Game of Thrones (TV, fantasy) Thread

[ariich]

kind of like Endgame and people saying how much better Infinity War was.

I've not seen Endgame yet and so haven't read anything spoilery, but in terms of spoiler-free stuff that's not remotely what I'm seeing. Almost everything I've seen has been incredibly positive.

[Chino]

One of the interesting things moving forward now is that Dany does not have the Dothraki or Unsullied in any significant number. She is going to NEED the North to beat Cersi. I'd be curious as to how long Jon is going to keep his true lineage under wraps from everyone else?

I'm not sure there's much of the North left either    Outside of the North having one or two dragons left, Cersei should have this fight pretty easily.

[Chino]

Did Jorah save Dany with the sword that Sam gave him? What happened to that sword? I hope Dany returns it to Sam as a "thank you and I'm genuinely sorry about your father".

[The Walrus]

kind of like Endgame and people saying how much better Infinity War was.

I've not seen Endgame yet and so haven't read anything spoilery, but in terms of spoiler-free stuff that's not remotely what I'm seeing. Almost everything I've seen has been incredibly positive.

It must be a local thing then - a bunch of my friends are being killjoys about it.

[The Walrus]

Another part of me was expecting, when Jon was about fight the undead dragon (sorry, bad with some of these names) that it would have been the reverse of what happened with the Night King. Dragon would have torched Jon would have been fine. Glad they didn't ultimately do that, but a part me was expecting it.

I liked how he just stood up and screamed at it. lol

[ariich]

kind of like Endgame and people saying how much better Infinity War was.

I've not seen Endgame yet and so haven't read anything spoilery, but in terms of spoiler-free stuff that's not remotely what I'm seeing. Almost everything I've seen has been incredibly positive.

It must be a local thing then - a bunch of my friends are being killjoys about it.

You evidently have some particularly grumpy friends.

[The Walrus]

kind of like Endgame and people saying how much better Infinity War was.

I've not seen Endgame yet and so haven't read anything spoilery, but in terms of spoiler-free stuff that's not remotely what I'm seeing. Almost everything I've seen has been incredibly positive.

It must be a local thing then - a bunch of my friends are being killjoys about it.

You evidently have some particularly grumpy friends.

KILLJOYS, I say! My best friend was losing his mind Friday evening and last night he was just dogging it the whole time! 

[KevShmev]

Trying to read about this episode elsewhere online and for the most part seems like a lot of people enjoyed this episode as much as I did but boy there's a vocal contingent that is just lambasting the show "ThE bOoKs ArE sO mUcH bEtTeR!" I dunno, something about all the negativity around this is really bumming me out, kind of like Endgame and people saying how much better Infinity War was. Think I'll just cut the Internet cord for a while and not let it bring me down...

Book snobs can take a flying leap. "The book are better."  Yeah, we know they are almost always are. Who cares? Enjoy the show for what it is.

- Drogon being alive. Honestly, one of the sillier complaints. Take a 5-8" knife....go out and find yourself a 17-20 Alligator and stab it in the lower back a few dozen times. IF you're able to penetrate the scales those wounds would be superficial at best to that creature.....much like the wound Drogon suffered from the wights. He took flight and shook them off....I don't see why this should be an issue?

Yeah,I am not volunteering for that job.

One of the interesting things moving forward now is that Dany does not have the Dothraki or Unsullied in any significant number. She is going to NEED the North to beat Cersi. I'd be curious as to how long Jon is going to keep his true lineage under wraps from everyone else?

I'm not sure there's much of the North left either    Outside of the North having one or two dragons left, Cersei should have this fight pretty easily.

You would think, but no way does it turn out that way. 

[gmillerdrake]

Did Jorah save Dany with the sword that Sam gave him? What happened to that sword? I hope Dany returns it to Sam as a "thank you and I'm genuinely sorry about your father".

He did....I can't imagine that the sword won't make it back to Sam.

I'm not sure there's much of the North left either    Outside of the North having one or two dragons left, Cersei should have this fight pretty easily.

True....very true. I still think that the Dario and the Second Sons are going to make an appearance......just now sure 'how' they get across the narrow sea.

[Adami]

I was a bit confused. When I watched the preview for episode 4, which I admit was fast so I might be wrong, but it looked like Dany still had a huge number of Unsullied.

I dunno about this. It really looked like the wights killed just about everyone in this episode. Not much made sense as to how they actually survived with such numbers, but such is life. Turns out you can't really make an overwhelming enemy get defeated in a believable way.

[gmillerdrake]

I was a bit confused. When I watched the preview for episode 4, which I admit was fast so I might be wrong, but it looked like Dany still had a huge number of Unsullied.

Well...I suppose they are highly trained killing machines....but it seemed like they were pretty outnumbered. Curious to see how many they actually have left over

Turns out you can't really make an overwhelming enemy get defeated in a believable way.

As far as 'believability' on how the army and the Night King were defeated.....I think it fits and makes sense. Some are saying it was 'too easy' but nothing about that battle seemed easy to me.

The Night King was very arrogant for good reason.....he was more or less invincible. That's the only reason he exposed himself like that....or maybe only 'he' can kill a three eyed raven? Had to be there in person? It took 'divine providence' or something along those lines to set up that only shot at killing him and winning that war. But I don't think as far as him and the White Walkers getting beat was unbelievable when set against the story that's being told.

[KevShmev]

Ultimately, the Night King and White Walkers were a plot device.  The North, along with Danny and her dragons and Dothraki and Unsullied, would have destroyed the South in about four minutes, but it is now a fair right for the Iron Throne, and isn't that ultimately what we all want to see??

[The Walrus]

Talk of believability in a show about dragons, black magic, prophecy, fire witches, giants, ancient green children that live on the scale of millennia, obsidian with inherent anti-ice monster properties and dragonfire-infused steel with the same anti-ice monster properties, green superfire that's blown up an entire city and its religious sect, dragons, long-haired ice monsters, the living dead, a cult dedicated to molding and shaping deadly assassins with superhuman abilities, an ancient monster that was created by having obsidian shoved deep into his sternum somehow, dragons, and a 700-foot tall continent-wide wall made of ice and magic... hmm AND a cripple who can become the next best thing to an Animorph.

(I get the point, I'm just trying to be a smartass. Suspension of disbelief can only carry someone so far, and everyone's tolerance is different.)

[Podaar]

Ultimately, the Night King and White Walkers were a plot device.  The North, along with Danny and her dragons and Dothraki and Unsullied, would have destroyed the South in about four minutes, but it is now a fair right for the Iron Throne, and isn't that ultimately what we all want to see??

Yes, and think this is a good point.

Edit:

I also think the following was a great paragraph.

The Night King was the big villain of the high fantasy part of this story, a being that was created as a weapon against humanity and life in general, a personification of the supernatural forces of winter and night within the world of ASOIAF. He and the White Walkers were intelligent and strategic, they were certainly not mindless, and some complexity was implied by their actions and the symbolism associated with them, but ultimately though it came from an alien and inhuman mindset, their motivation was utterly hostile to life and light. That makes them simple villains in a way, but honestly while I like the extra depth and complexity implied by the White Walker's actions I was never moved by any theory of them actually having more human motivations or that his was all just some big misunderstanding that could be cleared up. They were a force of darkness straight out of high fantasy, and this episode was the climactic confrontation with that force, and I think it execute the climax of that dark high fantasy story excellently.

[gmillerdrake]

So, with Arya getting the 'big kill' by taking out the Night King.....does that leave us with Jamie or Tyrion now taking out Cersi?

[The Walrus]

It would have been really freaking nice if Leaf had lived, made it down to Winterfell, and in S8E02 explained the whole backstory to the NK since you see her in his creation scene. That would have singlehandedly solved the problem of 'big baddy go boom with no other closure' I think.

[ariich]

Ultimately, the Night King and White Walkers were a plot device.  The North, along with Danny and her dragons and Dothraki and Unsullied, would have destroyed the South in about four minutes, but it is now a fair right for the Iron Throne, and isn't that ultimately what we all want to see??

Not just for the sake of it, no.

[Chino]

So, with Arya getting the 'big kill' by taking out the Night King.....does that leave us with Jamie or Tyrion now taking out Cersi?

My money is on Sansa killing Cersei. We've never seen her make a kill, and she's going to hold onto the dagger that Arya gave her.   

Also, Arya's whole "she's the smartest person I ever met" makes me think she's going to some how end up on the throne.

[cramx3]

Ultimately, the Night King and White Walkers were a plot device.  The North, along with Danny and her dragons and Dothraki and Unsullied, would have destroyed the South in about four minutes, but it is now a fair right for the Iron Throne, and isn't that ultimately what we all want to see??

No, I didn't want something introduced in the first scene of the show and a looming part of the entire series plus the main theme of last season and half to just be a plot device.

[Grappler]

My money is on Sansa killing Cersei. We've never seen her make a kill, and she's going to hold onto the dagger that Arya gave her.   

Also, Arya's whole "she's the smartest person I ever met" makes me think she's going to some how end up on the throne.

I thought something was up with her and Tyrion in the crypt.  It looked like they could have been holding hands while hiding from the undead.  Couple that with Arya's quote and maybe she's trying to put herself in some sort of position to join houses or at least get something from the Lannisters regarding the sovereignty of the northern king.

[RuRoRul]

I really liked the episode. I thought it was a great battle episode....pretty intense....and honestly my only real 'gripe' if I had one would be that I think a couple more characters should have died....but, I'm not going to let that ruin what I thought was a good battle and conclusion to the Night King saga.

Like most of you I'm sure I've been reading a lot about this episode all morning....either here or on other parts of the internet. A couple of things that keep coming up I'd like to comment on to add my two cents:

- The scene with Arya in the Castle where she creeps and ninjas around being 'pointless'. For me, that scene was placed there to prove her abilities one final time to justify 'how' she'd have been able to 'stalk' the Night King without him or his crew knowing. Chances are she was already in the God's Wood Forest anyway waiting on him.

- Drogon being alive. Honestly, one of the sillier complaints. Take a 5-8" knife....go out and find yourself a 17-20 Alligator and stab it in the lower back a few dozen times. IF you're able to penetrate the scales those wounds would be superficial at best to that creature.....much like the wound Drogon suffered from the wights. He took flight and shook them off....I don't see why this should be an issue?

- Jon (and the others) surviving in the face of overwhelming numbers. I 'get' the complaint but honestly, characters of his (and their) fighting skill are far superior to the mindless bezerking of the wights. The only 'true' warriors the Night King had were his White Walker Generals....and they for whatever reason were not utilized. Sure...it seems like Jon, Jamie, Brianee, Pod, Grey Worm and Tormond should have died...or at least two or three of them....which I agree.....BUT....I can also see how they would have survived. They're just freaking bad a$$ warriors.

- Jon facing down Viserion. He was desperate....knew he was pinned down and knew that he needed to get to Bran. He wasn't going to sit there and die helplessly so why not face down Viserion and go out proud?

The re-animated Starks in the Crypts. I have no real issue with this other than Adami's point.....there should have been characters on the show that mentioned this or thought of the possibility and they should have at least had a small contingent of soldiers down there just in case. The fact they animated doesn't bother me at all....it makes perfect sense. The Night King was 'in range' and he used his gift to strengthen his numbers.

- The darkness of the episode. I think that was intentional to set the mood that the characters were facing.

Very good points, I agree with pretty much all of that.

Great as Helm's Deep is I think I definitely prefer daytime battles for the action, so I wasn't sure how this episode would stack up visually compared to Hardhome or Battle of the Bastards. The previews were very dark so I was prepared for an episode that might be quite difficult to see. But I think considering it's the Long Night it pretty much had to be at night and the way it was made to feel as though the armies were literally fighting darkness was well done. Good news is that in the next half of the season we could be in for something that's quite different visually, even if there isn't any battle as big as this.

The crypt zombies, after everyone guessed it might happen I was a little worried about the idea because, while it would make for a nice horror moment, it's hard to imagine logistically the amount of old dead in that crypt being a major, major threat to the defenders inside Winterfell, and if they were it would raise serious questions about why no one thought about that. But what we did get was that some of the dead inside the crypt did rise, but it wasn't that big a deal - the White Walkers attack plan didn't depend on it, it was just incidental when he was raising all the dead around Winterfell, and it just contributed to the general feeling of everywhere in Winterfell being overrun with dead. If the White Walkers had managed to awaken the dead in the crypts earlier before even getting near the walls then I imagine they could have just shouted for some of the warriors stationed above to come down and protect them. So overall, yeah crypt zombies made an appearance but it since it was just a small part of what was going on and the entire flow of the battle didn't depend on it I felt it was fine.

[RuRoRul]

An old quote from George R. R. Martin about the ending of A Song of Ice and Fire:

Q: The number one question people ask me about the series is whether I think everyone will lose—whether it will end in some horrible apocalypse. I know you can’t speak to that specifically, but as a revisionist of epic fantasy—


GRRM: "I haven’t written the ending yet, so I don’t know, but no. That’s certainly not my intent. I’ve said before that the tone of the ending that I’m going for is bittersweet. I mean, it’s no secret that Tolkien has been a huge influence on me, and I love the way he ended Lord of the Rings. It ends with victory, but it’s a bittersweet victory. Frodo is never whole again, and he goes away to the Undying Lands, and the other people live their lives. And the scouring of the Shire—brilliant piece of work, which I didn’t understand when I was 13 years old: “Why is this here? The story’s over?” But every time I read it I understand the brilliance of that segment more and more. All I can say is that’s the kind of tone I will be aiming for. Whether I achieve it or not, that will be up to people like you and my readers to judge."

I don't see the threat which was hinted at in the first episode of the series and finally dealt with in episode 70 out of 73 total episodes as just being a plot device for some bigger endgame. No more than Sauron and the Ring was just a plot device to get Saruman to the Shire and keep Frodo and his companions away from it to set up the Scouring of the Shire in the Lord of the Rings (the books). Even though GRRM wants to explore areas that Lord of the Rings didn't and take a slightly different approach, it is still one of his biggest influences, and he has highlighted the Scouring of the Shire in particular as something he likes. While the show likely has some major differences from Martin's (intended, theoretical) ending, so far it is feeling quite in keeping with the tone he suggested he would go for. And I suspect that the Scouring of Westeros that follows the end of the Long Night might take an even bigger toll on the characters than what occurs in the Lord of the Rings.

Edit: For reference, the Lord of the Rings is split into six "books", with each of the three volumes including two books of the main story. The ring is destroyed and Sauron is defeated (spoiler alert, I guess) in Chapter 3 out of 9 in the sixth book of LOTR.

[cramx3]

Someone just brought this up to me.

Since the Night King was able to turn Craster's babies into Wight Walkers by touching them, why didn't Arya turn when she was being choked?

My response was simply we just don't seem to be getting answers about the Night King so I can only assume he can touch and turn if he wants or just touch if he wants.  I'm guessing he wasn't looking to raise any wight walkers in that moment. 

Also, his smile was pretty awesome, but being he never spoke or never got his story besides how he was made, makes me think he shouldn't of smiled then.  It showed an emotion on what the show is making me think should have been emotion less.

[Chino]

Someone just brought this up to me.

Since the Night King was able to turn Craster's babies into Wight Walkers by touching them, why didn't Arya turn when she was being choked?

My response was simply we just don't seem to be getting answers about the Night King so I can only assume he can touch and turn if he wants or just touch if he wants.  I'm guessing he wasn't looking to raise any wight walkers in that moment. 

Also, his smile was pretty awesome, but being he never spoke or never got his story besides how he was made, makes me think he shouldn't of smiled then.  It showed an emotion on what the show is making me think should have been emotion less.

Yeah, I doubt people don't just turn if he makes contact with him. Otherwise, Bran would have as well, no?

[cramx3]

Someone just brought this up to me.

Since the Night King was able to turn Craster's babies into Wight Walkers by touching them, why didn't Arya turn when she was being choked?

My response was simply we just don't seem to be getting answers about the Night King so I can only assume he can touch and turn if he wants or just touch if he wants.  I'm guessing he wasn't looking to raise any wight walkers in that moment. 

Also, his smile was pretty awesome, but being he never spoke or never got his story besides how he was made, makes me think he shouldn't of smiled then.  It showed an emotion on what the show is making me think should have been emotion less.

Yeah, I doubt people don't just turn if he makes contact with him. Otherwise, Bran would have as well, no?

Well that touch left him with the mark but was in the past timeline right?  I just don't know and I don't think we will get an explanation other than he likely can just turn when he wants, not just by his touch alone.

[Podaar]

The crypt zombies, after everyone guessed it might happen I was a little worried about the idea because, while it would make for a nice horror moment, it's hard to imagine logistically the amount of old dead in that crypt being a major, major threat to the defenders inside Winterfell, and if they were it would raise serious questions about why no one thought about that. But what we did get was that some of the dead inside the crypt did rise, but it wasn't that big a deal - the White Walkers attack plan didn't depend on it, it was just incidental when he was raising all the dead around Winterfell, and it just contributed to the general feeling of everywhere in Winterfell being overrun with dead. If the White Walkers had managed to awaken the dead in the crypts earlier before even getting near the walls then I imagine they could have just shouted for some of the warriors stationed above to come down and protect them. So overall, yeah crypt zombies made an appearance but it since it was just a small part of what was going on and the entire flow of the battle didn't depend on it I felt it was fine.

Yeah, if they had to raise the Starks in the crypt, this was the only way they were going to do it without it being too hokey. I also appreciated that they resisted the temptation of showing specific corpses rising...like a close up of Lyanna's, Ned's, or Bran the Builder's crypt blowing open to jump to attack. Generic/ancillary dead was about the only saving grace of that idea. Like Adami implies, it would have been better if there were some guards with dragonglass in the crypt and if other precautions would have been taken.

[KevShmev]

Ultimately, the Night King and White Walkers were a plot device.  The North, along with Danny and her dragons and Dothraki and Unsullied, would have destroyed the South in about four minutes, but it is now a fair right for the Iron Throne, and isn't that ultimately what we all want to see??

No, I didn't want something introduced in the first scene of the show and a looming part of the entire series plus the main theme of last season and half to just be a plot device.

Let me put it a different way:

There is no chance that the Night King and the White Walkers were going to kill everyone in the North, and then go do the same in the South, and then the show ends with the Night King on the Iron Throne. No chance.  I never thought that was a realistic possibility, which meant they had to go down last night since the south would have had less than no chance to take them out since they had no dragons and no clue how to fight them.  They didn't spend 7 seasons building up this massive battle for the Iron Throne only to have the undead kill all of the living and win it at the end, so in essence they were a plot device for the bigger battle that has been there since the start and is now looming again, the north vs the south.

[cramx3]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though.  I do agree, there was no way the Night King, as is at least, was going to win the throne and everything is dead at the end.  I didn't think it would be that grim of an ending.  I do think they could have wrote it so the Night King didn't die last episode, I don't think that was needed or necessary, but I don't think ending that storyline was either mostly because I, personally, feel like the show cut that whole "what are the others" part of the show into just zombies.  And if thats the case, fine, but then all the symbolism and azor ahai and prophecies that were in the show all along feel kind of meaningless with regards to the long night. 

I guess maybe the show can still add things in to make explanations, maybe via Bran, but putting the dead army as a plot device just makes me upset.

[gmillerdrake]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though.  I do agree, there was no way the Night King, as is at least, was going to win the throne and everything is dead at the end.  I didn't think it would be that grim of an ending.  I do think they could have wrote it so the Night King didn't die last episode, I don't think that was needed or necessary, but I don't think ending that storyline was either mostly because I, personally, feel like the show cut that whole "what are the others" part of the show into just zombies.  And if thats the case, fine, but then all the symbolism and azor ahai and prophecies that were in the show all along feel kind of meaningless with regards to the long night. 

I guess maybe the show can still add things in to make explanations, maybe via Bran, but putting the dead army as a plot device just makes me upset.

I mean....I don't think they cut anything short. There's only three episodes left to go....rather than have the 'last' battle be between the Night King and humanity they chose to do it now....almost at the end. I don't think there needed to be much more added to it as far as to 'why' or 'who' the Night King was. Bran and Sam told us last episode.....he/they were just evil who wanted to erase man and the memory of man from the world. We were shown the Night Kings origins before....I guess I don't understand 'what' else people were wanting from this? The Night King was never going to talk.....there was never going to be a scroll or revelation made that explained the Wights and the Night King verse for verse. That story ran it's course.....and it was a good story at that.

The fact the show runners (and Martin I'm assuming since he's been consulted and has given direction for the story) have 'saved' the battle for the Iron Throne as the last chapter of the show makes perfect sense. The show is called 'Game of Thrones' and the characters left are all invested in one another and their individual stories have been leading us to this direct clash of story lines. While the Night King and his mission was indeed much more perilous for mankind in that world and more 'important'....he's been defeated....it's over....and there's nothing wrong with having gotten that aspect of the show out of the way first.

As far as the Azor Ahi and prophecies.....we saw a couple times that these prophecies were just bunk from the Red Woman
 

[cramx3]

I'm certainly not upset they ended the walker threat first, just upset the show didn't get into their own history and lore more.  Remember when we saw the land beyond the north when the Wight brought a craster baby to the Night King.

However, I did watch the After the Thrones show while eating lunch today and they brought up this same point and their response was that HBO is doing a spinoff based on the long night and they aren't going to dive into anymore in this show and save it for that one. 

I do think part of this could be from watching/reading so many theories, theories that made sense and put a lot of "puzzle pieces" together to come up with explanations of the wights that were so much more interesting and made more sense than just zombies so the way this ended without anymore just felt flat (aka the puzzle pieces don't mean anything and they are just zombies).  (although the actual killing by Arya was badass, I'm talking more from a storytelling perspective). 

[Grappler]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though. 

The show did not tell us that.  Jon Snow did.  ONE character felt that this was the more important battle.  He convinced many other characters that it was important, but he did not convince Cersei.  Fans need to not confuse what the show is about vs. what Jon Snow cares about.

The show, along with the books, has always been about three main plots:

1.  The war for the Iron Throne
2.  The Wall/Night's Watch/Wildlings/White Walkers
3.  Dany in the east.

Dany is in Westeros and has joined in the war for the throne.  This was the conclusion of the second plot.  There are three episodes left, and the only thing of importance is the Iron Throne.  It's the one plot that this show kicked off with in season 1 - Robert Baratheon's children ascending to a throne that never belonged to them based on their bloodline.

The show is coming full circle - the Lannisters took the throne in Season 1, and in the final season, Dany and her army are in Westeros and gunning for them.

[cramx3]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though. 

The show did not tell us that.  Jon Snow did.  ONE character felt that this was the more important battle.  He convinced many other characters that it was important, but he did not convince Cersei.  Fans need to not confuse what the show is about vs. what Jon Snow cares about.

OK, so one of the main characters has been saying it for several season and convinced everyone (including Cersei btw, she just didn't go along with it but she believed it) is not the same as the show saying it?  That's just semantics, but it's clearly been a point about "the bigger picture" that has been big in the books and the show.

And don't confuse my dislike of handling the end of the wights for "ending the show" of course this needs to come to an end, that's why we are here watching.  My point is the show set up expectations for more than just "oh that's it" type of feeling I have now. 

[Chino]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though. 

The show did not tell us that.  Jon Snow did.

But he's the main character though  To me, that's the show's creators speaking directly to us. It'd be like saying not to listen to Doc Brown when it comes to the importance of not fucking with the space time continuum because he's just a single character.

[ariich]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though. 

The show did not tell us that.  Jon Snow did.  ONE character felt that this was the more important battle.  He convinced many other characters that it was important, but he did not convince Cersei.  Fans need to not confuse what the show is about vs. what Jon Snow cares about.

The show, along with the books, has always been about three main plots:

1.  The war for the Iron Throne
2.  The Wall/Night's Watch/Wildlings/White Walkers
3.  Dany in the east.

Dany is in Westeros and has joined in the war for the throne.  This was the conclusion of the second plot.  There are three episodes left, and the only thing of importance is the Iron Throne.  It's the one plot that this show kicked off with in season 1 - Robert Baratheon's children ascending to a throne that never belonged to them based on their bloodline.

The show is coming full circle - the Lannisters took the throne in Season 1, and in the final season, Dany and her army are in Westeros and gunning for them.

GRRM has said on I think multiple occasions that the books are an allegory for people fighting for power and ignoring the bigger issues that will destroy us all. So no, it's not just "one character" saying it. It's literally one of the key themes of the whole series.

[hefdaddy42]

The show spent the last several season telling us that North vs. South was not the important battle though. 

The show did not tell us that.  Jon Snow did.

But he's the main character though 

Is he?  I thought that Ned Stark was.

Of course, then I thought that Rob Stark was.

And then, of course, I thought that Danaerys  Targaryen was.

Or perhaps Tyrion Lanister.

Or we could just acknowledge the truth, that there is no main character.  This is the ensemblest of all ensemble shows.