was clearly told not to, and she’s even more of a fool for trusting Mirri Maz Duur in the first place.

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