Board 8 > Solfadore ranks 43 Game of Thrones actors

(+) Yeah! (+)

one thing that kind of doesn't make sense about cersei

if she was willing to poison her own kid to save him from stannis, why was she so vehemently against sending her daughter to safety?

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Because she was sent away when she was that age.

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1. You severely underestimate Sansa. Cersei stopped controlling her because the shine wore off for Sansa. After your betrothed shows you your dad's head, the puppy love dies.

I wasn't talking bout Joffrey, i was talking about Cersei. Sansa liked and looked up too Cersei in her own right. it wasn't Joffrey that Sansa ratted Ned out too.

2. King Joffrey>Queen Regent. He could have her slapped in public if he wanted to. Plus, if she corrects him in public that would COMPLETELY undermine him in front of his people. Be smart here. This is a terrible point.

No. Queen Regent rules the kingdom until the heir is age. Period. And yeah, she'd undermine him and stopped a war they were losing and gotten Jaime back doing so.

I was going to keep responding but each of your points was successfully worse than the last. You're not dumb, but you seem to lack an understanding of character motivations.

If you say so. Cersei wants to protect her children, be with Jaime and rule the kingdom, as i see it. Losing the war and the lot of them getting thrown on a pyre by Stannis seems detrimental to this.

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Honestly, Cersei going after Tyrion makes little to no sense. At best it is paranoia, at worst it is spite. She has no real logical reason to do it.

Tyrion has basically single-handedly been preparing King's Landing for the battle, and after she pulls Joffrey away from the battlements, Tyrion is pretty much the only actual leadership they had there. Even if Cersei thinks the battle is lost, she probably shouldn't see any harm in leaving Tyrion out there in case he somehow flukes his way into victory. If they lose, Tyrion will have to face Stannis too, after all.

And if they win, Tyrion doesn't even really gain that much except the satisfaction of knowing he saved the city. It's already been established that the people blame him for everything that goes wrong and attribute all the good things to Joffrey anyway. Only a handful like Varys seem to understand that it's Tyrion they should be thanking. Besides, Cersei and Tyrion both know that all of Tyrion's power derives from Tywin. Tyrion is just filling in for Tywin while he fights Robb Stark.

All Cersei does in the Battle of the Blackwater is try to drag the city into defeat despite Tyrion's best efforts. Would Tyrion have been able to win even if Cersei had left him alone? I don't know, but all Cersei truly gets out of thwarting his defense of the city is to be able to spite Tyrion by casting him down herself. You know, for the few minutes she can enjoy it before Stannis takes the city.

The only way in which Cersei seems to come out ahead in all this is because Tywin totally bails her out by arriving at the battle. Something that no one expected. Tywin showing up lets Cersei off the hook for totally sabotaging King's Landing in the battle.

Now, I understand why Cersei does everything she does in that battle. Her desire to protect her children is basically her highest motivation, even if ultimately her actions would appear to be counter-productive to her goal. But that's not the same as "playing the Game" and certainly isn't playing it well.

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Joffrey wouldn't have slapped Tyrion because Tyrion is a better man. This again has nothing to do with the game. Cersei can't undermine Joffrey in public. Ever. EVER. Especially not when he's just been crowned. To undermine him then would be to ruin everything.


Cersei plotted to have Tyrion killed

A.Because she hates his guts for killing their mother during birth and sending her daughter away. I won't act like Cersei doesn't let her emotions tie into her decisions, she is a woman after all hehehe

B.Just in case they won. Cersei knows her son is a coward, she knows he doesn't have a clue how to fight. She admits as much in an episode this season where she's discussing Jaime. She also knows Tyrion is very smart and had a plan. She does not underestimate her brother---she's the only one throughout the entire show who hasn't.


Tyrion is good. He's very good. But as of now, the order of power goes:

Cersei>Varys>Tyrion.

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I think where we disagree is that you are giving Cersei more credit than I do (or I'm giving her less credit than you, if you'd prefer it said that way.)

I think her going after Tyrion was purely, and solely, an emotional decision because she hates Tyrion and not because she is some master strategist who saw it as an opportunity to remove Tyrion from the picture.

No doubt she wanted Tyrion out of there, but what I'm saying is that that was not the time for it. It was probably going to be her best chance, and the most I'll consider giving Cersei credit for is realizing that, but that still doesn't make it a good idea. Removing Tyrion from the stage does not help Cersei at all if it leads to a Stannis victory. Again, she ends up "winning" because Tywin bails her out, but she could never have anticipated that. So, I'm arguing the "right" move from her perspective is to ensure King's Landing holds, and then deal with Tyrion in the aftermath. Not "deal with Tyrion and leave King's Landing in utter chaos in the middle of a battle that can't be lost."

Basically, at the very best - and this is more credit than I'm actually willing to give Cersei, but for now I'll go with it - she was playing some crazy high-risk game with the odds heavily against her and she won through sheer luck and not any skill or intelligence. It'd be one thing if she knew Tywin was coming and thought it was a calculated risk, but she didn't. I think she placed her feelings regarding Tyrion ahead of the outcome of the battle, or she had a fundamental misunderstanding of how important Tyrion was to the city's defense, or both. And that was not an intelligent decision on her part.

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Err, Cersei slapped Joffrey. She DID undermine him in public. And got told. Because she has far less power than she likes to pretend.


The thing is, like Laus said, she's the Queen Regent. She actually is the ruler, not the king. She should have been able to stop Joffrey from killing Ned Stark, but she wasn't. There's a reason that Tyrion and Tywin think she's an idiot for letting that happen; because she is.




Hating Tyrion for sending Myrcella away is actually another example of her being bad at the game. She blames him and wants revenge because he did this as a move against her. That's actually not the case. Tyrion actually did do it to protect Myrcella because he actually likes Myrcella and Tommen. And unlike Cersei, who did not have a clue about the danger surrounding the city(and within...) because she's not that perceptive, he knew she'd be safer in Dorne. If Cersei had better wits she would have understood this.


The move to have Tyrion killed was 100% spite, it was not a clever play by any means.

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Coming off of Book/Season 1, it's understandable to think that Cersei is one of the best players in the series and a master manipulator; it's accordingly understandable to analyze her Book/Season 2 performance in that light and defend her a bit.

Seriously, though, coming from someone who has read all the books (as have most of the people actually opposing your argument, TheConductorSix), Cersei is actually very, very average. She's better than Ned, sure, but you're giving her way too much credit. She outsmarted and outplayed Ned fair and square in Season 1, but Season 2 was mostly Tyrion/Varys/LF doing all the work. She did nothing but undermine Tyrion at every turn, almost costing them their life in some instances, by:

- Not telling Tyrion about the wildfire (it was Tyrion's plan that cut Stannis's forces in half and gave the Lannisters a fighting chance).
- Opposing Myrcella's shipment to Dorne (not explained that well in the series, but it was a crucial move).
- Having Joffrey come back to the Red Keep for no logical reason (obviously, she was acting out of emotions - which is very understandable, but not a sign of a top tier game-player).

It's understandable that you analyze her actions the way you do, given what you know of the character so far, but trust us book-readers when we say that she's not that good. She's really not that good. Tyrion, Tywin, Varys and Littlefinger, among others, are all vastly superior players.

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I don't see anything good coming out of this debate between Realo and the bookreaders.

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I think Realo thinking that killing Tyrion was some master stroke move is the same thing as when he applauded Joffrey for over rulling Cersei and the rest by making the bold move of having Ned Stark executed, ensuring his rule and making him look like a real king to the people.

Joffrey had no such motivations, he was just a spoiled brat abusing his power any chance he got, just as he continued to do in season 2.

In the case of killing Tyrion, Cersei was just being a spiteful witch.

Sometimes he just misses what's truly going on with these characters and misinterprets boldness for cleverness because he wants to think they are really that good.

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Menji76 posted...

I don't see anything good coming out of this debate between Realo and the bookreaders.

yeah, seriously, let's not mention anything about the books

only Solfadore should since it's his topic and even then he should keep to simple comparisons of how the characters are portrayed in the show and the books

to be clear, everyone has done a good job of keeping the discussion to what's been shown on TV so no real spoilers have been brought up!

just thinking of the others, is all!

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all you need

I haven't thought of the books once fwiw

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The Cult of Personality.

I never said Joffrey's move was smart, just that it was the right move at that moment.

your first public appearance as King has to be strong and powerful. you have to give the people what they want even if its wrong for them and you.

and yeah, I keep forgetting most of you have read the book so I'm not going to delve into anymore discussions or arguments. I'll speak my piece and move on.

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I may have read the books, but I'm honestly leaving them out of this entirely. I don't think you need them to see how Cersei's handling of the Battle of the Blackwater was not the best of decisions. If, for whatever reason, I felt you needed the books to support such an argument, I'd never have made it. It's not exactly fair or right to drag the books in to argue about the TV series. It's one of the rules I've tried to keep myself to. Even if I think someone is drastically wrong about something, if I need to refer to the books to argue it, and not the TV series, I just don't say anything.

I mean, I don't mind referring to them when talking about character performances and the like, for example, my unease with how Littlefinger has been handled in Season 2, but I view that a bit differently, and even then I don't particularly mean to bring it up out of nowhere.

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Cersei likes to think she's the best to ever play the game, but that's only because everyone else just pats her on the head and lets her play at Queen.

Her pulling out the random whore that wasn't Shae in front of Tyrion shows her at her 'best' I'd say. Thinks she's so damn clever and Tyrion just sits there going 'oh sweet sister you are so dumb.'

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6. Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont)

I’ve thought long and hard about this one. I say this because a lot of you had him up at top tier – some even at #1 – so maybe you were seeing things I didn’t see. I re-watched pretty much all of his scenes, and indeed, I did miss a few things, and this is why I’ve raised Glen a tier from where he was given the excellent work he’s done all season – you can blame that on me not liking S2 Dany scenes and skipping most of them. That said, this is about as high as I can rank him, given the rather limited material he has and the quality of the rest of the pool.

This will be a bit of a frustrating write-up for non-book readers, as I can’t really go into great depth about what precisely I didn’t like (or what I thought could be done better) without hinting at potential plot points. Which is why, as you’ve surely noticed by now, part of the post has been put into spoiler brackets.

Spoiler-free territory: I really liked Glen’s portrayal of Jorah. Mormont’s a bit of a bland character in the books – not that I consider him bland (he’s not), but he certainly appears that way as first: the exiled knight who finds love in the form of young Daenerys. Glen makes a very convincing case about that: as someone – can’t recall who – has said in a previous post, I can’t believe that Jorah is anything but in love. Thing is: he doesn’t overplay it either, and my gut tells me it must be very hard to be “very much in love” without overplaying it (to be fair, my gut doesn’t have much experience in the matter, aside from a twisted affair with my stomach that ended in a knot).

Glen sells the thing rather well, though – you can see him struggle to maintain composure, knowing that he’s really not highborn enough to even deserve such a lady/queen, yet still hinting (or rather plainly showing, tbh) all the adoration/worship/love he has for her when the scene calls for it. I also like that he’s seemingly in pain at times, which I partly attribute to him knowing he can’t be with her, yet still coveting/lusting with every fibre of his being.

A STORM OF SWORDS SPOILER TERRITORY (very mild, though – I’m mostly emphasizing some past plot points that the series zigzagged on, although non-book readers should ideally not read that): That said, as much as I like his Jorah, there’s one detail that bothers me. If you’ll recall, Jorah actually sold information about Dany to Varys back in Season 1 (such as her being with child), in the hopes of being allowed back to Westeros. It’s later shown [in the books] that he was still selling secrets up ‘til Qarth – hence why Varys knew in EP8 she was in Qarth with Dragons. There should be conflict in there, and I’m just not seeing it. Well, I’m seeing hints of it with his pained look – which could be construed as guilt – but it’s much too subtle.

The scene with Quaithe was ideal (“You won’t betray her again, will you?”) for that – that scene was a powerful one for Glen, and he brought a lot of intensity to the table, but I’m not sure where that intensity is targeted. I would’ve liked for more hints of inner turmoil – Jorah’s really not good with keeping secrets, so his turmoil should be somewhat apparent to a keen eye. I’ll grant him that this turmoil would be ridiculously hard to portray on screen, but Glen definitely has the potential to turn that into a success, so that was a bit of a disappointed.

That said, he still played Jorah very, very convincingly, and thus earns the #6 spot on my rankings.

Best scene: Will settle for “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re real.” A hard scene to portray effectively without making it sound cheesy, and making it sound cheesy he did not. Very powerful performance – and a lot of screen presence there. Hopefully, he gets more material next season, although I wouldn’t bank on it.

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

I would also like to remind you of a thing I said way back when:

From: Solfadore | #013

I’ll thus try to take into account the actual material that they’re working with. My bias will still get the best of me, particularly as we approach the top... and in one instance near the bottom-middle. You have been warned.

We are now at that part where my bias gets the best of me. Lead Actors should be fine (I'm fairly confident about my choices there), but Supporting Actors may get a little hectic. Warned, you have been.

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Storm spoiler

I think they may end up changing that plotline. He sold the conflict during the first season, and I expect they'll just have him have stopped talking to Varys when Daenerys came back and "gave him smething to believe in" or something like that.

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I'm not a book reader but I read your spoiler for Jorah, I'd like to ask:

Did Quaithe ever betray Dany? I didn't seem to catch this in the show

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@foilfence: Quaithe was never shown to have betrayed Dany (in order to avoid spoilers, I'm being deliberately vague as to whether she can be trusted or not. All I'm saying is that up to this point, she was not shown to have betrayed her. Also, I do believe it would be better for you not to read these spoilers if at all possible, even the relatively mild ones. ;-)

5. Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin)

Now this is a surprise (for me, that is)! See, I had never much cared for Sumpter – mostly because I have never much cared for Luwin either – and yet when I first had the idea of ranking actors, something peculiar happened as I was staring down at the cast of characters, moving some of them up and down as I went. Donald Sumpter – that one guy that I never really noticed one way or another, that didn’t leave as much as a hint of a mark on me (save perhaps for one scene) – was actually pretty ****ing great. How did I not notice that before? Sue me. I noticed it then, however, and was pleasantly surprised to see others rank him so high. Sumpter deserves it.

I must say, as an advance warning of sorts, that from this point on, pretty much anyone is fair game for top tier in my eyes. Sumpter is really close to #2 in terms of talent and performance, for instance, and such wouldn’t disagree with anyone having him as #2. At this point, it’s just a matter of slight personal preference.

Now that that’s taken care of, let’s move to the man himself. I will surprise exactly no one in holding that Luwin’s this sort of “old and wise mentor” archetype – a character trope we have seen time and again. That’s fine – Luwin’s not that important anyway, and in any event, a cast full of Tyrions and Jaimes would be unbearable. Problem is: you can’t really make a “wise old mentor” stand out in a cast such as GOT, and you’re pretty much doomed to be ranked among the Lancels, Slynts, Gendrys, and all other one-note actors that do their job exceedingly well, but never have enough variety to really make an impression.

Here’s how Sumpted did make an impression. I noticed two things, especially, and I’d like to use that last scene with Theon in Winterfell to highlight both.

The first one’s a minor one, and the credit for it may yet belong to the writers. See, show-Luwin does one thing that book-Luwin doesn’t (or he does so much more often than book-Luwin): he snarks. A lot. I’m sure you all remember that Season 1 scene with Theon as the latter practices with the bow. The guy’s got some marvellous lines such as “And failed rebellions”, when Theon starts boasting that Greyjoys are famed for a great many things.

Thing is: Sumpter’s got the snark pitch-perfect. He, unlike so many actors in so many instances, does not overdo it. He’ll snark matter-of-factly, and it suits the character and the position so well that I honestly couldn’t see it done any other way (as far as Luwin is concerned). Case in point: in that last scene with Theon, the latter orders Luwin to send more ravens to his father. “You killed all the ravens,” the maester answers. Granted, that’s not a great example of snark, but it’s just to show how simply he conveys it. He’s not mocking Theon or seeking to ridicule him – instead, he’s like a teacher or a parent patiently explaining to a student/child that what they’re doing is wrong, while still making fun of him slightly. It’s a hard combination to get right, and he does get it right. That gives TV-Luwin a bit of an edge over his original counterpart, and is a nice spin on the mentor archetype.

(cont'd in next post)

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The second thing’s much more important and lasting – and Sumpter did most of the legwork on that one. More than anything, Luwin cares. Wise old mentors too often bask in their wisdom and don’t really seem to do anything else but provide wise counsel. They’re pretty much bland, neutral characters, void of all emotion and feeling. Not Luwin, though. No matter who he’s dealing with – Ned, Cat, Robb, Bran, and yes, even Theon – you can sense that he genuinely cares for them. All of his advice may be sound and wise, but it’s also heartfelt.

It’s all there, written on Sumpter’s face plain as day. During the aforementioned scene with Theon, as he’s suggesting that the Greyjoy lord run for the Wall, you can see from the wrinkles in his face, from the kindness in his voice, from the disappointment in his eyes, that he genuinely cares for Theon and wishes for him to return to a righteous path – alive and safe as well. Sumpter brings a lot of humanity to an otherwise pretty bland archetype, and this is why he makes it to #5.

Best scene: Take a wild guess. His dying scene was also pretty alright. I really like what the writers did with his character.

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Also: I won't be able to draft write-ups for the next couple of days, due to a rather excessive workload (AKA 9-hour workdays). In order to keep things interesting, I intend to draft Lead Actor/Actress #3's writeup first, then finish up the four remaining supporting actors, and then conclude the rankings with Lead Actors #2 and #1.

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

I remember the season 1 scene with Osha and Theon.
"She is our guest"
"I thought she was our prisoner"
"Are the two mutually exclusive in your experience?"

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##Alec

In retrospect I probably ranked Sumpter too high, but I do love his performance as Luwin, probably at least in part because Luwin's a character I had a soft spot for and I think he got it perfect.

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Bumping this (write-up for Lead Actor #3 will be uploaded tonight).

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Honestly, I feel the writers didn't really do much for Luwin that wasn't in the books (and I really liked him there). I think it just shows what a good enough actor can do for a role, really bringing the character to life.

Also, a few choices on this list I disagree with. Osha being so low was a real shocker. I really thought Tena nailed it and disagree with pretty much everything you said in that writeup. I didn't get the "wildness" from her at all, in fact I felt that the absence of wildness was kind of the point of her portrayal. Also, Gillen gets too much flak for things that aren't really his fault and generally reserved for the first two episodes anyway. I felt he was great for the last eight, on par with his season 1 performance, it was just the first two he had problems with.

And of course, I would probably rank Iain McGlen at number 1 for supporting actors. I watched the episode you mentioned in his writeup last night, and I have to say, I really did feel that conflict and turmoil. I guess that's just the thing about interpretations of art-they're very subjective.

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Yeah, Luwin would be higher up with me as well. Jorah, I don't think quite had as much material to work with this season but Luwin>Mel and Davos this season. Easy.

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From: MarquessLaus | #277

Yeah, Luwin would be higher up with me as well. Jorah, I don't think quite had as much material to work with this season but Luwin>Mel and Davos this season. Easy.

Mel's #18, so Luwin is definitely better than her in my books.

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3. Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister)

Dance is a peculiar case, because while he doesn’t have a very wide range of material to play with – unlike Headey and Allen – the material he has is exceedingly good and allows for some exploration. More than anything, though, Dance is just ludicrously good with what he has at his disposal. Whether he’s just there for one line or an entire monologue, whether he’s moving around and exploring the stage, or just sitting there in his chair, he has been incredible in every single scene he appeared in.

I’d pin it on an overwhelming screen presence. I think Dance has some experience playing lords and commanders (such as Lord Vetinari from Discworld), and it shows, because the man has a tendency to just take command of a scene and dictate the flow of the action. He exudes power – one look at Tywin and you know that this is a dangerous, dangerous man that should absolutely not be messed with. Thing is: it’s one thing to exude power and command. One simply has to take a slightly hammy tone and add a bit of energy and confidence to every line and there you go, you have power. It’s another thing to exude power naturally, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world to stare down every single character you ever face, be they kings or peasants. That requires something else than ham, and the fact is that Dance can bring that to the table without ever raising his voice.

Let’s take a few examples to see just how overbearing he can be when he wants. I’d start with a scene in EP5, aka the scene where Arya starts acting as Tywin’s cupbearer, and as she goes to fetch some water, gets asked where she’s from. After a few bluffs and a game of cat-and-mouse, the conversation turns to Robb – “they say he can’t be killed,” says Arya. “And do you believe it?” “No. Anyone can be killed.” Intense staredown ensues, followed by Tywin ending the conversation with a “Fetch that water.”

That was a clever scene, with solid writing and great progression. Without good actors to sell it, though, that scene was doomed to fall flat on its back. One could have had two mediocre actors, trading lines unconvincingly – the very same scene could’ve felt like this: “Hey, anyone can be killed really, now that I think about it.” “Oh, that’s true. Fetch that water, while you’re at it.” Instead, you get an insane amount of tension as both characters lock eyes and try to gauge the other. Seriously, rewatch that scene and see how Tywin reacts to Arya’s veiled threat. His mouth appears to be smiling – in a chilling sort of way – but his eyes are maddeningly threatening. With just a stare, and the apparently harmless “Fetch that water” line, Dance manages to convey incredible energy and power, while never losing his calm.

Second throwaway and very minor example: the very end of Blackwater, as he strolls into the throne room past his soldiers and proclaims his victory. This is nothing. It’s a throwaway line meant to let viewers know that the Lannisters won. Holy **** did he steal that moment completely, though, as he just casually walks in with a ridiculous amount of confidence and pride.

This man is Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion’s father. All three of them were shown to revert to almost childlike version of themselves in his presence – it takes an incredible amount of skill to make this believable, especially when you’re talking about Headey, Coster-Waldau and Dinklage, who have great command of the screen as well.

(cont'd in next post)

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Thing is, it could’ve stopped there. Dance could’ve just decided to stick with his “ice-cold leader with a bit of a soft side for Arya,” and it would have worked pretty well... but he didn’t. Watch interviews of him if you want (I think two of them were uploaded on Youtube): the man is obsessed with enriching his character, trying to ever so briefly open windows into Tywin Lannister’s soul, so we can catch a glimpse of who he truly is. And it shows.

Take the last Arya/Tywin scene, when he discusses his legacy and offers her a meal. I believe I don’t need to elaborate on the legacy stuff, as Dance indeed manages to show just how obsessed his character is with the family’s honour and what will remain of it when he dies. What I want to show is elsewhere: if you’ll recall, the conversation quickly turns to dragons and Aegon Targaryen. “It’s not just Aegon”, Arya says, “but also his sisters.” She talks about Visenya, her dragon Vhagar and her blade Dark Sister. “She’s a heroine of yours, I suppose? Most girls prefer pretty maidens and fair ladies.” “Most girls are stupid.” And then he laughs and says she reminds her of his daughter.

Now stop. This is some seriously overlooked piece of acting. See, the scene itself is really, really good. The lines are great and help build their relationship further. Thing is, Dance does two things with his lines. First, of course, is to show a hint of affection towards Arya, which he seems to be fond of. He sells it well, but we’ve seen that all season and we’re already aware of it. He does something else, though, and I’m convinced most of it is on Dance: he decides to use the opportunity to show a bit of who he truly is. When he says “She’s a heroine of yours,” you can almost feel the fondness mixed with melancholy. See, it’s not just affection towards Arya – it’s also nostalgia of happier times for him: times of peace, when Cersei and Jaime were still children and, most of all, when Joanna – his late wife – was still alive. It might have been a time full of hope as well, before the disappointments and the bitterness, before he realized that his children would not turn out exactly as he hoped, before all the suffering and sadness. I think that it’s these happier times he sees in Arya, and I think that’s why he likes her so much. That he manages to open this small window, to suggest this range of emotions, with such a simple line, is a testament to his skill.

You know you have a great actor when literally the only criticism anyone in the world has ever raised against his take on Tywin is “WTF he’s not bald.”

Best scene: Such a tough choice, given the sheer excellence of all his scenes with Arya. I liked “Fetch that water”, I wholeheartedly approve his “I cured Jaime’s dyslexia”, but I think I’ll have to settle with that last scene with Arya, which I discussed above. That guy can seriously act.

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Ze points

EO: 4 points (Tywin [+1], Theon, Cersei)
Alec: 2 points (Theon, Cersei)
LOTM: 3 points (Tywin, Theon, Cersei)
ML: 2 points (Theon, Cersei)

Kaxon: 2 points (Tywin [+1])
Rex: 3 points (Tywin, Theon, Cersei)

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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

THE LIST

Lead Actors

Aegon Targaryen Tier of World-Conquering
1.
2.
3. Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister)
4. Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister)
5. Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy)

Tyrion Lannister Tier of Schemes, Plots and Broken Things
6. Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark)
7. Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon)
8. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)

Margaery Tyrell Tier of Political Seduction
9. Gethin Anthony (Renly Baratheon)
10. Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark)
11. John Bradley (Samwell Tarly)
12. Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark)
13. Richard Madden (Robb Stark)

Eddard Stark Tier of Political Savviness
14. Kit Harington (Jon Snow)
15. Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen)



Supporting Actors

??? Tier (Top Tier)
1.
2.
3.

Jaime Lannister Tier of Twincest, Child-Crippling and Westeros-Trolling
4.
5. Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin)
6. Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont)
7. Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane)
8. Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth)

Bronn Tier of Honourless Pig****-Throwing
9. Francis Magee (Yoren)
10. Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle)
11. James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont)
12. Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H'ghar)
13. Patrick Malahide (Balon Greyjoy)
14. Joe Dempsie (Gendry)
15. Eugene Simon (Lancel Lannister)
16. Ben Hawkey (Hot Pie)

Jon Snow Tier of Knowing Nothing, yet Still Being Competent with a Sword
17. Aidan Gillen (Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish)
18. Carice van Houten (Melisandre of Asshai)
19. Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton)
20. Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy)
21. Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell)
22. Robert Pugh (Craster)

Arya Stark Tier of Pointy-End Sticking
23. Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell)
24. Dominic Carter (Janos Slynt)
25. Natalia Tena (Osha)

Bran Stark Tier of Combat Prowess
26. Sibel Kekilli (Shae)
27. Kerr Logan (Matthos Seaworth)
28. Esme Bianco (Ros)

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Good write-up. I'd probably but Dance above Williams, but I seem to be in the minority on that one. I don't see why people keep ranking her as #1 over Dance, Headey, Dinklage, Allen, and Coster-Waldau. Williams does a good job, but I think she gets overrated because she usually gets good lines and reactions to scenes being set-up by such a great cast.

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http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll295/lanquin/internet/stupidpeople.gif
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll295/lanquin/internet/jojo-bike.jpg

Aww yeah, Dance. Tywin so strong.

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Little town...
http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/ae221/GenesisSaga/3rdPrizeBelle.jpg

I was unsure about including Dance on my list, thinking he might not count as a main character. Glad I did, because I was almost stupid enough to forget that the way Charles Dance plays him, he could never be classified as merely a supporting character, even if he barely appears for the first 5 episodes!

--
James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

To be fair, Dance was one of the two toughest calls regarding Lead/Supporting Actors classification. You all know who the other one is.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

I've been a big fan of Tywin's acting since his very first appearance with Jaime. Skinning and eviscerating a deer while lecturing Jaime and making him feel like a dumb child, it was a very strong start for him and he's only improved since then.

--
The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG

My biggest surprise as far as main/supporting goes is Renly counting as main. He had what, 6 scenes all season? I know he's a King, but so's a certain Supporting Character (or 2)...

--
James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

Solfadore posted...

From: MarquessLaus | #277

Yeah, Luwin would be higher up with me as well. Jorah, I don't think quite had as much material to work with this season but Luwin>Mel and Davos this season. Easy.

Mel's #18, so Luwin is definitely better than her in my books.

My bad.

Well, then I'll be very, very interested to see who is among your remaining characters beside Varys, Joffrey, Arya, Davos and Tyrion. I honestly have no idea who is left that is a top character in your opinion. Is it Rickon? The guy that pointing out how little Sam knows Craster's daughter ( I dun think he has a name)? Drogon? Grey Wind?

My biggest surprise as far as main/supporting goes is Renly counting as main. He had what, 6 scenes all season? I know he's a King, but so's a certain Supporting Character (or 2)...

This, though looking at all the people that Samwell and Hot Pie managed to beat is pretty surprising too.

--
When you've got a pretty-boy monkey on your back constantly calling you a puppet, you hardly want to seem like you're happy to be used. - DSakaCharanJ

Damn, looks like I would have gotten that bonus point if you had made the opposite call on main/supporting for Dance!

--
No I'm not a damn furry. Looney Tunes are different. - Guiga

"Well, then I'll be very, very interested to see who is among your remaining characters beside Varys, Joffrey, Arya, Davos and Tyrion. I honestly have no idea who is left that is a top character in your opinion. Is it Rickon? The guy that pointing out how little Sam knows Craster's daughter ( I dun think he has a name)? Drogon? Grey Wind?"

Bronn

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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

Can't believe Dolorous Edd, the best character in all of a Song of Ice and Fire, we left out of this list.

--
The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG

The way I see the rest of this playing out is:

1. Peter Dinklage
2. Maisie williams

1. Jack Gleeson
2. Varys (forgot the name)
3. Liam Cunningham
4. Jerome Flynn

Yeah, a bit surprised you had Renly as a main and Joff as a supporting. Oh, and a bit shocked that Bronn, despite being the biggest badass in Westeros, managed to make it so high.

From: Eeeevil Overlord | #288

My biggest surprise as far as main/supporting goes is Renly counting as main. He had what, 6 scenes all season? I know he's a King, but so's a certain Supporting Character (or 2)...

Again, I didn't count by the number of scenes, but by the character's importance in the scene. Is that character simply there to shed light on other characters in that scene, AKA to support more important characters? Or is the scene focused around that character - designed mainly so we can get insight on that particular character? That's the main criterion.

--> Renly's scenes: tourney grounds (started off as supporting, finished as a lead, as the point of the scene was to get to know him), sex scene with Loras/Margaery (obviousy a lead), LF/Renly (again a lead - LF was there to support Renly, so that the viewers can try to figure out whether he'd side with Cat or not), Stannis/Renly on horseback (lead again - scene was bw Stannis and him, with the rest of the cast supporting), Renly dies (lead again)

--> Tywin's scenes: Tywin's arrival at Harrenhal (obviously a lead), 1st cupbearer/fetch that water (carried the first half, supported the second), 2nd cupbearer/Littlefinger (carried the first half again, supported the second as LF arrives), 3rd cupbearer/Jaime's dyslexia (lead all the way through - both actors were leading in that one), 4th cupbearer/dragons (lead again - sharing the spotlight with Arya).

That translates as "Lead" in my books, although both were somewhat tough calls.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

Yeah, I understand why you chose Renly as main rather than supporting, I just personally would've counted him as supporting in my book. That might be due to the nature of the characters though - Renly might be the focus of some scenes, but he never commands a scene like Tywin does.

--
James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

From: LordoftheMorons | #290

Damn, looks like I would have gotten that bonus point if you had made the opposite call on main/supporting for Dance!

Might as well say right now that if I had considered Dance a supporting actor, he would've won that category by a mile.

--
When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore

1.Williams
2.Dinklage

1.Joffrey
2.Varys



What's weird is that Arya and Joffrey could legitimately switch places. Even better is that they would both still be #1. Dinklage has done nothing wrong this season, he might even be better this season than last. But Williams and Gleeson have taken things to an unnaturally perfect level.

First there's Williams and her ability to carry a range of emotions with nothing but a smirk or glance, to carry both a sense of child-like wonderlust and bloodthirsty maturity.

Then there's Gleeson whose every facial expression makes you want to punch him in the face every 5 seconds. Unlike "THE DRAGON" whose character was purely camp and never made you want to root for him outside of some perverse pleasure at the taboo, Gleeson never leaves the screen without making you contemplate things. He is the most hated man on television and it isn't because of his baby killing or women defiling, Gleeson just makes you despise him the moment he steps on screen. He's got that Joaquin Phoenix Gene.

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Realo won gold at the Sex Olympics with a BROKEN FRIGGIN NECK.-Voltch

Ah, Bronn guess I considered him counted for, for some reason. In any case, Solf said two of the top eight weren't guessed by the first 4 predictions. So Davos and Bronn are gonna be in the top 3 supporting, so Varys probably will not.

--
When you've got a pretty-boy monkey on your back constantly calling you a puppet, you hardly want to seem like you're happy to be used. - DSakaCharanJ

This is interesting. I've never read acting reviews/ranking like this before. Addicting, almost.

--
Leo3Leo

late to say f*** ywah Tywin Lannister

--
Coincidence that a self-avowed Communist is so against democracy and traditional marriage? - SephG after misquoting me hilariously