1. Tyrion Lightens The Tone
Quite frankly, Peter Dinklage steals the show as Tyrion Lannister. As well as providing some well needed comic relief, his dramatic scenes are top quality. While Tyrion does receive the chapter treatment, his popularity has ensured that the writers will fit him in wherever they can, and though that might sound like a criticism, I assure you it isn't it's just that the show's tone can occasionally be so unremittingly dark that the whole thing occasionally needs a reprieve via the fan favourite. Whether he's engaging in a battle of wits with his sister, insulting members of court or putting Joffrey in his place Tyrion is a joy to watch. His self-effacing attitude and righteous, if sometimes shaky, moral code makes him an unlikely hero amongst the schemers and liars in the rats nest of a capital that is King's Landing. They may have completely removed his first battle for budgetary reasons in season 1 but since then the writers have seemingly vowed to make up for it by providing him some of the best scenes of the show. Without Tyrion's light hearted interludes, it is possible that Game of Thrones could be too bleak to watch, and even when he's thrust into the darkness delivering an ass-kicking speech during the Battle Of The Blackwater, but having the heroics taken away from you by your father and suffering a facial disfigurement in the process must smart a bit Dinklage is still able to mine dramatic gold from the situation. Long live the imp, even if he isn't missing most of his nose on the TV.