The Good, The Bad and Whatever Is Worse Than Either

            So, you’re on your couch, watching the show that everyone has being raving about. You finally decide to watch season 1 of HBO’s Game of Thrones. The plot is compelling and maybe you didn’t expect to be enticed as you are. You’ve probably figured out who plays for the good guys and who plays for the bad. Things are starting to get a little hairy by the time you reach the ninth episode of the first season, Baelor. You have some reasonable stress but you’re also feeling optimistic about Ned Stark getting out of the pickle he’s in. You may have experienced some feelings of confused shock to find yourself witness to his beheading. 

            This scene serves as a sort of initiation for many components about the show. This is our introduction to the idea that no one is safe in the Westeros continent or beyond. Any character can die at any time regardless of the fanbase. Unlike shows like The Walking Dead, the characters in Game of Thrones are not held to any kind of crowd pleasing standard that keeps them alive. The scene is also our introduction to Joffrey and his impulsive, sadistic reign as king. Perhaps most importantly, this scene is the audiences initiation into a world where honorable characters are killed just as gruesomely as characters who are manipulative and power hungry. As innocent, wide-eyed viewers like myself, this realization was unsettling to say the least. R.I.P. Ned.

            After the beheading, the rest of the characters were left to deal with the collateral, so I forgive you for not remembering the super important conversation between Varys and Ned in the dungeon scene. They’re talking about, arguably, the entire premise of the show: honor vs. power (Martin, pp. 633). Honor is not to be confused with morality. I’m talking about the dated conception of honor that is related to bravery and truth. There is something about Ned that resonates with almost all of us with his fatherliness and predictability. But re-watching that conversation between Varys and Ned might have you feeling partial to the Eunuch. Think about it. In all the seven kingdoms in Westeros, Varys is the only character that has the interest of the realms in mind. He speaks for the people in a place where no one does. Even to honorable Lord Eddard, he makes no promises. Varys only does what promotes what benefits the realms. This is especially apparent on page 633 in A Game of Thrones. 

“Would you at least consent to carry a message out for me?”

“That would depend on the message. I will gladly provide you with paper and ink, if you like. And when you have written what you will, I will take the letter and read it, and deliver it or not, as best serves my own ends.”

“Your own ends. What ends are those Lord Varys?”

“Peace.” Varys replies without hesitation. (Martin, pp. 633)

All of a sudden, the Varys character started to make sense. Before this scene, he seemed to be another power-hungry predator. It is Varys that represents the only truly moral character in this story. Winter Is Coming Staff writes that Ned exists as a certain trope that exists in the Game of Thrones Universe because he operates off of what has always been: truth. It’s holds true up until the very last moments of his life. He only told a lie in these last moments to save his own life for the sake of his daughters. Without the conversation with Varys, this wouldn’t have occurred even in a life or death scenario. That’s just how strongly Ned’s character is tethered to truth. Look where that got him.

Taking a look at Luke B.’s analysis of the perception of oaths in the realms, you 1. Understand why Ned’s head ended up on a spike and 2. Wonder why Jaime gets such a bad rep for breaking oaths if it’s such a common thing. However, there is something interesting about the parallels of honor in Brienne and Ned that the blog insists. The difference between the two is that Brienne is clever as well as conscientious. She doesn’t underestimate her opponents like Ned underestimates Cersei which leads to his ultimate demise. Brienne is motivated by honor. Ned is intoxicated by honor. 

I don’t think it’s fair to say that Cersei is only motivated by power after we have watched her sincerely morn over several children. She really did adore all of them and seemed to genuinely want her sons to take the throne. However, for our purposes, she is going to serve as the manipulative, power-hungry trope that I mentioned earlier. I’m not one to play devil’s advocate. Cersei is a monster. I don’t want to talk about monsters, though. Cersei is a little too un-controversially witchy. I want to talk about the trope within characters that we can relate to and maybe even admire as they claw their way to the iron throne. I want to talk about Daenarys. 

Nylah Burton argues that Daenarys was destined for the end she got from the beginning. When she is young we can see the potential for a morally sound queen because she can easily empathize with others. Daenarys has experience with hardship, so the audience believes in her developing morals to see her through. However, even in in some of Daenarys’s greatest moments, there’s some really nasty undertones present. For example, in episode “Now His Watch Is Ended” in episode 4 of season 3, Daenarys frees the unsullied slave armies from their masters. It’s a tremendous moment for her and the audience just as well. But have you ever really considered the situation that the unsullied were in at that moment? What other choice did they have but to accept Daenarys as their Queen? This is similar to the debatable differences about “consent” in the book and the HBO series concerning the scene where Daenarys is raped by Khal Drogo on their wedding night. Did yes really mean yes then? There was no other choice for the unsullied, just as Daenarys had no choice. 

This is true for her entire following except for maybe Ser Jorah. Just like most of the fanbase, I truly believe that she meant well for the realms the intended to rule and for her following. She has a character that is morally sound and highly ambitious for power. This is one of the reasons why her story is so enticing to the audience. She is both the yin and yang. We hope that it is the balance is what it takes to rule with the peace and harmony that Varys has in mind. Unfortunately for us (and the crispy people of Kings Landing) we were wrong. In fact, it could be argued that her potential to balance her ambitious domination and morality was what led to her violent acts. In private, I have wondered if this constant rumination is what drove her father mad as well. Maybe he, like Daenarys, had the best intentions at heart. 

My diagnosis is this: the truthful will die with their precious honor intact, the powerful will die rich and unsurprised, the deviants that try to be both will die and take the world down with them when they fall.