May 20, 2019 – As depicted by its opening credits, Game of Thrones is a show with many moving parts. The moving parts are the show’s vast array of characters, locales, and events. As the intro also depicts, there’s a lot of rising and falling. In Game of Thrones, kingdoms, houses, and people will rise and fall.
So what was the gist of Game of Thrones? Now that the show has finally concluded, what was it all about? Some may say how power corrupts. For me, the most attractive motif of Game of Thrones is underdog heroes. Most of the great houses have at least one underdog hero. Some of these characters had bouts of villainy and then had changes of heart. Others were noble the whole way through. Here are many of the underdog heroes of Game of Thrones…
orphan, child, female assassin
Arya was a vengeful killer, but she
still qualifies as a hero and underdog. She went through quite a lot of suffering. But like Dany, she was tough.
orphan, child, abuse victim, female ruler
Sansa made some big mistakes early on
due to her infatuation with Joffrey and her dreams of being his queen. Then she trusted Littlefinger.
After learning from those mistakes, her character made a big turn toward heroism.
orphan, child
Rickon died while still a child,
but he showed great courage in his years. Much of his young life was spent on the run. Eventually, he became a casualty of war.
orphan, child, cripple
Crippled as a
child, his mother left home to find his would-be assassin, and he never saw her or his father again. But he became the
most powerful player in the game of thrones. The opening credits may be from his raven’s-eye view, complete with three blinks.
orphan, considered a bastard
Jon was one of the noblest characters.
I can’t recall him ever doing anything evil or selfish.
He did what he believed to be right for everyone, rather than what he wanted for himself. No one knows
this better than Ygritte and Dany.
orphan, widow, female ruler, considered weak
It seems that everywhere she turned,
people underestimated Dany.
They were always proven wrong.
Dany was a generally noble character who cared about the welfare of others. This changed abruptly in the final season. So in my mind, she still belongs
on this list.
dwarf, unwanted son & brother, object of ridicule
For me,
Tyrion was one of the top three characters alongside Jon and Dany. Yes, he was guilty of drinking and debauchery, but he was a generally good fellow.
Even his killing of Shae and Tywin was in self-defense.
maimed, object of ridicule
Jaime was at times evil and arrogant, but also had bouts of goodness.
He lost his hand while trying to protect Brienne from rape, left Cersei for a time, and never mistreated Tyrion.
It was a noble act to kill the Mad King, for which Jaime received dishonor and ridicule.
orphan, bastard
The bastard son of Robert Baratheon was hunted by
Cersei and woman-handled by Melisandre. He was black of hair and a generally decent guy.
eunuch, abuse victim, unwanted son
From a guy’s point of view, no one had it worse
than Theon (and Varys and the Unsullied). If he hadn’t gone power-hungry to please his worthless father, he might still have his manhood intact.
But then he became a great help to Sansa, saved his sister, Yara, and went back to fight alongside the Starks.
female warrior, female leader
Yara was a
skilled warrior, ship captain, and leader of men. Yet she, too, was underestimated like other female characters.
Her nobility continued to increase as her care for her brother increased. And, for the greater cause, she promised her people would stop reaving, roving, raiding and raping.
female knight, object of ridicule
Constantly teased for her height and for
being a female knight, Brienne was an underdog. But she proved her bravery and character often. She gave unflinching pledges of loyalty to
Catelyn Stark and then Sansa.
overweight, unwanted son, object of ridicule
No, he wasn’t a great fighter,
but he did kill a white walker and a Thenn. He also saved Gilly, Little Sam, and Jorah.
He dreamt of becoming a maester, but then abandoned it for the greater cause, only to become one later anyway.
child, female leader
Don’t mess with Jorah’s cousin, Lyanna.
She was young in age, small in stature, and could offer Jon only 62 warriors. But she showed what’s what to all the cowering men who balked at supporting Jon.
She answered the call. And later she took down an undead giant.
exiled, unwanted son
Jorah was exiled for selling a criminal into slavery
and was then disowned by his family.
Then he spied on Dany in order to get a pardon. But time and again he proved his newfound loyalty to her. He was definitely brave.
female ruler, female assassin
She took out one of the weaseliest characters
in the show (Joffrey). She was protective of Sansa, always blunt with the truth, and pledged to fight with Dany against Cersei. Not to mention running the second wealthiest house
in Westeros.
lesser son, disfigured
Burned in a fire by his bigger brother,
the Hound carried those scars most of his life. He went through several ups and downs in conscience. But he gave protection to Sansa and Arya,
and in the end, he played a heroic role on the side of the good.
child, female warrior
She protected her brother, as well as Bran et al.
north of the Wall. Later she dragged Bran on the snow back to the Wall. She understood the importance of Bran’s mission, and made great sacrifices
to battle against the coming white walkers.
child
He helped Bran realize his gifts, and even trained him a little, being a fellow warg.
Then he and his sister helped get Bran to the Three-Eyed Raven, but Jojen courageously died in the effort.
orphan, (s)mothered
How in the world does Robin make this list?
His father was murdered, by his mother. Then his mother was murdered, by her new husband. And think back to how he was raised by her. Yet in the finale,
he’s representing his house and seems to be a normal guy.
intellectually disabled
What can you say about Hodor without
shedding a tear? He faithfully protected Bran and Rickon. In fact, he gave his whole life, from childhood to the very end, for Bran.
wildling
She started out as a thief on the run but became a protector for
Bran and Rickon. She might have made it to the very end had she not tried to courageously end Ramsay Bolton.
slave
She was enslaved at a young age. Yet she had more nobility than nobles.
She even loved a eunuch, in spite of whatever body parts he might be missing. The Dany-turn storyline made her character a martyr, and she died courageously.
orphan, eunuch, maimed
Maybe the most misunderstood character.
Varys did some questionable things, but he insisted his
motive was the good of the realm. He wasn’t lying. Early on, Varys was set up as a counterpart with Little Finger. But Varys was actually the
opposite of Little Finger, who only ever had his own self-interest in mind.
lowborn, disrespected warrior
Even though he seemed to be motivated only by money,
Bronn had a noble, soft side.
He saved Tyrion’s life in trial-by-combat and
Jaime away from dragon fire. He didn’t fight, dress, or carry himself like the knights, so he got little respect.
lowborn, reformed smuggler, maimed
He could barely read and write, but
he always gave wise counsel, especially to Stannis. How many times did he urge Stannis to do the right thing? His treatment of Stannis’ daughter was touching and heart-wrenching.
orphans, eunuchs, maimed, abused
It’s incredible how much cruelty and abuse
the Unsullied endured. Yet they were chivalrous, highly heroic and noble, and freely chose to fight for their underdog leader, Dany.
lesser sons, non-inheritors, nobodies
Named “Second Sons” because they inherit nothing
from their fathers, thus family outcasts. This troop probably included not only actual second sons but also societal outcasts like Daario Naharis who said, “I come from nothing.”
considered barbaric & primitive
Even though people feared the Dothraki army,
they were considered barbaric and primitive. So they were ridiculed and looked down upon for those reasons. But they chose to fight for a [mostly] benevolent leader in Dany.
rejects, rapists, murderers, thieves
Some of these men were forced to take the
black when rejected by family (Samwell) or wrongly accused of a crime (Pypar). Some made the choice willingly (Benjen Stark) for various reasons.
But most were either reformed or unreformed criminals.
considered barbaric & primitive
Everyone south of the wall hated and looked down upon the
wildlings. Yet they heroically defended a land that hadn’t been theirs for millennia and backed the underdog who treated them well (Jon) just as the Unsullied backed theirs.
a wheelchair
The series ends
with the Iron Throne being melted to nothing, and the new king of Westeros sitting instead in a wheelchair. How underdog is that?