120 replies to this topic

[Wales338]

I'm pretty new here, and I started to notice right away that there was alot of hate towards Robert Baratheon? I always liked him and I was just wondering why everyone hates him so much?

Sorry if this was already done, I couldn't find it if it was.

Edited by Wales338, 30 March 2012 - 05:56 PM.

[David Selig]

He was an idiot, a lousy friend (time after time didn't support Ned when he needed it and arranged the Sansa - Joffrey marriage even though he knew his son's personality is deeply rotten), a wife beater, a joke of a king, a rapist (by modern standards, since I just know someone will object to that ASAP)... Need I go on?

Edited by David Selig, 31 March 2012 - 03:04 AM.

[danm_999]

Robert wasn't exactly a saint by our modern standards, but neither are most of the characters.

I think what it boils down to is a lot of ire for Ned and Robert because they failed and allowed the War of the Five Kings to happen, even though it may be more logical to direct that fate at people driving the conflict, like the Lannisters or Littlefinger.

[EgoistMusketeer]

I actually also like Robert.

For me, smashing a Targ to pieces with a giant hammer trumps all of your faults.

[Wales338]

I know hes not a saint it just confuses me why there are lots of people who seem to love like Cersei for example but hate Robert. Like I said before I like him.

Edited by Wales338, 30 March 2012 - 06:08 PM.

[Val the Wildling Princess]

I don't hate him. To be honest I didn't care so much about him, he was fun to read about, but that's all.

[Drinking Cersei's Tears]

Wales338, on 30 March 2012 - 06:08 PM, said:

I know hes not a saint it just confuses me why there are lots of people who seem to love like Cersei for example but hate Robert. Like I said before I like him.

There are a lot of people that like Cersei?

[JKeats]

He was a bad person and a bad king.  Good riddance to him.

[Winter's Knight]

Drinking Cersei, on 30 March 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

There are a lot of people that like Cersei?

*raises hand*

I dislike Robert because, imnsho , he's  a privileged,pampered, violence loving, intemperate prat who never grew up and took responsibility.

[The Wolfswood]

I don't hate Robert - I don't hate any of the characters, honestly - but he gets zero points in terms of likability for me.  Robert has no personality traits I like or admire - being a drunken, womanizing, wife-beating jerk is hard to respect - and he's not an effective leader either.  The one thing he was good at - fighting - has declined.  Though... I do feel a sense of sadness for him.  He marched off to war a much better man than he returned.  Lyanna's death broke him, even if all he loved was the ideal he'd built up in his head, and the splendor of being King wore away at the rest him.  We see Robert Baratheon at his very worst.  I wonder how different people would view him if we'd seen the Robert Baratheon Ned loved as a brother.

Edited by theythg, 30 March 2012 - 08:56 PM.

[LiamBridge]

I dont hate him so much as pity him.

Being king has just sucked all the life out of him, and sure maybe he was not the best guy in the world even before that but he was a good friend to Ned, and he seemed like a hell of a fighter.

[Stop Rhaegar HAMMERTIME!]

I hate that he died!

[_Oberyn_]

I'll let you know as soon as i find that breastplate stretcher

[IronSuitor]

I can't say I hate or like Robert, but I certainly do sympathize with him. He's a man who was never able to get over the first girl he loved and lost. It's sad enough to think that Robert really actually does still love Lyanna and obsesses over her "rape" as much as he says. It's even sadder to think that deep down he knows the truth - his love was just a young man's infatuation with a girl he barely knew and Lyanna probably went all too willingly to the Tower of Joy.That would mean all this time he's been lying to himself to try and make his rebellion more than a cynical play for a throne he never wanted.

[EgoistMusketeer]

His monologue with Barristan over the first time he killed a man is a fantastic part of the show.

[The King in the South]

LiamBridge, on 30 March 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

I dont hate him so much as pity him.

Being king has just sucked all the life out of him, and sure maybe he was not the best guy in the world even before that but he was a good friend to Ned, and he seemed like a hell of a fighter.

A good friend to Ned? He spent half the book screwing the dude over and not listening to him. I honestly have trouble formulating how that relationship ever even started.

[SerDavosBadass]

theythg, on 30 March 2012 - 08:53 PM, said:

I don't hate any of the characters, honestly

you cannot honestly say this.

Theon? Ramsay? Tywin? Balon Greyjoy? Hizdahr? Walder Frey?

PATCHFACE???

Edited by SerDavosBadass, 30 March 2012 - 10:07 PM.

[EgoistMusketeer]

SerDavosBadass, on 30 March 2012 - 10:00 PM, said:

you cannot honestly say this.

Theon? Ramsay? Tywin? Balon Greyjoy? Hizdahr?

PATCHFACE???

Theon has the redemptive arc in ADWD that sort of makes up for his betrayal.  I still hate him for turning on the Starks but Ramsey did chop off his pen15 so you can feel sorry for the guy.  
As for lord Tywin, he didn't start the war and he doesn't approve of his grandson as the king but he puts the houses honor above all else and finishes the war.  You can't really put too much blame on him.
Ramsey is a terrible human being without a single redemptive quality, the deepest circle of the 7 hells is reserved for him.

[1918me]

SerDavosBadass, on 30 March 2012 - 10:00 PM, said:

you cannot honestly say this.

Theon? Ramsay? Tywin? Balon Greyjoy? Hizdahr? Walder Frey?

PATCHFACE???

Don't forget Gregor, Roose, Euron, Victarion...

On the topic of Robert, I actually really liked him as a character. He may not have been the greatest guy, but I could sympathize him, unlike the above characters, and he was fun to read about.

[Howling Mad]

EgoistMusketeer, on 30 March 2012 - 06:07 PM, said:

I actually also like Robert.

For me, smashing a Targ to pieces with a giant hammer trumps all of your faults.

Agreed.  The Mad King and his devil spawn needed to go.

Robert would make a great wingman   and would always have your back in a bar fight or brothel

IMO Robert also would have gladly allowed Ned to take the throne in his stead had Ned wanted it.  Robert wanted Lyanna and revenge for Lyanna and to a lesser extent for Rickard, and Brandon.  Robert did not rebel for the sake of the throne itself.

<edit spelling>

Edited by Howling4Reed, 30 March 2012 - 10:37 PM.