Who is the most intelligent teenager in the series?

[Azzanadra]

Jon by ADWD, the way he thinks about Stannis and knows what he really wants and such... and about the whole with wldlings in general situation in general,

[Blackaz01]

I'm beginning to think that the people who think Arya is the smartest are the same ones who thought she was an excellent swordsman in my "Kids with Swords" thread...

I honestly don't see how she isn't the smartest other than not being a teenager.

She speaks multiple languages, knows a lot about the world outside of westeros, is learning how to be an expert researcher, knows about all kinds of poisons, is extremely adept at reading people and seeing things that other people get tricked up by, she is a walking lie detector because she can read people's faces, she is learning the art of trade and commerce on a small scale by selling the oysters, and she was smart enough to figure out how to warg cats without even knowing what the hell she is doing. That i just what we saw from AFFC and ADWD.

She at this point is highly educated, proven to be extremely street smart and very good at judging people by observing them. She pretty much covers all the bases. Who else in her age group is even close? Only person maybe is bran

[Sullen]

She at this point is highly educated, proven to be extremely street smart and very good at judging people by observing them. She pretty much covers all the bases. Who else in her age group is even close? Only person maybe is bran

Missandei?

[Newstar]

I'd say first off that intelligence is not the same thing as judgment. Intelligent people are capable of making catastrophic errors in judgment just like everyone else; that doesn't mean that they're not brilliant. Tyrion makes some spectacularly boneheaded decisions, especially where women and Joffrey are concerned, but no one seems to dispute that he is intended to be and comes off as an incredibly intelligent character.

About Arya...mastering languages is very difficult, so picking up several as she seems to be doing with the FM speaks to a certain level of intelligence, even though she's obviously nowhere on Missandei's level. We know that she's better at Sansa when it comes to sums, but Sansa by her own admission is hopeless in that department (which makes her oddly ill-suited to be Littlefinger's protege, since he got where he is largely by leveraging his own genius with numbers, a genius Sansa lacks), so that's not really any sort of useful measure.

There was one thing I wondered about that passage from AGOT. Sansa thinks that she can "read and write better than any of her brothers." It may have just been written that way because it sounded better than "siblings" or "her brothers and sister," but the implication on a straightforward reading is that Sansa can't read and write better than Arya can. This seems to be inconsistent with Arya thinking elsewhere in AGOT that the only thing she could do better than Sansa other than ride a horse was run a household. It's true that Sansa can write poetry while Arya apparently can't, but that doesn't speak so much to intelligence as a certain level of artistic skill or creative talent.

Also, with reference to an earlier post, "social smarts," while valuable, aren't really the type of intelligence the OP was aiming for, I think, and I don't think it's useful to conflate the two. You can be affable, amiable, charming, read a room to perfection, and still be as dumb as a box of hair. Penny seems to have her fair share of social smarts--it's essential to surviving in her line of work--but GRRM goes to some pains to point out what an intellectual lightweight she is (her inability to understand cyvasse, let alone play it, as opposed to the much younger Myrcella who's very good at the game, e.g.), probably to make Tyrion look even more brilliant in comparison.

[That Demon Monkey]

So many people rate Sansa on what they expect her to become rather then what she is now.

She isn't dumb but I don't know how people are rating her as the most intelligent.

THIS!

I cannot understand people thinking she is the smartest.

I would be interested to see who would get voted the stupidest.

[faris92]

Depends on the definition of intelligence, Sansa is she exists in our world, would be the girl who scores really high in exams and academics but fail to succeed in life simply because she's just a book smart. Arya is her opposite, the street smart.

I would give my vote to Sam for being not only a book smart but has transitioned himself to becoming a street smart as his story progresses in the book. Next would be both Jon and Dany, for being able to lead their people even through times of turmoil. Dany is more arrogant though, this has affected her reign too many times while Jon is more humble, which has benefited him a lot.

I also think that Bran is smart too and I really hope he rules Winterfell in the end.

[Shane the Llama]

Sigh. Just do the Math.

- She came to Braavos "almost eleven, practically a woman grown."

- She spent some time in the HoBaW, washing corpses, learning tongues etc. until she hid Needle. She spent some more time there, learning making faces etc ("the moon turned and turned again...") until the KM sent her out to improve her Braavosi. Half a year should have passed.

- As Cat of the Canals, she learned Braavosi and the Trade Language, made her chemistry lessons with the waif, sold seafood on a daily base, made her monthly reports in the HoBaW, made friends with - at least - half of Ragman's Harbor, got to know the city, met Sam and Dareon, observed Dareon for some time until she finally killed him. That should have lasted a year.

- As Blind Beth, she had to learn doing her duties in the HoBaW without her eyes, doing her beggar trips to the city, improving her High Valyrian, learning the tongues of Lys and Pentos...one may faily assume this took another 6 months (if she's good, that is). We know she notices her legs were "growing longer every day".

- We know she spent some time in the HoBaW after that, because "Eleven servants..., more than she had ever seen together at one time". I guess several months.

- The change of face to Ugly Little Girl and the killing of the insurance agent should need just a week.

So for Arya, it's already 302 AL. It's undisputed that her story arc is well ahead of the rest. We know from AGoT that she is good with numbers; so at the end of ADwD, we have a brilliant 13yo Teenager with a hell of an education. :read:

Edited for spelling.

Do you realize how much guesswork your post involved? There are almost no hard numbers in it.

I stand by Jon and Sam as two of the most intelligent teenagers, but I still find it difficult to compare the intelligence of POV characters with others. Someone like Margaery could be extremely intelligent, but it is impossible to say with any certainty. This goes for several other teenagers as well.

[Shane the Llama]

I honestly don't see how she isn't the smartest other than not being a teenager.

She speaks multiple languages, knows a lot about the world outside of westeros, is learning how to be an expert researcher, knows about all kinds of poisons, is extremely adept at reading people and seeing things that other people get tricked up by, she is a walking lie detector because she can read people's faces, she is learning the art of trade and commerce on a small scale by selling the oysters, and she was smart enough to figure out how to warg cats without even knowing what the hell she is doing. That i just what we saw from AFFC and ADWD.

She at this point is highly educated, proven to be extremely street smart and very good at judging people by observing them. She pretty much covers all the bases. Who else in her age group is even close? Only person maybe is bran

Most of the things you mentioned are not indicative of intelligence. The fact that Arya's circumstances have led to her learning about poisons and oyster selling is irrelevant here. She is fairly clever, but not for these reasons. Also, how can you list her warging prowess as evidence? Was Varamyr a genius?

[Facebookless Man]

Depends on the definition of intelligence, Sansa is she exists in our world, would be the girl who scores really high in exams and academics but fail to succeed in life simply because she's just a book smart.

No, that's Sam.

Sansa is dumb. Not just naive or immature, she's just dumb. She needs Joff to explain his jokes to her ffs. She's clearly presented that way, every other character thinks she is, and she even admits it to herself when she starts growing up - and no, getting somewhat wiser doesn't make her less dumb. If she becomes a player she'll be Cersei, not LF.

[Varys BrightBlackflayrme]

What about Jojen Reed? At the very least he has a wise appearance to him.

Oh sorry, he isn't even teenager yet. Or maybe "anymore"?

There is a small chance that Jojen is Howland and is at least 35 years old. Im thinking precisely 69 years old. They call him little grandfather for a reason, not just because he is sullen and weary.

Def, Missandei, then Samwell.

[joluoto]

Hot Pie, obviously

[faris92]

No, that's Sam.

Sansa is dumb. Not just naive or immature, she's just dumb. She needs Joff to explain his jokes to her ffs. She's clearly presented that way, every other character thinks she is, and she even admits it to herself when she starts growing up - and no, getting somewhat wiser doesn't make her less dumb. If she becomes a player she'll be Cersei, not LF.

How so? Sansa is very skillful in the arts and lady-like things, she is constantly praised by Septa Mordane and Arya is jealous of her skills. That's why I said she is a book smart but not a street smart. She also memorises a lot of songs and poetry so she is definitely knowledgeable in her fields, while Sam is knowledgeable in other fields, mainly of geography and history.

[Arya Targaryen]

For me, having knowledge isn't = intelligence. It's having the knowledge AND being able to use it in situations you haven't met before.

Having lady-like skills and knowing songs won't make you intelligent. Reading a lot of books and being able to remember it when needed is a bit better, but still not intelligence. Using your existing knowledge in new situations effectively: that's it.

So for me, Jon and Arya come out on the top. Sam is book-smart, however, he shows abilities of using that knowledge in new situations, making the right conclusions, so he is pretty intelligent, too.

[bloodofwinterfell]

Jon is the smartest IMO.

Regarding Sansa:

I won't say she is the smartest teenager in the series, but she at least deserves to be mentioned in the OP's list. If she becomes a player (and I'm nearly positive she will by the end of the series) then she'll move higher up on the list.

Sansa is dumb. Not just naive or immature, she's just dumb. She needs Joff to explain his jokes to her ffs. She's clearly presented that way, every other character thinks she is, and she even admits it to herself when she starts growing up - and no, getting somewhat wiser doesn't make her less dumb. If she becomes a player she'll be Cersei, not LF.

Oh come on. If you don't believe she will become a player that's fine, but she is not going to be Cersei. She isn't paranoid, spiteful, or cold enough to do anything Cersei has done.

[Newstar]

Jon is the smartest IMO.

Regarding Sansa:

I won't say she is the smartest teenager in the series, but she at least deserves to be mentioned in the OP's list. If she becomes a player (and I'm nearly positive she will by the end of the series) then she'll move higher up on the list.

Oh come on. If you don't believe she will become a player that's fine, but she is not going to be Cersei. She isn't paranoid, spiteful, or cold enough to do anything Cersei has done.

I think the point was that Sansa's more on Cersei's level in terms of intellect rather than Littlefinger's, although I'd still rank her somewhat above Cersei.

Sansa is dumb. Not just naive or immature, she's just dumb.

Hard to tell at this stage, although we have little hints here and there. I think Sansa's somewhat brighter than many give her credit for--she can read and write better than Jon and Robb, who are three years her senior--but she's not some genius in disguise, either (as hinted by her complete hopelessness at sums). The fact that Sansa, an otherwise capable student who applies herself with diligence, is completely hopeless at sums and therefore utterly lacking in mathematical aptitude despite her best efforts--as opposed to Arya, who languishes academically under Septa Mordane's lessons but picks up languages awfully quickly when she's motivated in later books--suggests that she's not all that intelligent, and certainly no genius. Doesn't mean she can't be a powerful player one day, but it also means that she's not Littlefinger 2.0 material, in the intellect and accounting wizardry departments, at least. Just as Littlefinger's skill with numbers is a strong indicator of his superior intelligence, so is Sansa's utter hopelessness at sums a strong indicator of her lack thereof. Mathematical aptitude isn't the be-all and end-all of intelligence, but it's a very strong indicator, and I think GRRM has made a point of establishing Littlefinger's genius with numbers and Sansa's total lack thereof for a reason.

The "joke" with Sansa and Arya's aptitudes--where Arya in AGOT glumly lists Sansa's litany of accomplishments and skills and her own comparative failings--is that Sansa, who can sew and dance and sing, is considered a better student than Arya, even though it seems spelled out that Arya, with her superior head for numbers, is the smarter of the two.

[Rhymes with Weak]

I heard Aegon could mend nets pretty well, that requires a semblance of ingeniousness.

[A Song of Tyrion's member]

There are a lot of close seconds, but I'll have to go with Arya. She's survived more on her own than most could have (some haven't) with the help of others.

[Facebookless Man]

For me, having knowledge isn't = intelligence.

Exactly so. Sansa is educated, yeah. No more than any other highborn girl her age. She's still dumber than most of them.

[Facebookless Man]

I think the point was that Sansa's more on Cersei's level in terms of intellect rather than Littlefinger's

Yes. I don't think she'll be half as ruthless of course. And Cersei's not drooling-retard levels of dumb either, her problem is she's a bit, um, unstable.

The "joke" with Sansa and Arya's aptitudes--where Arya in AGOT glumly lists Sansa's litany of accomplishments and skills and her own comparative failings--is that Sansa, who can sew and dance and sing, is considered a better student than Arya, even though it seems spelled out that Arya, with her superior head for numbers, is the smarter of the two.

And yes again.

[Greywind84]

Does Pod qualify? Getting past the speech troubles the guy is kinda bright. loyal too.