Best friendship in ASOIAF

[Terrorthatflapsinthenight9]

What do you see as the most beautiful, the most unbreakable and purest friendship in the saga ?

Which two or three friends have in your opinion the best bond and interaction, whenever they are shown in the main saga, in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The World of Ice and Fire, Fire & Blood or any canon installement in the saga ?

[Hugorfonics]

Surprisingly a tough question. Not that many friendships in the main series. Like Nedbert, toxic af man. It killed them like Cats vision said, but even so the whole boss employee line was always there. Thats even the case with Lord Snow and his maester in training which is kinda sad. Bran and the Reeds maybe, but again its kinda master student or young boy pretty older girl whos always there and friendly. Speaking of pretty girls, Gendry and Arya seems to leave the friend zone.

So my top three, or four. 4. Tyrion and Lemore, she generally seems to like the little guy idk if its a great friendship. They dont really know each other (hugor and lemore lol) more an acquaintance I suppose like Tyrion and Jon. 3. Tyrion and Bronn. Definitely still boss employee thing going on but Bronn named his kid after him, respect. Also, mainly, disrespect to Cersei but still respect. Tyrion seemed to have the same sense of humor as Bronn, they drank together and he cut the man slack, Id call em chums. 2. (you guessed it) Tyrion and Penny. Very similar and of course couldnt be more different. One of the pleasures of of adwd is seeing this unlikely friendship build. They genuinely care for each other. Penny kissed him so maybe a little more then care but I think that was a one time thing, although maybe not.

1. Davos and Saan.  They really do care for each other, and Saan has no problem holding back those kisses lol. But pirates are just flamboyant like that, its strictly platonic. When Davos thought it was that old scoundrel who snitched him out for the attempt on Mel he was really crushed, like a good friend betrayed so heinously, but of course Saan would never do that. Its kinda remarkable that when Saan betrayed the cause Davos took no cause in escalating a confrontation, like the admiral was just cool with losing all is boats despite being cunning powerful and completely in the law. Although not nearly as remarkable as the pirate who betrayed his vengeful king took no interest in the valuable hostage on board and in fact took him to the nearest dock to continue his journey. I like these two, very different from each other in terms of being a knight and a buccaneer, but theyre all smiles when in each other's company, and look out for each other without thinking

[Nevets]

As mentioned above, not much to choose from.  Many are subordinate or potentially romantic, but here goes nothing.

Jon and Sam.  My top candidate.  These guys genuinely like each other, and they are rough equals most of the story.

Sam and Aemon.

Jaime and Brienne.

Davos and Stannis.

Sansa and Jeyne Poole.

Arya and Gendry.

Brienne and Podrick.

Bran and Meera Reed.

Tyrion and Bronn.

Jaime and Ilyn Payne.

Daenerys and Missandei.

Eddard and Robert (historical).

George has a tendency to keep his main characters isolated, so there isn't much to choose from.

Possibilities going forward include Sam and Alleras the Sphinx aka Sarella Sand, and Sansa and Myranda Royce.

 

[TheLastWolf]

Dunk & Egg 

[Craving Peaches]

8 hours ago, Hugorfonics said:

1. Davos and Saan.  They really do care for each other, and Saan has no problem holding back those kisses lol. But pirates are just flamboyant like that, its strictly platonic. When Davos thought it was that old scoundrel who snitched him out for the attempt on Mel he was really crushed, like a good friend betrayed so heinously, but of course Saan would never do that. Its kinda remarkable that when Saan betrayed the cause Davos took no cause in escalating a confrontation, like the admiral was just cool with losing all is boats despite being cunning powerful and completely in the law. Although not nearly as remarkable as the pirate who betrayed his vengeful king took no interest in the valuable hostage on board and in fact took him to the nearest dock to continue his journey. I like these two, very different from each other in terms of being a knight and a buccaneer, but theyre all smiles when in each other's company, and look out for each other without thinking

I agree. But Salla was totally fine to leave in my opinion. He hadn't sworn any oaths to Stannis, he was a sell sail, in it for the money. He's very open about this. By failing to pay him at all (not even a portion of what he was owed in good time) Stannis was not holding up his side of the bargain. Not to mention he lost a lot of ships in Stannis' service and still no compensation.

[Reekazoid]

Blood and Cheese!
 

 

Kidding, kidding…

1. Dunk & Egg

2. Davos and Saan

3. Irri and Jiqhui (Frenemies.  It is known. )

4.  Alysanne Mormont and Asha Greyjoy.

5. Jeor Mormont and his crow  

6. Jamie and Brienne

7. Rickon Stark and the Walders

8. Davos and Shireen

 

 

 

[Roswell]

12 hours ago, Terrorthatflapsinthenight9 said:

What do you see as the most beautiful, the most unbreakable and purest friendship in the saga ?

Which two or three friends have in your opinion the best bond and interaction, whenever they are shown in the main saga, in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The World of Ice and Fire, Fire & Blood or any canon installement in the saga ?

The best friendships are the ones with limits and freely chosen.  Moderation is the key.  Never confuse friendship with duty. 

Two come to mind.  Ned and Robert.  Bronn and Tyrion.  Friends, but with boundaries. 

[TeethGrinder]

Nettles and Daemon. 

[Canon Claude]

5 hours ago, Reekazoid said:

 

4.  Alysanne Mormont and Asha Greyjoy.

 

I thought that Alysane made it very clear that she wasn’t Asha’s friend, and she hated the Ironborn.

[Shi Qiang]

5 hours ago, TeethGrinder said:

Nettles and Daemon. 

Assuming that was all it was.

[Corvo the Crow]

.

[Ring3r]

Don't forget Tommen and Ser Pounce, or Joff and his crossbow

[TheLastWolf]

Varys and Illyrio

[StarkTullies]

The question is about "best" friendship, an ideal or enviable friendship.  I don't know about good friendships, but I'd say the two POV characters with the "closest" friendships are the Martell siblings.

Arianne and Quentyn are both royalty, but their companions (Gerris and Archibald for Quentyn; Garin, Drey, and Silvia for Arianne... and perhaps Tyene too) seem to genuinely care for them, not out of civic duty.  And Arianne and Quentyn see their companions as genuine friends, not subjects.

Arianne only gets a single chapter with her friends though (and her friendship with Tyene is only mentioned, not shown), and her co-conspirators were sent away and not likely to be seen again.  It's also possible that one of them is the "one who told" (though I think it was Arys), so it is possible that one of those friendships is false.

[StarkTullies]

With the exception of the Martell siblings I mentioned above, I think the POV characters are generally lacking in friends.

Ned: Some people mentioned Ned and Robert, but I always saw that as past tense.  Ned hoped that Robert was the friend he once was, not the man he feared he had become, but Ned remained distrustful of Robert the entire time.  There were a few moments (only a few) where Ned bonded with Robert while fondly remembering past times, but that was more about nostalgia than present tense.  Ned's closest friend in AGOT was probably Jory.

Jon: Jon had several close friends amongst his fellow new recruits (Grenn, Pyp, and especially Sam), but the books made a point that he felt isolated and without friends after being named Lord Commander.  At that point he had a few people he trusted, but no longer any friends.

Sansa: Sansa's friendship with Jeyne was childish and immature, which is fine: 11-year-old girls are allowed to be childish and immature.  She had no friends whatsoever after her life was wrecked at the end of AGOT.  Dontos had it right that the Tyrells were false friends (and of course he himself was false).  Perhaps Miranda and Maya have the potential to become friends.

Arya: Arya's best friend in the story was probably Mycah, who only appeared in one chapter before dying and not even in Arya's POV.  Later she had Gendry and Hot Pie... but in general Arya is a sad, lonely girl looking for a "pack" while she is instead a lone wolf without a friend in the world.

Bran: The Reed siblings are friends, of sort, but due to their age difference and the fact that they are there out of duty, they seem more like traveling companions than friends.

Brienne: Brienne's traveling companions are some of my favorite characters in the story (Pod, Hyle, Meribald), but much like Bran, her companions don't entirely feel like true friendships.  Especially with Brienne's reluctance to trust anyone.

Sam: Jon was a great friend once, but the friendship seemed over after Sam learned about the baby swap.  Grenn became a genuine friend to Sam though.  Gilly too, though of course she became more than just a friend.

Tyrion: Way too much of a self-absorbed narcissist to be a true friend to anyone.  Bronn is repulsive, but Tyrion doesn't even seem to like him.  Tyrion's mixture of compassion and disgust toward Penny is interesting, but it also makes for a toxic friendship.

Cersei: Cersei's friendship with Taena is deranged and disgusting, but it's the only kind of friendship Cersei is capable of having.  Then there was Cersei's childhood best friend that she pushed into a well to drown.

Jaime: Until AFFC, Jaime didn't really care about anybody but Cersei.  Now he's trying to be friends with Addam Marbrand and a few others, but it's hard because he's still learning how to be a decent person.

Daenerys: Dany's best friend was probably Jorah, but since the friendship began with betrayal and continued with lies and secrets before it dramatically ended, it was not a very good friendship.  And of course the fact that he was a >40-year-old man lusting after a 14-year-old girl.

Theon: Theon was friends with Robb until he betrayed that friendship in an epic way, and then he lost every other decent relationship he ever had.

Asha: She seems close with Qarl and Tris, but both are complicated by romantic entanglements.  I like her relationship with Alysanne, but their captor/captive status discounts it as a friendship.

I don't think the other POV characters have anything resembling close friendships.

[Tyrosh Lannister]

Tywin and Aerys and Steffon before Aerys became bad

[Evolett]

Jon and Sam before Jon became LC

Ned and Robert before Ned became Hand

Daenerys and Missandei

Sansa and Jeyne Poole

Theon and Robb

Shireen and Patchface

Varys and Ilyrio

The Sand Snakes amongst each other + Arriane

Arriane and Garin

[Daeron the Daring]

Joanna Lannister and the mother of Oberyn, Elia and Doran.

[BalerionTheCat]

Excluding sex, money and family.

Jon and Sam. Could include Pyp and Grenn
Sandor and Arya
Dany and Missandei

 

[Jon Fossoway]

Most of the "friendships" in the series are just relationships of hierarchy gone right, but still ruled over hierarchy. Someone mentioned Davos and Stannis. For real? 

As for friends, I'd say Jon and Samwell, as one previous poster said, before Jon became Lord Commander. This was not an asymetrical relationship: both grew in the bosom of prominent noble families, both knew how to read and write and were new recruits of the Watch.

Cley Cerwyn and the Stark bros.

Sansa Stark, Beth Cassel and Jeyne Poole.

Grenn and Pypar is similar to Jon and Samwell but on the other side of the coin: both came from the smallfolk.

GRRM mentions some friendships but doesn't go into developing them. For instance, Brandon Stark and his friends with whom he came to King's Landing to claim Rhaegar Targaryen's head; Edmure Tully and some of the riverlords heirs, such as Patrek Mallister, Ronald Vance, Marq Piper; presumably Eddard Stark and his 6 companions with whom he went to the Tower of Joy; going to the past, Loron Greyjoy and Desmond Maliister.