Ten Game of Thrones Characters We Love to Hate

The third season of Game of Thrones premieres on tonight, and the excitement is rising! The trailers tease another season of fighting, scheming, as well as other vices, against a backdrop of war and politics. There are no real heroes and even the villains can have a sympathetic presentation at times. I recently watched season two and I’m currently re-watching season one which raises the question: who am I looking forward, or not looking forward, to seeing again in the coming days? Warning: spoilers for season one and two ahead.

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Joffrey: I just hate this little bastard. I hate him in the books and I hate him on the show. He’s obnoxious, cruel, and keeps getting worse with time. I don’t recall what antics he gets up to in the books, but I am hoping for some more Joffrey scenes slapping at least.

Catelyn: You’d think I’d like her. She’s a woman, a mother, a strong character, who is trying her best to protect her children, yet she keeps really screwing things up! The whole mess with arresting Tyrion and taking him to the Eyrie? That caused trouble for Ned back in King’s Landing to say the least. She let Jaime run off with Brienne, which caused a rift with her son and his commanders. Catelyn is not dumb, but she keeps doing dumb things! Argh!

Jaime: He falls in the love to hate category. He’s a prick, and arrogant, spoiled, pretty little man who can wield a sword better than most in the realm and has carnal relations with his sister. He also has a mean streak and a sharp tongue, and despite all of this, he amuses me. Despite all his accomplishments, his status, he is insecure and his words and actions occasionally show it no matter how he tries to hide it. I think he wants to be a knight, with all the honor and accolades others have, but he’ll never achieve it.

Cersei: While we’re talking Lannisters, the good Queen is certainly worth mentioning. The other half of the incestuous sibling pair, Cersei is an ambitious woman limited by her gender in a world dominated by men. She’s smart, but, like her brother, arrogant, shares his mean streak, and foolish in some of her choices; politically and personally.

Ser Jorah: The dude is a creeper. He is, hands down, grade A, “nice guy.” He pretty much spends his days making doe eyes and pining for Daenarys while at the same time playing the role as advisor and surrogate father. Ugh.

Robb: He’s a boy thrust into a man’s role: “King of the North.” He’s not well-versed in warfare or politics, which means I probably should cut him some slack. Sadly, I am not. While the lady who won his heart is certainly lovely, it is really worth throwing an alliance away in a time of war? I don’t think so.

Theon: Where I find Jaime’s arrogance and smart ass nature endearing, I have wanted nothing more than to beat the piss out of Theon since his introduction. A least Jaime can back up his arrogance with sword play, what’s Theon got going for him other than his libido? A libido which put him in a rather embarrassing, and really gross, situation with his own sister. Hell, he was outsmarted by two children under the age of fifteen when he invaded and took over Winterfell briefly, before his own men turned on him. Theon is a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure due to his insecurities.

I’m curious to see how far season three goes in terms of plot in the books, which I presume will mostly be from A Storm of Swords. I suspect this season, and a fourth, will likely be the text of that book split. There are a lot of events to be covered, as well as not moving too fast through the books George R.R. Martin has yet to finish, and fans no doubt want justice done to them. It’s been amazing seeing Westeros brought to life and getting to see more places, and meeting more characters, will undoubtedly be another fun ride.

What about everyone else? Who are you looking forward to seeing back?

Natalie currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where she tries to balance full-time work and various nerdy hobbies. While being a huge Bioware fangirl, she also enjoys other video games (i.e. Arkam City, the Fable series) as well as comic books set in the DC universe