Given how pathetic Kevan proved to be after Tywin died, its one of the show's greatest mysteries why his older brother didn't disown him during his life. If Tywin hated Tyrion so much for being just a tad short, there is no reason that Tywin should have kept Kevan around at all. No major player in Game of Thrones should be losing a battle of wits against Cersei, except maybe poor innocent Ned Stark, and not just because she is usually three sheets to the wind in any given scene. In the show, Kevan manages to get bullied out of King’s Landing by Cersei of all people. In the books, Kevan is Tywin’s right-hand-man and intellectual equal. (Well, second lamest.stay tuned for more on that.) While the books presented Kevan as the slightly disappointing sequel to Tywin - still impressive, but not as awesome as his brother - TV's Kevan is the lamest of lions. This is the twist of fate that befell Kevan Lannister. It can’t be easy growing up with one of the biggest badasses in Westeros, Tywin Lannister, as an older brother. Though he quickly seemed to forget that Renly existed, Loras’ initial deep mourning for Renly was hilariously void of meaning for the audience. Before Brienne grew out of her slavish devotion to him, it just seemed bizarre how much she loved a king who acted like an enormous idiot. Renly’s lack of charisma even affected other characters. In reality, he was just propped by the Tyrells, and his only purpose was to introduce the far more compelling Margaery Tyrell. Renly was meant to be funny, charming, and eloquent. Renly smiled more than Stannis and was less of drunken mess than his other brother, King Robert, but he definitely wasn’t the second coming of Baratheon glory like the show tried to claim. The problem is that Renly was just as poorly presented and developed as either of them. While Stannis was meant to be unemotional and Selyse was supposed to be unlikable, Renly was expected to be a charming counterpoint to his boring brother and crazed wife. Rounding out our trio of disappointing Baratheons - this is the last one, we promise - is Renly. While Stannis stuck to his guns after killing his daughter, Selyse was racked up guilt and even tried to stop the sacrifice from happening, eventually killing herself in shame. The most insulting thing about Selyse is at the end of her life, the series tried to make her into a sympathetic and tragic figure. Selyse’s extreme devotion to the Lord of the Light stretched belief in a series that typically does such a good job of explaining character’s belief systems and motivations, even if they are not meant to be likable. Selyse was basically a cartoon character, and Thrones never bothered to give her a deeper motivation than she was a few ravens short of a flock. While Stannis approached his devotion to the Lord of the Light with the same level of excitement he dealt with everything (a shrug and a grunt), Selyse was 110% in the crazy bag for Melisandre. Game of Thrones fans knew they were in for a wild ride with the Queen of Dragonstone when she was introduced in a room full of jarred dead fetuses. No one mourned when Stannis lost his head to Brienne of Tarth, even if Game of Thrones denied fans the satisfaction of witnessing the beheading.Īs drab as Stannis was to watch, he was at least a step above his nutty wife. His decision to sacrifice his daughter came far too quickly, and the fallout was over just as briefly. But Game of Thrones also managed to ruin that solid part of his character by the end. The one time that Stannis did show some genuine emotion (and likability) was with his daughter Shireen. He acted almost completely at the whim of the Red Woman, and the show never bothered to explain why beyond religious fervor and lust. In the show, Stannis was just a pawn in Melisandre’s bigger schemes. He isn’t a charmer by any means, but he leads through power and might. In the books, Stannis manages to be a quiet but oddly charismatic figure. Stannis wasn’t just stoic, he was ungodly boring. While his lack of personality was essentially the entire point of his character, the series went several extra miles with Stannis - in the wrong direction. For a would-be King of the Seven Kingdoms, Stannis didn’t exactly inspire loyalty from the fans or characters from Game of Thrones.
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