The 5 WORST Game of Thrones Players

[@ct-117]

Cersei's biggest strength is having an eight-foot-tall murder machine on speed dial. While most other players are skulking around being like "hehehe they'll never see this coming", she doesn't really rely on stealth. She can just say "Ser Gregor that guy is breathing. I don't like that" and then watch as he walks over and gives them the Martell special because what are you going to do about it?

[@TheFandomeClips]

Haha 😂 that gave me a good laugh and had a serious suggestion in it! Bravo Ct Bravo! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@physeter_de595]

Yeah, its like the ruthlessness of Tywin combined with the anti social approach of Baelon. 😁

[@jameshedrick4490]

Could easily say the same thing about Dany and her dragons. They are even more of a cheat than the Mountain.

[@Derekivery]

Seriously, until the Dragons and White Walkers show up there is nothing more devastating in all of Westeros than the Mountain.

[@kit2877]

Tbf there is alot you can do about it if you know he will be a problem. He isn't fire immune and that means even rickon could beat his ass

[@Somethingclever11111]

Cersei's biggest strength is she's the living embodiment of "The world's greatest swordsman doesn't fear the second best, he fears the worst because he has no idea what the idiot will do" her sheer lack of anything resembling self restraint and tact makes her wildly unpredictable, I mean sure she'll still lose but she'll destroy the game board in the process

[@TheFandomeClips]

I think that's the key with Cersei, people ethier overestimate her skill or underestimate her stupidity because of how unpredictable she can be. Almost like she is forever bluffing she's got a royal flush but if you call it she'll pull out a gun and shoot you in the head before conceding the hand. Thanks for watching matey and sharing your thoughts! Liam

[@sinusspass1998]

Usually, being unpredictable would be a good quality in players. Then you have Cersei...

[@SephonDK]

She's pretty much the pidgeon of chess :)

[@matthewmullins4218]

Or the Donald Trump of Game of Thrones 😂

[@minnumseerrund]

Cersei is restrained (if only slightly) by her love for her children - even if she does endanger them cause, y'know, she's not as smart as she thinks

[@DennisHeikki]

Honorable mention: Joffrey? He was handed a strong position, and just decided to kill Ned, cower like a little b1tch at the Blackwater battle whilst also ordering a king's guard to kill Tyrion, and treated people so poorly that his wife's family decided to kill him.

[@TheFandomeClips]

I think Joffery is less of a player in his own right and more of a vessel/Scapegoat for actual players. He doesn't really make any meaningful moves or decisions of his own accord. Even having Ned killed is highly suspected to have been influenced by LF rather than his own decision. We did consider him Dennis! But pulled him out for these reasons. Thanks for watching! Liam

[@elijahday7580]

Yeah I was expecting Joffrey to be here as well. He got the iron throne handed to him on a platter and he did nearly EVERYTHING possible to make himself hated by everyone around him and eventually got himself killed

[@adib3011]

He was just a piece.

[@debater452]

Another terrible player is Viserys. Imagine betting everything you have on single guy who dosen't even care about paying you back. Than Viserys proceeds to offend his "army" and only ally multiple times by doing stupid shit 24/7 untill they inevitably kill you. It's a minor miracle he wasn't killed in the first week.

[@crimsoneagle8755]

Drogo was honor bound to keep his deal, but there was no time requirement, and the Dothraki do things on their own time, as Jorah says. Viserys was a moron, but I’m not pinning the timing issue on Drogo.

[@sinusspass1998]

I would call it an insult to the game itself to call Viserys a player

[@TheFandomeClips]

We considered Viserys Debater! But we found him to be so unbelievably inconsequential to the state of the gameboard that he didn't even warrant acknowledge 😂

[@debater452]

@@crimsoneagle8755 If Viserys just waited he would have been fine.

[@_somerandomguyontheinternet_]

@@sinusspass1998 “You have bested me at my own game.” “Don’t flatter yourself - you were never even a player.”

[@donalny]

Ned's honor was a double edged sword, no pun intended. Sure, it eventually did him in, but it also drove people to him. The Northern lords answered Robb's call to rescue Ned without hesitation. In the books, they are all about to go to war again in his family's memory. Robert chose Ned as Hand because he was so honorable.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Absolutely Donalny! Its quite frankly amazing in the books just how set a lot of the North is on avenging Ned and his son, despite his sons blunders. Thanks for watching! Liam

[@sinusspass1998]

Robert chose Ned because Ned was his best friend

[@goatlover6312]

It’s also an interesting parallel to Tywin, while Tywin with little to no honor was much more successful in life than Ned everything fell to pieces for his followers once he died while Ned’s followers remained loyal long after his death.

[@SephonDK]

Ned was very good in the North. There, honor, whatever it is, had most people fiercely loyal to him, and the disloyal were outgunned. Problem is that he embodies a culture clash. His way of doing things just didn't work in the South, and he didn't adapt. There's also the question of what would've happened if he started manipulating. Sure, he'd get more influence in the south, but it'd be at a cost of his integrity in his homeland.

[@debater452]

Cersie's best trait is that she is insanely unpredictable because she is so stupid. Nobody knows what she is going to do

[@flavius5722]

Why the people of Kings Landing didnt rip her apart when the biggest church of the continent was blown up close to their homes with the popular king and all the priests inside ,în the same day that the young king had " killed himself " ? Rhetorical question , only Dumb and Dumber could had think of such a stupid scenario

[@TheFandomeClips]

I think that's actually a solid suggestion Debater! Thanks for watching as always matey! Liam

[@DamienMuto]

@@TheFandomeClips ill bring up the first point. fear. if cersei just blew up like, 5 lords, any commoner would KNOW she would do the same to them. add in rumors of ... "ser robert strong" /mountain sometime killing citizens who offend the queen, and the assasination of roberts bastards.... fear.

[@LordBloodraven]

A truly apt argument. She's the weirdo that doubles down with 16 while the dealer shows a 10-value face card. The only reason she didn't get undone sooner was because she had her family's wealth keeping her in the game long enough to have some solid wins with the random 0 IQ plays.

[@griffithsbolton]

even littlefinger mentions that she fucks it up so quickly he has to change plans

[@raidennc]

In Ned's defense, Catelyn really screwed him up multiple times. Coming to KL herself Abducting Tyrion Losing Tyrion She put him in a really difficult position that he wouldve had to break his morals to get out of. Also, NOBODY expected Joffrey to be as big of a dunce as was an actually take his head despite all counsel to thr contrary

[@TheFandomeClips]

Absolutely! Ned just BARELY got his spot when we looked carefully at his actions. Foolishly honourable? Yes but unintelligent? Not by a long shot. Thanks for watching raidennc! Liam

[@marcosa2000]

In Cat's defence, going to KL didn't really screw Ned over much, if at all. Kidnapping Tyrion was a bad move, but reasonable if one trusted LF, which she had no reason not to. Losing Tyrion is just a consequence of being honourable - Ned would have done the same after the trial. I think the only one you should blame here is LF. He is the snake that used his close relationship to Cat for years in order to frame Tyrion for the dagger. Why should Cat not believe him at that point? Bran strangely fell and then someone tried to murder him, while the Lannisters were in town. Tyrion could very well have been behind it from her PoV. I agree Ned was in a difficult position, but I blame LF primarily, not Cat. I also agree Joffrey was a stupid sadistic PoS

[@yetz2291]

Kidnapping Tyrion is the only blunder here imo. Coming to KL was inconsequential, and losing Tyrion was more Lysa's fault than hers.

[@ticket_puncher]

She could've had tyrion AND jaime and she fucked it up

[@TheFightHubb]

Also Cersei literally ripped up Roberts will infront of hundreds of people including honourable knights and important people etc, that never made sense to me it’s textbook treason and Cersei technically didn’t even have any high stance/position besides being queen mother (which you could argue she even wasn’t because Joffrey didn’t have his official coronation yet)

[@joshthomasmoorenew]

Tywin said it is best "I don't distrust you because your a woman, i distrust you because your not as smart as you think you are". And Tywin could and did curb Joffery's actions, if he had been in Kings Landing then Ned wouldn't have been dead and the war wouldn't have happened. And it shows when Tywin is dealing Olenna you can tell he knows this womans not to be taken lightly and you can tell the two know the other can match them and they have a respect for the others intellect even if they didn't like each other. When Cersei is dealing with Olenna, Olenna is treating her like a spoiled child who doesn't know the first thing shes doing and she didn't that woman was worse the Joffery and thats saying something.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Amazing points there Josh! There's nothing more destructive and harmful than the arrogance of a narcissist. It is legitimately poison to competence. Thanks for watching as always matey! Liam

[@LordBloodraven]

There are two people who truly are worse players than all those listed. They abandoned entire plots as if they were sons being left outside Craster's Keep. They sacrificed character development as if they were burning a princess at the stake. They threw a brilliant source material out the window like Tommen making a 'King's Landing.' Yes, I'm talking about D&D. They leveraged their early success with Game of Thrones to get a sweet deal with Disney for a StarWars production. Then, with those talks still ongoing, they became increasingly disinterested in the show that had gotten them this fame. After the backlash over The Last Jedi, Disney wisely decided to minimize their troubles by dismissing D&D from the project. In the end, D&D let apathy cost them a sweet deal, because... "Statement: Apathy is Death."

[@TheFandomeClips]

Hey my Lord! What a comment! Gave me a great laugh while reading it 😄 thanks for watching as always mate! Liam

[@CASantos]

Good call. This is like the equivalent of if Dany decided she actually didn't want dragons and would prefer a cat. So she grills drogon up and eats him (dragons = flying dinosaurs, and dinosaurs prob taste like chicken), she kinda forgot about viserion, and she trades rhaegal for a ship to asshai (but then the ship gets canceled cuz she dropped the ball on the whole being the "mother of dragons" thing). The dictionary definition of "you had one job"!

[@randyruger9063]

Cersei's strength is her disregard for the rules of the game. She shreds royal decrees in front of everyone. She orders her master of coins executed an a whim (no wait, she changed her mind). She regularly disregards what people think is possible and gains a level of unpredictability for it. After Tywin dies, she loses a lot of this. Season 1 Cersei would have had the leaders of the faith killed the first day she thought they were a threat.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Very good points Randy! I'm noticing unpredictability seems to be the word of the day for Cerseis strength 💪 thanks for watching as always matey! Liam

[@robertcooper4935]

I got here so fast Ned still has his head

[@Courageous91]

Not for long!

[@randyruger9063]

Aaaaaand it's gone. His head is gone. It's gone.

[@just_some_guy32]

The video was made 3 hours ago. Buddy you got here 4 hour's ago lol

[@robertcooper4935]

@@just_some_guy32 just call me the 3 eyed raven

[@ramanujanvenkatesan9863]

😮😂😂😂

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

In defence of Ned I will say he never truly intended to play the game, as he was hoping and planning to force the issue to be brought to the battlefield and have Robert on side. Ned was trying to take the Game of thrones to a game he could win, a game of generals. Sadly His wife Kat had to ruin it with her Tyrion plot and she was not preparing the North, and the Boar.

[@neodigremo]

I will always defend Ned as a victim of circumstance instead of lack of skill. His real blunder is trusting Littlefinger. Yes it is only because his wife vouches for his childhood friend but it is still a clear problem. Had he contacted Stannis in the book before moving on Cersei at all then he would have really changed the board.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Thats how we feel Historyfan. He isn't a bad player and he's fully aware of what he could do to win, its more that he refuses to play. Thanks for watching! Liam

[@ChrisClayton11]

Another fault of Ned is telling Cersei that he knew her secret. The man could’ve gotten everyone out safe and then dealt with that issue accordingly

[@TP1988]

I’m so early that D&D haven’t even had a chance to fuck up the ending of my comment yet.

[@thepunisher6674]

Robb sending Theon back to the greyjoys is by far one of the dumbest moves ever, Like the whole reason to have Theon warded at winterfell is so the greyjoys will never attack the north or any of its Allies like all Robb had to do was send a raven saying “hey I have your heir go attack Tywin and I won’t cut off his head” like he doesn’t even have to kill Theon he can just pretend to kill him this was so braindead

[@TheFandomeClips]

Yeah not Robs brightest moment 😂 way too much trust in his adoptive brother. Thanks for watching Punisher! Liam

[@thepunisher6674]

@@TheFandomeClips Yeah and Theon immediately betrays him without a second thought too

[@seldomsane5278]

Tyrion was right when he said that Cersei's only redeeming quality was her love for kids, and yes, her cheekbones, lol.

[@jamesalexander8193]

Viserys Daenery's brother was one of the worst even though he was so low on the pile. No money, no land, few allies and no army. If he kept his mouth shut he could have had more, Daenery would have given him the throne at the start of the show and books and he had the better claim but his treatment of her took that possible away and his arrogance got him that molten gold crown he wanted. If he was a better man he could have worked with her and the martels and had a chance at taking the throne but he messed up so bad so many times he couldn't even get a chance

[@kcguardian]

Cersei's biggest weakness isn't her pettiness, it's being shortsighted. She does not see the whole board and thinks only of getting rid of immediate obstacles rather than doing so in a way that enables long term success. Her pettiness and poor impulse control, exacerbates her shortsighted plays. Her biggest strength is unpredictability and having no limiting principles. There is nothing she will not do or attempt, making her moves wild and impulsive which both frustrates and horrifies enemies and would be allies. Part of her success comes because she does things nobody else would attempt for fear of alienating others, while she doesn't care and sometimes the gamble pays off.

[@enigmaoriginal2665]

The Starks failure boiled down to their underestimating just how low their enemies were willing to sink. Like Ragnar Lothbrok says, "power is only attained by those willing to lower themselves to pick it up"

[@jameshedrick4490]

I think Ramsey Bolton is an underrated player of the Game in his own right. The guy rose from a worthless bastard his father used for dirty work and could kill at any time to being Lord of Winterfel and Warden of the North himself due to keep political timing and unparalleled ruthlessness. He knew exactly when to make his moves, exactly when to kill his father and how to get away with it and always knew what enemy needed his priority and attention. He also has no code whatsoever and can do whatever he needs to in order to win.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

not really. He was warden for about a week and his actions to get himself there would have screwed him over if not for the series at that point being driven by plot covience.

[@WallE878]

​@@fightingmedialounge519 I agree eventually the north would've risen against him. We all hate his fathe but Ruse was intelligent enough to know when to be cruel and when to be reasonable

[@red_sea8296]

Cercei's biggest strength is her cheekbones

[@TheFandomeClips]

Haha this is first contender for the pin! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@JMoondog15]

And that she loves her children

[@RudeReg]

Perfect cheekbones!

[@matewhatthefuck6516]

You forgot her love for her children

[@zachhh1217]

@@red_sea8296 Cersei never broker her streak

[@SquishyOfCinder]

Cersei's biggest strength is the allies she does have. Gregor alone is a reason why she might be more unkillable than she appears to be.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Hes definitely a deterrent to better players and certainly a fantastic idiot shield 😂 thanks for watching Squishyofcinder! Liam

[@kelpyg7301]

If only Ned had Arya’s plot armor he could of survived that beheading

[@mazju9420]

Cersie's one redeaming quality is her cheekbones

[@fallofcamelot]

This is the c9mment I was looking for.

[@mr.snulch]

Great list, I fully agree that people dunk on Ned way too hard. The only honourable mentioned I wish you added is show Tyrion post S5. Every single move he makes in Essos is a detriment to Dany, and it's insane that she kept him alive, let alone in office.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Thanks Mrsnulch! Its criminal how everyone thinks Neds an idiot, he doesn't have the benefit of been able to read the books or watch the show to know what will happen next. His decisions are very wise when looked at without hindsight. We were actually thinking about Tyrion on the list but we figured his early game was strong enough to keep him off this list but his getting lapped by the best players was cause to keep him off the best players list. I can't even consider Tyrion post S5 as the same character they screwed him so hard bless him. Thanks for watching matey! Liam

[@mr.snulch]

@@TheFandomeClips Well said! And yes, I too see show-tyrion-post-season-5 as a separate character. But agreed that if you are combining it with actual Tyrion, his early game would keep him off this list. Keep up the great videos!

[@xaviervega468]

Not every move. Taking the ships from the Good Masters was Tyrion's idea,

[@Cyanduck485]

Cersei’s only redeeming trait is her kids And I’m not even joking They kept her in relevance

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

I would go even further and say the only reason she is even a player was because she was a Lannister, and honestly plot armour.

[@warlordofbritannia]

And that’s show only. In the books she’s a classic narcissist who only sees her children as extensions of herself.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Thats actually a great point cyanduck! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@Jaggaraz218]

Being ruthless is definetely a big positive trait in the game and Cersei has that

[@TheFandomeClips]

It definitely serves her well in the show! In the books I feel it does more damage than good. Thanks for watching Jaggaraz! Liam

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

Rob should have kept Theon close, kept his marriage to the Frey girl, forgiven Karstark and taken Jaime up north. He could have won, he chose to lose.

[@warlordofbritannia]

He also should have informed Edmure what he was supposed to do.

[@Rexbob444]

I mean at this point though, even if he had done all of that, he was up against over 100,000 men at arms and although he was a better commander than Tywin it wasn’t by nearly enough for him to make up the massive numerical disadvantage he had even if he had the grayjoys join him they would not have been able to beat Tywin on the field at that point

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

@Rexbob444 Tywin could have been cowed if he thought Jaime was now stuck in the North beyond reach unless he negotiated with Robb. Remember the North is huge and empty, Tywin can't just march a 100,000 man Army all the way North to Winterfell without over stretching his supply lines and leaving the Westerlands dangerously underdefended. Especially with Stannis on the loose. Robb should have asked to get back his sisters, I suppose Arya would have been a missing problem, but at least he gets back Sansa, perhaps Arya would have been brought North by the Hound or Brienne eventually. Rob thus avenges his father as best he can. It's not like he was ever going to conquer the South anyway.

[@Rexbob444]

@@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886 the only deal Tywin would’ve probably accepted at that point would’ve probably been rob returns Jamie in exchange for Sansa and Rob acknowledging Joffrey as king Tywin wouldn’t have had to occupy the entire north once he captured the Riverlands and crushed Rob‘s army it’s unlikely the north would’ve been able to hold out in a protracted war as the north didn’t have a massive production of food and Tywin cutting off the Riverlands fertile ground that could be used to sustain the north in a protracted conflict having now been taken all he would have to do is routinely burn the northern countryside, as although the north was very large much of it was either uninhabited or unable to grow large amounts of food and once large amounts of food start to be either burned or captured and the northerners started to starve to death rob would likely be forced to make favorable peace as even if he was able to hold onto Winterfell and all of the major castles and towns in the north, he wouldn’t be able to defend the countryside from such a large force they wouldn’t need occupy just pretty much steal all the food and let the northerners stay up in their fortresses until they become their tombs or they come out to negotiate and if they kill Jamie well at that point Tywin absolutely had to he could launch a protracted campaign of extermination against the Starks in revenge for his son. He had more than enough resources to do it. And although he hated his other son, he was already starting to use him as a back up plan just in case Jamie was killed, despite how much he disliked it hence why he trusted him to act as hand in his stead (he also might try to force a marriage between Tyrion and Sansa if Rob tried to drag out the war)

[@Epinardrouge]

He should listen Katlin then. Because she tried to avoid those terrible choices.

[@potatolord2196]

Honestly Circei's greatest strength is that people consistently overestimate her. It is hilarious to read the Tyrells assume that she must have some sort of plan, or at least some basic readoning skills. Only to be proven wrong. Everyone else is playing chess while she is playing Tik-Tak-Toe with herself.

[@DoggoJacco]

Kreia mention goes hard, great video!

[@hresvelgr7193]

I feel like there were other aspects that put Ned at a huge disadvantage. He is used to Northern style politics rather then King's Landing so when he arrives at King's Landing he is at a disadvantage. He also doesn't know the other players very well because he has only just arrived and hasn't had as much time to interact with and understand them and he doesn't have networks of spies like they do

[@dx-dragon4399]

True he was out of the loop

[@professorsassafras]

Cersei has one good trait.. she is a character you just want to see die and suffer. I've never seen a character make people loathe her so as cersei

[@TheFandomeClips]

So true professor! Although Thom was rooting for her in the last season since she was the only one doing anything that resembles playing the game still. Thanks for watching! Liam

[@xaviervega468]

Book Cersei is even worse. I'm convinced Martin based her off one of his ex-wives.

[@thegreatpage5912]

15:11 Don't Westeros have their own version of Chess though. Tyrion played it a few time in the last book.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Cyvasse is what it's called i believe! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@Ivbo]

14:11 - Whoever said that didn’t have many enemies…

[@TheFandomeClips]

😂 using Mannis logic is a sure fire way to my heart! Kudos Lvbo! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@physeter_de595]

Thanks for this vid! I truly enjoy all of your videos! I do really like your voice. You should do a thing like "Honest Trailers" does with their _voice_: Can you speak quotes in your voice? Like "What do we say to the Lord of Death? Not today."

[@TheFandomeClips]

Thanks for the kind words physeter! I've often had my voice compared to marmite, people ethier love it or hate it 😂 I'm sure we can find some way to get me saying some quotes! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@jameshedrick4490]

The worst player of the Game is Daenerys Stormborn no question. She spent her whole time playing it relying on others to give her what she needed based on her name and family history and used her dragons as a cheat code to never get her hands dirty herself. She earned none of the power she ended up with throughout the story gaining it all through luck and the illogical loyalty of others like Barriston and Tyrion who chose to follow her. And even then after effectively winning she burned it all down and got herself killed. The Made Queen is the worst player of the Game.

[@tomriddle8933]

She's miles ahead of her brother.

[@dezao2421]

True. She was lucky and plot armored. Even still she wouldn't make Top 10 of this list, given the number of dumb people there were in this show. You can add: Joffrey, Viserys, Theon Greyjoy, Sansa and Oberyn to the dumbs list before Daenaerys even dream to appear.

[@jayremi755]

​@@tomriddle8933 Viserys got her a dothraki army with basically nothing. Give Viserys dragons and he's conquering Westeros in a week.

[@lacym9278]

Wow, this is the closest I've come to post time! Great content guys :)

[@TheFandomeClips]

Thanks Lacy! You'll get that first comment one day! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@sozinscomet1316]

I wouldn't entirely blame Cersei, sure, she was an idiot, and deserved the spot, but, there is a catch Tywin never told Cersei how to play the game, when she was a child she was at Casterly Rock with Joanna while Tywin was ruling the realm for Aerys. Without Tywin she started using her authority to get herself out of trouble, like "Are you going to tell my father? I'm going to tell him and who do you think he would believe?" It's similar AT SOME POINT with Olenna's trick to pay with fake coins to merchants, after all no one would dare to say they were scammed by the mother of the Lord Paramount of the Reach, in the same way no one would dare to acuse the daugther of the Hand of the King, she saw that it worked, and she carry on with that style of playing the game, making her feel untouchable, which worked against Littlefinger, with that "Power is power", and she was smart enough to recognize that Varys wasn't her friend, unlike Tyrion who played him at every chance. Talking about Tyrion, Tywin did likely give a tutorial to Tyrion even before the "Head, spikes, walls" thing, and he wasn't his favourite child (neither was Cersei), but at least he decided to go low on Tywin's radar, by studying instead of having affairs with Jaime, unlike Cersei who gave her power for granted, Tyrion studied and prepared himself if he ever got a chance, and he did. But once again, with Tywin busy and Joanna dead Cersei had no teacher to tell her how to play, she was the kid that used one specific strategy on chess, but once you know how to counter it, it's gg. Cersei play the game with the idealogy of "Power is power", and that worked for "weaker" (in political level) players, as Littlefinger and Varys, but against Tyrion, Olenna, and Joffrey, she can't play her way, and that's how she loses. We can see that in Joffrey's mindseat, "A king do as he please", sounds really similar to "Power is power" but as Tywin stated "Do you think a crown gives you power?" The answer is no, but Cersei is unable to see it. Great video love it, I still have to see the Best Comanders and oh boy, I better see Randyll Tarly above Bobby B (Just kidding), but I still have to see it

[@sozinscomet1316]

According to Tyrion: Her love for her children is her one redeeming quality, that and her cheekbones. But she is as unyeailding as Tywin, she would find the fastest way to ruin you as soon as possible, if she saw you as a menace to her power or her family, I think she should be compared more with Lysa just not in a good way, but both of them were really were willing to do everything to keep their childrens away from danger. Their difference it was that Lysa didn't have Cersei's ambitions. Cersei had the power "Everyone else who wasn't her, was the enemy", her will to destroy her enemies make her the most dangerous opponent to play against, even if it was the easiest one, because she had back-up, she had Tywin in a very simmilar way to Draco Malfoy, spoiled blondies Am I right?

[@TheFandomeClips]

Some great points there! Haha you'll be sorely disappointed in the commanders video if that's what your looking for, Although Tarley is placed under the category of "determined by the viewer" so if you want to put him above Bobby B in your rankings he can be 😂 Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching! Liam

[@fightingmedialounge519]

that joffrey line also parralles what robbert said.

[@lucaswilmot9435]

Robb’s only flaw as a player was being 15 or however old he is. if he were 5 years older and probably married already, he would have been so much smarter lol

[@ivanm2424]

Well, Cersei in the TV show is just a mid-level player. In particular, it was she who noted Qyburn and helped him move up the “career ladder”: choosing the right team members is an important quality of a leader. Some will say that she greatly miscalculated her bet on the High Sparrow, but this mistake led to her humiliation and a naked walk, but not to death or captivity. Additionally, the subsequent decision to blow up Baelor's Sept was a very powerful decision. Finally, don't forget that she lasted in the Game right up to the very end. In addition, she truly loved her children, and became increasingly cruel after their deaths, especially given that prophecy in her childhood. I'm not sure if this counts as a redeeming quality, but she's a pretty good mother.

[@gamebawesome]

Cersei's greatest strength is she had to have used hacks to sit on throne after blowing up the pope and queen in the show

[@TheFandomeClips]

Definitely Gamebawesome! Its almost as big a disconnect as Euron with how different a direction Cersei goes in the show. Its believed she will blow up the sept in the books but I seriously doubt anyone is going to crown her for it lol 😆 thanks for watching as always matey! Liam

[@ksawerystan]

5:45 they're both bold and bald

[@professorsassafras]

Again I disagree with Ned. I love neds honor and think there's no need to change that. That's his best quality. I think it's more down to really poor planning, catylin stark acting out and seizing tyrion and losing him too early

[@Bradlzz]

Can you do a top 5 future players? that would be a banger video

[@TheFandomeClips]

We've got something like that in the works Bradzz but still fine tuning the script! Keep an eye out mate! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@cdcdrr]

Redeeming quality for Cersei? Perception. Cersei does understand how to see like a player. She looks for insults and slights from people, and finds them easily. While her decision of what to do about it leaves much to be desired, at a deadly court like King's Landing, you need to recognise who is your friend and who is your enemy. She was absolutely right to think of the Tyrels as undermining her position and seeking power for themselves. Without Tywin to keep them in line, she was virtually defenseless. Jaime was off in Dorne and not a great schemer. Kevan had already made up his mind about her. Reconciling with Tyrion, that ship had literally already set sail. Even then, her keen eye allowed her to find useful new allies. Qyburn was a 2-for-1 deal, granting her a revived Mountain as bodyguard while the man himself contributed ballistas and a competent master of whispers. Even allying the Sparrows wasn't an entirely stupid move if she hadn't showed her hand by arming them and kept her own bases covered. The Tyrels are just a little too venal for the tastes of the smallfolk, and having them cancel out Margaery's popular appeal was good. Even her recognition of Wildfire as a tool has the germ of a good idea that with more restraint can be useful. As proven by Tyrion at the Blackwater after Cersei's less refined idea came to his attention. Blowing up the Sept of Baelor as the nuclear option was the right move in the show, as it got her out of a trial that could have ended her, and in the short term her power increased. But she should not have let things come to that in the first place. If you could somehow fuse Cersei's awareness with Balon's patience, you would funnily enough end up with a top-tier schemer. Assuming you don't inadvertantly create a new weakness.

[@TheFandomeClips]

Haha thats a scary thing to imagine, Bersei Greyister the most feared schemer in a the land 😂 some amazing points there Cdcddr! She has the right idea in a lot of cases but far too impulsive and lacking foresight to account for the knock on effects. Thanks for watching as always matey! Liam

[@atlas956]

I was looking for his comment. Early Cersei really has amazing observational skills. She‘s vigilant, she‘s good at reading people and their motives, and unlike most other players actually bothers to employ spies and so one to make sure what‘s going on at her own court and why. She’s good at reading what people want, and make promises that entice them to support her. She‘s one of the VERY few to catch onto Baelish‘s whole act, which is impressive in it‘s own right considering how much she has going on. It‘s a pity she’s too full of herself to actually think her ideas for executing plans through to the end… and has an absolute narcissistic blind spot when it comes to her children.

[@marcusreading3783]

I think Neds biggest problem was that he genuinely had no idea about the den of snakes he was walking into. If he had been prepared for it...well, he probably wouldnt have taken the post, but he probably would have done a better job.

[@ioanevans6763]

To be fair to Ned, everything would've worked out fine for him had Robert returned from his hunt unscathed. Cersei was relying a LOT on Lancel to get him drunk enough for an accident to occur.

[@lawv804]

It's the dumbest "murder plot" ever. Just get Robert drunk and hope he gets into a hunting accident? Robert is an alcoholic with a high tolerance to booze. It was an act of the gods for that to have actually worked.

[@sankarkrishnan407]

Roose Bolton may be added in this list. When he betrayed starks and killing them entire north was against him. And he can't control his son. In the north he and his son are the most hated ones. In the small game he won with the help of Lannisters. But in long game his fate is decided.

[@LordWyatt]

Even Hodor could say it and he only says one word. Hodor: HODOR!HONDOR!HONOR!

[@eddiekalista3222]

A big strength with Cersei is that she understands and utilizes the power and control that inherently comes with the throne. She has always made sure that a gold haired Lannister always sat on the throne, and leveraged that position to open lots of other doors. She truly understands what pieces are important, and works very hard, and mostly succeeds, at acquiring and controlling those pieces. But her downfall is not knowing what do with those pieces once she has them.

[@hallo23779]

0:35 a few questions about GoT/SW: what are your thoughts on the mandalorian tv show? do you believe GoT will get another book before gta 7?

[@TheFandomeClips]

Haha I've logged these questions buddy keep an eye out for its answer in the QNA! Thanks for watching! Liam

[@babaskerville]

I think Rob gets a little too much hate. He started from a horrible position. He was incredibly young, inexperienced in battle and politics, and started out with half of his family as hostages. Despite this, he managed to gain the love and loyalty of many of the Northern lords, win every battle (in unknown territory no less), and capture Jaime Lannister. He also accomplished all of this in a relatively short amount of time. His breaking his oath is definitely a huge mark against him, but it was highly suggested that the Freys were more than willing to betray him at any time regardless of the deal they had. He shouldn't have had them as allies at all and he knew that, but he didn't really have a choice if he wanted to save his family before it was too late--a product of his poor starting position in more ways than one. He also didn't really trust the Greyjoys, he just believed that he needed a fleet and theirs was the only option he knew of. That was still a huge mistake, but again mostly a product of his poor position. Killing Lord Karstark was his biggest mistake for sure, but even that wouldn't have happened if not for Lord Karstark's loyalty wavering after his sons' deaths. Cat releasing Jaime was what got Rob killed in my book. This isn't to say that Rob was an amazing player, but I definitely don't think he deserves to be on this list. He accomplished quite a bit with what he was given.

[@keirangrant1607]

In Ned's defense, he did say very loudly and very proudly, that he was not fit to play the game. He knew his hoor was not suited for KL. And technically, he only lost the Game because of Sansa. Even Cersei says this.

[@federicaxx9452]

@@keirangrant1607 no, he lost the game because he said to Cersei that he knew the truth. Sansa had no fault, she just trusted the same people that her father trust before her.

[@TheStoneTargaryen]

Still can’t hear your voice without thinking of Tia Kofi, but god I love your content

[@clarencehalbay6042]

I read a good description of how Cersei plays the game. Every other players try to place their chess pieces carefully but Cersei has no fear of turning the whole table around and on fire.

[@FupaDoncic]

Country dogs die in the city. He’s playing rural politics in a courtyard of wealth.

[@Buzterer]

I mean, Stannis obsession with honor and law makes him the kind of guy Who the other noble houses would just give the throne to if they had pick someone who wouldnt screw the kingdom

[@matthewzito6130]

Renly Baratheon should be on this list. He majorly overplayed his hand and underestimated his own brother Stannis.

[@Rexbob444]

To be fair, there was not very much he could’ve done to predict his brother killing him with literal shadow demons and had he fought him without the demons he would’ve crushed his brother and been able to take Kings Landing.

[@matthewzito6130]

@@Rexbob444 Easier said than done. Has Renly ever led an army in battle? ... Meanwhile, Renly's claim to the throne is dependent on him killing Stannis. How many of the great houses would support a kinslayer king? It might be different, if Renly had initially backed Stannis and then had him murdered. Then he might be able to blame the murder on the Lannisters, but that option went out the window when he declared war on his brother.

[@Rexbob444]

@@matthewzito6130 Renley had over 80,000 troops compared to less than 10,000 commanded by his brother he had a tactical genius as one of his supporters several extremely high-quality knights and held stormsend as its legitimate Lord plus his brother technically invaded his land he didn’t go up to Dragon stone and start this he might be seen as a little bit of a scumbag, but he was overall way more popular than his brother and with the sheer amount of troops he had he could’ve taken Kings Landing. He just needed his brother to be driven away to Dragonstone again or heck he could just capture him he had very little supporters and so was unlikely that he’d have all that many people coming to rescue him.

[@dolod777]

bro forgot he is in middle ages feudalism and not in republic democracy type of state

[@oran0663]

I wanna say Cersi’s biggest strength is her willingness to be ruthless when it comes to her family but this is also a double edged sword is it being paired with her inability to think ahead gets her into a lot of trouble. Also her pointing this ruthlessness at Tyrion, who is arguably one of the smartest and best players on the board left who would still be willing to ally with her and help if she asked(prior to the Tywin incident) definitely doesn’t help

[@kegglonian5130]

Didn’t expect to see kreia in my game of thrones video. I love you with all of my heart.

[@Caron-dc3hs]

Say what you want about Cersei, but she started of as beeing at least 7th in line to the iron throne behind Robert, Joffrey, Tommen, even Myrcella, if she has a husband, Stannis and Renly, in the show she has sat the iron throne and i guess in the books she is a very influential player as well, she has done what she needed to do to secure her rise and stopped at nothing. But maybe i am not that informed what the criterias are, cause Pycelle never has any aspirations on rising and doesnt gather more power, even if there are chances.

[@flavius5722]

No she actualy started as the second in line , because she was regent to both Jofrey and Tommen, her poor decisions started the war of the five kings în both books and show It would had been naturaly for her to die in season 6 but when Dumb and Dumber see themself out of book material were afraid to kill any character who was in season 1 , and instead of making the total shift to the fight between living and the withes, they decide to make Leana Headey ' s character the ultimate villan , because that would be much cheaper than to make more scenes with the Night King or Littlefinger In the books Cersei couldnt burn the Tyrels, and even if she can there are two more sons of Mace in the Reach ,so basicaly she would had to face a second Robb Stark but with 3 times more troops , and she was already reduce to being Varys puppet

[@MagikarpDiete]

Amazing channel cant believe I just found it now

[@ajerjavec4723]

Here’s a fun thing. I think the fans have pointed out in fanfiction that Ned despite not wanting to play basically has one of the best pieces John after all someone who debated Lee has a claimed to the throne and who basically sees your children as his siblings and hid your peace so well that no one knows who he is clever

[@SerbAtheist]

The worst player of all was Daenerys Targaryen. How do you squander so many advantages in such a spectacular fashion? Her impulsivity highlighted her complete lack of leadership skills. Instead of integrating all ideas to formulate a coherent plan, she vacillated between complete trust in her advisors and no trust whatsoever. And her people game... her blatantly transparent attempt to schmooze to Sansa, her complete lack of tact when telling Sam about his father and brother, her complete lack of understanding in how to win over hearts and minds... all of it was absolutely abysmal.

[@CalebPrice-rc3lg]

Worth noting that things almost certainly would've played out very differently for Ned if Sansa hadn't sang like a canary for Cersei. Not to add to the hate for Sansa (can't blame a little girl for misjudging Cersei's character), but without her as an additional hostage, things would've gone very differently for the Starks. Even with Joffrey horribly screwing up what should've been a humiliating but recoverable turn of events for House Stark by offing Ned, he really didn't do that bad of a job playing the game; he wanted his family out of there and almost made it happen.

[@federicaxx9452]

I disagree, Sansa was a kid that trust the same people that her father did..Ned instead chose to die in the moment he said to Cersei that he knew the truth.

[@ajerjavec4723]

For Cheri her plan in the last few seasons of the show, Danny and John fight the White Walkers is stupid as her twin point out whatever side win she loses If humans win, they’re gonna be mad at her breaking her off for petty reasons and do I need to explain what happens if the white Walkers win but her biggest mistake making Danny mad

[@matthewheywood8532]

Book Cersi does she get enemies coming , namely the Tyrell’s, but has no idea how to deal with it but she does see it coming

[@yggdrasil2]

Robb and Cat's greatest flaw was expecting Tywin had morals and love for his family lol. They had Tyrion as a hostage, there shouldn't even be a conflict but negotiation. Then if you do the math, Jaime would definitely have been killed as retribution for the Red Wedding if Cat hadn't freed him. Oh, and all the promises Tyrion made which would probably have deescalated the conflict was negated when the old hand was back in town.

[@atlas956]

The good thing Cersei has for her is that she‘s absolutely ruthless and quick to act. When she does take a step back and make a plan, it happens, and it‘ll probably be a surprise. She‘s observant, vigilant and wastes no time. The unfortunate thing is that all of these good traits slowly intensify and turn into paranoia and violent, impulsive overreactions. especially when her own self-image is threatened…

[@TheGamerChronicles999]

Love the take on Ned he knew he could have jofferey killed or ream up with remley but wanted to give them a chance ge was aware just that dang honor haha

[@arthropod-doctor]

Ned was a victim of pretty bad luck, honestly. In the books, Sansa rats him out to Cersei, which prevents her and Arya from returning to Winterfell. Likewise, nobody anticipated that Joffrey was so unhinged.

[@Courageous91]

Balon should have been number 1 in my opinion. Dude is a freaking moron but I understand why Cersei is there at number one. In Scotland, we have a term we use as an insult called 'weapon'. Basically that you are a danger to yourself and everyone else around you. Cersei is a Weapon. She is dangerous in more ways than one to everyone including herself. The only reason I could place her above Balon is that she has basic competency in trying to get what she wants in the form of framing Margarey and trying to remove her as a factor after getting rid of Lorras by sending him to Dragonstone. All that being said, pissing off your most powerful ally is a REAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLY bad idea and her own idea backfires horrendously when she is in taken into custody by the Faith

[@TheFandomeClips]

Balon is such a bellend, he was saved the number 1 spot, only because he follows the iron born way, which gives him a handi cap in his conduct, whereas Cersei has no handi caps and she's still useless 😂

[@FlaggedALot]

Seeing the kotor ii quote I tattooed on my body in this video was not in my expectations.

[@professorsassafras]

I kind of wish visarys would not have been killed off by drogo because there are three things i wanted to see with visarays 1) robert baratheon crush his army 2) jamie Lannister confront and defeat visarys, peotic, confronting your past 3) joffrey executing him and revealing to the audience that joffrey is simply the next visarys Bonus) visarys living to see his sister sit on the iron throne and become everything he wanted.. So yes i so want visarys to not die at drogos hands but its ONLY so i can see him endure a fate far worse :) and more satisfying

[@11bluekitkats]

Might be a hot take I’ve got to say though I think I might put Cersei over Balon. I mean in the later seasons of the show she does pretty well and she is able to manipulate and intimidate those around her often. I just can’t think of much good to say about Balon expect that he’s patient. 😂

[@twinsen1949]

Cersei's strength is that she's opportunistic. Or an alternative way of saying it, is that she's well "positioned". It's not something about her personality, unless you count her low cunning, but rather it's an "accident". She's born the right gender, the right position, and the right time to end up being Queen regent. Thanks to this, she was able to grab power, get the Iron Bank money, hire the Golden Company, and surround herself with useful (if only prone to betrayal) people.

[@toxicavocado4882]

16:10, I had never considered that. D and D actually fucked up so badly, that they made Cersei decent* at the game.

[@jasontodd8296]

Cersei's biggest strength would be that she was a real threat to everything and everyone, including herself and her own family. She believed that she was an equal to her father (clearly not), emotional and everything else you already mentioned. But I think she was also so blind to the fact that she believed she could win the game by breaking the game (like the meme where one of the chess players instead of playing, smashes the board). She clearly never understood that if you do that, all rules are out the window and the other side can now do anything as well (and Danny did). I mean, in the show, did we see anyone, aside her children that she truly loved, and her father, whom she probably feared, was there a single person she didn't truly threaten in a way at some point? Or almost gotten killed or did get killed? The other strength would be her love for her kids, which turned out to be a weakness as well, because she is again dangerous as she does anything to defend them or later, avenge them.

[@ACinemafanatic]

Once Tywin was gone we saw just how dumb Cersei got from thinking she one upped the tyrells and got herself arrested publicly shamed and confined to the red keep and on top of that giving the faith that kind of power. What I didn’t like as the season went on was after the sept being destroyed that she all of a sudden becomes smarter than Tyrion. She was supposed to be more paranoid and crazy not smart and level headed.

[@FlaggedALot]

I don’t know what Cersei was ever thinking beheading Missandei in front of Dany knowing that Dany had a fucking dragon. Like yes, she got one killed, but it only took three of the things to conquer the entire continent under the reign of Aegon the conqueror, surely she should have known even a single dragon would be perfectly capable of… well exactly what ended up happening.

[@nicholashines2403]

I will forever argue that Ned was one of the best players. He was able to navigate a situation he wasn’t fully prepared for, was able to keep his honor code, and had the balls of every single Lannister in a vice. As long as Robert stayed alive for one more day, he won, but no, Robert died from a plan that had a 1 in a thousand shot of working

[@The_Malcontented]

@2:22 ruthlessness from Thom

[@haydenhodgson8716]

Wake up babes The Fandom just posted. Honestly guys I know I say it all the time but you are doing a great job!! Stanis is definitely my favourite, I would say stannis greatest feature is he is not willing to give an order he would not do. He's soooo bad ass

[@TheFandomeClips]

Hey Hayden thanks so much for the kind words as always! Honestly it killed me to put Stannis on this list, he's the god dam Mannis! But he had to be on it or the comment patrol would shout bias and BS like they did on the fighters video because Bobby beat out Arthur 😂 thanks for tuning in as always matey! Come say hi on the discord if youve got the app! Liam

[@DoktaVODKA]

Caitlyn Tulley basically started the war, didn't listen to Ned to rally the banners. And Fortify the Neck. amongst other screw ups.

[@MyPisceanNature]

Cersei's biggest problem (as far as being a competent player) is her mother died before being able to teach Cersei to play the game as a woman. Joanna Lannister was capable. If she was around to play the role of Olenna to Cersei's Maergery, Cersei would probably be much more competent. As is, she is just trying to imitate Tywin by what she sees from the outside because he doesn't bother to teach her the reasons for what he does.

[@dakotalange2858]

Video idea Who is the best mercenary/ mercenary companies in GoT? Bronn is the goat and I like the winter wolves they seem interesting as they are northern guys

[@TheUnseenPath]

First of all: I would say that Ned’s honor is actually the thing that won the games from the start. I mean look where his family ended up in the show. I know we’re comparing the books, but since the books are not over and the show is all I have to do is contrast the two. I’m going with the show. The fact that Ned was so loved because of his honor and morals meant that the entire north was willing to avenge him and cause a problem for the Lannister‘s when they took power, it means that people are willing to rally behind him in the north is a pretty big place, and I would say hard to conquer which gives them an advantage, especially when it comes to planning because who’s going to want to spy on them and stay there because it’s so damn cold. It’s like Napoleon and trying to cross mountains. It just doesn’t happen. So yeah, I seen that one in the long game by simply being himself, and just having some honor. As for Rob, everybody seems to be placing the blame about beheading, one of his lords, as punishment for betrayal. In my personal opinion, that was. Karstark’s fault almost entirely. All he had to do was obey his king but because he wanted to be a treasonous jackass, he lost his life. And his house is not worth the dirt that they walk on because if they had any modicum of common sense they would say “you know what father did commit a crime, and he had it coming Rob is our king and he should know better“ but no, they chose to stand behind their idiot Lord because he wanted petty revenge. Rob had no choice. I’m sorry, but this was almost 100%. Karstark’s fault.

[@JadusMoltriel]

Seeing Kreia/ Darth Traya was a very enjoyable surprise!

[@professorsassafras]

I honestly think it was Rob declaring himself king in the north that was the killing blow. It made it more difficult to negotiate alliances with stannis or peace with the Lannisters. The original goal was revenge and the return of his sisters. And the north can't survive on its own it has white walkers, wildlings, the botlens and freys and the iron born to deal with. Being a good battle commander is not the same as being a good king. Again I think honor was Robs greatest strength not weakness. I think Rob starks real biggest weakness, was biting off more then he could chew it was not a coincidence everything went wrong after declaring himself king

[@roderickbarber6056]

It warms my heart that somebody is finally shining light on Cersei's incompetence. Everybody always wants to talk about Ned... When she's clearly worse

[@JuliusDofarios]

Joffry, anyone? He broke the realm into civil war by executing Ned and then simped to Tywin to secure himself as 'king', even having his marriage arranged and seeing very limited gaming of thrones

[@warlordofbritannia]

Cersei’s greatest strength is her intelligence. She is a true savant of the Game, so brilliant that she found out not only that her servants were purposefully shrinking her dresses but also were in the ploy of that schemer Margaery Tyrell. Her personal life is also impeccable as she is the epitome of filial love and a great mother, raising one of the most promising kings in the history of Westeros in Joffrey (RIP).

[@TheFandomeClips]

😂 just a shame those slimey Roses conspired to kill that brave and noble boy. Thanks for watching Warlord as always mate! Liam

[@rileydavidson207]

Cersai's biggest strength as a player is that she is harder to predict, because it's hard to predict what stupid shit she will pull.

[@ltbite6404]

I’d love to see you and Our Hills Hurt do a collab

[@TheFandomeClips]

We're friends with those guys and we chat on discord! It's been floated around thats for sure. We just need to figure out a topic that we can do in their OTT podcast style for their channel and something they can feature on with our ever so slightly more serious mates at a pub vibe! Thanks for watching itbite! Liam

[@jackfoxx6351]

I like how you get closer to the top of the list it's more and more due to neptoism

[@TheFandomeClips]

Its definitely a damaging quality to competence that's for sure! Thanks for watching Jack! Liam

[@dersechsteistari845]

I would say, that cersei's biggest strength is that she is crazy. Due to that, you never know what she will do next

[@BlakeCamreon]

Ned's biggest flaw is he ALWAYS shows his hand. Poker is about deception which he refuses to do

[@bobjohnson9201]

Cersei’s biggest strength is her ability to ride around on everyone else’s shoulders. Kingslanding needs to be saved? Call Tyrion and Tywin. Tyrion is kicking your butt at the game? Call Tywin. That guy is standing there wrong? Call Ser Gregor. Need to make another child? Call your brother. Need someone’s head removed and Ser Gregor isn’t around? Call Ser Illyn. Need the Tyrells gone? Try reading Call of the Wildfire.

[@jeremy1860]

I know a lot of people criticise Robb for the Karstark incident, but personally, I'm on his side on that point. The man went behind his leader's back and murdered prisoners of war, defenceless children no less. That kind of thing cannot be ignored, and if such an act were to take place in real life, committed by some actual military official, all of us would rightly be calling for their heads, whether they were on our side or not 😠

[@tarmairon431]

Robb should have made him join the Knights' Watch instead.

[@sixtealbisetti2480]

Lysa Arryn made one extremely bold move and then didn't do shit, she started the game herself and immediately forfeited, and she died anyway

[@dataportdoll]

I would actually give Ned a lot of credit in how he saved Jon Snow. Rather than doing the super-safe thing, sending him away to live with some trusted ally or retainer, preferably in Essos with the other Targaryens, Ned very publicly said "Nope, this is MY bastard. Me. Ned Stark. The guy too honorable to let his mother suffer the consequences of my decisions! Man I really fucked up didn't I?" Which, A), is something Robert will look at and go "Yeah makes sense I've got like 3 already.", and B) Ned doesn't know if there's anyone who heard Rhaegar had another child. If rumors come circulating back, just in case, one of the last places Robert would be looking is at his good friend Ned's bastard kid. And the only reason this plan works so well is because Ned is deliberately leveraging his reputation as an honest man to pull the wool over Tywin and Jon Arryn's eyes, because they know if Ned DID break his honor code he'd do something stupid and very public to make up for it. AND THEN, he manages to get Jon to the Wall, where even Targaryens are still allowed to openly serve, and keep him free from Robert's reach. When it counted, Ned could make some brilliant moves. You can't really say that about a lot of the weaker players of the game.