As we three nerds are prone to do, Ezra, Bullets and I relentlessly exchange Facebook messages about the TV shows that we love. Breaking Bad was the first, which coincidentally also spawned a Blogcat from me, but Game of Thrones, as is probably the case for many of you reading this, is also one of our beloved programs.
<The rest of this post will contain Spoilers of the GoT television program up through Season 4, Episode 6>
The most recent episode saw Tyrion, son of Tywin, under judicial attack, and after calling on the audience failed, and phoning his friend Shae actually backfired, he yet again leaned on his final lifeline – demanding a Trial by Combat. By the way: MAN, wouldn’t Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? be soooo much better if they swapped this option in exchange for 50-50?
The main line of questioning the internet has taken is, who exactly will the Imp call upon to defend his innocence, assuming he can have someone champion for him at all; perhaps, for instance, both he and the Crown will call on his brother Jamie, a member of the Kingsguard, which would put the KingSlayer in quite a predicament. However, I took a different line of questioning.
If I were the one on trial, and could request a champion, who would I pick?
I quickly (alright, I actually spent a ton of time on this) came up with some guidelines for drafting champions, and then came up with my own power rankings. To no surprise, Ezra and Bullets got way too into this as well, and since it was such a fun conversation (and we need to post something in May), I figured I’d share it with the world.
Feel free to jump in with your own thoughts. Please enjoy responsibly.
Josh:
Rule #1 – it’s politically neutral, so Tyrion picking Jamie out of loyalty (Jamie would toootally pick Brienne, btw) wouldn’t factor in.
Rule #2 – dragons don’t count. neither does warging with hodor (although this could be an interesting twist for a discussion), or really any magic or white walkers. we’re talking hand-to-hand combat.
Rule #3 – every character should be evaluated at the ability that we see during the time of the events we’re watching. That means old legends can’t be voted for (Sir Duncan the Tall, eh guys?), as well as that Ned Stark and Robert would be old, and not when they were young.
Rule #4 – These debates are not limited to rational arguments.
Rule #5 – We should discuss them in their peak form illustrated on the show. Jamie, for instance, would have a hand.
Rule #6 – We’re talking trial by combat – a duel. Jaqen Hagar doesn’t count.
Rule #7 – I think we have to do 2 Daario Naharises.
……….
Damn, this is so hard to choose. Here’s the sweet 16 I think should be weighed. Feel free to chime in with your own bracketology thoughts if you think I missed a candidate.
1. Khal Drogo. That dude had long hair for a reason. They only reason he’s not feeding all of Dany’s friend zone to his horse right now is that he had terrible medical treatment. In the real world, Dany is the young widow of a veteran and is suing the fuck out that hospital for malpractice. This dude is a monster not to be trifled with.
2. Oberyn. The people’s choice. He’s a legendary warrior, and a great overall pick – he’s not only safe, but you feel like you’ve got good chances against anybody. Nobody’s arguing with you if you take him number one, but you might worry about all the carnal distractions a locker room might entail. Plus, if you’re going down, you know it’ll be with style.
3. Grey Worm – The Tim Duncan. Doesn’t talk much, real loyal, very focused. Franchise hall-of-fame-er. Flies under the radar, which probably hurts his legacy a bit in comparison to the top 2. Anyway, he’s #1 out of 8,000 men who were trained to do nothing but fight, so he’s gotta be up there.
4. The Hound – tough to pick him over his brother, but we’ve seen the Hound in action more often that Gregor. We know the Mountain mostly by reputation, and by his bouts of horsekilling (Drogo would NOT be pleased). Sandor is also one of the only 3 people on this show we’ve seen win a trial by combat already (Bronn and I’m counting Daario vs Meereen), so he’s got that rare experience.
5. The Mountain – This pick is 100% the Boogie Cousins of a draft pick, so #5 is just one reason the analogy makes sense. Massive dude, true physical specimen, huge in the low post, probably more of an offensive weapon, questionable state of mind and off-field decision making (what with the Clegane brother’s raping, and all). Drafting purely on potential. It’ll probably turn out alright, but you’re not going to feel great about it compared with the other guys above him.
6. Jamie – Legendary swordsman, huge pretty boy. He’s like JJ Reddick in college. You were going to win most of the time, but hard to be proud to root for him. I also get a sense that he would have beaten #7 in his prime, though idk why.
7. Bronn – won one already. He’s got what it takes, but lacks the raw athleticism and size really needed by a top 5 pick.
8. Original Daario – He wasn’t a crazy young lieutenant for nothing, he got into Dany’s tent past her guards, and he sacked a city in no time, merking a ton of dudes. He’s got those wickedly curvy swords. Dreamy eyes, too.
9. Tormund Giantsbane – The Jan Vesely trophy goes to this round’s international pick! The ol firebeard comes from foreign lands, but he’s got a lot of raw power and he’s driven by current-time threats to his homeland and century-long prejudice against his culture.
10. Brienne – she beat Lloris Tyrell in season 2, and held her own against Jamie. Plus, she’d get super jazzed up about what an honor it was to represent you, and it’d function like a turbo boost. I can’t believe, though, that she’d have talent to compete in the final four.
11. Syrio – Braavos is known for their swordsmen, and he was famous there, but that’s all hearsay. I feel like the Hound is being tough on him considering he really did only have a wooden sword when he got done in by Marryn, but all we’ve really seen this guy do is talk a lot of game. Other than getting killed, all he’s done is school an adolescent girl in sword fighting and have her chase cats. He actually sounds like a really freaking weird dude to me.
12. Karl – nice with a knife in the slums of fleabottom, but that’s probably in different quarters than a full-scale trial by combat. He’s going to struggle once they move that 3-point line back.
13. Barriston – The veteran. An all-timer who’s now past his prime, but knows all the tricks in the books. Used to be the main man of the old dynasty. Goes to a foreign land to find his game again. Kobe?
14. Jon Snow – he can beat up on untrained neophytes at the wall, sure, but he always seems to be getting the shit kicked out of him, whether it’s by Karl last episode or by Ygritte, only to have his life saved by the show’s plot. Plus, he knows nothing.
15. New Daario – He’s wise, and he’s got the experience, but don’t let that duel of his fool you. What he really did was kill a horse (again, Drogo’s a sad panda), and then killed the champion when he was coughing in the sand. I feel comfortable in asserting that Westerosi laws don’t allow horses in regicidal trials by combat, or ships that Dany didn’t tell him to take, so this new guy’s going to have a tough go of it. I’m just not buying this dude.
16. Reek – He’s the 16-seed, guaranteed to lose every time. Also, the thought of in-the-dog-cage Reek going up against Khal Drogo is hysterical.
With apologies to: Yara, Stannis, Beric Dundareon
What do you guys think??
Ryan: I’ll get around to doing a ranking, but for now I will just throw a few names in the conversation who definitely deserve to be considered:
Jorah Mormant- sure, we have only seen him in action once, way back in season 1 when he fought Drogo’s bloodrider, Qotho (yeah, I totally remembered that character’s name and didn’t have to look him up). But Qotho was a younger, faster, more athletic, fiercer fighter than Jorah, but Jorah had that veteran savvy. He kept Qotho swinging and knew (as also revealed in an earlier conversation in Season 1) that the design of the Dothraki swords made them useless against his chest armor. He was confident enough in this knowledge to basically let Qotho hit him with his sword, which just got stuck on the armor, than quickly and efficiently dispatched him. He’s almost like the 2011 Mavs; their only real advantage was being experienced and efficient, and were able to outsmart and turn the tables on a better-on-paper opponent. Hard to say how his off-court issues will affect him; if Daenarys is at the tourney, you would expect him to play hard. If she gave him the “let’s just be friends” speech beforehand, expect a swift exit.
Ramsay Bolton- most of our time with him has been torturing prisoners or brutally hunting defenseless women. However, in this last episode he proved himself capable. He was shirtless, in his pajamas, with two knives, and waded into battle against the Ironborn raiders and came out on top. Though he didn’t take out anybody notable, just the fact that he is ballsy and confident enough to fight in that condition is impressive, nevermind that he didn’t die and actually took out an unspecified number of armored men in hand-to-hand combat. When he barged into the prison, he was covered in little scratches in blood, implying he had been in quite a dogfight, which unfortunately was not shown on screen. But he seems to take perverse pleasure in pain and has little to no regard for his personal safety. I can see him as a Ron Artest presence in a fight. He’s out of his mind, but he knows what he’s doing. He’s also cocky, though, and prone to dramatic grandstanding, which could lead to his undoing.
Loras Tyrell- this is my wild card. Again, we haven’t had much chance to see him in action, and admittedly a lot of me including him on this list is contingent on his reputation (when he is first introduced, shortly before it was revealed he was Jason Collins, it is said that he is a great fighter and is one of the only people to have beaten prime-time two-hands Jaime Lannister in a joust). On screen, his sword has remained mostly sheathed (in Renley’s butthole), but he did win that joust against The Mountain, sending the latter into his horse-decapitating rage. Further, it was said on screen that Loras intentionally chose a female horse that was in heat because The Mountain was famous for riding an unruly stallion, and the female horse distracted it and threw things off for the big Clegane. That’s a pretty sneaky move – like Andrew Bogut throwing elbows down low. Again, this is a bit of a reach because as I admitted most of this is based off of stuff that wasn’t shown on-screen, and that one joust is not necessarily representative of hand-to-hand skill. Still, worth an honorable mention at the least.
I think you could make an argument for Locke. Sure, he got merced by warged Hodor, but that took him by surprise. His only real on screen fight I can recall is against some Night’s Watch trainees, which isn’t exactly stiff competition. Still, he looked pretty wily and nasty in a fight (if I recall correctly he was fighting pretty dirty too, throwing in jabs and knees and such).
What about Qhorin Half-hand? He had quite a reputation (he survived an entire winter north of the fucking Wall!), but only two on-screen fights. And one of those he threw the fight for Jon Snow (though, imagine it takes a good bit of savvy and control to be able to convincingly fake a fight like that without anyone thinking you aren’t actually trying to kill him). The other fight was when Qhorin and Jon ambushed the wildlings before they were captured. I can’t recall the specifics of that fight too well, and it was against an opponent taken by surprise, but if I remember Qhorin dispatched his opponents pretty quickly. Not entirely out of the question for him to take a round or two.
It’s tough to think up of any other names, really. We haven’t seen enough of the players in action to really make a judgment in a lot of cases. I mean, at least one of the Crows that survived the battle against the White Walkers has to be pretty boss, but unfortunately that was all off-screen. There’s a lot of characters that have reputations that haven’t really been proven to us (the Blackfish? I could imagine him being half-way decent. He was a great show with a bow-and-arrow).
Ezra: Without further ado, my champion draft:
1) With the number one overall pick, House Tablemaker selects Sandor “The Hound” Clegane – We’ve probably seen this guy kill more people in hand to hand combat than any other person on the show. The dude literally split someone in half, from the top of their helmet through their torso, at the Blackwater Battle. You can’t teach that kind of strength. Sure, he’s afraid of fire, but that didn’t stop him from defeating Beric Dondarrion in a trial by combat. The Hound even stepped in and challenged his big brother at the Tournament of The Hand, when The Mountain went berserk and tried to kill Loras after losing the joust and decapitating his horny stallion. The Hound kills with impunity, therefore he would relish the chance to fight in any trial by combat and add to his list of dispatched warriors.
2) Prince Oberyn – Unlike my first pick, we’ve seen little of Oberyn in actual combat action. But his raw talent, legendary status, and confidence alone make him a worthy champion. He’s gone to school and traveled the world, so you know he has that combat IQ to help him assess any opponent. You know he would get into his opponent’s head with some of the best trash talk in the Seven Kingdom’s, essentially winning the fight before any swords ever crossed. He’s just such a solid pick, the full package. He’s got the strength to bring it inside among the tall trees (my #1 and #3 picks) and the agility, quickness, and smarts to run with the shooters and back court maestros.
3) Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane – Who can pass up on the most talented bigman in the pool. The dude is a renowned psychopath with a pension for torture and rape. For The Mountain, killing people is like picking that piece of food that’s been lodged between your teeth for a while. You’re dealing with a minor nuisance, but the satisfaction felt afterward is almost better than the meal that caused your discomfort in the first place. As Josh mentioned, he’s got some serious character issues, so who knows where his head will be when the time comes for him to be a champion. His mental state is really all that’s keeping him from the second or even number one pick.
At some point in season 2 (I believe) Jaime claims there are only three men in the Seven Kingdoms that could beat him in a fair duel. I believe those three men are ranked here at 1, 2, and 3.
4) Jaime Lannister – This guy has been at it for a while, squiring for Barristan Selmy as a teenager and then becoming the youngest knight to ever join the Kingsgaurd. He’s basically been under Selmy’s tutelage for his entire fighting career, so you know he’s learned from the best. He reminds me of Oberyn, but his privileged upbringing makes him much less likable (as if Oberyn wasn’t privileged!). I know we’re going with two handed Jaime, but the way he’s approached coming back from a debilitating injury and his time as a POW just shows that his mental toughness can’t be called into question. However, certain choices in his private life do cast a shadow on his decision making ability. All in all, he’s a solid pick with great skill and expensive equipment (Valyrian steel sword), perhaps a bit overrated but one of the truest champions on paper.
5) Khal Drogo – Beast, plain and simple. He ruled a nomadic warrior tribe and won every battle he ever fought. Unfortunately, this all happened before we really got to see him in action. He’s purely a raw talent, akin to drafting a 7’3″ Chinese guy who may or may not suffer from terrible season ending injuries for the better part of his career. Sure, when he’s healthy and in the game it’ll be tough to beat him, but he’s never played an entire 82 game season against the top 1% in the game. Get another season under his belt in the Essos League and some work on his mid-range jumper, then this guy will easily be a top-3 pick in the next champions draft and ready to throw down with anyone in Westeros.
6) Bronn – A true sellsword. He fights without honor, and knows that his sword skills are what puts dinner on the table and pussy in the bed. He’s already proven himself a worthy trial by combat champion. Confident in his abilities, he even accepted The Hound’s challenge to a bar fight. My only concern here is that his head and heart may not be fully in the fight unless a blockbuster contract is waiting for him at the other end.
7) Brienne of Tarth – My wild card, chips-all-in pick. This could either be great or terrible. She’s the Billie Jean King of Westeros, just itching to beat up on the boys. We saw her defeat Ser Loras Tyrell, ostensibly a lottery pick in any of my champions drafts, and she resisted Jaime’s escape attempt rather dominantly. Albeit his hands were tied, but still, it was a show of her strength as she mostly used punches and kicks in the fight rather than her sword. Most opponents might underestimate her based solely on gender roles, a factor that would undoubtedly work in her favor.
8) Jorah Mormont – Battle tested, strong lineage, and a good head on his shoulders. Jorah can play the game and knows when dishonor trumps honor, yet he’s willing to fight for what he believes in. His down side comes not from his physical skills, but instead from his emotional heart. A sucker for crazy chicks, Jorah may make impulsive decisions now and again, and this could get him into trouble come time for a duel.
9) Loras Tyrell – Could he be the first openly gay champion ever drafted? His sexuality is an open secret as is, so I doubt him coming out would hurt his draft stock. In fact, it could lead to opponents underestimating him (similar to Brienne’s situation). He’s known as a great swordsman and we saw him take down The Mountain in a joust, so he understands how to approach an opponent (from the rear!). His size is questionable, but that’s what they said about Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.
10) Original Daario – This playboy just cracks the top ten, but goes no higher because he’s distracted. He killed the other two leaders of the Second Sons sellsword company, led a night raid on a major city, and won Dany’s favor with just a bat of his eyelashes. It seems, though, that he cares more about winning her heart than ripping out an opponents’. He’s got the talent, but he just can’t seem to apply himself. Maybe with some good coaching from the next two picks he’d be able to move up a few spots.
11) Grey Worm – The guy may be nutless, but he’s a nutless commander. He’s tough as nails and certainly willing to fight, it’s practically all he knows. His choice of spear worries me in a trial by combat situation. Close the distance on him and he’s virtually weaponless, or left holding his stick. For this reason he stays out of the top ten.
12) Barristan Selmy – I wish I got to see this guy fight in his prime. Even in his old age he still strikes fear in those who challenge him. The way Jaime talks about him makes me think Jaime would probably play Loras to Barristan’s Renly, if Cersei weren’t around. The scene when he gets dismissed from the Kingsgaurd and draws his sword on King Joffrey and five other Kingsguard is enough for me to put him just outside the top ten despite his veteran status. He’s MJ on the WIzards, still an all-star capable of playing with the young guns but nowhere near his old self.
13) Jon Snow – His stint as a Wildling is really the only reason he’s even in my draft. Sparring with blunted swords against rapists and thieves at Castle Black won’t properly prepare you for a trial by combat, and his leadership skills won’t help him in a one-on-one battle. But, roughing it with the Wildlings, going undercover and breaking his vows, proves Jon Snow knows a little more than Ygritte gives him credit for.
14) New Daario – Winning one duel cements his place somewhere in this draft, but his overall dorkiness places him solidly near the bottom. He’s way too confident for his own good, and his projected coolness could see him greatly underestimate any opponent he faces.
15) Eddard Stark – He’s no older than Barristan Selmy, so his age doesn’t worry me. He held his own while fighting with Jaime Lannister until one of Jaime’s lackeys stuck a spear through his thigh, so his skill doesn’t worry me. It’s his sense of honor that worries me. As we saw in Bronn’s trial by combat, those who fight with honor might not live to fight again.
16) The final draft pick to round out my Sweet 16, my Mr. Irrelevant is Samwell Tarly! He killed a White Walker in his play-in game to get into the draft, but you can’t kill a man by stabbing him in the shoulder with dragon-glass, so let’s face it. Sammy boy is doomed for failure.
Bonus pick: If none of these champions are available to fight at the time of my trial I choose the long lost Clegane brother, Zdeno Charra, as my champion. Release the Charra!
Ryan: My draft board:
1) Have to go with “The Hound” as my number one. Purely in terms of on-screen fights, he is the most accomplished character on the show. He isn’t going to be intimidated by anyone, even his brother. Everything about him exudes toughness and he’s also got that veteran savvy. He can win when outnumbered, he can win in close quarters; he has been basically untouchable. He may refuse to fight because he thinks I’m a cunt, but then he would end up killing everyone else for not giving him chicken, so it evens out. He’s my Z-Bo; maybe not the most skilled or most athletic player, but big and strong and grits and grinds his way to a 20-10.
2) Joakim Noah, Khal of the Great Grass Sea, the Stallion Who Will Mount the World. AKA Khal Drogo. He took an armed man out with his bare hands with exquisite footwork, body positioning, and brute strength. There are only two red flags with the Khal: 1) his motivation. If he’s tearing it up in the Essos League, why would he come to Westeros? I’d have to promise him one hell of a horse. 2) his health. Though he’s strong as an ox, and admittedly there was magic and betrayal involved, he did end up dying as the result of a scratch. His health care is worse than that given to Luol Deng by the Bulls.
3) Jaime Lannister. Like Kawhi Leonard, a young one that learned under the tutelage of the best (Barristan “Popovich” Selmy). He’s a graceful and fierce fighter, who isn’t above playing dirty (remember when he stabbed Ned’s soldier with a hidden knife?). His only loss was to Brienne, though he was chained up (and had been a prisoner for weeks), and even in that state showed some serious skills with a blade.
Ryan: Oops, accidentally sent before I finished typing
Ryan: 4) The Mountain. You can’t pass on this kind of talent, regardless of how unknown a quantity he is. We don’t know much about him, but it’s worth taking a flyer on the big man.
5) Rounding out my top 5 is Grey Worm. He is the only player available who has literally been raised from birth to fight, and probably the only one who would casually let someone cut his nipple off to make a point about his stoicism. He’s been a soldier so long he literally remembers nothing else. He’s like Rondo: looks weird, competitive, will play through a dislocated arm, but some questions about how far his talents will take him.
6) Bronn. Not a top 5 talent, but definitely an All-Star capable of having a big night at any given time.
7) Brienne. Beat an admittedly handicapped Jaime and Loras, who is no slouch in his own right. Maybe not quite as talented as other top 10 selections, but will get an edge just by being underestimated. I could see her sneaking through the first couple of rounds before anyone starts to take notice. Also, has a Valyrian steel sword, the only one in the draft (Jaime never used it in his prime, so he doesn’t get Oathkeeper).
8) Jorah Mormont. He’s a cerebral and dedicated warrior, who knows how to use their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses to his advantage. He’s not very strong or athletic, but he knows what he’s doing. I would compare him to Manu Ginobli, and not just because they both have silly names.
9) Barristan Selmy. A surprise top-10 selection for the veteran, and we haven’t seen him in action except to save Daenarys from a warlock assassin. Still, he was confident he could take out the King’s Guard single-handedly before he left King’s Landing in disgust, and I have to give the nod to the experience. He’s the Big Fundamental in my book.
10) Prince Oberyn. I’m not as high on Oberyn as you two, and I admit he has the mentality and emotional make-up to be a star. The talent is there, so I have to keep him in the top 10. But we just haven’t seen him in action except for stabbing Lannister thug #43 in a brothel.
11) Loras Tyrell. Got beaten by Brienne, and needed the Hound to save him from the Mountain. But, still, took down the Mountain in a joust, and reputably is one of the only knights to have done the same thing to Jaime. So he’s no slouch, could maybe slip into an All-Star team in the right year, but nothing indicates to me that he is a top 10 player.
12) Original Daario. Not that comfortable with taking him, but he knows how to rumble if need be. He did fight his way through to take a city, but I am not sold in general on the defensive abilities of the Essos Slaver’s Bay cities given what we saw in Mereen. I give him the edge over New Daario, because he at least had to beat more than a drunken moron on a horse to impress Daenarys.
13) Ned Stark. Wanted to take him higher, because he has a Valyrian steel sword and could hold his own against Jaime. But he’s way past his prime and champions don’t just hold their own.
14) Jon Snow. He has proven that he can beat incompetent Night’s Watch recruits and drunken mutineers. But he has absolutely no on-court IQ, so I think his ceiling is pretty low. Karl kicked his ass with two knives while Jon waved his sword around like an idiot. He’s my Irrational Confidence Guy.
15) Locke. If Jon Snow can make the list by beating Night’s Watch recruits, Locke has to be there, too, given he has the same essential qualifications. The show hinted he is a fierce and experienced fighter, so I almost gave him the edge over Jon. But having your neck snapped by a crippled kid seancing a big ‘tard has got to affect your draft stock.
16) Syrio. I am as skeptical as The Hound of Syrio’s reputation, but he DID only have a wooden sword. Honestly, it is hard to really gage Syrio’s ability until we see how Arya develops (or if we meet another Sword of Braavos). Still, he was a beast with the wooden sword and definitely thought like a swordsman, so I would take a flyer with him this late in the round.
With apologies to Beric, Tormund, New Daario, Yara, Syrio, and Qhorin Half-hand.
Ryan: Just a quick correction: I meant to say Brienne is the only one in the top 10 with a Valyrian blade, not the only one in the draft. Ned stark also has a Valyrian blade (which, ironically, is almost-kind of the same sword…)
Josh: Wow! No Grey Worm at all for Bullets!
Ezra: Nah he’s in there at #5
Josh: Ohh woops
Ryan: Just out of curiosity, I googled this subject to see if there are any characters we missed. We basically covered everyone we’ve actually seen on the show. Interestingly, there are a couple of characters that we should have met and seen fight at this point in the books but were cut for whatever reason. These include Loras Tyrell’s older brother, who is apparently quite a boss, and some weird eunuch dude that fights for Daenarys (in the books, he fought the champion of Mereen instead of Daario). Also, apparently Theon’s uncle (who we will meet at some point, I think, but I don’t know for sure) is pretty badass.
Ezra: I tallied up the average order of our drafts and this is what I came up with: *= Appears in one draft **= Appears in two drafts
Averages
1. The Hound = 2
2.Khal Drogo = 2.6
3. The Mountain = 4
4. Jaime Lannister = 4.3
5. Prince Oberyn = 4.6
T6. Bronn = 6.3
T6. Grey Worm = 6.3
8. Brienne = 8
9. Tormund = 9*
T10. OG Daario = 10
T10. Ser Loras = 10**
12. Barristan Selmy = 11.3
13. Karl = 12*
14. Syrio = 13.5**
15. Jon Snow = 13.6
16. Ned Stark = 14**
17. New Daario = 14.5**
18. Locke = 15*
T19. Reek = 16*
T19. Samwell Tarly = 16*
This makes for a pretty interesting list. Any thoughts on how we can equally weight the characters that only show up on one or two of our lists?
Josh: What if you assigned points in draft order (so a #1 pick would get that candidate 16 points) and then add them all up. That would mean:
1. The Hound (4,1,1) – 45 points
2. Khal Drogo (1,5,2) – 43 points
3. The Mountain (5,3,4) – 41 points
4. Jamie (6,4,3) – 38 points
5. Oberyn – (2,2,10) – 37 points
T6. Grey Worm (3,11,5) – 32 points
T6. Bronn (7,6,6) – 32 points
8. Brienne (10,7,7) – 27 points
9. OG Daario (8,10,12) – 21 points
10. Jorah (-,8,8) – 18 points
11. Barristan (13,12,9) – 17 points
12. Loras (-,9,11) – 14 points
13. Jon Snow (14,13,14) – 10
14. Tormund (8,-,-) – 8 points
15. Syrio (11,-,16) – 7 points
16. Ned Stark (-,15,13) – 6 points
T17. New Daario (15,14,-) – 5 points
T17. Karl (12,-,-) – 5 points
19. Locke (-,-,15) – 2 points
T20. Sam (-,16,-) – 1 point
T20. Reek (16,-,-) – 1 point
Two things:
1) The fight between Reek and Sam would be terrible. I think Ezra made a good call, though, that Sam would probably lose. It’s hard to imagine any single character losing out to him. Even Marcella Lannister would have a tough time losing that one.
2) Tormund is soooo fucking pissed both of you drafted Jon Snow and left him on the board. He’s got an enormous chip on his shoulder, and will stop at nothing to prove you guys wrong.
Ryan: We could just assign a point system. Basically, reverse our rankings such that number 1 gets 16 points, number 2 gets 15 points, and so on until number 16, who gets 1 point. That way, if I had, like, Podrick ranked number 1 on my list and neither of you had him on yours, that is worth more than all three of us rating him in the bottom 5. This way, anybody at least one of us rates highly gets a huge bump, but it doesn’t help people who we all have ranked low (oor only one of us ranks low).
If we do that, and then add together everyone’s points across all 3 lists, we get:
The Hound (45 points) Khal Drogo (43 points) The Mountain (39 points) Prince Oberyn (37 points) Grey Worm (32 points)
And I am stopping there because while I was typing this and adding everything up Josh already did the exact same damned thing
