The 8 Best Relationships on ‘Game of Thrones’ Ever (and the 8 Worst!)

What really inspires viewers’ unwavering loyalty to and their love of Game of Thrones is their emotional investment in every character — the good, the bad, and the ugly (sorry, Hound).

As author George R.R. Martin says:

I’ve always taken that as my guiding principle, and the rest is just set dressing. You can have dragons in it, or aliens and starships, or a western about a gunslinger, or even literary fiction, and ultimately you’re still writing about the human heart in conflict with itself.

With Game of Thrones Season 8 underway, there’s no better time to examine the relationships with the most lasting impact on Game of Thrones.

All these pairings aren’t romantic (some aren’t traditional or even human), but they are, each in their own way, standouts among a sprawling landscape of inhabitants of Martin’s fantastical realm. Love them or hate them, these are Game of Thrones‘ best and worst twosomes.

First off, let’s focus on the relationships we love.

8 Best Relationships on Game of Thrones Ever:

1. Jon Snow and Ghost

Just like Jon Snow, Ghost’s existence looked to be of little consequence: one a bastard, the other the runt of a litter of direwolves. Both not only survive extreme circumstances but evolve into fearless warriors as well. Sam may be Jon’s closest and most loyal ally, but Ghost is man’s best friend.

Jon: I need him [Ghost] more than I need you.

The Stark children’s canine counterparts fall one by one (with the exception of Nimeria), but Ghost remains standing. We don’t see Jon’s faithful companion during season 7, but Ghost, who shares Dany’s hair color, returns to face the Night King alongside the rest of the North.

2. Arya Stark and Needle

Since Game of Thrones Season 1 Episode 1, it was obvious Arya’s path would diverge from her sister’s. When Jon Snow gives her Needle, viewers know there’s a special connection between these two outcasts.

Arya: Sansa can keep her sewing needle needles. I’ve got a needle of my own.

Needle isn’t just a weapon. The sword becomes part of Arya’s identity: tomboy, fugitive, captive, apprentice, sister, daughter, and assassin. Arya’s willing to eradicate all signs of her former life, including her face, while training with Jaqen H’ghar. But she can’t part with Needle because Arya Stark has always been someone.

3. Yara Greyjoy and Theon Greyjoy

The Ironborn aren’t a likable lot. They are rapers and reavers. They aren’t even especially loyal to each other, so Yara and Theon’s sibling revelry is nothing short of miraculous in a family where brothers kill brothers, and fathers give their children away to their worst enemies.

Yara and Theon haven’t exactly set the world on fire with their ambitions or accomplishments, but it’s Yara who undoes at least some of the damage Ramsay inflicts on Theon. Tough love is still love. Theon supports his sister’s claim to the throne, and he recognizes she’s the only one who unconditionally loves him.

Yara: If you’re so broken, that there’s no coming back, take a knife and cut your wrists. End it. But if you’re staying, Theon, I need you.

You can’t swing a sword in Westeros without hitting the branch of a dysfunctional family tree, but Theon and Yara actually have one of the most enduring and normal brother-sister relationships on the show.

4. Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister

Brought together by a promise, held together by the need to survive, Jaime and Brienne start out as enemies but end up as something more. There are many fans who hope these two will explore their feelings for each other during season 8.

Brienne undoubtedly saves Jaime’s life by vouching for him, but it looks like the only “sword” Brienne will see is the one Jaime uses to knight her.

Brienne: I know there is honor in you. I’ve seen it myself.

Brienne possesses every character trait Cersei lacks, and the influence she’s had over Jamie is unmistakable. While any sign of frailty elicits disdain from Cersei, Jamie’s admission of vulnerability to Brienne is the Game of Thrones equivalent of “You complete me.” Jaime has always loved Cersei, but he respects Brienne.

5. Samwell Tarly and Gilly

The disowned eldest son of Lord Tarly and a wildling impregnated by her own father wouldn’t seem like a match made in heaven. They do share one thing in common: they are both pure of heart.

Sam and Gilly just want to be good people. They are unflinchingly loyal to each other and to those close to them. That is rare on Game of Thrones. They don’t possess any supernatural powers or have any special skills, but sheer determination has made them indispensable.

Gilly: Promise me you won’t die.

Wars aren’t just won and lost by heroes on horses and dragons. The fate of an empire can rely on a moment shared between two lovers reading history books.

6. Daenerys Targaryen and Drogon

A mother should love all of her children equally, but Daenerys is closer to Drogon than Rheagal or the now undead Viserion. Drogon instinctively knows when Dany needs his help, appearing just in time to free her from the clutches of the Sons of the Harpy.

Daenerys: They have my dragons. A mother does not flee without her children.

Drogon is the only one of her dragons Dany ever rides, and he’s her preferred method of death and destruction when it comes to fighting her enemies. Dany may have a name, an army, and trusted advisors, but none of those are going to get her the Iron Throne.

After arriving in the North, Dany finds herself short on allies, and Bran’s visions of a dragon flying over King’s Landing could be Dany on Drogon preparing to claim her birthright.

7. Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne

Aside from providing rare and much-needed comic relief, the kinship between Tyrion and Podrick has yet to be duplicated on Game of Thrones. Bronn and Tyrion are a close second, but Bronn expects to be paid for his loyalty and friendship.

Tyrion: Pod. There has never lived a more loyal squire.

Considered a “demon monkey” by the masses and hated by most of his own family, Tyrion pals around with a mediocre squire, a boy of few words who also happens to possess legendary sexual prowess. Podrick’s affection for his lord is cemented when he saves Tyrion’s life during the Battle of the Blackwater — at no cost.

Podrick is as indispensable to Brienne, but it’s hard not to miss the brothers from different mothers vibe — a highlight of Tyrion’s time as Hand of the King.

8. Arya Stark and Sandor “The Hound” Clegane

As far as babysitters go, you can do worse than the Hound. A vicious killer is exactly who you want by your side when you’re a young girl trying to reunite with your family in a time of war. The Hound may see Arya as a payday, but his instinct is always to protect her and her sister.

The Hound neither squashes Arya’s violent impulses nor judges her when she acts on them. With her father dead and her brothers nowhere to be found, The Hound becomes Arya’s sole male role model. She doesn’t love him enough to save him or hate him enough to kill him.

Their reunion at Winterfell has a sense of familiarity but no intimacy — people who once knew each other fairly well, but are now mostly strangers.

 

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Now that we’ve focused on the relationships we love, it’s time to focus on those relationships on Game of Thrones that are downright awful. 

8 Worst Relationships on Game of Thrones Ever:

1. Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister

The fact that Cersei and Jaime shared a womb isn’t the most disturbing thing about their love affair. The consequences of their toxic relationship aren’t entirely lost on Cersei. 

Cersei: Sometimes I wonder … if this is the price for what we’ve done. For our sins.

Lengthy separations followed by reunions marred by anger, disdain, resentment, disappointment, and even rape don’t drive the two apart. It’s Jaime’s innate desire to be remembered as more than the Kingslayer, and Cersei’s increasing focus on vengeance and power that divides them. 

United in their efforts to achieve a common goal always leads to death and destruction. Even though Cersei and Jaime’s love affair is doomed, their hearts won’t be the only casualties.

2. Stannis Baratheon and Melisandre 

There’s nothing worse than a fanatic with a cause, and Melisandre’s conviction that Stannis Baratheon was The Prince That Was Promised to save the Seven Kingdoms doesn’t work out so well for anyone involved.

Melisandre almost single-handedly wipes out the Baratheon lineage.

At Melisandre’s urging, Stannis commits mass genocide against his own people. Time and again, Melisandre’s prophecies prove false, but the weak-minded, egomaniacal, and entitled Stannis blindly follows her from one disaster to another.

The only good thing about this twosome is Melisandre makes Stannis only slightly less dull and taciturn, but even the Red Woman can’t infuse Stannis with any charisma.

The bizarre three-way dynamic between Stannis, his wife, and Melisandre reeks of some kind of Medieval polygamy. 

3. Sansa Stark and Ramsay Bolton

Anyone who comes into contact with Ramsay Bolton is lucky to stay live, retain their skin, or keep all of their body parts. Whether Littlefinger knows of Ramsay’s predilections doesn’t matter, he hands Sansa over anyway.

Sansa: I can still feel it. I can still feel what he did, in my body, standing here, right now.

Ramsay raping Sansa on their wedding night as Theon watches caused backlash from viewers, perhaps being the penultimate example of a female character on Game of Thrones being sexualized, brutalized, and exploited.

Sansa escapes one sadistic captor only to be taken by another (only more experienced and enthusiastic).                                

4. Grey Worm and Missandei

What could possibly be wrong with the love affair between these former slaves turned trusted members of Dany’s inner circle?

Nothing. If you take their romance out of the story, it isn’t missed; it doesn’t matter. Their attraction to each other feels more the result of proximity than anything else. 

Their conversation about building a future together is just foreshadowing the inevitable. When one or both perish, we might mourn for them a minute longer because of their ill-fated romance, but that’s all.

5. Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen 

Once Dany learns the truth about Jon, her soulmate is the last thing on her mind. So much for “the things we do for love.

Dany continues to prove she needs help winning friends and influencing people. Sansa has no intention of bending any knee to this queen or even a king.

So, Jon’s got 99 problems, and the women in his life are more than one. When it comes to duty, Jon proves his moral compass can’t be swayed by love (RIP, Ygritte).

While madness runs in the family, Dany demonstrates on more than one occasion she can be susceptible to the same violent urges that consumed her father. She’s also quick to turn on those who fail her in any way.

Jon’s inclination is towards peace and forgiveness (with the exception of those who murder him), while Daenerys crucifies men (and undoubtedly women) when she feels it’s justified.

Political stuff aside, the storyline is tainted by the incest issue, even though that barely registers as a bleep on either Jon’s or Dany’s radar. This will get ugly (Myhsa rhymes with Nissa Nissa).

Now they aren’t just facing off against an army of the undead, they’re at odds with one another. 

6. Cersei Lannister and Qyburn         

If there’s one thing Cersei Lannister doesn’t need, it’s a ghoulish man who can turn nightmares into reality. Westeros’ answer to Dr. Frankenstein, Qyburn creates Cersei her own personal monster: Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane 2.0.

As if the Seven Kingdoms aren’t already in peril from an army of undead, Qyburn reanimates corpses for the sole purpose of inflicting nausea-inducing deaths.

Everyone who opposes Cersei flees or dies, leaving her, the Mountain, and Qyburn entertaining degenerates like Euron Greyjoy in the Red Keep.

One thing Qyburn and Cersei share in common is they aren’t burdened by a conscience. If the Mountain is Cersei’s brawn, Qyburn is the brains of the operation because Cersei is no longer playing with a full deck. 

7. Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish and Sansa

Littlefinger goes to great lengths to sit on the Iron Throne, an integral part his Machivellian schemes includes the object of his affection, Sansa. Guilty only of being Catelyn Stark’s daughter, Sansa suffers a great deal because of Littlefinger’s obsession with her far more than she benefits from it. 

Sansa: Thank you for all your many lessons, Lord Baelish. I will never forget them. 

His final diabolical plan — to turn Sansa against Jon and Arya — is thankfully his last.

The student surpasses the master, but Littlefinger’s swift end is far better than he deserves after setting his sights on a young girl, taking advantage of her innocence, pretending to protect her while acting as a predator, and exposing her to his own twisted, perverted view of the world. 

8. Margaery Tyrell and Joffrey Lannister

Desperate to be “the Queen,” no matter who sits on the Iron Throne, Margaery turns her attention to King Joffrey following Renly Baratheon’s death. She fares better than Sansa in her dealings with Joffrey, having a talent for soothing the savage beast.

But Joffrey’s utter lack of interest in romance, sex, or anything resembling a normal interest in women at all turns Margaery into a glorified babysitter. She spends all of her time trying transparently trying to win the hearts and minds of the people while also distracting Joffrey from his worst inclinations. 

The best thing about Margaery and Joffrey is their limited interactions and short-lived marriage. 

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Which relationships make your list of the best and worst on Game of Thrones? Let us know in the comments section below.

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

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