10 TV Characters With The Most Wasted Potential

Of all the members of the doomed Stark family, Catelyn always felt the most out of place, sidelined as a passive passenger to her husband and sons' journeys.

Game of Thrones had plenty of wasted characters, but Catelyn was one of the first to properly suffer from the show's epic scope. She's fierce and strong, and Michelle Fairley was tremendous in the role with what little she had (that final scene!), but watching the show again serves as a stark reminder (cough) that she always struggled to break through. 

Worse still, of course, was the show's decision not to follow the books and resurrect Catelyn as Lady Stoneheart, an undead, hooded assassin seeking vengeance for her death and the other victims of the Red Wedding. When Catelyn dies, she stays dead, which seems odd given the less desirable creative leaps the show took after the fact.

Catelyn was merciful and embattled and compelling enough, but never more than surface right until the end, and the fact she never returned in her most exciting guise remains a baffling disappointment in a show with many.