10 Game Of Thrones Heroes You Didn't Realise Were Villains

3. Robert Baratheon

Remember him? It feels so long ago since Mark Addy's drunken king was on the show. We all assume that the death of King Robert, the hero of the Trident and man who broke Westeros free from the tyrannical rule of the Targareyns, was the point of no return that led to the war in Westeros, He may have ended up a weak, drunk, womanising shadow of his former self, but he was once a hero, right? Perhaps not. While The 'Mad King' Aerys II Targaryen may have been out of control, that doesn't mean his entire family were evil. Yet Robert led the rebellion which destroyed the Targaryen rule over Westeros and with it the eradication of almost the entire family. We assume Aerys' son Rhaegar was as bad as his father, kidnapping Ned Stark's sister Lyanna, but what if it was something else entirely? What if they were lovers? We'll never know for sure because history was written by the victors and Robert was victorious over all. The ambiguity over Rhaegar and Lyanna aside, there's still much to suggest that there was less about freeing Westeros from a tyrannical king and more about Robert taking the throne himself. He didn't do anything to save the remaining Targareyens, and assumed they were all evil. Kings' Landing was sacked. Rhaegar's wife Elia (Oberyn Martell's sister) was raped and murdered by Gregor Clegane alongside her children, and Robert was actually happy about it. Oberyn had a conversation about responsibility for the actions of your subordinates with Tywin in 'Breaker Of Chains,' which begs the question, doesn't the same apply here? The rebellion was on Robert and all the death and destruction caused are a result of his decisions. Doesn't that make him a villain as much a hero?