5 Dumbest Political Plays in Game of Thrones We Can't Even Justify

5. Tyrion Lannister Backstabbing Varys

The final seasons of Game of Thrones turned even the most brilliant characters blatantly stupid, and Tyrion Lannister is the perfect example. After several seasons of him being a great strategist and a wise advisor, almost every word that comes out of Tyrion’s mouth in the last two seasons leads to a tragedy or is just plain dumb.

Tyrion knew exactly what his Queen, Daenerys Targaryen, was going to do, and he shared his concerns with his best friend Varys. Then, when Varys set a plan in motion to prevent the tragedy, Tyrion…randomly backstabbed him and ratted him out to Daenerys, leading to half a million in civilian losses and the worst show finale ever.

4. Littlefinger Giving Away Sansa Stark

The vast majority of what’s been going on throughout the entire duration of Game of Thrones was Littlefinger’s design for destabilizing the Seven Kingdoms and rising to greater power. And his plan was going swimmingly — until he, too, fell victim to the late-season stupidity plague. Always sharp and calculating, Littlefinger made a slip.

When trying to provoke a war between the Lannisters and the Boltons, Littlefinger gave — married — away Sansa Stark, “the Key to the North.” For such a smart and insidious person, it was a phenomenally dumb play; and don’t even get us started on what he started doing afterward. Littlefinger really lost his skills later in the show.

3. Ned Stark Speaking Before Acting

Now, on to the earlier parts of the show. Ned Stark has always been known as a man of his word and a man whose actions spoke louder than his words. Even dumber was his decision to speak before acting at the most crucial moment — when he had the power to prevent a civil war in the Seven Kingdoms and make the right choice.

Not only did Ned declare Stannis Baratheon the true King and try to arrest Joffrey, but he also went ahead and revealed his plan to Cersei Lannister. Sure thing, Cersei took the necessary precautions, and when it was time for Lord Stark to proceed with his plan, he was immediately imprisoned and beheaded. What a poor finale for him.

2. Robb Stark Breaking His Vows

Ned’s elder son and successor Robb Stark wasn’t much smarter than his father when it came to political plays. At the time of the war, Robb had all the chances for a decisive win but promptly gave up all the advantage he had for no good reason, losing a large chunk of allies mid-war and then, his own and his family’s heads.

Robb’s killing of Lord Karstark alienated a third of his army at the crucial moment of the war, but the Young Wolf didn’t stop there. Later, he chose to betray his treaty with the Freys while desperately needing allies and being on Lord Frey’s soil for a girl he only just met — which resulted in an unhinged massacre of his family and army.

1. Cersei Lannister Allying with the High Sparrow

Tyrion and Littlefinger’s mistakes could be explained by the show’s poor writing. Their all-too-noble uprising could be blamed for Ned and Robb’s terrible decision-making. But in the case of Cersei Lannister, a born and raised political mastermind and the one person who ruled the game of thrones, there’s no excuse.

Desperate to get rid of the Tyrells, Cersei made potentially the worst decision she could have: while being the synonym of the word “sin” herself, she allied with the High Sparrow’s zealot militia and gave them immense power in King’s Landing. You don’t have to be a master agent to predict that it was the start of Cersei’s downfall.