Game Of Thrones Season 6: 10 Ups And 2 Downs From 'Battle Of The Bastards'

Downs...

2. Dumb Decisions (And Rickon's Death)

Oh Jon. You really are Ned Stark's son, aren't you? (Even if he most certainly isn't by nature, he is by nurture.) Firstly, he tries to talk Ramsay into a one-on-one fight, simply to "make him mad." Is that really a good idea? Jon wants to goad Ramsay into making a mistake, but really he is the one making it. Sansa warns him, and warns him again, what Ramsay is like, how smart and cunning he is, but Jon doesn't listen. She warns him that Rickon is dead no matter what, but he still has to try and save him. It ends up with Rickon dead, Jon stood facing Ramsay's army alone, and all of their plans up in smoke before the battle is even properly underway. Sure, Jon won in the end, but in terms of the tactical battle, Ramsay had him beat from the outset.

Speaking of Sansa, she also has a big question to answer about her decision making. Why didn't she just tell Jon about Littlefinger and his Vale army? It was strange when she initially lied about it, and is even more peculiar here, when trying to convince him that they don't have the numbers and should delay the battle. Maybe, at that point, mention the extra fighters you have riding in, and then Jon might think twice before acting so stupidly (if honourably and bravely).

Then there's the decision to kill Rickon off. The battle would've happened either way. The result would've been the same either way. But instead, they gave Ramsay one last victim, and Rickon was really dead meat once he ended up in the hands of the Boltons. But while he was no doubt expendable, and means a Stark could die in the Battle for Winterfell without killing off Jon or Sansa, his death still didn't fell earned. He was hardly a character before he departed the show in Season 3, still a young child. Since he came back, he's had barely any screentime, and hasn't even said a single word. While losing yet another Stark is obviously a shame, it's hard to care that much when he was never really a character anyway, and Wun Wun's death is more emotional than his.