Game Of Thrones: 7 Dumbest Mistakes Made By Characters (And What They Cost)
1. Mance Rayder Not Bending The Knee To Stannis
The Mistake: Upon Stannis Baratheon's arrival at the Night's Watch, he imprisons Mance Rayer and the widlings. Stannis offers the wildlings passage through the wall and some lands in exchange for helping him defeat the Boltons. Mance refuses and is burnt alive.
What It Cost: A lot more than you might think. For a start, if Mance had accepted an alliance with Stannis it's highly likely that Stannis would have beaten the Boltons, likely saving the lives of Roose Bolton, Rickon Stark and Osha (among others). Nor would Stannis have been so desperate for hope that he scorched his daughter alive.
Also, Jon Snow's killing of Mance Rayder while he burned is what cemented Ser Alliser Thorne and other members of the Night Watch's distrust of Jon, and we all know how that turned out, right? Jon was murdered then resurrected, causing him to execute Thorne, Olly and the others.
There's a hell of a lot of dead people caused by Mance's pride.