10 Biggest Mistakes Made by Game of Thrones Characters That Lead to Their Downfall

Game of Thrones is still one of the best shows out there. Between a vibrant fantasy world, complicated characters who do not shy away from the harsh realities of their world, and no small amount of drama between them all, it’s a wonder to behold, even to this day. That being said, though its characters are among some of the most well-known in modern media, that isn’t to say they are infallible. Part of their appeal was how human they were, be it when pursuing justice or power.

As a result, their triumphs and failures belong entirely to them. Especially their failures. Looking over the series, it is apt to say that each time a major character in the show met their demise; it was usually a direct consequence of their own actions. Choices they made ended up costing them in the long run. Be it motivated by honor, hatred, or ambition, here are the ten biggest mistakes made by Game of Thrones characters that led to their downfalls.

10. Ellaria Sand Seeking Vengeance Against the Lannisters

Oberyn Would Not Have Approved of Her Actions

One of the biggest disappointments of the series by far was the way the Dorne storyline was handled. Aside from the fact that the show didn’t even use the proper viewpoint character, it completely ruined Ellaria Sand and turned her into a shortsighted villain who betrayed everything Oberyn believed in. Now, it is understandable in the show why she would want revenge, but in her quest to avenge Dorne and the Martells she ended up doing more damage to the family than even the Lannisters had.

Her relentless quest to get vengeance for the death of Oberyn ultimately made her a target of Cersei Lannister when Ellaria murdered Myrcella Baratheon; something Oberyn would have highly disapproved of as he found the murder of innocent children abhorrent. So, it was no surprise when Cersei captured Ellaria alive and forced her to watch as her own daughter, Tyene, would die from the same poison she used on Myrcella. A cruel fate to be sure, but one that Ellaria only really had herself to blame for making it a reality.

9. Stannis Baratheon Burning His Daughter Alive

Even Stannis Baratheon’s Wife Wanted to Stop It

Stannis Baratheon actually had a lot of support from both characters within the show and real-life fans of it. Then he went and burned his own daughter alive. For context, Stannis had hired the services of a Red Priestess, Melisandre, who possessed magical powers, with her greatest feats being performed when sacrificing the blood of kings. When faced with a blizzard that would destroy his army and ensure that his quest for the throne would end before it truly began, Stannis was left with an impossible choice: Either face the blizzard head on and hope for the best, or sacrifice his daughter and let the magic of her sacrifice break the storm and allow his army safe passage.

Now, viewers knew Shireen was the one person Stannis genuinely loved and cared for. He shielded her from the potential abuse of her mother, who despised Shireen both for not being a boy and because she was marked by grey-scale, a disease that would normally be fatal had it not been for Stannis’ relentless pursuit of a cure. In the end, though, Stannis’ desire for power trumped his fatherly love. He had Shireen burned at the stake, and while it did break the storm, his army was appalled that they had agreed to serve a man who could do such a thing. Half of them abandoned him overnight, and his wife, who realized that burning their only child was a horrific decision just before the act was done, took her own life out of guilt. Stannis was left with nothing and, in the ensuing battle, his army was defeated, and he was left wounded and alone. That was when Brienne of Tarth found him, and executed him for murdering his own brother, something he also accomplished through the use of Melisandre’s actions. In the end, Stannis only had himself to blame for his utter failure.

8. Jaime Lannister Leaving Brienne for Cersei

It Undid Jaime’s Entire Character Arc

Almost immediately, fans saw the chemistry between Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister. Though the two were combative with each other, both verbally and physically, as time passed they developed a rapport as they gained better understandings of one another. Jaime recognized Brienne as a talented warrior and a good woman, and Brienne realized Jaime was more complicated than an irreverent oathbreaker. As a plus, she was a woman he was interested in who wasn’t his sister, so things could only go up from there.

After years of build up, the two finally consummated their relationship in the final season after defeating the White Walkers. Then Jaime immediately left Brienne to go save Cersei. Because he loved her and not Brienne. After all Jaime had been through, rediscovering his sense of honor, doing the right thing, he went right back to the woman who enabled all of his worst decisions. It definitely cost him his life. In the process of trying to get to Cersei, he was fatally stabbed by Euron Greyjoy and then crushed under the debris from Daenerys’ assault on King’s Landing. All because of a character arc that was completely undone by this one poor decision.

7. Cersei Lannister Empowering the High Sparrow

Everything The High Sparrow Did After Was Her Fault

Cersei Lannister has been described as more of a fifteen-year-old girl in a woman’s body. Someone who does not think things all the way through and takes the quickest path to get what she wants. Well, that definitely applies to how she empowered the High Sparrow, making him the new High Septon and reforming the Faith Militant. She did this to ensure that Margaery Tyrell would be removed from power and humiliated, but what she never thought to consider was how the Faith Militant had religious jurisdiction over everyone, including her. So, when she was locked up on accusations of incest and adultery, she really only had herself to blame.

What followed was a chaotic time as the High Sparrow became the de facto ruler of King’s Landing and placed Cersei on trial for her life. Cersei was abused, humiliated, and worst of all lost her only remaining child to the High Sparrow’s influence. Pushed to her limits, she eventually became even more ruthless, detonating the wildfire stores beneath the Sept of Baelor and killing hundreds of people to secure her power. She beat the Faith Militant, but she lost her son in the end. Tommen took his own life after realizing his mother had killed his wife, leaving Cersei alone and on a downward spiral towards her inevitable end.

6. Jon Telling Sansa and Arya His True Identity

If Jon Had Kept His Mouth Shut Daenerys Would Be Alive

When Jon Snow learned he was actually the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, this changed the outlook of his future. Suddenly, he was the rightful heir to the throne, superseding Daenerys Targaryen, whom he had fallen in love with, and was, apparently, actually his aunt. Naturally, this threw Jon into turmoil. He didn’t want the throne, but this was also a part of who he was. Jon ended up telling Sansa and Arya, wanting to be honest with them. Perhaps he hoped them knowing that Jon was technically a bridge between the Starks and Targaryens, would ease the tension Daenerys had with his sisters, but he underestimated just how distrustful they had become on their own journeys.

Word quickly spread from there, and Daenerys’ position as the rightful heir was called into question. Suddenly, even some of her own supporters wanted Jon on the throne instead of her. Daenerys was already in a downward spiral because of a series of sudden and painful losses, so losing Jon’s affection and the one purpose she had in life, was a major contributor to what she did next. It also guaranteed that Jon would have to make a painful decision to end Daenerys’ life to spare the world from any violence she would unleash, resulting in his banishment beyond the Wall.

5. Sansa Trusting Littlefinger Led to Her Marriage to Ramsay Bolton

Sansa Would Become Sharper After This

There are plenty of bad ideas in the world of Westeros, and trusting Littlefinger is one of the major ones. His entire thing is siding with the greatest power to try to elevate his own position, and his obsession with Catelyn Stark, which later transferred to Sansa upon her death, only made him even more untrustworthy. Now, in Sansa’s defense, who else could she have turned to for support? The Lannisters killed her family and she had no other allies in the city. She had to leave with him, but she absolutely could have tried to make her opinions known about certain plans he had.

To position her as a spy within Winterfell, he married her off to Ramsay Bolton, who abused and assaulted her in the worst ways imaginable. Sansa suffered under his “care” in a way she never did, even with Joffrey. She rightfully blamed Littlefinger for this, both for not doing enough research on who she was marrying and for what happened afterward. The only reason she kept him around after was for his connections, but she was never the same after that experience. Sansa became colder and sharper, and arguably more like Cersei Lannister than she cared to admit. Trusting in Littlefinger’s judgment was the biggest mistake she ever made for herself.

4. Theon Greyjoy Betraying the Starks

Theon Would Literally Lose Himself Along the Way

Theon Greyjoy was poised to be a villain in the second season of the show. After betraying the Starks to rejoin his biological family, Theon, to prove himself, stormed Winterfell and seized it for himself. He did this without enough men to man the castle and then fooled everyone into thinking he murdered Bran and Rickon Stark as a show of power. So, when Ramsay Snow came calling and captured Theon, it felt as if karma had caught up with him, terrible as everything that ensued was.

Theon was tortured by Ramsay until he was completely broken and missing quite a few pieces of his body. Ramsay had robbed Theon of any confidence in his identity and turned him into a slave who was terrified of Ramsay’s wrath. He would spend the rest of the series trying to piece himself back together. Make no mistake, though, Theon brought this to himself. He made the tactically foolish decision to take the North without enough people to hold it. He knew there would be a reprisal, but it’s doubtful he suspected it would be so extreme

3.Ned Stark Warning Cersei

Honor Ultimately Killed the Warden of the North

This was the mistake that killed Ned Stark and, by extension, Robert Baratheon. After discovering the truth about Cersei Lannister’s children, that they were actually the result of her incestuous affair with her own brother, Ned warned Cersei to let her know to flee the country with her children. He knew Robert would have executed Cersei and Jaime, but he also suspected that he would kill the children, who were ignorant of the truth themselves.

Ned underestimated just how ruthless Cersei was. Now that she knew what was coming, she would do everything in her power to prevent it. Cersei engineered the death of Robert Baratheon, and then seized power so that Ned could not act against her. His men were killed, his children imprisoned or forced on the run, and Ned was locked up. Cersei intended to leverage Ned’s life for the sake of peace with the North, but she in turn underestimated her own son’s cruelty. So, Ned ended up losing his head all because he gave Cersei a heads-up

2. Tywin Lannister Not Valuing Tyrion’s Intellect

Years of Abuse Pushed Tyrion Over the Edge

The relationship between Tywin and his son Tyrion was highly abusive. Tywin despised Tyrion, not only for his dwarfism, but also for killing his wife when she gave birth to him, two things Tyrion could not possibly have controlled. The tragic irony is that Tyrion was the most like Tywin, possessing that same brilliance that allowed him to play the game masterfully. Had they teamed up, or had Tywin noted his son’s talents, they might actually have secured that thousand-year legacy Tywin so desperately wanted. In the end, he alienated Tyrion as much as possible, taking every opportunity to remind him of his disdain, and then he accused Tyrion of murder.

When Joffrey Baratheon was (thankfully) murdered, Tyrion was named the prime suspect. Seeing this as an opportunity to be rid of him despite knowing his son was innocent, Tywin went along with the trial. Tyrion was forced to be humiliated in front of everyone, causing him to demand a trial by combat, which his champion lost, condemning him to death. A character like Tyrion does not die easily though, and he escaped with help from his older brother, Jaime. Tyrion would try to confront Tywin, discovering that he had been sleeping with Tyrion’s lover, Shae, something he himself criticized Tyrion for. Unable to take his father’s abuse anymore, Tyrion kills him. Had Tywin even once given his son the affection he deserved, he might still be alive today.

1. Daenerys Burning King’s Landing

Daenerys Descent Into Tyranny Ensured Her Death

By far the biggest mistake made in the show was the destruction of King’s Landing. In a moment of fury, Daenerys burned the city to the ground with her dragon. She had what she wanted. The throne was hers by right and by conquest, but after everything she had lost since setting foot in Westeros, it just didn’t seem to be worth it in the end. That realization caused something within her to snap and finally vent her rage upon the people of the city. It was a moment that undid years of trying to be a better ruler than her father had been, and cemented Daenerys as one of the most dangerous villains of the show.While there are many who rightfully claim this ending was rushed, the decision still ensured her downfall. Daenerys was simply too dangerous to be left alive. If she just had an army, that would have been one thing, but she possessed a dragon and the will to use its fire against her enemies. Which, at this point, was the rest of the world. So, Jon Snow made the tragic decision to end her life before her reign of terror could begin. Daenerys may have made the choice to burn the city to the ground, but had even one thing gone differently, she would never have even considered doing such a thing.