Game Of Thrones: The Bad Dad Awards

As filming starts on Season 7 of GoT, we celebrate Father’s Day with a look at the 10 worst father figures from the show.

FILMING for Season 7 of Game Of Thrones has kicked off in Northern Ireland this week, while yesterday author George RR Martin told his Not A Blog readers that he was “back at the old homestead and back at work”.

This is great, because it means fans can start wondering which of their favourites will die when Season 7 screens next year and who else Martin plans to kill off in book six.

This week also saw acclaimed British actor Jim Broadbent announced as a cast member for the series, although no word on who he might be.

Perhaps he could be someone’s father, as daddy issues tend to come up fairly frequently as a plot device.

Stannis has been a rich source of Game of Thrones memes.

Dads also tend to die rather violently in GoT, so it could be a short stint for the former Harry Potter star.

But, in honour of the start of filming and, of course, for Father’s Day, we thought we’d remember the dear old dads of Westeros.

Here’s our top ten Game Of Thrones bad dads who won’t be getting breakfast in bed this Father’s Day.

10. NED STARK

Ned Stark was a noble man but a silly dad.

OK, let’s kick this list off with some real controversy. No one would dispute that Ned Stark was a good dad, especially in this company.

And, compared to most of the dysfunctional and loathsome offspring running around Westeros, I think we can all agree he did a pretty good job raising some relatively well-adjusted kids.

He even nobly took in a child, Jon, who he knew wasn’t his as a promise to his dying sister Lyanna.

And of what we know of the grown-up Jon it’s pretty clear Ned nailed it (as long as you forget the small issue of him lying to him his whole life about who his real parents were).

But it was Ned’s unswerving adherence to his strict code of honour that was his true failing as a father.

It’s one thing to suspect the newly-crowned king is the bastard son of an incestuous relationship between his mother and uncle, it’s quite another to call him out on it.

In his defence, Ned was probably a bit emotional and suspicious about his friend King Robert’s death, but he let his honour cloud his judgment. In a shocking dad-brain explosion, he gave next to no thought of what his potentially treasonous accusations could mean for his wife and kids. We all now know it kicked off a veritable Starknado of death and sorrow for the northern family.

Ah, poor Ned Stark.

9. RANDYLL TARLY

Game of Thrones 'bad dad' Randyll Tarly.

To say Randyll Tarly is a little on the cold side is like saying Darth Vader is a little on the dark side. But he is by no means the worst dad in the Thrones universe, which really is saying something about the calibre of father figures on this show. When his son Sam returns home in season six on his way to the Citadel, it’s plain to see his dear ol’ dad is a total piece of … work … yes, that’s what I meant … work.

But his brief appearance during a tension-filled family dinner doesn’t quite capture all the crappy things he has actually done to his miraculously good-natured son and heir over the years.

In an attempt to toughen him up, we hear Sam was “cursed and caned, slapped and starved” throughout his childhood by his sadistic abuser father. But when Sam remains fat and disinterested in knightly pursuits his dad threatens to kill him and make it look like an accident unless he renounces his claim as Tarly Heir and joins the Night’s Watch.

8. ROBERT BARATHEON

King Robert’s greatest crime as a father was his complete lack of interest in his three children — Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella — and their mother Cersei.

Of course we all know that they were really Jaime’s kids not his, and perhaps deep down Robert knew this.

He was also a terrible drunk, which is not high on the list of positive dad traits and he seemed incapable of keeping his chain mail trousers zipped, fathering bastard children in all corners of Westeros.

Perhaps if Robert had kept his royal sword sheathed and been a better father, Joffrey might not have become the sadistic little twerp we all came to know and loathe.

7. JAIME LANNISTER

Jamie Lannister wasn’t the official dad but he was still bad.

As the secret father of Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella, Jaime was never going to win any Dad Of The Year awards by virtue of the fact his kids didn’t know his true identity.

And, as all three of his kids were the product of his incestuous relationship with his sister Cersei, it’s easy to see why he makes the list.

You’d think at the very least Jaime could have taken a greater interest and role in his children’s lives — even as a slightly creepy doting uncle or something, but he shows very little interest in any of them.

And he doesn’t even seem all that cut up when his own son Joffrey is poisoned at his wedding to Margaery Tyrell. But I guess we can’t hold that against him, because nobody liked Joffrey.

6. AERYS TARGARYEN

Aerys Targaryen was the original bad dad.

Aerys Targaryen wasn’t called the “Mad King” for nothing and when he threatened to incinerate the population of King’s Landing with wildfire rather than hand it over to Robert Baratheon during his rebellion against the Crown, Jaime Lannister knew he was no longer fit to rule and killed him.

Unfortunately for the kids of King’s Landing there are no such moral judgments made on bad fathering. It’s likely that if you are that unhinged as a ruler, you’re probably not a great role model as a dad either.

Of what we see of his son Viserys in season one, the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. That guy was prepared to marry off his own sister to a man he considered to be a savage in order to raise an army big enough so he could rule the Seven Kingdoms.

In his final moments Aerys may have also wondered where he went wrong with his other son Rhaegar, who had started the whole downfall-of-House-Targaryen ball rolling when he abducted Ned Stark’s sister Lyanna. It’s a wonder Daenerys turned out as well as she did.

5. ROOSE BOLTON

Roose Bolton needed to ponder what made Ramsay such a bastard.

It could be argued Roose Bolton wasn’t such a bad dad. After all he took in Ramsay, his bastard son, and eventually made him legitimate allowing him to use the Bolton name.

But without entering into the whole nature versus nurture debate, it seems hard to believe that some shaky parenting on Roose’s part wasn’t at least partly responsible for the complete sadistic psychopath his son became.

Maybe he didn’t hug him enough, hugged him too much or didn’t set clear parental boundaries. You know, no flaying alive of prisoners unless you eat your dinner type of thing.

Who knows what he did to make Ramsay such a bastard — but we all know how things turned out.

4. TYWIN LANNISTER

Tywin Lannister got shot on the toilet by his son. How bad is that?

Tywin Lannister may have been a terrific politician and strategist but he was a miserable failure on the father front. Referring to your dwarf son as a monster and an abomination and openly blaming him for the death of his mother won’t win you any Dad Of The Year awards.

His hatred of Tyrion ran so deep he even had him put on trial for the murder of his nephew Joffrey and forced his girlfriend Shae to testify against him.

Even Cersei and Jaime, the kids Tywin didn’t hate, were on the receiving end of their father’s disappointment and scorn when they failed to measure up to the Lannister ideal.

But Tywin’s big trailer park dad/Jerry Springer moment came when he slept with Tyrion’s former girlfriend Shae while thinking his dwarf son was still locked in the dungeon awaiting execution. It’s also interesting to note that this episode was originally aired on Father’s Day.

A lonely death by crossbow at the hands of your dwarf son while sitting on the toilet surely makes the usual underwhelming Father’s Day gifts of socks and undies look pretty good.

3. BAELON GREYJOY

Baelon Greyjoy is a bad dad with bad hair.

Baelon rightly earns his place on the list of GoT bad dads. First he allows his last son Theon to be taken hostage at the age of 10 by Ned Stark and then shuns him when he finally returns home as an adult as an envoy for Robb Stark. When Theon tries to take Winterfell, betraying the family who raised him in a desperate attempt to impress his father, Baelon is unimpressed and allows Theon to be captured, tortured and mutilated at the hands of the sadistic Ramsay Snow. Despite knowing his son and heir’s terrible fate, Baelon doesn’t lift a finger to help him. Thanks dad.

2. CRASTER

Only his status as minor character saved Craster from being the worst dad.

In the big scheme of things the late wildling Craster was kind of a minor character but when you marry your daughters so you can have more daughters to marry … so you can then have more daughters … you deserve to be on any bad dad’s list. And let’s not forget Craster also handed all the sons his “wives” might have given birth to over to the White Walkers as a bizarre form of protection money, no doubt unwittingly bolstering the army of the dead in the process. By getting rid of his sons Craster also safeguards his rather unsavoury harem from any male heirs who may grow up and become a threat to him in the future. Even the White Walkers make better parents than Craster. He is the worst dad in the series but he didn’t play as big a part as ...

1. STANNIS BARATHEON

Ah, poor Stannis. And poor Shireen.

It was a real toss-up for the number one spot between Craster and Stannis Baratheon but in the end Stannis takes the out coveted Father’s Day Golden Socks and Undies Award for the show’s most terrible father figure. Craster was already a horrible guy but Stannis’s tragic descent into madness in his quest for power makes his crimes more heartbreaking.

He allows himself to be convinced to burn his only daughter alive, the one person he truly loves, on the off-chance he will one day sit on the Iron Throne. And it’s not like Melisandre’s previous visions were all that reliable. Did Stannis forget the disaster at the Battle of Blackwater Bay? The show very cleverly allows us to get to know the sweet nature of Shireen through her delightful interactions with Ser Davos Seaworth, which makes her brutal death all the more intolerable for viewers, and cements Stannis’ place as GoT’s worst dad.

HONOURABLE MENTION: WALDER FREY

Walder Frey was without doubt an odious man, but did this make him a bad father? It’s probably safe to say he wasn’t a great one but he seemed to have the best interests of his kids and House Frey at heart trying to make sure they entered into good marriages. If you remember, the whole Red Wedding massacre was Frey’s revenge against Robb Stark for breaking his oath to marry one of Walder’s daughters. It should also be noted that Walder didn’t kill any of his kids, so some ticks in the “Good Dad” column for him there. But he killed Robb and Catelyn Stark, so he’s certainly a “bad” dad.

Originally published as Game Of Thrones: The Bad Dad Awards