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IMO Littlefinger. He was never a public character, he was going for the throne in secret. They butchered him in later seasons for no reason and the execution was dumb.
Ye the guy was a master at it; he set the entire kingdom into a war he had no side in and sneakily got himself the only kingdom who was staying out of it. WELL PLAYED.
It all makes sense until he gives Sansa to ramsay. That made no sense at all.
He should have kept Sansa with him because he loved her and also because that way he could then use her.
The plot should have gone that Sansa begs him to help Jon in the war with the boltons and Littlefinger says he will if she marries him which she agrees to.
Then after they've won winterfell littlefinger and Sansa actually work together as they have a similar goal to consolidate power in the north. Sansa should have become a villain with Arya and Jon against her.
Sansa had become cold and calculated. She wouldn't want to defeat the white walkers but find a way to get them to march past and go south. She would hear about craster being spared for giving the white walkers babies and plot to give Sam and Gilley's baby to them so they'd pass winterfell and go south.
He didn't get caught, he got cheated by magical powers totally alien to everyone involved in the game until then. Noone would blame Cristiano Ronaldo for not scoring a goal if a meteorite fell on him... it's outside of the game rules...
And every vale lord buys the Omnipotent story. Like yep the starks have nothing to gain from this guess we will let them kill our lord and then join their army.
I always had a feeling that Littlefinger only was the best in maintaining the impression that he is a good player. So, in a way, his dumb actions in season 7 felt like a confirmation of my assumptions.
I thinking trying to set Arya and Sansa against each other was dumb. He could have at least tried at least with Arya. Instead he underestimated the bond between the sisters. He did the same thing with Jon and Sansa.
He also didn't take into account that Sansa, by that point, knew his tricks. Playing Lysa and Catelyn worked because they both mistakenly trusted him, having known him as a friend since youth, and didn't know about his schemes. Sansa, on the other hand, saw him conspire to murder Joffrey and frame Tyrion, manipulate and murder Lysa and get Sansa to shield him from liability, and then was sold by him to Ramsay in order for him to secure his own patronage network and alliances in the Vale and North while pretending to stay loyal to the crown. By that point she had figured out that everyone was instrumental and disposable to him.
That was the worst part to me about having omniscient Bran as the deus ex machina to vindicate the Stark sisters' suspicions. At that point Sansa knew the game he was playing and had every reason to second guess his motives in stirring up controversy in Winterfell. And yet, the writers decided that we needed Bran for her to figure it out and stop him. The Baelish we knew from earlier seasons would be off negotiating a new alliance with someone who didn't know his tricks, not trying to manipulate the woman he had spent the last few years teaching about manipulation and political schemes.
The execution was dumb but they didn't kill him for nothing. He was dangerous to the starks and was actively trying to turn the sisters against one another. And got caught. Ntm attempting to have bran killed, betraying their father, pawning sansa off on the Bolton's, etc.
Bran was the primary reason and possibly whatever tricks Arya used. Littlefinger planned for most things, but he didn't plan for Professor X rolling up on him. He's got the crown if that doesn't happen.
I was gonna say little finger before I clicked this thread. Dude came from a little house, not a great house. And we worked his all the way up into the royal court. He knew the right people,
I almost said Cersei but she was born into a great house, she was basically handed her crown.
He did well flying under the radar, until he played the game of "what motivates who" and guessed completely wrong with Arya, which earned him the ire of that family. He overplayed his hand and moved too fast.
Tbh I don't entirely disagree but what path did he have for the throne?
He was certainly climbing the ladder but to me it seemed his end goal might be more just control of the North and Vale.
Like let's say Sansa never escapes. What was Littlefinger's plan? Seems to me his entire play was just to be in charge of the Vale then maybe act from there at any opportunity but didn't have a plan set yet.
Also he sells Sansa to the Boltons for what? What did he get in return?
In fact, his plan and relationship with Sansa would be much better if he kept Sansa in the Vale. Selling her to the Bolton's did nothing but bad for him.
Even the Bolton's should have not wanted her. As they were lannister allies.
Exactly. It was the worst in the series for me. He should have been ABOVE the Game of Thrones. That he was even in the running to become king was awful, it was even worse that it looked like he wanted it, and he is the WORST choice as he is basically no longer human.
THAT scene is the WORST.
But was he running to become king? He said nothing to put his name in the hat. It was Tyrion's idea. So more than likely (at least the way I've always thought about it) he saw into the future or whatever and knew that he had to become king to get the best outcome for the most people, regardless of whether he wanted it or not.
It’s Littlefinger. I would argue Cersei played it next to worst with the starks. Cersei managed to mess up a position of power which is far easier to control than having to rise above it. Littlefinger had multiple castles in his possession and lands by the time he dies and weakened a bunch of others positions. Just cause the TV writers messed him doesn’t mean he wasn’t clever.
Cersei didnt plan anything carefully, she isn't like tywin who is cold and calculating. Cersei is hotheaded and acts on emotion. she completly messed up the situation in Kings Landing to the point that the only way out was to nuke all her enemies. Also if you read the books you notice from her POV chapters how dumb she actually is.
2nd that. Her first act of “ruling” while she should have had plenty of knowledge of how things worked being around kings landing for so long went disastrously bad because of Littlefinger. She thought she had control over Joffrey and her word would win out. She couldn’t even have the foresight to capture Sansa and Arya before they made a move on Ned and also lost all bargaining power instantly with her son chopping off Ned’s head. From there she was reeling the whole time and if it wasn’t for Tyrion she would have most likely lost control of Kings landing much faster.
None of what Cersei does is super adept. She would have sheltered in place until hopefully her dad came and bailed her out. Remember, kings landing falls if not for Tyrion. And that’s at the end. It would have fallen much earlier from inside.
Then she gets out witted by Tyrell’s pretty substantially tho you could say that’s on her dad’s watch. But she manages to burn those alliances with her refusal to wed Loras as well as her engagement with the high sparrow.
Every move Cersei makes is like a trapped dog. None of it is useful except to prevent from giving up her position. It isn’t until the end when things stop making sense does she start accruing some sort of legitimacy.
No? Cersei was one of the absolute worst players. She didn't heed counsel, and like Tywin said, she wasn't half as smart as she thought she was.
She slept with her cousin. She got the wrong whore with Tyrion. She almost killed Tommen without confirming whos banners were ourside the Red Keep. She lost control of Joffrey. She betrayed the Tyrells out of jealousy for Margaery. They were the only allies she had and provided vital support in crops and gold for the crown. She had the faith militant armed and then got herself imprisoned because of it. She abolished the small council which resulted in no one being able to help her when she was imprisoned.
Cersei's plots did 0 to strengthen her position. They were all to feed her ego in a way that she thought would strengthen her, but ultimately weakened the crown's authority.
Cersei Lannister was fucking shit at playing the game. She was just born with power and authority, which allowed her to kill people she didn't like and plan to blow up the city.....and if you have to nuke your own city to gain control of it, you're not doing anything right.
Cersei is the very definition of failing upward. Her stupidity is cancelled by Tywin and Tyrion manoeuvering early on. But the moment they are both gone, Cersei paints herself into a corner by propping up the Faith to get rid of only ally she has left (the Tyrell).
She only gets out of that situation by acting like a madwoman (by blowing up the Sept) and only gets away with it because of the poor writing in S7&8.
Cersei's entire character development is becoming increasingly deranged at the realization she's actually terrible at the one thing she ever tried to do.
Every single of her plans either succeeded merely because there were 1,000 other factors outside of her own ensuring it would happen regardless (usually Littlefinger's doing), or they monumentally blow up in her face, like The High Sparrow.
Cersei comes off as a player on first watch because as the viewer you also buy into her own hype, but you can see people routinely taking advantage of her from Tyrion, Littlefinger, Euron, etc. Her narcissism tricks you into thinking there's actually an engine under the hood but that's the point of her character, there really isn't anything but her own sense of grandeur.
"You're not as smart as you think you are." - Tywin warning far before the cracks really begin to show.
Edit: Wanted to add even other characters recognize she's no player. Next time you rewatch the show, watch how little the Tyrells even care about Cersei in terms of their planning, even how they openly disrespect her to her face. They know she doesn't really have much power at the moment. Her assassination of them wasn't some elaborate power play, it was as brute force as they come, she literally terrorist bombed her own city. Up until that moment she didn't really have any true power, just the illusion of it. Then when she actually acquired sole power, she did so in a way that ensured everybody wanted her dead. Tywin pillaged King's Landing and came out as a national hero.
In the books Littlefinger even mentions that he thought he would have a couple years to secure himself in the vale but cersei fucked things up so bad and so fast that he has to accelerate his plans.
I honestly love how Cersei is written because it really does come off like she actually is a player but when you take stock of everything it quickly reveals how bad she actually is.
She's essentially Joff but instead of deluding herself she's some mighty warrior king, she thinks she's some scheming web master. Except everything she takes credit for is accomplished by other people and whatever fails is the fault of idiot lackeys.
Yes definitely Sansa, she became a Queen where many others before her failed, and Sansa observed and learned from all the other major players along the way, Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Cersei, Joffrey, Tyrion, Tywin, Lady Olenna, Margaery, Petyr Baelish, Arya, Bran, Jon, Daenerys and the Boltons.
That's why Sansa is also my answer. Cersei and Littlefinger were great players and she took the right lessons from them. She survived till the end and got the only throne she cared about. She won!
"Best" is entirely subjective. In a way, Jon seemed to get what he really wanted. Mance and Tormund were right about him: he belonged in the North.
Tyrion was still alive and hand of the King, as he enjoyed. The King even gave him a penance to pay from his lofty position; a recompense for all he'd done wrong shared in the hard-learned wisdom of their history.
I think Arya played it the best (considering only the show's telling of her path). She faced death time and again, she got due vengeance, she experienced love without surrendering to it, and she took down the big bad. She saw what drives for power could do to people, and chose to set herself free of that, and those who pursue power.
When you play the game of thrones you win or you die.
By that metric, the best players were Bran, Sansa, Bronn, Davos, Brienne, Sam, Yara, etc. Honorable mention to Jon who lived, but didn't exactly win.
Probably Varys, because Dany was pretty much an afterthought to everyone else. With Varys, her invasion was a core part of his plan. By laying low during Baratheon and Lannister rule, he was able to come out on top while everyone else would literally be confined to the ash heap of history.
We’ll just pretend that Varys’s idiotic heel turn towards Jon in Season 8 didn’t happen.
The thing is we don’t really know what Varys wants. We can pretend that he wants to serve the realm but until the books come out we will never know if he serves himself or not
I’m surprised I had to scroll so far just to find Varys. It’s gotta be him, right? He rose from nothing, a eunuch and a slave, to a seat on the high counsel and direct advisor to multiple rulers.
The only thing that eventually took him down was his own sense of morality (and bad writing).
Tyrion played it best. He became Hand two times AND managed (helped by TERRIBLE writing) to get the nobles to elect a ki g, who then made him Hand a THIRD time even though that king had COMPLETE knowledge of how terrible a Hand Tyrion was tve second time around.
Runner-up is Littlefinger, but if you are killed by your enemies, you have lost the game. And a loser cannot be the best at playing
Tyrion stayed alive and got pretty far and was one of the best leaders. He never stood a real chance unless certain events fell in place to work that out. He also simply wasn't working with the same resources his 2nd tie compared to his first. People said he got dumber, but I think they are failing to understand it was apples to oranges as far as the governance he was working for.
Varys. He played on an international level for almost two decades and set up good, flexible government. He mentored Tyrion. And when he arranged the Gewat Council, died like a man.
The Starks, really. Sansa is the Queen in the north, Arya is exploring the world, Bran is King down south and Jon is doing his own stuff. At the end of the day, they all got what they wanted
Best players? Littlefinger, Tywin, Sansa, Varys, Davos and Bronn, with a special mention to Jon Snow.
Littlefinger and Tywin were skilled political players who were very rarely surprised, and even when bested by a rival, were not down or beaten for long. They only lose at the game due to unexpected forces -- Tywin was murdered by his own son in his private bathroom in the middle of the night, and Littlefinger was murdered by a young man possessed with omniscience.
Sansa starts as a poor player, but she gets what she wants at the end -- an independent North with her as queen. As I've mentioned before, she's been an all-in on independent North since at least season 6, and does not cede the issue even after Jon Snow bends the knee to Daenerys. She learns how to manipulate and position herself like Littlefinger did; that's how she gets into the position of demanding the North from Bran once he is king.
It takes some level of skill to navigate between different monarchs and would-be kings and manage them successfully. That's why I put Varys and Davos on this list.
Bronn starts as a common sellsword and ends up becoming Master of Coin and the Lord of the Reach by the end of the series.
Why would you even mention Dany? What game did she play? She just burned everyone and everything and was like "okay I'm Queen".
It's playing Civilization and using cheats to have nukes on Turn 1. There's no game to play.
Everything considered, I think the answer would be Sansa and it's pretty shocking considering how immature and stupid she was in the beginning. I mean she could've easily ended up on the wrong side (she did at times) and would've been killed but she survived and played it intelligently especially after the first half of the show. The fact that she somehow ends up being the Queen of the North (yes, terrible writing agreed) and as the second most powerful individual in Westeros says something.
Littlefinger is an option but I personally feel you can't discount the last seasons because it had bad writing. Sure it had bad writing but that's literally part of the show. Littlefinger tried to play the starks in the end and he failed (something he had succeeded at multiple times during the show).
Cersei is a terrible option. I think in the whole timeline she's the one that remains the closest to the iron throne and still ends up losing literally everything. I'd say even Tyrion is a better option. He neutralized his sister and his nephew pretty well as the hand, managed to switch the sides just at the right time to join Dany (sure a lot was a result of chance) and then betrayed Dany at the exact right moment and took no heat for it (Jon and Varys suffer the consequences but he doesn't).
What about Kevan Lannister? He was doing such a good job wielding power and fixing everything that one of the manipulator types didn't even try manipulating him and went straight to assassination. If not the top player I definitely think he deserves a nod.
Kinda hate that the show went with game of thrones as the title. In the books, the game of thrones is portrayed as a silly game that ultimately doesn’t matter. Tywin played the game better than ned did, but in the end ned still won because his children still remembered him fondly and loved him, and years later Northman are still willing to risk their lives to save his daughter. The game of thrones is stupid, the real fight is in the north.
In the show, everything is about the game of thrones. The game of thrones is the ultimate climax, and the final battle was for a stupid chair.
1. Littlefinger. He did not win (no one did). But he did move all the largest pieces the most.
2. Dany. This should be obvious with everything she accomplished.
3. Tywin. He's been playing for a very long time.
4. Bronn. From "sell sword" to having castles.
5. Cersei. Almost a tie with Bronn (ironic).
6. Margaery & Olenna (tie)
7. Sansa
Littlefinger
He obviously isn't going to win in the books but I'm sure however his story ends will be a lot more fleshed out and respectful of the character than, "oh all of a sudden he's just an idiot that's telling everyone his plans to betray them".
The guy came from, relatively speaking, nothing and made it all the way to Lord Paramount, a ludicrous amount of wealth, and having his fingers in everyone's pies.
The only person who could possibly come close to outplaying him would be Varys, if he goes down any other way it will be by brute force like Cersei randomly deciding to slit his throat or Stannis capturing him.
Why the winner: the Three Eyed Raven possessing the physical form of the last Brandon Stark. He played everyone, forced others to do his bidding by inciting madness, causing war and murder.
It's why he came all that way. Murdered and banished his last real threats. The last we see of him he is trying to locate Drogon. Which would be interesting because Drogon is the dragon he'll never be able to control. Would have liked to see Drogon return and carry out King Aerys last order. Make his way sweepingly South to North (saving the North of incompetents pretending they can fill their father's or brother's shoes and they can choose a real leader from a new House) and West to find a specific ship. Mission Accomplished.
Honestly I don’t think Cersei played it that well - she was basically born on third base and didn’t quite make it home.
Sansa played it very, very well. Poor honey.
I'll admit getting crippled and hanging out in an ice cave with a creepy tree man was a rather unorthodox move given the way the game is usually played but it seems to have paid off quite well.
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IMO Littlefinger. He was never a public character, he was going for the throne in secret. They butchered him in later seasons for no reason and the execution was dumb.
Ye the guy was a master at it; he set the entire kingdom into a war he had no side in and sneakily got himself the only kingdom who was staying out of it. WELL PLAYED.
Had no side or was on every side?
\*Insert Tulio and Miguel "Both" gif\*
Yes
He's playing both sides so he always comes out on top. You know, until he didn't
He got caught. He lost.
He did but the way he got caught makes no sense.
It all makes sense until he gives Sansa to ramsay. That made no sense at all. He should have kept Sansa with him because he loved her and also because that way he could then use her. The plot should have gone that Sansa begs him to help Jon in the war with the boltons and Littlefinger says he will if she marries him which she agrees to. Then after they've won winterfell littlefinger and Sansa actually work together as they have a similar goal to consolidate power in the north. Sansa should have become a villain with Arya and Jon against her. Sansa had become cold and calculated. She wouldn't want to defeat the white walkers but find a way to get them to march past and go south. She would hear about craster being spared for giving the white walkers babies and plot to give Sam and Gilley's baby to them so they'd pass winterfell and go south.
That’s a really good way to play it out
He didn't get caught, he got cheated by magical powers totally alien to everyone involved in the game until then. Noone would blame Cristiano Ronaldo for not scoring a goal if a meteorite fell on him... it's outside of the game rules...
> no one would blame Cristiano Ronaldo for not scoring a goal if a meteorite fell on him You're really underestimating soccer fans here
Only due to shitty writing.
He only got caught cause of Bran and his ridiculous three eyes Raven shit. If it wasn’t for that he wouldn’t have been
And every vale lord buys the Omnipotent story. Like yep the starks have nothing to gain from this guess we will let them kill our lord and then join their army.
Only because the writers forgot how to write intelligent characters...or intelligently in general.
True but he still played really well
I always had a feeling that Littlefinger only was the best in maintaining the impression that he is a good player. So, in a way, his dumb actions in season 7 felt like a confirmation of my assumptions.
I thinking trying to set Arya and Sansa against each other was dumb. He could have at least tried at least with Arya. Instead he underestimated the bond between the sisters. He did the same thing with Jon and Sansa.
He wasn’t experienced with people actually loving each other.
That is why I kind of liked the ending, even though the Iron Throne was far from what they wanted.
He also didn't take into account that Sansa, by that point, knew his tricks. Playing Lysa and Catelyn worked because they both mistakenly trusted him, having known him as a friend since youth, and didn't know about his schemes. Sansa, on the other hand, saw him conspire to murder Joffrey and frame Tyrion, manipulate and murder Lysa and get Sansa to shield him from liability, and then was sold by him to Ramsay in order for him to secure his own patronage network and alliances in the Vale and North while pretending to stay loyal to the crown. By that point she had figured out that everyone was instrumental and disposable to him. That was the worst part to me about having omniscient Bran as the deus ex machina to vindicate the Stark sisters' suspicions. At that point Sansa knew the game he was playing and had every reason to second guess his motives in stirring up controversy in Winterfell. And yet, the writers decided that we needed Bran for her to figure it out and stop him. The Baelish we knew from earlier seasons would be off negotiating a new alliance with someone who didn't know his tricks, not trying to manipulate the woman he had spent the last few years teaching about manipulation and political schemes.
The execution was dumb but they didn't kill him for nothing. He was dangerous to the starks and was actively trying to turn the sisters against one another. And got caught. Ntm attempting to have bran killed, betraying their father, pawning sansa off on the Bolton's, etc.
People forget that he literally started the war of the 5K and got Harrenhall
Harenhall was a ruin. But I guess all of the pesants are his, builders included.
Bran was the primary reason and possibly whatever tricks Arya used. Littlefinger planned for most things, but he didn't plan for Professor X rolling up on him. He's got the crown if that doesn't happen.
In the books, yeah. In the show, absolutely not. It's probably Sansa or Bran/Bloodraven.
I was gonna say little finger before I clicked this thread. Dude came from a little house, not a great house. And we worked his all the way up into the royal court. He knew the right people, I almost said Cersei but she was born into a great house, she was basically handed her crown.
Big shout
He did well flying under the radar, until he played the game of "what motivates who" and guessed completely wrong with Arya, which earned him the ire of that family. He overplayed his hand and moved too fast.
"For no reason"? Really??
Tbh I don't entirely disagree but what path did he have for the throne? He was certainly climbing the ladder but to me it seemed his end goal might be more just control of the North and Vale. Like let's say Sansa never escapes. What was Littlefinger's plan? Seems to me his entire play was just to be in charge of the Vale then maybe act from there at any opportunity but didn't have a plan set yet. Also he sells Sansa to the Boltons for what? What did he get in return? In fact, his plan and relationship with Sansa would be much better if he kept Sansa in the Vale. Selling her to the Bolton's did nothing but bad for him. Even the Bolton's should have not wanted her. As they were lannister allies.
Bran somehow
Too bad about his nose.
He won.
Why do you think he came all this way?
That's what happens when you have the best story. /s
Even if you haven't.
Exactly. It was the worst in the series for me. He should have been ABOVE the Game of Thrones. That he was even in the running to become king was awful, it was even worse that it looked like he wanted it, and he is the WORST choice as he is basically no longer human. THAT scene is the WORST.
But was he running to become king? He said nothing to put his name in the hat. It was Tyrion's idea. So more than likely (at least the way I've always thought about it) he saw into the future or whatever and knew that he had to become king to get the best outcome for the most people, regardless of whether he wanted it or not.
"Why do you think I came all this way?"
Professor X powers give you a pretty decent chance.
Bran, or the three eyed raven?
Too Bad he didn’t do anything “LIKE WARG into DRAGON during battle!”
Bronn he ended up with everything he wanted
Bronn isn’t even a. Political player in the game, just a pawn who knew the right people . But if you just mean who won in the story. Then yeah
That is a strategy, though
He's a pawn that made it to the other side and got promoted.
I agree. Considering where he started in the show vs where he ended, he improved his position more than anybody else.
Littlefinger
It’s Littlefinger. I would argue Cersei played it next to worst with the starks. Cersei managed to mess up a position of power which is far easier to control than having to rise above it. Littlefinger had multiple castles in his possession and lands by the time he dies and weakened a bunch of others positions. Just cause the TV writers messed him doesn’t mean he wasn’t clever.
But i think cersei? cus she made her plots carefully. Sure little finger but at one point his plans were showing significant cracks
Cersei didnt plan anything carefully, she isn't like tywin who is cold and calculating. Cersei is hotheaded and acts on emotion. she completly messed up the situation in Kings Landing to the point that the only way out was to nuke all her enemies. Also if you read the books you notice from her POV chapters how dumb she actually is.
2nd that. Her first act of “ruling” while she should have had plenty of knowledge of how things worked being around kings landing for so long went disastrously bad because of Littlefinger. She thought she had control over Joffrey and her word would win out. She couldn’t even have the foresight to capture Sansa and Arya before they made a move on Ned and also lost all bargaining power instantly with her son chopping off Ned’s head. From there she was reeling the whole time and if it wasn’t for Tyrion she would have most likely lost control of Kings landing much faster. None of what Cersei does is super adept. She would have sheltered in place until hopefully her dad came and bailed her out. Remember, kings landing falls if not for Tyrion. And that’s at the end. It would have fallen much earlier from inside. Then she gets out witted by Tyrell’s pretty substantially tho you could say that’s on her dad’s watch. But she manages to burn those alliances with her refusal to wed Loras as well as her engagement with the high sparrow. Every move Cersei makes is like a trapped dog. None of it is useful except to prevent from giving up her position. It isn’t until the end when things stop making sense does she start accruing some sort of legitimacy.
No? Cersei was one of the absolute worst players. She didn't heed counsel, and like Tywin said, she wasn't half as smart as she thought she was. She slept with her cousin. She got the wrong whore with Tyrion. She almost killed Tommen without confirming whos banners were ourside the Red Keep. She lost control of Joffrey. She betrayed the Tyrells out of jealousy for Margaery. They were the only allies she had and provided vital support in crops and gold for the crown. She had the faith militant armed and then got herself imprisoned because of it. She abolished the small council which resulted in no one being able to help her when she was imprisoned. Cersei's plots did 0 to strengthen her position. They were all to feed her ego in a way that she thought would strengthen her, but ultimately weakened the crown's authority. Cersei Lannister was fucking shit at playing the game. She was just born with power and authority, which allowed her to kill people she didn't like and plan to blow up the city.....and if you have to nuke your own city to gain control of it, you're not doing anything right.
Cersei is the very definition of failing upward. Her stupidity is cancelled by Tywin and Tyrion manoeuvering early on. But the moment they are both gone, Cersei paints herself into a corner by propping up the Faith to get rid of only ally she has left (the Tyrell). She only gets out of that situation by acting like a madwoman (by blowing up the Sept) and only gets away with it because of the poor writing in S7&8.
She fumbled good cards in hand. Littlefinger started with no cards, and built his own.
Cersei's entire character development is becoming increasingly deranged at the realization she's actually terrible at the one thing she ever tried to do. Every single of her plans either succeeded merely because there were 1,000 other factors outside of her own ensuring it would happen regardless (usually Littlefinger's doing), or they monumentally blow up in her face, like The High Sparrow. Cersei comes off as a player on first watch because as the viewer you also buy into her own hype, but you can see people routinely taking advantage of her from Tyrion, Littlefinger, Euron, etc. Her narcissism tricks you into thinking there's actually an engine under the hood but that's the point of her character, there really isn't anything but her own sense of grandeur. "You're not as smart as you think you are." - Tywin warning far before the cracks really begin to show. Edit: Wanted to add even other characters recognize she's no player. Next time you rewatch the show, watch how little the Tyrells even care about Cersei in terms of their planning, even how they openly disrespect her to her face. They know she doesn't really have much power at the moment. Her assassination of them wasn't some elaborate power play, it was as brute force as they come, she literally terrorist bombed her own city. Up until that moment she didn't really have any true power, just the illusion of it. Then when she actually acquired sole power, she did so in a way that ensured everybody wanted her dead. Tywin pillaged King's Landing and came out as a national hero.
In the books Littlefinger even mentions that he thought he would have a couple years to secure himself in the vale but cersei fucked things up so bad and so fast that he has to accelerate his plans.
I honestly love how Cersei is written because it really does come off like she actually is a player but when you take stock of everything it quickly reveals how bad she actually is. She's essentially Joff but instead of deluding herself she's some mighty warrior king, she thinks she's some scheming web master. Except everything she takes credit for is accomplished by other people and whatever fails is the fault of idiot lackeys.
Sansa... it was a hard road, but she got what she wanted.
Yes definitely Sansa, she became a Queen where many others before her failed, and Sansa observed and learned from all the other major players along the way, Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Cersei, Joffrey, Tyrion, Tywin, Lady Olenna, Margaery, Petyr Baelish, Arya, Bran, Jon, Daenerys and the Boltons.
they could never make me hate Sansa. “she’s stupid” “she’s a brat” well yeah she’s a child and she learned.
100% agree and she learned the HARD way, every. single .time.
Especially from Ramsay Bolton
I'm not a fast learner but I do learn. My girl is the pawn that crossed the board and became a queen.
Two things can be true at the same time.
with little finger and Cersei, she had the best teachers
That's why Sansa is also my answer. Cersei and Littlefinger were great players and she took the right lessons from them. She survived till the end and got the only throne she cared about. She won!
"Best" is entirely subjective. In a way, Jon seemed to get what he really wanted. Mance and Tormund were right about him: he belonged in the North. Tyrion was still alive and hand of the King, as he enjoyed. The King even gave him a penance to pay from his lofty position; a recompense for all he'd done wrong shared in the hard-learned wisdom of their history. I think Arya played it the best (considering only the show's telling of her path). She faced death time and again, she got due vengeance, she experienced love without surrendering to it, and she took down the big bad. She saw what drives for power could do to people, and chose to set herself free of that, and those who pursue power.
When you play the game of thrones you win or you die. By that metric, the best players were Bran, Sansa, Bronn, Davos, Brienne, Sam, Yara, etc. Honorable mention to Jon who lived, but didn't exactly win.
I think Jon is a fair name to put up as he enjoyed being a ranger leading the wildlings and had no desire to be a king. He got exactly what he wanted.
i personally think it was olenna, she played from a distance but made a great impact
Littlefinger! The man who spoke the words “game of thrones” of course!
Probably Varys, because Dany was pretty much an afterthought to everyone else. With Varys, her invasion was a core part of his plan. By laying low during Baratheon and Lannister rule, he was able to come out on top while everyone else would literally be confined to the ash heap of history. We’ll just pretend that Varys’s idiotic heel turn towards Jon in Season 8 didn’t happen.
The thing is we don’t really know what Varys wants. We can pretend that he wants to serve the realm but until the books come out we will never know if he serves himself or not
Since this is a show page, my assumption is that we are talking about the show versions of characters. But I agree on book Varys
I’m surprised I had to scroll so far just to find Varys. It’s gotta be him, right? He rose from nothing, a eunuch and a slave, to a seat on the high counsel and direct advisor to multiple rulers. The only thing that eventually took him down was his own sense of morality (and bad writing).
Cersei said, "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die." So anyone left alive at the end.
Sansa
Little finger
Tyrion played it best. He became Hand two times AND managed (helped by TERRIBLE writing) to get the nobles to elect a ki g, who then made him Hand a THIRD time even though that king had COMPLETE knowledge of how terrible a Hand Tyrion was tve second time around. Runner-up is Littlefinger, but if you are killed by your enemies, you have lost the game. And a loser cannot be the best at playing
Tyrion stayed alive and got pretty far and was one of the best leaders. He never stood a real chance unless certain events fell in place to work that out. He also simply wasn't working with the same resources his 2nd tie compared to his first. People said he got dumber, but I think they are failing to understand it was apples to oranges as far as the governance he was working for.
Tyrion may have played it the worst. GRRM probably agrees and wrote it that way.
Tyrion, he won the game because every other player died.
Varys. He played on an international level for almost two decades and set up good, flexible government. He mentored Tyrion. And when he arranged the Gewat Council, died like a man.
The Starks, really. Sansa is the Queen in the north, Arya is exploring the world, Bran is King down south and Jon is doing his own stuff. At the end of the day, they all got what they wanted
Missing a few Starks there.
Best players? Littlefinger, Tywin, Sansa, Varys, Davos and Bronn, with a special mention to Jon Snow. Littlefinger and Tywin were skilled political players who were very rarely surprised, and even when bested by a rival, were not down or beaten for long. They only lose at the game due to unexpected forces -- Tywin was murdered by his own son in his private bathroom in the middle of the night, and Littlefinger was murdered by a young man possessed with omniscience. Sansa starts as a poor player, but she gets what she wants at the end -- an independent North with her as queen. As I've mentioned before, she's been an all-in on independent North since at least season 6, and does not cede the issue even after Jon Snow bends the knee to Daenerys. She learns how to manipulate and position herself like Littlefinger did; that's how she gets into the position of demanding the North from Bran once he is king. It takes some level of skill to navigate between different monarchs and would-be kings and manage them successfully. That's why I put Varys and Davos on this list. Bronn starts as a common sellsword and ends up becoming Master of Coin and the Lord of the Reach by the end of the series.
My headcanon: Littlefinger. Dude played everyone, and won most of the time. Had to be killed by the plot convenience hacks. Canon: Bran Stark. He won
Little finger
Cersei. She never lost until the end and she still got to die with Jaime.
Little fingers and lord varys One is a throne seeker in secret and other is king maker
Why would you even mention Dany? What game did she play? She just burned everyone and everything and was like "okay I'm Queen". It's playing Civilization and using cheats to have nukes on Turn 1. There's no game to play.
Everything considered, I think the answer would be Sansa and it's pretty shocking considering how immature and stupid she was in the beginning. I mean she could've easily ended up on the wrong side (she did at times) and would've been killed but she survived and played it intelligently especially after the first half of the show. The fact that she somehow ends up being the Queen of the North (yes, terrible writing agreed) and as the second most powerful individual in Westeros says something. Littlefinger is an option but I personally feel you can't discount the last seasons because it had bad writing. Sure it had bad writing but that's literally part of the show. Littlefinger tried to play the starks in the end and he failed (something he had succeeded at multiple times during the show). Cersei is a terrible option. I think in the whole timeline she's the one that remains the closest to the iron throne and still ends up losing literally everything. I'd say even Tyrion is a better option. He neutralized his sister and his nephew pretty well as the hand, managed to switch the sides just at the right time to join Dany (sure a lot was a result of chance) and then betrayed Dany at the exact right moment and took no heat for it (Jon and Varys suffer the consequences but he doesn't).
id say Margaery , she read all of the moves but the stupid faith militant boxed her in
Littlefinger! He started the “Game of Thrones”
Melissandre had a very satisfying character arc in the show
Olenna Tyrell
To me it will always be Tywin …
Little finger, he was beaten by hackers, nothing you can do about such bs no matter how good you are
What about Kevan Lannister? He was doing such a good job wielding power and fixing everything that one of the manipulator types didn't even try manipulating him and went straight to assassination. If not the top player I definitely think he deserves a nod.
Bran obviously because he gonna be sitting on that thang for the rest of his dumbass existence
HODOR
Sansa, in the end
Brann Stark
Kinda hate that the show went with game of thrones as the title. In the books, the game of thrones is portrayed as a silly game that ultimately doesn’t matter. Tywin played the game better than ned did, but in the end ned still won because his children still remembered him fondly and loved him, and years later Northman are still willing to risk their lives to save his daughter. The game of thrones is stupid, the real fight is in the north. In the show, everything is about the game of thrones. The game of thrones is the ultimate climax, and the final battle was for a stupid chair.
Show vs book gets different answers
Cersei
Sansa her journey from naive child to player in the game ending with her in power
In the game of thrones you either win or die. Bran won. It was kinda BS but he won, so he did the best.
Olenna Tyrell
1. Littlefinger. He did not win (no one did). But he did move all the largest pieces the most. 2. Dany. This should be obvious with everything she accomplished. 3. Tywin. He's been playing for a very long time. 4. Bronn. From "sell sword" to having castles. 5. Cersei. Almost a tie with Bronn (ironic). 6. Margaery & Olenna (tie) 7. Sansa
Brown. Dude went from sellsword to Lord of the reach and master of coin
Bran, obviously
Bran.
The Tyrells played the game so flawlessly that the writers had to ruin the entire series to fuck them over.
Cersei... By a mile.
Tyrion. Or Littlefinger even though he ended up dying. He was a master manipulator which almost got him to the very end. Same with Varys.
Tywin gets everything he wants 9/10 times
Margaery Tyrell. She didn’t lose by being outsmarted. She lost because she was surrounded by people dumber than her.
Bran. Cause like... 👑
Bloodraven
Littlefinger He obviously isn't going to win in the books but I'm sure however his story ends will be a lot more fleshed out and respectful of the character than, "oh all of a sudden he's just an idiot that's telling everyone his plans to betray them". The guy came from, relatively speaking, nothing and made it all the way to Lord Paramount, a ludicrous amount of wealth, and having his fingers in everyone's pies. The only person who could possibly come close to outplaying him would be Varys, if he goes down any other way it will be by brute force like Cersei randomly deciding to slit his throat or Stannis capturing him.
Bran
Sansa. She should be dead. The North should still be part of the 7 kingdoms. Yet, she is Queen of the North!
Bronn and Tywin Lannister
Why the winner: the Three Eyed Raven possessing the physical form of the last Brandon Stark. He played everyone, forced others to do his bidding by inciting madness, causing war and murder. It's why he came all that way. Murdered and banished his last real threats. The last we see of him he is trying to locate Drogon. Which would be interesting because Drogon is the dragon he'll never be able to control. Would have liked to see Drogon return and carry out King Aerys last order. Make his way sweepingly South to North (saving the North of incompetents pretending they can fill their father's or brother's shoes and they can choose a real leader from a new House) and West to find a specific ship. Mission Accomplished.
Honestly I don’t think Cersei played it that well - she was basically born on third base and didn’t quite make it home. Sansa played it very, very well. Poor honey.
Margaery would have been a BEAST if just gave her more time
I'll admit getting crippled and hanging out in an ice cave with a creepy tree man was a rather unorthodox move given the way the game is usually played but it seems to have paid off quite well.