I'm a little behind the times. While everyone has been freaking out about Game of Thrones for years, I just finished season one. I'd heard from many that this was a show where your feelings toward the characters will change and change again as the show goes on, so, as a bit of fun I thought I'd record how my feelings toward the characters change on an episode by episode basis.
Episode 1: Winter is Coming, or, Wow What A Bunch of Assholes
Wow, what a bunch of assholes. Ned's pretty decent, though his allowance of the treatment of John Snows is less than noble. Tyrion is my favorite. Just like everyone else from what I hear.
Least likable has to go to Viserys. Which is impressive when you consider he's competing with a child killer.
Episode 2: The Kingsroad, or, Don't Play With Nobles
Oh, only an attempted child killer.
Tip for living in Westeros: don't play with people whose fathers can have you executed.
I like Jorah quite a bit. It's hard to believe he was a slaver.
I've heard a lot of hate for Joffrey, but I can't say I share it. He's just a kid. Kids world views are determined by their upbringing. I actually feel for the little monster a bit. He thinks he's the center of the universe and when anything threatens that assumption you can see his world begin to crumble. It's not his fault, Cersei raised him that way. Hate her, not him. Except I'm guessing her upbringing wasn't much different. Those crazy insulated Lannisters.
Episode 3: Lord Snow, or, An Hour of Talking
So Tyrion and John Snow are clearly the two heroes of this show.
Arya's got potential. Daenerys too. Despite hoping she fails because the Dothraki are horrifying I'm starting to really like Daenerys. Great character growth.
I like Little Finger.
Episode 4: Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things, or, Even More Talking
Not much changes in this one.
Sam the Neckbeard shows up on the wall, more than a little out of place. If his family had any sense they would have dumped him with the clergy rather than the foreign legion. Maybe they don't have monks in Westeros.
Episode 5: The Wolf and the Lion, or, Does That Kid Eat Anything Other Than Breast Milk?
I don't know Ned, that pregnant girl with a claim to the throne is in charge of an angry horde ready and waiting to grind all of civilization into the dust. Pretty sure she needs to die. If you want to avoid assassination and infanticide maybe you should try a government that doesn't run on bloodlines. Maybe you could have set up an oligarchy or something instead of letting your drunken war buddy take sole authority over millions of lives. Also, I wonder how they knew about this. I think Jorah's a spy. Which makes me like him even more.
Wow, this lady is crazy. Lysa is going to be fun to hate.
Episode 6: Golden Crown, or, Fucking Finally
I'm so happy Viserys is dead. So happy.
Episode 7: You Win or You Die, or, A Lot of People Die
Whelp, the most despicable force in this world is now planning to invade civilization. Should've sent more assassins.
King Robert is dead. Can't say I'll miss him. Never really formed an opinion one way or another, mainly because it was clear he wouldn't be around long. The entire drama of the show stems from the question of his succession, he had to die pretty soon to make that interesting.
I like Little Finger even more for betraying Stark. Thank God someone stopped that maniac from starting a civil war over who a guys dad was. Nobodies got time for that, the Dothraki are coming! And I think Autumn is ending or something.
Episode 8: The Pointy End, or, Shut Up Sansa
I like Varys the Eunech. Him and Little Finger seem to be the only ones trying to keep this crazy country working while all these mad nobles keep trying to tear it apart with their ridiculous blood feuds.
Rob Stark has upgraded from nonentity to quite likable. Though, his sense of strategy seems a bit basic.
I didn't even realize how much I liked that sword teacher until he was gone. I will miss him.
Sansa is the least likable character on this show. Everyone else is awful for very deep and human reasons. This girl is just dumb.
Episode 9: Baelor, or, Ned Will Never Get Ahead in Life
Rob's sense of strategy was top notch after all. Very likable indeed.
Johns got the requisite special hero sword. He's definitely going places.
Filch is in this show! And he's talking about banging a 15 year old. This makes me feel very uncomfortable about his role at Hogwarts. Also, Catelyn promises the oldest male Stark will marry one of his daughters? That seems like a mighty big prize to give to some minor noble. He probably would have accepted Bran. Some speculation: such a marriage isn't nearly dramatic enough a fate for a character in this show. Which means it won't happen. Which means Robs war will not end well for him.
Oh, okay. Now I understand the Joffrey hate.
Episode 10: Fire and Blood, or, An Old Lady Saves the World and No One Cares
Poor Sansa. Rob's getting a bit big for his britches. Being King of the North is great but without allies you won't be king of anything.
So the most likable character of this season was the old witch who took out Drogo. Tough old lady saved the world. Too bad about what happened to her.
I guess Jorah isn't a spy. Or maybe his allegiances have changed. Which makes sense. If you're looking for the winning side, the one with dragons is going to be a pretty safe bet.
Out of the permanent cast Tyrion and John Snow continue to be the only truly lovable characters, and at this point it's quite hard to pick a least likable. Now that Sansa's lost everything she finally appears to have wised up. That leaves Joffrey but I still can't bring myself to hate him. I look at him and I just think "Yep, that's what you get when you raise a kid to be a ruthless egoist and yet always obey you. Eventually he's going to rail against one of those things, hard, and it's probably going to be the latter." I guess the award of least likable goes to Lysa the Crazy by default.
There's now a Part Two