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Why are the Lannisters still hated so much compared to other houses?


EddardBos

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I'm very fond of the Lannisters, but there's no doubt that the fans and in-universe characters may have cause to scorn them all. That said, I tend to root for Tyrion and Jaime most of the time, and find them vastly entertaining. Tywin and Kevan and Genne are very cool as well. Cersei is a massive bitch, interesting to follow but hard to like. Lancel is a weak little prat who is yet to live up to the Lannister name.


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Do you know HOW he killed every member of House Reyne? It's one thing to severely punish ambitious and disobedient vassals and another to drown women, children, old people, and probably their dogs as well.

It was a brilliant move. Defeated the enemy without losing any more men

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Not sure why people hold the Reynes/Tarbecks against Tywin - they brought their dooms on themselves. He acted appropriately, given the context and situation, and his House continues to benefit from it.

Murdering children for the crimes of their fathers is, IMO, never OK.

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Murdering children for the crimes of their fathers is, IMO, never OK.

That's why I mentioned the context - a feudal rebellion, where such things are considered ok in certain circumstances. Even by Ned Stark (he took Theon hostage after all)

This was not the Reynes' first strike, not even close, and even after losing their ally and their army, they still thought they could demand Tywin's brothers as hostages. No competent lord would abide such arrogance

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That's why I mentioned the context - a feudal rebellion, where such things are considered ok in certain circumstances. Even by Ned Stark (he took Theon hostage after all)

This was not the Reynes' first strike, not even close, and even after losing their ally and their army, they still thought they could demand Tywin's brothers as hostages. No competent lord would abide such arrogance

It's similar to the concept of a hostage, but not the same thing. As a hostage, the child does die for the sins of the parents, but the child is knowingly handed to the other side, as part of an agreement. If the parent rebels, he does so knowing that his child will be killed, so, theoretically, a part of the responsibility is on him.

Cold-blooded killing of high-born children outside of that specific situation doesn't seem to be as acceptable. Ned holds Theon hostage, and would kill him if the Greyjoys broke their agreement, but he also finds the killing of Rhaegar's kids abhorrent, and quits his position over Dany and her unborn kid. Oberyn is furious because his sister and her children were murdered in cold blood. The rules here are fuzzy, but most agree that killing high-born women and children outside of a hostage situation is (somewhat) unacceptable.

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My impression is that among fans, the Lannisters might be the most popular family, or running a very close second to Starks.

Among the people of Westeros, it makes sense they are hated because all of the Lannisters with any power are monsters (if you look at their actions). They don't care about Kevin or random Lannister #4826 because they don't impact their lives where as Cersei/Tywin/Joffery do.

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The prostitute from Essos. But let's not go there because that gets threads locked. Let's say some say he raped her, some other, wouldn't. No point on discussing it. No denying that he did very despicable things in Dance either.

Setting aside the slave girl in the brothel for the sake of this particular discussion, what other despicable things did he do in Dance?

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He bored millions of readers to tears, by far the worst possible crime for a fictional character.

Okay, you got me on that one.

And I'm pretty sure that where whores go is wherever they won't have to listen to him ask that question repeatedly.

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It was a brilliant move. Defeated the enemy without losing any more men

Efficiency does not excuse evil.

That's why I mentioned the context - a feudal rebellion, where such things are considered ok in certain circumstances. Even by Ned Stark (he took Theon hostage after all)

This was not the Reynes' first strike, not even close, and even after losing their ally and their army, they still thought they could demand Tywin's brothers as hostages. No competent lord would abide such arrogance

Um...Ned didn't kill Theon. And Tywin didn't take someone as a ward/hostage. He killed dozens, many of whom were innocent, in a despicable way. Think of the babies! Think of the innocent dogs (who aren't confirmed but let's face it, those medieval men always have their hounds about)!

Agreed that no lord would put up with that, but he could have handled it in a far less brutal fashion.

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Tywin, Cersei, and Joffrey by themselves have done enough sadistic villainy to overshadow the good deeds of any family. Seriously: mass murder, wanton pillage, destruction of entire families, torture, murder of children, killing people for common insults, for sport, for medical experiments. And not to mention rape & sexual abuse on every scale from intimate and personal acts done to one's own kin, to mass rape as a weapon of war. Lanisters are just very rape-y. There is no redeeming any of them. Only confirmed sickos like Aerys II or Ramsay Bolton are in their league.



Jaime as well has a lot to answer for, but I think lately, he knows it (and is answering for it to some degree). Two-handed Jaime was as much a monster as Tywin or Cersei; he knew it, and did not seem to care. Now he cares, but it's largely too late to undo the worst things he's done.



Tyrion - He is half hero, half villain. "Tyrion _____ " is the man, and a decent one at that. " _____ Lannister" is a monster because his family made him into one.



Kevan - Not a horrible man, but he loyally supported the horrible things Tywin did.



Lancel? Weak, and guilt ridden. Arrogant and nasty when it suited him, and now over-pious. In both cases, a hapless follower.



Genna - Interesting women, but I think a bit nastier than some realize. She also had no problem with much of what Tywin did; she regrets some of it, but still reaps the benefits.



Tyrek - "... aaaand he's gone."



Devan - Nothing special. A typical soldier.



Tommen - Probably the best Lannister we've seen. He's kind, brave, and honest. He has a lot of good qualities, that make you think he's just not cut out for the nastiness all around him. Nobody hates Tommen.



Myrcella - Much like Tommen, there's been nothing to suggest she's a bad person. She doesn't exude terrible arrogance or cruelty, or some sort of insanity.




So like I said, if you look at the 3 worst it's a wonder that the clan was not exterminated long ago if this is typical of them. However, I doubt it is the hallmark of all important Lannisters to be psychopaths. The worst ones simply drag the average way down.


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