History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / GameOfThrones

** However, her means include inflicting {{Cruel and Unusual Death}}s, an occassional [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white view of the world]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero her habit of conquering cities and leaving them worse off than before]], and the fact she seems to kill people on a whim, even when she has no proof that they'd done anything wrong.

* Smalljon Umber. What was on his mind when he decided to ally with Ramsay, knowing that the latter is a tyrannical CompleteMonster? Was he attempting to use him as an UnwittingPawn to gain the trust of and eventually dispose of, considering the fact that he came after the far more calculating Roose (who could have less likely trusted him) was killed? And to interpret his intentions, who was he truly loyal to? The Boltons? The Starks? The former is unlikely, but if it's the latter, why would he give Rickon to the Boltons, knowing full well what may happen to him in the dungeons? Also, even if he is, why would he obviously be fighting against them, and attempt to kill Jon Snow in battle before being wrestled down by Tormund? Is he a self-serving and ambitious [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who manipulates events for his own personal gain and maybe install his own house as the new Great House of the North, a ploy that was ruined by [[spoiler:his arrogance in battle that eventually led to his death]]? And considering his dislike towards his father, did the Greatjon ''really'' die of natural causes, as the Smalljon insists, or [[TheEvilPrince did the son murder the father to take power for himself]]?

Considering the large number of characters in the series, many possible [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation interpretations]] of them were bound to come up.

* Lady Crane and Bianca. Specifically, Arya assumes that Bianca is the one who put the hit on Lady Crane out of jealousy. Jaqen never confirms this either way because he says it's not important, but Arya still decides it ''is'' Bianca just because she saw her mouthing Lady Crane's lines offstage, accuses her after saving Lady Crane's life and leaves. And on that note, Arya's HeelFaceTurn is spurred because she can't bring herself to kill an innocent woman, but how "innocent" is Lady Crane? True, she's kind to Arya and later she saves her life, either out of altruistic reasons or simply to return the favor, but she also casually reveals that she had Bianca disfigured based solely on Arya's word alone, and stabbed several of her lovers out of jealousy before patching them up again.

* Bran Stark [[spoiler:is effectively omniscient, has magical powers that include ''retroactively [[MindRape Mind Raping]] Hodor'', and yet doesn't tell anyone about Daenerys's sack of King's Landing. Later, he is crowned king, and tells Tyrion "Why do you think I came all this way?". This has led many fans to accuse Bran of being a MagnificentBastard BigBad who has used his magical powers selectively to make himself king of Westeros. Some fan even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWvQ_X2sqqE put together]] a TwistEnding that posits that Bran also inherited a SoulFragment of the Night King and is behind not just Daenerys's downfall by warging into her during her infamous massacre of King's Landing, but also Tommen's suicide, Melisandre giving up her immortality, and even Jaime's murder of Aerys decades before.]]

* Smalljon Umber. What was on his mind when he decided to ally with Ramsay, knowing that the latter is a tyrannical CompleteMonster? Was he attempting to use him as an UnwittingPawn to gain the trust of and eventually dispose of, considering the fact that he came after the far more calculating Roose (who could have less likely trusted him) was killed? And to interpret his intentions, who was he truly loyal to? The Boltons? The Starks? The former is unlikely, but if it's the latter, why would he give Rickon to the Boltons, knowing full well what may happen to him in the dungeons? Also, even if he is, why would he obviously be fighting against them, and attempt to kill Jon Snow in battle before being wrestled down by Tormund? Is he a self-serving and ambitious [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who manipulates events for his own personal gain and maybe install his own house as the new Great House of the North, a ploy that was ruined by [[spoiler:his arrogance in battle that eventually led to his death]]? And considering his dislike towards his father, did the Greatjon really die of natural causes, as the Smalljon insists, or [[TheEvilPrince did the son murder the father to take power for himself]]?

* Ellaria Sand in Season 5 onward. Is she driven by grief and frustration [[spoiler:when Oberyn died]] that she’s willing to commit bloody murder? Or is she just using his death to get what she wants regardless that her actions are against his wishes?

* Sean Bean has stated that he feels that Catelyn Stark suspects Jon Snow's true origin, and that the real reason she can't help but scorn him is because Ned won't trust her with the the truth.

* Rhaegar Targaryen. Daenerys and Barristan regard him as a great man while Robert and Sansa view him as a rapist who kidnapped Lyanna Stark. Oberyn who was initially taken by Rhaegar's charm and good-looks regards him as an arrogant idiot who got himself killed and who made the realm suffer for his actions most especially for taking Lyanna who is already engaged and abandoning his wife, Elia, and their two children. In the books, various people from all different factions such as Jaime, Jon Connington, Maester Aemon, Cersei speak very highly of Rhaegar. Ned Stark in a private moment actually wonders if Rhaegar would be a whoremonger like Robert, and believes he wouldn't have been. He's also less vocal in voicing hatred to Rhaegar even though he has as much reason to hate him as Robert does. In fact, Robert, Sansa, and Bran (who learned this as part of his lessons from Maester Luwin) are the only ones who explicitly state that Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Lyanna. Daenerys also describes her brother as carrying Lyanna off at sword point, which she thinks of as romantic. Even the circumstances surrounding his relationship with Lyanna was a complete mystery most especially when their relationship resulted in [[spoiler:the birth of Jon Snow. When it's revealed that Rhaegar annulled his marriage with Elia just to marry Lyanna who also loved him, it makes him more of a complete asshole who discards Elia and their two children like trash and he even names his third child, "Aegon", which sort of looked he intends to replace Elia's son with Lyanna's]].

* Whether or not Robert genuinely loved Lyanna or not is something that many wonder, including Ned Stark, who rode into battle by Robert's side ''because'' of his sister's kidnapping. Robert says many times that he loved her greatly, and besides showing genuine grief upon visiting her statue in the Winterfell crypt, as well as dreaming of killing Rhaegar (Lyanna's kidnapper/rapist) night after night, he is incapable of loving his wife Cersei because he still mourns Lyanna. However, Ned recalls that Lyanna was not as passionate about their betrothal, and said once that Robert was unlikely to stop sleeping around just because he was married [[spoiler:(which is quite rich coming from someone who would run off with a married man).]] Robert often recalls Lyanna as elegant and gentle, when in reality, Lyanna was strong-willed and a bit of a tomboy. So either Robert loved Lyanna for all she was, or he just appreciated her beauty. It could be noted that Robert told Cersei that he still loves Lyanna even though he's long forgotten what she even looked like. What he said about her in the crypt is also a point that seems to show he loved the idea of her rather than her as a person, he states that she should be "buried on a hill, with the sun shining down on her" to which Ned (correctly) replies that she was a Stark, who are tough northerners, she is noted to be a bit of a tomboy, and would probably chafe at the idea of not being interred with her family where she belongs.

Considering the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in the series, many possible [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation interpretations]] of them were bound to come up.

** Some see the latter as evidence of a flawed hero who, like many characters grapples with the problem of being good and being powerful, others see her as suffering from constant IgnoredEpiphany and the Mad King's daughter.

* Bran Stark [[spoiler:is effectively omniscient, has magical powers that include ''retroactively [[MindRape Mind Raping]] Hodor'', and yet doesn't tell anyone about Daenerys's sack of King's Landing. Later, he is crowned king, and tells Tyrion "Why do you think I came all this way?". This has led many fans to accuse Bran of being a MagnificentBastard BigBad who has used his magical powers selectively to make himself king of Westeros. Plus, being both omniscient and able to TimeTravel, he's essentially a god. Some fan even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWvQ_X2sqqE put together]] a TwistEnding that posits that Bran is behind not just Daenerys's downfall, but also Tommen's suicide, Melisandre's death, and even Jaime's murder of Aerys decades before.]]

* Bran Stark [[spoiler:is effectively omniscient, has magical powers that include ''retroactively [[MindRape Mind Raping]] Hodor'', and yet doesn't tell anyone about Daenerys's sack of King's Landing. Later, he is crowned king, and tells Tyrion that he "didn't come all the way down here for nothing."[[note]] the exact quote was “Why do you think I came all this way?[[/note]] This has led many fans to accuse Bran of being a MagnificentBastard BigBad who has used his magical powers selectively to make himself king of Westeros. Some fan even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWvQ_X2sqqE put together]] a TwistEnding that posits that Bran is behind not just Daenerys's downfall, but also Tommen's suicide, Melisandre's death, and even Jaime's murder of Aerys decades before.]]

* Bran Stark [[spoiler:is effectively omniscient, has magical powers that include ''retroactively [[MindRape Mind Raping]] Hodor'', and yet doesn't tell anyone about Daenerys's sack of King's Landing. Later, he is crowned king, and tells Tyrion that he "didn't come all the way down here for nothing."[[note]] the exact quote was “Why do you think I came all this way?[[/note]] This has led many fans to accuse Bran of being a MagnificentBastard BigBad who has used his magical powers selectively to make himself king of Westeros.]]

* Whether or not Robert genuinely loved Lyanna or not is something that many wonder, including Ned Stark, who rode into battle by Robert's side ''because'' of his sister's kidnapping. Robert says many times that he loved her greatly, and besides showing genuine grief upon visiting her statue in the Winterfell crypt, as well as dreaming of killing Rhaegar (Lyanna's kidnapper/rapist) night after night, he is incapable of loving his wife Cersei because he still mourns Lyanna. However, Ned recalls that Lyanna was not as passionate about their betrothal, and said once that Robert was unlikely to stop sleeping around just because he was married [[spoiler:(which is quite rich coming from someone who would run off with a married man).]] Robert often recalls Lyanna as elegant and gentle, when in reality, Lyanna was strong-willed and a bit of a tomboy. So either Robert loved Lyanna for all she was, or he just appreciated her beauty. It could be noted that Robert told Cersei that he still loves Lyanna even though he's long forgotten what she even looked like.

** Or is she simply a petulant narcissist who lashes out whenever people don't instanly adore her?

* Renly is either the OnlySaneMan among the Baratheon brothers who won't let the fact that he's a younger brother stop him from doing what he believes is best for the realm, or a weak and self-serving man with DelusionsOfEloquence with no clear idea of governance, who is TooCleverByHalf and a PuppetKing in the mould of Joffrey and Tommen, with the Tyrells rather than the Lannisters in charge. In addition, is he really the NiceGuy and TheGoodKing that he (and everyone around him) paint him as, and even so how good a king would he really be? Or is he really a BitchInSheepsClothing not so different from his book counterpart, a slimy aristocrat who knows the consequences of his actions of declaring himself king yet still decides to go for it out of sheer greed? Is the supposed AdaptationalHeroism really as substantial as it seems?

** Theon's actions in season 7 when he jumps overboard and abandons Yara to Euron: Was he so overwhelmed with PTSD that he couldn't think straight and fled in a panic? Or did he abandon ship because he realized he couldn't do anything for Yara in that moment and thought it would be better to flee and come back to rescue her later when he regrouped with the other Ironborn?

* Lady Crane and Bianca. Specifically, Arya assumes that Bianca is the one who put the hit on Lady Crane out of jealousy. Jaqen never confirms this either way because he says it's not important, but Arya still decides it ''is'' Bianca just because she saw her mouthing Lady Crane's lines offstage, accuses her after saving Lady Crane's life and leaves. And on that note, Arya's HeelFaceTurn is spurred because she can't bring herself to kill an innocent woman, but how "innocent" is Lady Crane? True, she's kind to Arya and later she saves her life, either out of altruistic reasons or simply to return the favour, but she also casually reveals that she had Bianca disfigured based solely on Arya's word alone, and stabbed several of her lovers out of jealousy before patching them up again.

**

* Ellaria Sand in Season 5 onwards. Is she driven by grief and frustration [[spoiler:when Oberyn died]] that she’s willing to commit bloody murder? Or is she just using his death to get what she wants regardless that her actions are against his wishes?

* Is Theon Greyjoy a traitor to the Stark family that raised him, or is he right when he states that as a hostage, he owed them nothing.

** Or is she simply a petulant narcissist who lashes out whenever people don't instanly adore her.

** Alternatively, there is a likely theory that the Greatjon may have actually been [[TheChessmaster planning for a Grand Northern Conspiracy all along]], and Jon Snow's Hardhome mission [[SpannerInTheWorks hindered that plan]] had put him at odds with his son. This may or may not have led to the far more xenophobic Smalljon poisoning his father while smoke screening it with a "natural" death, then allying his house with the Boltons to fight against the Wildlings, a group he perceives to be as a more immediate threat.

** Alternatively, there is a likely theory that the Greatjon may have actually been [[TheChessmaster planning for a Grand Northern Conspiracy all along]], and Jon's Hardhome mission [[SpannerInTheWorks hindered that plan]] had put him at odds with his son. This may or may not have led to the far more xenophobic Smalljon poisoning his father while smoke screening it with a "natural" death, then allying his house with the Boltons to fight against the Wildlings, a group he perceives to be as a more immediate threat.

** Or is she simply a petulant narcissist who lashes out whenevr people don't instanly adore her.

** Her main goal is putting herself on the throne, which is hardly noble.

** Considering from her conversation with Jaime that she knew that he and Myrcella are not responsible for his death ''which she herself witnessed'', you either think she’s lying just to make Jaime believe that they’re at peace and still unable to let go of her anger or she doesn’t care who’s responsible and in her mind, [[InsaneTrollLogic someone has to pay]].