Arya's three kills game: your choices to make Starks win and why

[Meshakhad]

I know. I was being facetious.

[DoomPancakes]

Been thinking about this one..haven't fully decided how I would work it, but here it goes---

1.Tywin -Smartest player on the Lannister side. Large part of the planning of the Red Wedding, and probably gave the go ahead. Take him out, and the only people leading the forces opposite of the Starks are Cersei (who effectively chased off Kevan, and knowing her, would probably be successful in chasing him off 9 out of 10 times,) and Jamie, who is too headstrong to be feared leading an army.

2. Joffrey - To make Cersei go completely paranoid like she did later on in the books. I'd rather an insane Cersei leading the opposing army than anyone else. The amount of follys she made (all the yes-men on the small council, the crappy knights in the KG, etc...) would make her the leader you want your enemies to have.

3. I don't know.... Possibly Gregor Clegane, as he's a figurehead of power in the Lannister force...take him out and you have taken out a font of power. Fighting next to Gregor would possibly be the biggest morale boost (as long as you stayed away from his sword) a soldier can have. Melisandre was an idea, but I want her killing Renly and breaking apart that large host. Walder Frey, as he is the other part of the RW, and you can't have the Starks win with no Starks. Theon, but if he takes Winterfell, 'kills' Bran and Rickard, and Robb retakes it and avenges the betrayal, then that would galvanize the Northern Forces. Jeyne Westerling possibly, but without the option of the RW bringing the Freys over to the Lannisters, there would be no point in killing her. Ramsay Bolton, as he could be a major source of internal strife amongst the northern Forces...Euron Greyjoy, but I'd want the Iron Islands harrasing my enemies.

In the end, I'd probably go with Myrcella or Jamie Lannister, just to throw Cersei completely off the deep end.

[Nemesis]

what about Doran Martell? without him, Dorne will go to war against Tyrell and Lannister

[Peasant with No Story Arc]

I would also go with Melisandre, Balon and Tywin.

Without Melisandre, Renly beats Stannis and marches on King's Landing. Without Tywin (and especially without the Tyrell alliance gained when Renly dies), Renly beats the Lannisters and takes the Iron Throne.

"If your son supports me as his father supported Robert, he'll not find me ungenerous. I will gladly confirm him in all his lands, titles, and honors. He can rule in Winterfell as he pleases. He can even go on calling himself King in the North if he likes, so long as he bends the knee and does me homage as his overlord. King is only a word, but fealty, loyaly, service . . . those I must have."

Without Balon, either Theon becomes Lord when he's still Robb's friend or they have a, uh, "Lordsmoot" and they all play politics or fight amongst themselves instead of raiding the North.

[Queen Beyond the Wall]

Balon Greyjoy- He dies and Theon returns home to become king, without ever having to be shamed by his father and feeling the need to prove himself. He is not the strongest leader,and therefore even if he wants a war, he could easily be defeated. Maybe, like other posters say, he would ally with his buddy Robb and help the north (esp. since Robb would be wiling to give the Ironborn the islands...!).

Joffrey- Killing him before he becomes king will save Ned's head. Ned will be allowed to take the black, and leave Kings Landing with his daughters, who will return to Winterfell and be reunited with their brothers Bran and Rickon. Arya will take Syrio Forrell with her, who will train the men at Winterfell in case of attack. Ned will go to the wall and take the black, reuniting with Jon, and they will become a powerful team bringing valuable leadership skills to the wall just in time to face the threat of the Others. And Jon will finally get to find out who mommy was.

Melissandre- Without her constant encouragement (and convincing him and his wife that he is AA), Stannis may not be so keen on being King. He won't kill Renly even if he DOES want to be king, and maybe Renly's peach will convince him and he'll join up with his brother, and they can easily waltz in and take King's Landing.

[James Targaryen]

Joffery, Robb, and Balon will all be killed by Melisandre eventually, so I think she needs to be one of your choices. Killing her is the only way to save Robb.

[voodooqueen126]

Joffery, Robb, and Balon will all be killed by Melisandre eventually, so I think she needs to be one of your choices. Killing her is the only way to save Robb.

nah she just successfully predicted their deaths and made it look like her magic did it.

Still if she had died, Renly would not have died and therefore the Lannisters would not have gained the Tyrell alliance.

[David Selig]

Melisandra and Stannis. Then Renly wins since he had far bigger army than the Lannisters. and he makes a deal with Robb and the Starks leaving the North mostly autonomous.

Balon to stop his retarded invasion of the North.

[Arya_Rocks]

Tywin, Stannis, Theon.

[Lady of Long Lake]

1. Edmure Tully

With him dead, the Lannister host goes west and (assuming everything goes as planed) is defeated by Robb. Tywin either dies, is captured (oh, two high profile Lannister caught) or at the very least has no host left and out of the picture.

2. Petyr Baelish

On his way to broker with Highgarden. Without Tywin or the Tyrells, Sannis wins upon the blackwater, Cercei and the children are put to the axe.

3. Sannis Baratheon

Hardest choise, but it's clear that Stannis wont surrender the north.

This leaves Robb to take back the north. Robb might also be able to ally him self with Highgarden (Robb+Margaery? Frey wouldn't dare do anything with the entire realm against him) or at least seal peace. If not Stannis then Balon, the ironmen rushed home when it happened in the book.

I love your first two picks of Edmure and Peter. They are game changers.

For my third, I'd choose Melisandre. If Robb's host beats Tywins and Stannis's army takes the Blackwater and KL, I think Stannis would be amenable to Robb remaining the King of The North if they both had had a hand in overthrowing the Lannisters. As long as Melisandre is DEAD and can't whisper evil things in his ear to egg him on!

[Val's monster]

I don't see Arya ever killing her own mother off even to give advantage to the stark family in the end, no i think that no family member would/ could be picked by arya including extended family (tully's, lysa et al,)

the way i see it being most advantageous from that viewpoint would be

1 Tywin, for all the reasons said in multiple posts here

2 Stannis, to keep Renly alive mainly i considered Melisandre but i think Jon Snow will be in need of her so i killed her boss instead!!

3 Theon I don't think killing Balon would change anything Balon only wanted the coastal areas of the north it was theons own idea to take winterfell and theons pride that wanted to keep it (which led to everything else including Ramsey's actions)

[James Targaryen]

3 Theon I don't think killing Balon would change anything Balon only wanted the coastal areas of the north it was theons own idea to take winterfell and theons pride that wanted to keep it (which led to everything else including Ramsey's actions)

True, but if balon is killed, the kingsmoot would stop theon from invading winterfell, and euron decides to go south, which means he is fighting stark enemies.

[Horus Ex Machina]

Stannis - Renly lives and his claim becomes the strongest in Westeros.

Joffrey, and Tommen - Kills of any male Lannister claimants to the throne which removes the Tyrell motives for allying themselves with them. Obviously the Tyrells would remain with Renly, but removing that temptation would center power with Renly.

If I had another life to take I would take Margaery, bc I really want to see a Martell on the throne but I cannot have everything.

[Hear Us Roar]

Littlefinger- he started the damn war

Stannis- that guy will not stand for stark kings

Balon Greyjoy- Theon would have taken the throne, not immediately but he would not have sacked winterfell

[Ice Turtle]

Ramsay Snow - No millers boys, no sacking of Winterfell, Theon would lost to ser Rodrick, probably no Jeyne Westerling fiasco, no Kingslayer on loose, no one to marry fake Arya to, no little dagger related problem for Jon Snow

Littlefinger - even if alliance with Tyrells happened Sansa would be much happier with Willas, also no framing of Tyrion

Tywin - given time Tyrion would get rid of Cersei and Joffrey on his own

[The Last Martell]

Tywin, Stannis, and Dany. Honorable mentions to Theon, Ramsay Snow, Littlefinger, and Tyrion.

Tywin for obvious reasons. And him dead earlier might prevent the Jeyne/RW disaster.

Stannis would never allow Kings in the North. Presumably a lot of his men would go to Renly rather than Cersei, and this would prevent the Lannister/Tyrell force at Blackwater.

Dany because the threat in the East needs to be extinguished. That, and if the Targaryens are totally gone (on paper), then the Starks might get support from the Martells against the Lannisters and possibly against Renly/the Tyrells if they don't want Northern Kings either.

Another interesting combination would be Joffery, Tommen, and Myrcella. The Lannisters (and everyone in Westeros) would have a hard time trying to refuse the throne to Stannis if those three died. It would divert a lot of Lannister attention away from the Starks and onto the Baratheons. And also maybe Maggy the Frog's prophecy would come true more quickly ^_^

[Gurkhal]

This is a bit hard although I do not count a Stark victory as necessarily an independent kingdom.

Margaery, to prevent the Tyrells and Lannisters to find each other

Walder Frey, a Frey civil war will probably prevent any treachery and may make parts of them seek out Robb for aid

Joffrey, because with Joffrey dead a peace MIGHT be possible where the Starks and Tullys return to the King's Peace without having any draconian punishments hanging over them.

(Roose Bolton is also a good target as Ramsay will get himself killed in a short while without Roose, and very closely did when Rodrick went after him)

Stannis became marginalized and both Balon and Tywin can be replaced by Victarion/Asha or Kevan so killing them won't really change much. Better to aim at the seams of what makes things roll than aim at the pretty figure heads.

[Gurkhal]

Please remove.

[Dr. Pepper]

Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen. This would be after Renly was already killed. Stannis takes the throne. The Tyrells try to ally with him and wipe out Tywin's army but afterwards Stannis doesn't care to form any meaningful marriage alliances with them because they were traitors at first. He marries Shireen to Trystane of Dorne. With the Lannisters essentially gone from power, the Starks head back to the North where they work best. Robb keeps his King in the North title. He ensures Manderly's fleet patrols their sea borders and has a rotating schedule of men manning Moat Cailin at all times.

[Jayce]

I had some good thoughts then I read "Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen" which I hadn't considered. These 3 would remove the need for it all anyway.

However, in order to help the Starks win, I would suggest:

1. Melisandre - Stopping Renly from dying and Stannis from going North. Likely result is Renly defeating Stannis. Renly is much more open to talk with Robb then anyone else.

2. Balon Greyjoy - Without whom Theon would likely become Lord and at this point Theon was all for helping Robb, thus Robb gains the Iron Islands and their fleet to attack Casterly Rock from. (Until Euron kills Theon ofc!).

3. Lya Arryn - To free up the Vale who would join Robb, giving him the North, Riverlands, Iron Island and the Vale.

He would then be in a very strong position to win.

Edit: Typos.