Game Of Thrones: 10 Stupidly Easy Decisions That Would've Solved Everything

4. The Northerners Ignore The Greatjon

Back in the beginning of the series, things were so simple. The Lannisters were bad, the Starks were good, the ice zombies were off-screen, and everybody else was somewhere unimportant and in-between. There was scheming, but it was all delightfully underhanded and gradual. Then, Joffrey chopped off Ned's head, and all bets were off. For the Northmen, the march to rescue Ned and his daughters from the clutches of the Lannisters became a rebellion, and the question arose of with whom of the other rebels Robb should make an alliance. Stannis was the rightful heir to the throne, but Renly had more men. Robb's council of advisors was unfortunately divided on the issue...until Greatjon Umber steps in with a suggestion of his own. "The King in the North!" he bellows, pointing at Robb. It's a fairly epic scene, and one of the very few to lend a sense of optimism to the Northern cause. Ned was dead and Joffrey sat the Iron Throne, but damn it, the Starks would have their revenge. The Seven Kingdoms would become Six, and the North would be an independent nation. It was a pump-your-first-in-the-air sort of moment, and it was easy to ride the high of possible Stark supremacy... until it became apparent that somebody probably should have stood up and said, "Can we maybe think about this before we start chanting?" Because they really should have thought about it. The Greatjon's suggestion was made in the heat of an emotionally charged moment, and if anyone would have stopped to consider the politics of the situation, they might have come to a different conclusion than immediately crowning Robb. After all, even the equally treasonous Baratheon brothers were not going to treat with a man who intended to take a sizable chunk of the realm for himself. Robb may have died a king with a queen who carried a prince, but he died all the same, and hopes for a Northern victory died with him.