Game Of Thrones: Every Hand Of The King, Ranked

Hand of the King is an extremely important job. Their role, officially, is to advise the King on all matters great and handle all matters small. They oversee the Masters of Coins, Whisperers and various other Small Council members to keep the kingdom running smoothly.

Such would be the job if things were easy. Alas, in Westeros, things never are. The Hand is also supposed to sniff out traitors, to manipulate or convince the unwilling, and to secure the safety of the King as much as their success.

Some people make good Hands because they’re highly organised and run the Seven Kingdoms efficiently; others because they’re an iron fist around the Iron Throne.

A few characters here served as Hand to various rulers; their performance overall is what determines their ranking though. Just as it would be in real life, consistent, steady Hands are better than erratic ones.

With female leaders in the ascendancy in Westeros during the era the show is set, there’s some Hands of the Queen in the mix too. As it’s an important role, some of the show’s biggest characters have filled this role, although they haven’t all shone.

Jon Arryn only appears in a single episode of Game Of Thrones, and even then it’s as a corpse. Therefore, it’s hard to judge his time as Hand, and there’s even an argument to be made that he shouldn’t be included at all. However, seeing as his death started the game of thrones itself, he definitely warrants inclusion.

Ned inherits the position from Jon Arryn and spends a lot of his time as Hand investigating Jon’s death. Like Jon, he discovers Gendry is Robert’s bastard and realises Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are children of incest. Though Jon is more secretive than Ned, he still ends up dying for his knowledge.

In his more formal duties as Hand, he appears to be a bit of a wash too. When Ned arrives in King’s Landing, it’s clear Littlefinger and Varys have been keeping the kingdom going, with Jon allowing the King to run amok.

While Littlefinger does a shrewd job as Master Of Coin, it’s clear Arryn’s trust in him is misplaced. Rather than a Lannister plot, Arryn is actually killed by Littlefinger and his own wife Lysa Arryn, who schemed behind his back to begin the game of thrones.