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* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: The Free Cities of Essos practice slavery, and are much more comfortable with kinslaying, violating hospitalty, and turning cloaks in the middle of a war than the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The imperial traditions of Westeros, however hidebound they may be, have created generations of able warriors who are famed for their loyalty, and a general culture where hospitality, oath keeping and familial and liege loyalty are both valued and expected, ensuring a measure of political stability and strength in Westeros totally lacking in Essos. And while the smallfolk do have it rough in the class system of Westeros, they are afforded some basic rights and the nobility do have nominal obligations to their subjects, which are not present in the relatively atomised Cities of Essos, where slaves are effectively without rights and live essentially at their masters' whim. Rape, castration, sexual slavery and other horrific fates are not uncommon in the Free Cities, and the static nature of the class system in Westeros, while restricting upwards mobility in society, also offers a measure of protection for people who risk falling too low: In Essos, anyone is at risk of becoming a slave, as shown by the example of King Viserys II, who was very nearly MadeASlave by Lysandro Rogare in Lys, and would have been if not for the importance of his family name.
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* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: The [[AvertedTrope No.]]
** As harsh as Westeros can be, the Free Cities of Essos, who govern themselves as merchant led oligarchies, aren't exactly paragons of virtue, and are in many ways worse. Most of Essos practice slavery, and are much more comfortable with kinslaying, violating hospitalty, and turning cloaks in the middle of a war than the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The imperial traditions of Westeros, however hidebound they may be, have created generations of able warriors who are famed for their loyalty, and a general culture where hospitality, oath keeping and familial and liege loyalty are both valued and expected, ensuring a measure of political stability and strength in Westeros totally lacking in Essos. And while the smallfolk do have it rough in the class system of Westeros, they are afforded some basic rights and the nobility do have nominal obligations to their subjects, which are not present in the relatively atomised Cities of Essos, where slaves are effectively without rights and live essentially at their masters' whim. Rape, castration, sexual slavery and other horrific fates are not uncommon in the Free Cities, and the static nature of the class system in Westeros, while restricting upwards mobility in society, also offers a measure of protection for people who risk falling too low: In Essos, anyone is at risk of becoming a slave, as shown by the example of King Viserys II, who was very nearly MadeASlave by Lysandro Rogare in Lys, and would have been if not for the importance of his familyname. name.
** Daenarys starts a campaign of conquest against the rump states of the Ghiscar Empire, most of whom rule in an oligarchic manner, specifically to end the institution of slavery. While her methods cause a host of problems, she is able to gain support from native Ghiscari like the Shavepate, who view the freedom under her rule as preferable to republican rule. Regardless of how ostensibly virtuous republics are compared to imperial governments, the reality is that the freedom TheEveryman craves for is economic rather than political: the freedom to eat, to live without being in chains and to go about one's daily life means more to the average person, [[CrapsackWorld particularly in lands like Essos and Westeros,]] than the freedom to run for office or elect their leaders, and many people will side with empries over republics for exactly such reasons.
** The rule of the Targaryens was brought about through Fire and Blood, but uniting Westeros into one kingdom not only put an end to the regional conflicts between the Seven Kingdoms, but allowed the Targaryens, who ruled in near absolute terms until the Dance of the Dragons, to moderate and eliminate some of the worst practices of Westeros, such as DroitDuSeigneur and thralldom. Despite being out of the shadow of the Valyrian Empire for several centuries, few of the Free Cities have any real ability or desire to eliminate their own negative institutions such as slavery because these are seen as either big money makers or just integral parts of the culture of Essos. Those men like [[TheQuisling the Shavepate]] who do want to reform their societies effectively have to rely on foreign rulers to do so as they are often going up against their very own people to accomplish their reforms, and are often excluded from power in all other cases.
** As harsh as Westeros can be, the Free Cities of Essos, who govern themselves as merchant led oligarchies, aren't exactly paragons of virtue, and are in many ways worse. Most of Essos practice slavery, and are much more comfortable with kinslaying, violating hospitalty, and turning cloaks in the middle of a war than the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The imperial traditions of Westeros, however hidebound they may be, have created generations of able warriors who are famed for their loyalty, and a general culture where hospitality, oath keeping and familial and liege loyalty are both valued and expected, ensuring a measure of political stability and strength in Westeros totally lacking in Essos. And while the smallfolk do have it rough in the class system of Westeros, they are afforded some basic rights and the nobility do have nominal obligations to their subjects, which are not present in the relatively atomised Cities of Essos, where slaves are effectively without rights and live essentially at their masters' whim. Rape, castration, sexual slavery and other horrific fates are not uncommon in the Free Cities, and the static nature of the class system in Westeros, while restricting upwards mobility in society, also offers a measure of protection for people who risk falling too low: In Essos, anyone is at risk of becoming a slave, as shown by the example of King Viserys II, who was very nearly MadeASlave by Lysandro Rogare in Lys, and would have been if not for the importance of his family
** Daenarys starts a campaign of conquest against the rump states of the Ghiscar Empire, most of whom rule in an oligarchic manner, specifically to end the institution of slavery. While her methods cause a host of problems, she is able to gain support from native Ghiscari like the Shavepate, who view the freedom under her rule as preferable to republican rule. Regardless of how ostensibly virtuous republics are compared to imperial governments, the reality is that the freedom TheEveryman craves for is economic rather than political: the freedom to eat, to live without being in chains and to go about one's daily life means more to the average person, [[CrapsackWorld particularly in lands like Essos and Westeros,]] than the freedom to run for office or elect their leaders, and many people will side with empries over republics for exactly such reasons.
** The rule of the Targaryens was brought about through Fire and Blood, but uniting Westeros into one kingdom not only put an end to the regional conflicts between the Seven Kingdoms, but allowed the Targaryens, who ruled in near absolute terms until the Dance of the Dragons, to moderate and eliminate some of the worst practices of Westeros, such as DroitDuSeigneur and thralldom. Despite being out of the shadow of the Valyrian Empire for several centuries, few of the Free Cities have any real ability or desire to eliminate their own negative institutions such as slavery because these are seen as either big money makers or just integral parts of the culture of Essos. Those men like [[TheQuisling the Shavepate]] who do want to reform their societies effectively have to rely on foreign rulers to do so as they are often going up against their very own people to accomplish their reforms, and are often excluded from power in all other cases.
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* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: The Free Cities of Essos practice slavery, and are much more comfortable with kinslaying, violating hospitalty, and turning cloaks in the middle of a war than the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The imperial traditions of Westeros, however hidebound they may be, have created generations of able warriors who are famed for their loyalty, and a general culture where hospitality, oath keeping and familial and liege loyalty are both valued and expected, ensuring a measure of political stability and strength in Westeros totally lacking in Essos. And while the smallfolk do have it rough in the class system of Westeros, they are afforded some basic rights and the nobility do have nominal obligations to their subjects, which are not present in the relatively atomised Cities of Essos, where slaves are effectively without rights and live essentially at their masters' whim. Rape, castration, sexual slavery and other horrific fates are not uncommon in the Free Cities, and the static nature of the class system in Westeros, while restricting upwards mobility in society, also offers a measure of protection for people who risk falling too low: In Essos, anyone is at risk of becoming a slave, as shown by the example of King Viserys II, who was very nearly MadeASlave by Lysandro Rogare in Lys, and would have been if not for the importance of his family name.
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** This also creates a mentality of ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney, which is how the Free Cities tend to deal with the Dothraki, usually just buying them off instead of risking the destruction of their cities, and while this may be a short term solution, all it accomplishes is encouraging the Dothraki to extort more wealth from the Cities until they get bored and sack the cities anyway. The Ironborn, who used to do to Westeros what the Dothraki do now to Essos, have always had a much harder time of raiding the other Kingdoms because Westerosi are more willing and able to fight back instead of payiong off their invaders, and after the Seven Kingdoms were into one, were since then kept on a tight leash.
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** This also creates a mentality of ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney, which is how the Free Cities tend to deal with the Dothraki, usually just buying them off instead of risking the destruction of their cities, and while this may be a short term solution, all it accomplishes is encouraging the Dothraki to extort more wealth from the Cities until they get bored and sack the cities anyway. The Ironborn, who used to do to Westeros what the Dothraki do now to Essos, have always had a much harder time of raiding the other Kingdoms because the Westerosi are more willing and able to fight back instead of payiong paying off their invaders, and after the Seven Kingdoms were forged into one, were the Ironborn have since then been kept on a tight leash.leash in a way the Free Cities could only dream of doing.
** Braavos is probably the most ideal Free City in Essos, being the only place in Essos where slavery is detested and abolished, but whatever republican veneer Braavos holds is undercut by the implications that the Iron Bank of Braavos is the real power in the city, whose political power is enforced at home and abroad not just with loans and debt but with the relationship the Bank seems to have with the Faceless Men, a death worshipping assassin's guild who have the ability to disguise themselves as other people, and who have at one point threatened the Targaryens for attempting to reclaim their dragon eggs. Given that wealth is the chief concern and main means of power in Essos, its unsurpising such an entity would hold such an influence.
** Braavos is probably the most ideal Free City in Essos, being the only place in Essos where slavery is detested and abolished, but whatever republican veneer Braavos holds is undercut by the implications that the Iron Bank of Braavos is the real power in the city, whose political power is enforced at home and abroad not just with loans and debt but with the relationship the Bank seems to have with the Faceless Men, a death worshipping assassin's guild who have the ability to disguise themselves as other people, and who have at one point threatened the Targaryens for attempting to reclaim their dragon eggs. Given that wealth is the chief concern and main means of power in Essos, its unsurpising such an entity would hold such an influence.
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* ProudMerchantRaceGuy:
** Contrast to Westeros, much of the Free Cities of Essos operate as merchant oligarchies, and look down contemptuosly on Westerosi society, with Varys, a Lyseni, and Littlefinger, whose grandfather was of Braavos, being somewhat frustrated by Westerosi obsessions with honour, bloodlines and martial prowess. This contempt of Westerosi values has made the Free Cities comparatively rich, but it has also made them phenomenally corrupt to a degree that it interferes with the Cities ability to function: While wealthy, the Cities are constantly divided against each other, because the values of oath keeping and martial prowess, seemingly looked down upon, are what give each Westerosi lord the ability to field strong warriors who can be trusted most of the time not to turn their blades upon their liege lords, and while Aegon the Conqueror could defeat the former Kings with dragonfire, it was ultimately his reliance on their oaths and loyalty that allowed the Seven Kingdoms to coalesce into one empire under the Targaryens. In Essos, customs such as guest right hold less weight, but while this may make Essos comparatively pragmatic, it also make deceit and treachery much more common since they are less likely to be admonished or punished for it.
** This also creates a mentality of ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney, which is how the Free Cities tend to deal with the Dothraki, usually just buying them off instead of risking the destruction of their cities, and while this may be a short term solution, all it accomplishes is encouraging the Dothraki to extort more wealth from the Cities until they get bored and sack the cities anyway. The Ironborn, who used to do to Westeros what the Dothraki do now to Essos, have always had a much harder time of raiding the other Kingdoms because Westerosi are more willing and able to fight back instead of payiong off their invaders, and after the Seven Kingdoms were into one, were since then kept on a tight leash.
** Lastly, because wealth is the primary value instead of honour in Essosi society, virtually no one in the Free Cities is willing to put their lives on the line for anything other than self advancement. The result is that the vast majority of fighting done on Essos is done through mercenaries, who can and do switch loyalities for more gold, or even on a whim, in a way that would not be tolerated in Westerosi society, as the Brave Companions found out the hard way. It's telling that the most valued warriors in Essos are the Golden Company, whose deep roots in Westeros makes them near guaranteed for both loyalty and martial prowess, and the Unsullied, who have been brutally conditioned for loyalty to their masters.
** Contrast to Westeros, much of the Free Cities of Essos operate as merchant oligarchies, and look down contemptuosly on Westerosi society, with Varys, a Lyseni, and Littlefinger, whose grandfather was of Braavos, being somewhat frustrated by Westerosi obsessions with honour, bloodlines and martial prowess. This contempt of Westerosi values has made the Free Cities comparatively rich, but it has also made them phenomenally corrupt to a degree that it interferes with the Cities ability to function: While wealthy, the Cities are constantly divided against each other, because the values of oath keeping and martial prowess, seemingly looked down upon, are what give each Westerosi lord the ability to field strong warriors who can be trusted most of the time not to turn their blades upon their liege lords, and while Aegon the Conqueror could defeat the former Kings with dragonfire, it was ultimately his reliance on their oaths and loyalty that allowed the Seven Kingdoms to coalesce into one empire under the Targaryens. In Essos, customs such as guest right hold less weight, but while this may make Essos comparatively pragmatic, it also make deceit and treachery much more common since they are less likely to be admonished or punished for it.
** This also creates a mentality of ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney, which is how the Free Cities tend to deal with the Dothraki, usually just buying them off instead of risking the destruction of their cities, and while this may be a short term solution, all it accomplishes is encouraging the Dothraki to extort more wealth from the Cities until they get bored and sack the cities anyway. The Ironborn, who used to do to Westeros what the Dothraki do now to Essos, have always had a much harder time of raiding the other Kingdoms because Westerosi are more willing and able to fight back instead of payiong off their invaders, and after the Seven Kingdoms were into one, were since then kept on a tight leash.
** Lastly, because wealth is the primary value instead of honour in Essosi society, virtually no one in the Free Cities is willing to put their lives on the line for anything other than self advancement. The result is that the vast majority of fighting done on Essos is done through mercenaries, who can and do switch loyalities for more gold, or even on a whim, in a way that would not be tolerated in Westerosi society, as the Brave Companions found out the hard way. It's telling that the most valued warriors in Essos are the Golden Company, whose deep roots in Westeros makes them near guaranteed for both loyalty and martial prowess, and the Unsullied, who have been brutally conditioned for loyalty to their masters.
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* VicariouslyAmbitious: If a noble house has reached the apex of what it can achieve in the current generation, they'll focus their efforts on advancing the next. This does not often end well.
** Tywin Lannister, wanting to have a Lannister sit on the Iron Throne, works hard to ensure that his daughter Cersei will marry the king or his heir, and when she does have a child in line as heir, will do whatever he can to support them. Problem is, not only are all of his grandchildren bastards, and thus unable to inherit unless he wins, but the crown prince is a RoyalBrat that swiftly morphs in an EvilPrince (and then a truly heinous king), and his constant efforts to marry off Cersei alienates him to her ([[AbusiveParents though he had a good chance of doing that anyway from his parenting style]]).
** In ''Literature/FireAndBlood'' and, by extension, ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', Alicent Hightower convinces her son Aegon to stake his claim for the Iron Throne ahead of the designated heir, his paternal half-sister Rhaenyra. It's made abundantly clear that Aegon would be a ''horrible'' ruler, and House Hightower's efforts to seat him on the Iron Throne leave them a spent force into modern times, and also proves to be AllForNothing, as Aegon is poisoned by his own Councilors after he crosses one line too many.
** Tywin Lannister, wanting to have a Lannister sit on the Iron Throne, works hard to ensure that his daughter Cersei will marry the king or his heir, and when she does have a child in line as heir, will do whatever he can to support them. Problem is, not only are all of his grandchildren bastards, and thus unable to inherit unless he wins, but the crown prince is a RoyalBrat that swiftly morphs in an EvilPrince (and then a truly heinous king), and his constant efforts to marry off Cersei alienates him to her ([[AbusiveParents though he had a good chance of doing that anyway from his parenting style]]).
** In ''Literature/FireAndBlood'' and, by extension, ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', Alicent Hightower convinces her son Aegon to stake his claim for the Iron Throne ahead of the designated heir, his paternal half-sister Rhaenyra. It's made abundantly clear that Aegon would be a ''horrible'' ruler, and House Hightower's efforts to seat him on the Iron Throne leave them a spent force into modern times, and also proves to be AllForNothing, as Aegon is poisoned by his own Councilors after he crosses one line too many.
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* DarthVaderClone: Both Sandor and Gregor Clegane can be considered this, in that they illustrate just how ''miserable'' someone in Vader's position would be, and how maladapted a person like this would be outside of the battlefield.
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Robert canonically did nothing to start the war, Aerys murdered two of the Starks, one Arryn & the heirs of other Riverlands, Vale & Northern Houses and then demanded the heads of the Jon Arryn's wards, the three of whom (along with House Mallister in the Riverlands) called their banners in unequivocable self-defense.
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** Lyanna Stark was betrothed to a man she disliked at best and was a tomboy trapped in a misogynistic culture. Rhaegar was the prince of the realm. Sounds like a fairy tale, right? Except the former did not think the repercussions through, the prince was a married man with two children, Robert did not take his fiancee absconding well and kickstarted a war to dethrone the prince's family, and to cap it all of it's implied Rhaegar never really cared for Lyanna and only used her to fulfill a prophecy.
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** Lyanna Stark was betrothed to a man she disliked at best and was a tomboy trapped in a misogynistic culture. Rhaegar was the prince of the realm. Sounds like a fairy tale, right? Except the former did not think the repercussions through, the prince was a married man with two children, Robert Brandon did not take his fiancee Rhaegar absconding with his 14 year old sister well and was murdered by Aerys (who then murdered their father & kickstarted a war to dethrone of survival by calling for the prince's family, heads of Robert Baratheon & Eddard Stark), and to cap it all of it's implied Rhaegar never really cared for Lyanna and only used her to fulfill a prophecy.
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TRS cleanup
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* BigBadWannabe: Excessive, short-sighted villainy [[PyrrhicVillainy can lead to your downfall]] if you're too foolish or weak and can't find a way out if your immediate benefactor is removed from the picture:
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* BigBadWannabe: Excessive, short-sighted villainy [[PyrrhicVillainy [[HoistByHisOwnPetard can lead to your downfall]] if you're too foolish or weak and can't find a way out if your immediate benefactor is removed from the picture:
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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** Catelyn and Edmure are each suffocated by their mantle of "responsible" and "foolish" respectively. Catelyn's various responsibilities end up in conflict with one another, and force her to be separated from her family, and lead her to make some highly questionable decisions, effectively showing how the mantle of "the responsible one" is nearly impossible to live up to in practice. Edmure, meanwhile, highly resents his designation as the foolish sibling (having a reputation for being 'hot-headed but good-hearted') and he does everything in his power to try and disprove his status by taking on actions that seem to be what the "responsible sibling" would do, and always trying to do what he thinks is right for the family or what he thinks Robb needs him to do, but his actions actually make him something of a liability. There is reason to think that they would each be happier in the other role. But, ultimately, [[spoiler: Responsible and Foolish are each taken UpToEleven with Lady Stoneheart becoming the leader of the Brotherhood and ruthlessly eliminating anyone associated with the enemies of her family, while Edmure is repeatedly humiliated and embarrassed as a hostage to the Freys and Lannisters.]]
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** Catelyn and Edmure are each suffocated by their mantle of "responsible" and "foolish" respectively. Catelyn's various responsibilities end up in conflict with one another, and force her to be separated from her family, and lead her to make some highly questionable decisions, effectively showing how the mantle of "the responsible one" is nearly impossible to live up to in practice. Edmure, meanwhile, highly resents his designation as the foolish sibling (having a reputation for being 'hot-headed but good-hearted') and he does everything in his power to try and disprove his status by taking on actions that seem to be what the "responsible sibling" would do, and always trying to do what he thinks is right for the family or what he thinks Robb needs him to do, but his actions actually make him something of a liability. There is reason to think that they would each be happier in the other role. But, ultimately, [[spoiler: Responsible and Foolish are each taken UpToEleven up to eleven with Lady Stoneheart becoming the leader of the Brotherhood and ruthlessly eliminating anyone associated with the enemies of her family, while Edmure is repeatedly humiliated and embarrassed as a hostage to the Freys and Lannisters.]]
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** Cersei is the queen of the realm in an unhappy marriage, Jaime is one of the most elite knights of the realm, infamous as the KingSlayer who took down [[TheCaligula Mad King Aerys.]] The problem? [[BrotherSisterIncest They're twins.]]
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** Cersei is the queen of the realm in an unhappy marriage, Jaime is one of the most elite knights of the realm, infamous as the KingSlayer Kingslayer who took down [[TheCaligula Mad King Aerys.]] The problem? [[BrotherSisterIncest They're twins.]]
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** The Baratheon Brothers falls into this, with Robert and Renly falling into the Foolish side, while Stannis falls into Responsible. The two brothers [[TheUnfavofite did not like Stannis]]; the former showed preference to his best friend Ned Stark [[ReassignedToAntarctica and put Stannis in charge of Dragonstone far way from him]] while the latter makes a bid to usurped Stannis in the line of succession. Stannis for his part hates both of his brothers, seeing them both as [[UpperClassTwit Upper Class Twits]]. It's why Stannis has no qualms in plotting Renly's death.
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** The Baratheon Brothers falls into this, with Robert and Renly falling into the Foolish side, while Stannis falls into Responsible. The two brothers [[TheUnfavofite [[TheUnfavorite did not like Stannis]]; the former showed preference to his best friend Ned Stark [[ReassignedToAntarctica and put Stannis in charge of Dragonstone far way from him]] while the latter makes a bid to usurped Stannis in the line of succession. Stannis for his part hates both of his brothers, seeing them both as [[UpperClassTwit Upper Class Twits]]. It's why Stannis has no qualms in plotting Renly's death.
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Loads and Loads of Characters cleanup
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* TheChessmaster: In a story with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters (as is RealLife, mind you) you can't always predict what others are up to and move accordingly. Also, sometimes their plans fall apart because they take too long to make a decisive action, or are blinded by their personal flaws or bias. That's why most of them has failed or will eventually fail. The only character in-series that has managed to do his bidding till the very end was Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers...who could because he has supernatural powers who allow him to spy everyone everywhere and manipulate events.
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* TheChessmaster: In a story with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters oodles of characters (as is RealLife, mind you) you can't always predict what others are up to and move accordingly. Also, sometimes their plans fall apart because they take too long to make a decisive action, or are blinded by their personal flaws or bias. That's why most of them has failed or will eventually fail. The only character in-series that has managed to do his bidding till the very end was Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers...who could because he has supernatural powers who allow him to spy everyone everywhere and manipulate events.
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** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flat-footed. Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way. Had he not enabled Bran's love for climbing against the wishes of [[ProperlyParanoid Catelyn]], Bran would not have been crippled and nearly killed [[spoiler: after catching Jaime and Cersei having sex in one of the empty towers at Wintefell and Jaime pushed him out the window in response.]]
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** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, mistreatment, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flat-footed. Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way. Had he not enabled Bran's love for climbing against the wishes of [[ProperlyParanoid Catelyn]], Bran would not have been crippled and nearly killed [[spoiler: after catching Jaime and Cersei having sex in one of the empty towers at Wintefell and Jaime pushed him out the window in response.]]
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** Jaehaerys I is the straightest example of this trope in the series; he is wise beyond his years, he goes out of his way to reconcile his enemies to his cause, he is skilled in combat, diplomacy and governing, he surrounds himself with wise advisors, his policies help to consolidate the realm of Westeros into one, the few wars that break out in his reign are dealt with swiftly and with minimal casualties, he is happily married and has loads of children, he is beloved by the smallfolk, admired by the lords and he reigns over Westeros for over fifty years of peace and prosperity. But even so, his reign and his personal life were not perfect. He would not have gone through with some of his policies (most notably the ending of the [[DroitDuSeigneur "Lord's First Night"]]) had his wife Alysanne not persuaded him to do so. His attempt at warding off a SuccessionCrisis works out well, but only for a generation. His decision to donate the New Gift to the Night's Watch is received well in the short term, but in the long term the land goes wasted over time due to low resources. The way he dealt with three of his daughters indirectly resulted in two of their deaths (one by childbirth due to marrying at too young an age, the other in a drunken accident after disagreeing with an ArrangedMarriage) and the exile of the third (thanks to not recognising her for the EnfantTerrible she was until it was too late) led to he and his wife separating for a time. Jaehaerys would also suffer the AdultFear of outliving nearly all of his many children and his wife and due to ruling for so long he ended his days bedridden with dementia. Being TheGoodKing does not come without great personal cost.
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** Jaehaerys I is the straightest example of this trope in the series; he is wise beyond his years, he goes out of his way to reconcile his enemies to his cause, he is skilled in combat, diplomacy and governing, he surrounds himself with wise advisors, his policies help to consolidate the realm of Westeros into one, the few wars that break out in his reign are dealt with swiftly and with minimal casualties, he is happily married and has loads of children, he is beloved by the smallfolk, admired by the lords and he reigns over Westeros for over fifty years of peace and prosperity. But even so, his reign and his personal life were not perfect. He would not have gone through with some of his policies (most notably the ending of the [[DroitDuSeigneur "Lord's First Night"]]) had his wife Alysanne not persuaded him to do so. His attempt at warding off a SuccessionCrisis works out well, but only for a generation. His decision to donate the New Gift to the Night's Watch is received well in the short term, but in the long term the land goes wasted over time due to low resources. The way he dealt with three of his daughters indirectly resulted in two of their deaths (one by childbirth due to marrying at too young an age, the other in a drunken accident after disagreeing with an ArrangedMarriage) and the exile of the third (thanks to not recognising her for the EnfantTerrible she was until it was too late) led to he and his wife separating for a time. Jaehaerys would also suffer the AdultFear worries of outliving nearly all of his many children and his wife and due to ruling for so long he ended his days bedridden with dementia. Being TheGoodKing does not come without great personal cost.
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* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: When Ned uncovers the truth of Cersei and Jaime's affair and the fact that Joffrey is not Robert's son, he tries to rally allies to back Stannis as the new king. To his horror, he finds himself with a lack of support. Little Finger spells it out for him that he will find himself without allies because the reality is if Ned were to succeed in getting Stannis on the throne, Stannis would likely "reward" them with removing the current Quiet Council, depriving them of their power and authority. While Joffrey is an AxCrazy malcontent, at least with him there's a certainty that they will retain their current positions.
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** Robert and Renly Baratheon dislike Stannis for being a PrinciplesZealot while he hates them for wasting their time in useless luxury. This makes it easy for Stannis to have Renly killed only later regret it.
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** The Baratheon Brothers falls into this, with Robert and Renly Baratheon dislike falling into the Foolish side, while Stannis falls into Responsible. The two brothers [[TheUnfavofite did not like Stannis]]; the former showed preference to his best friend Ned Stark [[ReassignedToAntarctica and put Stannis in charge of Dragonstone far way from him]] while the latter makes a bid to usurped Stannis in the line of succession. Stannis for being a PrinciplesZealot while he his part hates both of his brothers, seeing them for wasting their time in useless luxury. This makes it easy for both as [[UpperClassTwit Upper Class Twits]]. It's why Stannis to have Renly killed only later regret it.has no qualms in plotting Renly's death.
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** Lysa's coddling of her only son, Robert "Robin" Arynn, has made him practically incapable of functioning without her. He's got just enough awareness to recognize the danger he's in [[spoiler:once she dies]], but has no idea how to address.
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* LikeFatherLikeSon: Westeros being such a patriarchal society, sees many of the young male characters try to emulate how their father's would act to a fault.
** Robb's short time as the Lord of Winterfell and actions throughout his Rebellion is fueled on trying to lead like his father would do. This would include his repeated decision to act as a FrontLineGeneral, deference to the other Northern Lords and adherence to tradition, and reliance on [[HonorBeforeReason honorable]] actions. Robb's fear of looking like a weak leader ultimately did him more harm than good and caused him the war.
** Joffrey embraces all of Robert's worst vices, inheriting [[BloodKnight his thirst for violence]] and his [[DomesticAbuse mistreatment of his significant other.]] He has such little restraint despite his position of authority that this causes his political allies to turn on him and eventually plot his assassination.
** Robb's short time as the Lord of Winterfell and actions throughout his Rebellion is fueled on trying to lead like his father would do. This would include his repeated decision to act as a FrontLineGeneral, deference to the other Northern Lords and adherence to tradition, and reliance on [[HonorBeforeReason honorable]] actions. Robb's fear of looking like a weak leader ultimately did him more harm than good and caused him the war.
** Joffrey embraces all of Robert's worst vices, inheriting [[BloodKnight his thirst for violence]] and his [[DomesticAbuse mistreatment of his significant other.]] He has such little restraint despite his position of authority that this causes his political allies to turn on him and eventually plot his assassination.
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** Any prospect of Robert and Cersei having a functional relationship went down in flames the ''night they consummated their marraige'', and Robert drunkenly called Cersei "Lyanna." It drilled home for Cersei that she really was going to be forced to endure a loveless marriage and used a political bargaining chip by her father.
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* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Varys helps to instigate the events that leads to the War of Five Kings, all to set the stage for the realm to eventually welcome [[spoiler: Rhaegar's surviving son, Aegon Targarean]] as the new king. Varys is completely disgusted with the way the current crop of nobles rules and the impact they have on the common folk, and is convinced in the idea of a Savior King. This also makes Varys something of a {{Hypocrite}} as he takes part in the sufferage of the common folk for his own schemes, and actively impede Nobles who do try and use their authority to help the disenfranchised [[spoiler: as seen with his assassination of Kevan Lannister and sabotage of Tommen Lannister.]]
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* MamaBear: While Catelyn Stark tries to act as a wise councilor for her son Robb, the story repeatedly stresses that she's a mother before anything else. She instigates a feud between the Starks and Lannisters on the belief that they attempted to kill her son Bran. This leads to her incorrectly apprehended Tyrion and forcing him into a KangarooCourt. This further cascades in Jaime Lannister attacking Ned in retribution further leading to his own paranoia of a conspiracy happening in King's Landing. Much later during the war, Catelyn releases the captive Jaime Lannister back to King's Landing, in hopes that this will lead to peace talks between them and the North. This action is only used as further "motivation" for Roose Bolton's coup at the Red Wedding.
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* PatrioticFervor: Robb Stark's rebellion was largely spurred on by the Northern Lords giving into Jigonism and seeing War as an opportunity for the North to succeed and become their own indepedent Nation again. Torrhen Stark being remembered as "[[EmbarrassingNickname The King who Knelt]]" is looked as something of a dark spot in Northern history, as Torrhen opted to submit to Aegon's authority rather than risk bloodshed. The Northern Lords resent having to submit to the Iron Throne, regardless if its a Lannister or a Baratheon that sits on the throne, on the basis that they do know share Northern customs nor worship the same gods.
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* PatrioticFervor: Robb Stark's rebellion was largely spurred on by the Northern Lords giving into Jigonism and seeing War as an opportunity for the North to succeed and become their own indepedent Nation again. Torrhen Stark being remembered as "[[EmbarrassingNickname The King who Knelt]]" is looked as something of a dark spot in Northern history, as Torrhen opted to submit to Aegon's authority rather than risk bloodshed. The Northern Lords resent having to submit to the Iron Throne, regardless if its a Lannister or a Baratheon that sits on the throne, on the basis that they do know share Northern customs nor worship the same gods. The North's staunch refusal at the prospect of peace talks with King's Landing, or form an alliance with either Stannis or Renly Baratheon ultimates comes back to being a major factor in their own defeat.
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* PatrioticFervor: Robb Stark's rebellion was largely spurred on by the Northern Lords giving into Jigonism and seeing War as an opportunity for the North to succeed and become their own indepedent Nation again. Torrhen Stark being remembered as "[[EmbarassingNickname The King who Knelt]]" is looked as something of a dark spot in Northern history, as Torrhen opted to submit to Aegon's authority rather than risk bloodshed. The Northern Lords resent having to submit to the Iron Throne, regardless if its a Lannister or a Baratheon that sits on the throne, on the basis that they do know share Northern customs nor worship the same gods.
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* PatrioticFervor: Robb Stark's rebellion was largely spurred on by the Northern Lords giving into Jigonism and seeing War as an opportunity for the North to succeed and become their own indepedent Nation again. Torrhen Stark being remembered as "[[EmbarassingNickname "[[EmbarrassingNickname The King who Knelt]]" is looked as something of a dark spot in Northern history, as Torrhen opted to submit to Aegon's authority rather than risk bloodshed. The Northern Lords resent having to submit to the Iron Throne, regardless if its a Lannister or a Baratheon that sits on the throne, on the basis that they do know share Northern customs nor worship the same gods.
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* PatrioticFervor: Robb Stark's rebellion was largely spurred on by the Northern Lords giving into Jigonism and seeing War as an opportunity for the North to succeed and become their own indepedent Nation again. Torrhen Stark being remembered as "[[EmbarassingNickname The King who Knelt]]" is looked as something of a dark spot in Northern history, as Torrhen opted to submit to Aegon's authority rather than risk bloodshed. The Northern Lords resent having to submit to the Iron Throne, regardless if its a Lannister or a Baratheon that sits on the throne, on the basis that they do know share Northern customs nor worship the same gods.
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* PosthumousCharacter: The heroism or villainy of historic characters in Westeros are often exaggerated. Thanks to their stories being WrittenByTheWinners, and all the SecondHandStorytelling, it's hard to make an objective opinion about these characters. For instance, Renly is remembered as a kind and heroic lord who [[spoiler:came back from the dead to save the Seven Kingdoms from his brother]] even though he was really just a vain and scheming figure who [[spoiler:was impersonated after his death.]]
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* PosthumousCharacter: The heroism or villainy of historic characters in Westeros are is often exaggerated. Thanks to their stories being WrittenByTheWinners, and all the SecondHandStorytelling, it's hard to make an objective opinion about these characters. For instance, Renly is remembered as a kind and heroic lord who [[spoiler:came back from the dead to save the Seven Kingdoms from his brother]] even though he was really just a vain and scheming figure who [[spoiler:was impersonated after his death.]]
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* WickedStepmother: In a feudal society where your status and well-being can be very directly tied to that of your parents, partner and the placement, survival and achievements of your children, you might have several justifiable reasons to actively undermine or kill any step-children or bastards that crop up. A feudal MamaBear may choose to kill the competition to save her babies, not just herself -- and, may even be seen as doing her NecessaryEvil duty for her kids over her husband's wishes, in many cases.
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* WickedStepmother: In a feudal society where your status and well-being can be very directly tied to that of your parents, partner and the placement, survival and achievements of your children, you might have several justifiable reasons to actively undermine or kill any step-children or bastards that crop up. A feudal MamaBear may choose to kill the competition to save her babies, not just herself -- and, may even be seen as doing her NecessaryEvil NecessarilyEvil duty for her kids over her husband's wishes, in many cases.
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** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flat-footed. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way. Had he not enabled Bran's love for climbing against the wishes of [[ProperlyParanoid Catelyn]], Bran would not have been crippled and nearly killed [[spoiler: after catching Jaime and Cersei having sex in one of the empty towers at Wintefell and Jaime pushed him out the window in response.]]
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** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flat-footed. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way. Had he not enabled Bran's love for climbing against the wishes of [[ProperlyParanoid Catelyn]], Bran would not have been crippled and nearly killed [[spoiler: after catching Jaime and Cersei having sex in one of the empty towers at Wintefell and Jaime pushed him out the window in response.]]
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* GoodParents: Treating your kids decently isn't inherently a ''bad'' thing, but in a CrapsackWorld like Westoros and beyond, it will leave the kids unprepared for how to survive without ToughLove to balance them out.
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flatfooted. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way.
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flatfooted. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way.
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* GoodParents: Treating your kids decently isn't inherently a ''bad'' thing, but in a CrapsackWorld like Westoros and beyond, it will leave the kids unprepared for how to survive without ToughLove or a firm hand to balance them out.
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caughtflatfooted.flat-footed. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way. Had he not enabled Bran's love for climbing against the wishes of [[ProperlyParanoid Catelyn]], Bran would not have been crippled and nearly killed [[spoiler: after catching Jaime and Cersei having sex in one of the empty towers at Wintefell and Jaime pushed him out the window in response.]]
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught
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** Aegon III only became king because war claimed most of his family. A council of regents was appointed to run the kingdom in his stead, but the rival court factions fought to control him, so he grew up to be a sad man who trusts no one but Viserys II, his younger brother and only surviving sibling.
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** Aegon III only became king because war claimed most of his family. A council of regents was appointed to run the kingdom in his stead, but the rival court factions fought to control him, so he grew up to be a sad man who trusts trusted no one but Viserys II, his younger brother and only surviving sibling.brother.
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* MightyWhitey: Daenerys's liberation of Slaver's Bay initially appears to play it straight: slavery in these cities is shown to be pretty unambiguously horrible, the slave masters are all shown to be bastards, and the slaves she frees all adore her for it and treat her as their savior. The problem comes when she stops conquering and actually tries to restore order to the places she conquered: as it turns out [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome a society that has relied on slavery for thousands of years does not change overnight just because slavery is abolished.]] The economy of Meereen is essentially destroyed, and many of the slaves she freed now need to resort to prostitution or other desperate measures in order to put food on the table. The nobility deeply hates her, and immediately starts an insurgency against her to try to restore the old order. The city of Yunkai has backtracked on their forced abolition of slavery and is now leading an army against Daenerys along with the other cities that economically relied on the slave trade, while the City of Astapor is quickly taken over by a tyrant in Daenerys's absence before falling to the armies of Yunkai, resulting in a bloodbath. Through it all, Daenerys struggles to get a grasp of Ghiscari culture - further alienating the nobility in the process - and it quickly becomes apparent that she has no idea how to deal with a complex problem that lacks a simple solution like "burn it down with dragons."
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I have to add more on Brienne later for Good Parents (I cant remember the example in exact detail)
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* GoodParents: Treating your kids decently isn't inherently a ''bad'' thing, but in a CracksackWorld like Westoros and beyond, it will leave the kids unprepared for how to survive.
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* GoodParents: Treating your kids decently isn't inherently a ''bad'' thing, but in a CracksackWorld CrapsackWorld like Westoros and beyond, it will leave the kids unprepared for how to survive.survive without ToughLove to balance them out.
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** Brienne of Tarth's father allowed her to train under a swordsmaster and even permitted her to challenge potential suitors for her hand in combat, knowing she would win. Unfortunately, Brienne is left a WideEyedIdealist despite her self-esteem on her rather masculine body and expects others to treat her fairly initially.
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* GoodParents: Treating your kids decently isn't inherently a ''bad'' thing, but in a CracksackWorld like Westoros and beyond, it will leave the kids unprepared for how to survive.
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flatfooted. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way.
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatnebt, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flatfooted. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot The War of the Five Kings could have been avoided entirely]] if Ned disclosed to Sansa more harshly that the Lannisters were not to be trusted [[spoiler: and she would not have told Cersei that her father was planning on leaving King's Landing and therefore doomed Eddard to death.]] Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way.
