8. Rose Leslie Ygritte
In the books, Ygritte was a minor character. In fact, Im not even sure you can call her a character while she had emotions and feelings, she was more of a plot device to give Jon Snows struggles with his Nights Watch duty a sense of added urgency. But on the television, Ygritte is an excellent character, immeasurably more interesting than her constantly pessimistic boyfriend. Until Stannis rocks up, Ygritte is basically the only thing keeping events north of The Wall or now, south of The Wall interesting. Yes, were all aware that the white walkers could potentially devour the world, but when were spoiled with all the intrigue down south and all the slave emancipation due east, watching members of the Nights Watch talk in such grandiose terms about something so abstract pales by comparison. So thank god for Rose Leslie this season. She gave the wildling plotline an energy it sorely lacked a rare flicker of emotion amongst all the grim, stony-faced men. In finally seducing Jon Snow and then watching as he slowly grew away from her, Leslie put in a ferocious performance which saw the audience pray that the inevitable dumping wouldnt happen. And what a break-up it was, involving horses, notched arrows and one of the most heartbreaking youve-been-dumped-reaction-faces ever committed to celluloid. Whatever plaudits Leslie gets for her work this season and I dont doubt therell be plenty of them its not enough.