Who is the most intelligent teenager in the series?

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

I think it has been established that the most clever teenager is Missandei.

[Aerys the Glad]

I am sorry, but intelligence is potential of acting appropriately in different situations. No one has the potential of being intelligent, you are intelligent or you aren't. And Sansa proved her intelligence very early in the books, only some of us weren't paying attention. All in all it's not discussion for now. She has potential to become a player, to be force to be reckoned with, but she has that potential due to her intelligence.

I do not think everyone defines intelligence this way, it's a very broad term. Do elaborate on how there cannot be potential intelligence, I don't seem to grasp it fully.

[Mladen]

I do not think everyone defines intelligence this way, it's a very broad term. Do elaborate on how there cannot be potential intelligence, I don't seem to grasp it fully.

IMO, intelligence represents someone's ability, natural smartness so to speak. Sansa has potential to advance in Game of thrones because of her natural smartness aka intelligence. To speak blatantly simple, it is like feature. You have it or don't. You can't say, someone has potential to have black hair, they have it or they don't. Same with intelligence. There are more and less intelligent people, or simpler intelligent and unintelligent people(we will exclude people with various syndrome diseases that affected IQ). When I say Sansa is intelligent, I mean that she is smart, capable. That is her potential. The potential she will use in advancing in Game of thrones...

[Erkan12]

Sansa is just a little bird repeating all the pretty words they taught her.

For commandership ; Robb

For politics ; Sam

[Sullen]

Its still sorta up in the air that Mance is actually on Team Jon. It seems like he is but is he really? Plus Jon will be facing some pretty big Bads soon enough.

Letting him join them because "He was a bastard" is probably the stupidest thing Mance could have done.

It baffles me how a supposedly brilliant character is swayed away by an explanation that bullshit-like, on each reread it makes me cringe harder.

[Atropis the Elf]

I think it has been established that the most clever teenager is Missandei.

Actually, it has been established that Missandei is not a teenager.

[Petyr Patter]

Letting him join them because "He was a bastard" is probably the stupidest thing Mance could have done.

It baffles me how a supposedly brilliant character is swayed away by an explanation that bullshit-like, on each reread it makes me cringe harder.

Well, its not like Mance ever actually trusted Jon. He never told him about the horn they did find, whether the real magic horn or just a valuable art piece. He also kept him with his more suspicious commanders. In the end, it was not Jon's betrayal that stopped their invasion, it was his skill as a commander and Stannis Baratheon's intervention.

[Facebookless Man]

Sansa is a slow learner and the fact that she's finally learning a little bit is no accomplishment.

Neither does becoming jaded and possibly manipulative demonstrate intelligence.

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

Actually, it has been established that Missandei is not a teenager.

Neither is Arya. I assumed the OP meant young characters since is often mentioned in the thread

[Lady of Long Lake]

Sam

Jon

Arya

Bran will be on my list in a couple years!

[Ludd]

Zumi

You are confusing intelligence with rat cunning. I guess you can say that intelligence comprises the following:

1. Capacity to learn and recall large quantities of information - generally from books but by other means also. This is classic book intelligence. On this level we know Sam ranks highest (10), Bran (according to Luwin is passing clever) (9), Missandi seems up there at the top(9). There is good evidence that both Rob and Jon are pretty good at this (8). We have no evidence of Sansa but she is good at most things so give her 7. Arya say 6 - she is still young, Dany has had limited education but she does NOT seem especially booking so give her a 5. Pod shows talent approved even by smart Tyrion so he scores at least a 6 or more. Aegon has been well coached - give him 7.

2 Strategic thinking - ie planning and thinking through consequences ie like chess and probably maths. Jon seems pretty good at this as does Robb. We have the throwaway line that Jon did better at a sum than Robb so I am going to score him 9, Robb 8. Both have demonstrated excellent strategic thinking in their war plans and strategies, Arya - good at sums and clearly an excellent strategist say 9, Sansa not good at sums say 5. We have no information of Bran or Sam so assume they are good (7 in the absence of more information).

3. Reading of people and their reactions. Jon is clearly the very best at this, handling Mance, Stannis, Mel, etc and showing excellence in this from Bran I in GoT. He made a couple of mistakes early but learned fast. Not sure quite how you count mishandling the Stewards - we really do not know enough about their reasoning. Give him 7. Robb is pretty lousy at this- trusting Theon, not recognising the possibility of Cat releasing Jaime, mishandling the Freys and also the Karstarks and even Edmure. He did handle the Umber well. I am not having a dump on Robb moment - it is more that his life has been so charmed until he was 15 or so that he was still a trusting child. Jon as a bastard had to grow up faster. Anyway Robb gets a pretty poor score say 4. Sansa shares many of Robb's failing - too trusting by half and easily duped. She was duped by Joffrey, Cersai, LF, Dontos and the Tyrells. She is a terrible judge of character and consequences of actions. She IS learning but has a long way to go. I could only give her a score of 2 on this, although clearly come back in 5 years or so and she may well be a 9 or 10. This is one aspect of intelligence that is heavily dependent on life experience. Sam despite his lack of confidence has some skill in this area ie organising Jon to be LC so I would give him a 5 or 6. Arya may well be the very best at this, certainly after her FM training. Currently she is at least a 6. We really do not know how Bran will be, but he handled himself well as Lord of Winterfell. I would also give him a 5/6.

[Ludd]

I find it really odd that ANYONE would suggest Sansa as being intelligent at least as an 11 year old child. She is terribly naive.

She is good at music and needlework and manners and probably at reading and history etc, but not maths. Perhaps because she has not been required to think strategically she has no experience in this. She may well (like her siblings) have natural abilities in this area, but as yet they are not well developed.

Unless you call good manners and an instinct for survival by holding your tongue, intelligence I fail to see what act Sansa has taken that demonstrates intelligence of any kind. This is NOT a dump on Sansa idea - it is just that you need some evidence to suggest she is the MOST intelligent. Sure she may not be silly but she has five siblings, four of who have demonstrated VERY HIGH levels of intelligence and skill. The Starks seem on the whole to be a rather highly intelligent and well taught as a family (a bit like the Kennedy clan) so it may be assumed that they are ALL pretty smart and competent. Sansa however, through the rather poor (and sexist) training of her Septa and her mother, is a bit of an empty head, encouraged to excel at girlish things, rather than things of a more serious nature. She probably has a very strong latent ability for strategic thinking and planning but it sure has NOT yet been used.

In KL Sansa has been very much the passive pawn, and did next to NOTHING to help herself. She made no friends or alliances. Had she had any strategic thinking ability, she would have used Tyrion to get away from Joffrey and KL. Now of course she was an emotional child - BUT would Jon, Arya, Dany or Bran have been so helpless. The nearest is terrified Sam who would have been just like Sansa - too scared to take action. Arya would have escaped KL if held like Sansa and would Jon and Bran before his fall.

While at the Eyrie, Sansa has also showed next to no ability to think of a way out, to build alliances or even to start to work out who to trust. She is still totally passive. She lacks courage, which masks any native intelligence she may have. Like Sam, when she gains her courage, her intelligence may get a chance to shine.

[2fingers]

Jon and Margaery by a mile and a half. There is no contest on this matter.

[Lord_Tyrell]

Either Jon or Sam, and I'm leaning towards Jon since Sam doesn't have any "street smart" or manipulation to him like Jon does.

[Sullen]

Either Jon or Sam, and I'm leaning towards Jon since Sam doesn't have any "street smart" or manipulation to him like Jon does.

Sam masterfully manipulated the Night's Watch's elections, if that isn't manipulation, I don't know what is.

[Lord_Tyrell]

And people who are saying Sansa, and while I think she'll develop to this point, if she was so smart, she would have already figured out Littlefinger's role in the destruction of her house. She has enough information to figure out that Littlefinger murdered Jon Arryn to lure Ned down to King's Landing to kill him and start a war with the Lannisters. I think Jon and Arya would have figured that out pretty instantly as soon as Lysa let that bit of information spill, but Sansa has yet to figure it out.

[Lord_Tyrell]

Sam masterfully manipulated the Night's Watch's elections, if that isn't manipulation, I don't know what is.

It's still really against his character though, and he was incredibly shocked that Jon manipulated him into carrying away Mance Raydar's child. He basically forced himself to use his book smarts manipulatively, while to other characters it comes much more naturally.

[Queen Elsa]

I think it has been established that the most clever teenager is Missandei.

She's only eleven but to me, she's the most intelligent young person in the series. Ser Barristan will agree to me. :P

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Jon and Margaery by a mile and a half. There is no contest on this matter.

I actually agree with this. Jon is an improvement on characters like Robb, Sam and Arya — he has the political savvy Robb lacks, the manipulative abilities Sam lacks and the ability to focus and think in the long game that Arya lacks. And Margaery is an improvement on characters like Sansa and Dany — the poised, courtly maiden who can politick around with the best of them, who knows how to win people's love while still being effective at what she needs to do to maintain her power.

Not to say that the others listed are "dumb," per se, but I just agree that Jon and Margaery have a noticeable edge.

[Tim Thomason]

there are no teens in that world. people are adults by then

Teenager does not mean "not an adult" (see 18 or 19-year-olds). It means someone between the ages of 13 and 19. Just because they are all adults, and in the case of Robb Stark and Dany Targayen, sovereign military rulers, doesn't negate the fact that they are still between the ages of 13 and 19.