Game of Thrones 30 Day Challenge: Day 29

Day 29: Who is the best Game of Thrones player

The idea behind the concept of a 'player' of the game of thrones is someone who can manipulate people, resources, and events to set themselves (or someone of their choosing) as the person in charge. It's not enough to just put yourself (or someone else) on the throne. You have to be able to keep your person in power as well.

The short answer here is that no one is good at this. Just about everyone who has tried to play this game ends up failing miserably. It could be argued that Varys does a good job, but then, no one is exactly sure of his game so it's really impossible to tell. He claims that he wants Aegon on the throne, but we have no idea if that will happen or if Aegon is even really who they claim he is.

Other people might claim Cersei or Tywin are good players. Tywin did keep the peace for many years and managed to get his grandson on the throne. Tywin's problem is that he's too heavyhanded about everything. No one can really see him as a subtle player at all. Cersei is worse than he is. She had all of her power set up perfectly, but then began to make mistakes because she was a paranoid alcoholic.

While Tyrion was in power, he was very good at the game . . . however, he wasn't very good at keeping power.  None of the Baratheons are good at this. None of the Starks were either, though, two of the Stark children seem to have potential to be very good at the game.

I think sometimes people overlook what Sansa was able to accomplish while in King's Landing. Despite being constantly threatened by both Joffery and Cersei, she survived. Even though she was manipulated by Littlefinger into escaping both the capital and her marriage, she did do both of these things and now sits in a comfortable position as basically the Mistress of the Eerie. She could quite possibly inherit Winterfell, River Run, and Harren Hall. At this point, all she truly has to do is defeat Littlefinger.

Arya also has a lot of potential where the game is concerned. She has survived, practically on her own, since her father was captured. Arya can fight, she can stage coups, she can kill when she has to, and she has a good sense of when to escape a situation. She's also fell into league with a group of assassins and is learning how to master disguises, and probably a whole other range of skills. In just a few short years, she could be very good at manipulating the power players around her. She could become Master of Whispers, possibly without anyone even realizing who she was.

I think  this is one of those topics that really has to wait until the end of the series before anyone can truly answer it. In the meantime, I see potential in our Stark girls. I think every day the survive is another day where they become more dangerous.