Shadowing Practice: Top 20 Smartest Plays in Game of Thrones - Learn English Speaking with Video

Playing the Game of Thrones requires  adept and intelligent decision making.

Characters constantly weave through  minefields of lies, deception, and schemes. So let’s rank this riveting  display of smart plays since it’s such a core foundation of the show. And along the way,  we can reminisce on how witty everyone used to be.

Starting at number 20 I’m going to put forth  a rather controversial pick and it’s Cersei exploding the sept. The reason being, looking at  it from an angle of intelligence, the consequences of this action would basically be the end of  Cersei. Nuking one of the most holy places in the world and killing the beloved Margaery and  High Sparrow would spawn the biggest uprising Westeros has ever seen. Cersei could maybe  overcome this by spreading mass misinformation, silencing opposition, and gaslighting  everyone into believing she didn’t do this, but since we don’t actually see this campaign, I  can’t meaningfully put this play any higher than number 20. And the reason it’s mainly here is  because of the immense short term benefits of wiping out all of her opposition in one move.  Going from being screwed and getting cast out to becoming the Queen of Kingslanding. It’s just  wholly and utterly contrived by not focusing on the fallout of this decision and even including  this play on my list feels very generous.

Number 19, Tywin saving Kingslanding from Stannis.  This is a groundbreaking decision that saves the entire city and had Tywin not have done this,  the story would have played out very differently.

However, the reason why I have this play at number  19 is that, in terms of Tywin’s available options, this was really his only good choice. Robb Stark  was going on a relentless win streak so he was already forced into a position where he needed to  retreat. Naturally, retreating to Kingslanding to thwart Stannis’ invasion was by far his smartest  option, despite what all these brainlets were saying to Tywin. It allows him to take one of  his opponents unaware in a dynamic warfront with so many enemies on the board. Had Stannis put  aside Robb’s treason of siding with Renly and they collaborated in attacking Kingslanding,  then the lannisters wouldn’ve been screwed.

Number 18, Tyrion’s Myrcella scheme. Nothing  insane from a macro standpoint in how this alters the continent, but I think this is just such a  quick and brilliant way to weed out enemies among us on the small council. Easily manipulating the  already established titans within Kingslanding.

I think this alone is such an interesting  contrast to Ned Stark who kind of came in bumbling and blind while Tyrion hits the ground  running. And even despite this being a facade, I think all 3 of his marriage proposals were  pretty good besides trying to ally with the Iron Islands. Tyrion is genuinely intending on  one of these three proposals sticking so each of them are pretty well thought out. Truly  a scene that makes you love Tyrion Lannister and makes you long for his character to  be more like this in the later seasons.

Number 17, Tyrion Befriending the Mountain  Clans. Ahhhh, another ingenious Tyrion play.

This scene is so impressive to me because  Tyrion entirely reverses a situation in which he was surely going to die, to turning  the Mountain Clans into being his allies. And more than that in people willing to remain loyal  to Tyrion even in Kingslanding. Tyrion quickly understanding what their true wants are and being  able to exploit that with far-reaching promises, all while dismantling the tension with  clever humor is just peak Tyrion for me.

Perfectly personifying his quick wits and how he  can get out of any situation with what he says.

Number 16, Tywin Securing Sansa’s Marriage.  At first I thought this would be higher, but Tywin efficiently decimates Olenna so  quickly that it barely even seemed like a struggle for him. Simply just threatening  to assign Loras Tyrell to the Kingsguard and thus solidifying that she’ll never have an heir  again. Something that Tywin knows all too well.

This is also a pretty major change from  the books in which Loras actually joins the Kingsguard. It doesn’t really matter  that much because he actually has brothers, whereas in the show, David and Dan basically cut  out every non-essential character in the story.

So because of this change, it definitely makes  sense for Tywin to threaten Loras and kind of exposes Olenna’s key weakness in that she’ll do  anything to protect the main heir to Highgarden.

Number 15, Littlefinger Killing Lysa Arryn.  This is a little weird to rank because as it happens in the show, it’s very spontaneous  and Petyr’s hand is kind of forced. However, I think he is obviously intending on getting rid  of her eventually, this just isn’t the most ideal situation to do it. Another major issue that kind  of makes this smart play contrived is how easily the vale lords accept that this was an accident.  All it takes is one easily corruptable and biased witness to sway everyone. She does reveal that  she’s Sansa Stark, but still, that doesn’t mean she’s suddenly a reliable witness. In the books  it’s so much more interesting because this is a massive point of contention for Littlefinger.  He has to bribe people, try to make compromises, and it’s such an impressive storm of decisions  that somehow lands Littlefinger in a favorable position. While for the show, this conflict  quickly brushes off like a brittle snow flake.

Number 14, Jon Saving the Wildlings. This  wasn’t something at first I immediately considered as a smart play, but this  is a major choice that fundamentally reshapes the long night. Jon deep down  knows the right decision despite all the hate for the freefolk in the Night’s  Watch. Seeing him break off of that and saving this community is what defines Jon’s  character. Also, Jon’s utter bravery in walking straight into this hostile environment  to confront people he recently betrayed, is so selfless and indirectly genius because  it kind of buys the respect of the free folk.

This man is putting himself in a position where  he’d most likely die just to try and save them.

Number 13, Littlefinger winning over the Tyrells.  By pure virtue that the Tyrells are one of the most major houses on the continent, I think  Littlefinger bringing them to the Lannisters for an alliance should land this play into my list  by default. Arguably one of the best and most influential plays and there are two reasons for  this play not being higher on my list. Firstly, it feels kind of cheap for David and Dan to  rob Tyrion of coming up with this point since it was originally his idea in the books. The  fact that there’s no small council discussion about the state of the Tyrells in the show is  kind of crazy when you think about it. Instead, and this is also the other issue, Littlefinger  just happens to be at Renly’s camp when this all goes down. Giving him an easy and free  opportunity to seize the Tyrells. I’m fine with this being a coincidence, but this now  raises a couple issues of Petyr was just in Kingslanding at the end of the last episode, so  he’s basically fast traveling here, and secondly, there’s no way Tyrion would trust Littlefinger  to do anything in proximity to Renly. His actual task is bringing forth a scheme to Catelyn at the  behest of Tyrion, but it’s a massive oversight to give Petyr a free opportunity to converse with  Renly and potentially betray them. But heyyy, don’t think about that, the earlier  seasons are perfect and have no flaws.

Number 12, Jon Becoming a wildling spy.  Almost overlooked this moment since it was pretty spontaneous, but Quorin halfhand makes  the absolute best of a terrible situation.

They go from two meaningless deaths to  buying Jon a one way ticket into being able to spy on the freefolk. And the only  price is slightly changing the way one of them dies. Convincing them that Jon is  a turcloak and betrayed his brother, while also establishing that Jon bested one of the  most revered rangers. This does also technically and is slightly dependent on Ygritte protecting  Jon, but I think this is still a pretty miraculous moment for the Night’s Watch that reshapes  their general trajectory by a huge margin.

Number 11, Jaime wins the siege of Riverrun.  Really one of the only moments from the last 3 seasons that I’d actually consider as a smart  play. In large part due to David and Dan adapting this plot point from A Feast for Crows, so  that’s probably not a coincidence why it’s one of the only moments. But Jaime essentially  enters what is otherwise an extremely difficult predicament. Overwhelming the castle will lead  to major casualties and the Freys have basically squandered any of their bargaining power with  their empty threats of killing Edmure. So Jaime actually turning his attention to Edmure and  intelligently clocking that the men of the castle will listen to him over Brynden was excellent.  And the way he convinces Edmure to submit to him is one of the coldest and most brutal moments from  Jaime. Promising to give his child an actual life while simultaneously threatening to catapult said  child over the walls of Riverrun if he doesn’t comply. Thus slipping back into his kingslayer  persona to scare the living shit out of Edmure.

Such a cool solution to a siege that generally  doesn't have a lot of viable options to solve.

Number 10, Davos securing a loan from  the Iron Bank. Not a major iconic moment in comparison to others on this list,  but that doesn’t by any means detract from how impactful and smart this play was.  Arguably and I think by far actually marking Davos’ most intelligent play. Stannis was in  a position where he was running out of food, was hemorrhaging troops and support from his  allies, so Davos coming out of left field with the idea of going to Bravos to get funding from  the Iron Bank was brilliant. Bringing forth the argument that Stannis is indisputably the best  king currently on the continent. And because Davos ends up getting this loan for Stannis,  it singlehandedly re-energizes his entire war effort into having a second chance.  Making him easily one of the best hands.

Number 9, Daenerys inciting a slave uprising  in Mereen. She kind of does this twice, but I’ll pick the Mereen version of this since  it’s a bit more fleshed out. Instead of trying to break down the walls of the city with her  catapults, it's a pretty creative decision to instead launch the broken manacles from the slaves  Dany freed prior. Thus instilling this optimistic and rebellious urge that’s awaiting to be ignited  by the smallest of sparks. So all Dany really has to do is sneak in a couple of people through  the sewers and actually incite this revolution.

She’s directly tackling the city’s exploit in  the massive difference in numbers of slaves to masters and is using that to her advantage.  Sacking one of the greatest kingdoms without even laying a scratch on it. This moment and  of course other past moments throughout her reign in Essos really establishes her  as an intelligent and forbearing leader.

Number 8, Varys subverts Littlefinger  stealing Sansa. This is particularly in season 3 because Littlefinger still  technically does get her in season 4.

For this scheme though, it goes very deep and is  pretty elaborate. Varys first goes after Ros and recruits her into feeding him information.  To which, he finds out that Littlefinger intends on secretly taking Sansa away in  one of his ships. And to circumvent that, Varys goes the elaborate route of not going to  Cersei, but instead Olenna. With the plan of her trying to give Sansa a reason to stay  and to marry Loras Tyrell. And then Sansa ultimately rejects Littlefinger and chooses to  stay in Kingslanding. That’s some good shit and imagine if Varys had any kind of scheming to this  degree in the later seasons instead of being a glorified messenger. To me, this is essentially  prime Varys and I really wish David and Dan kept in the even deeper scheming that he was up  to in terms of working with Dorne and Ilyrio.

Number 7, The betrayal of Ned Stark. Pretty crazy  that this is only at number 7 and I’m primarily just looking at this singular play instead of  Littlefinger’s macro plan. This moment is the perfect encapsulation of what Game of Thrones  is and showcases how no matter what happened, Littlefinger would’ve come out on top. He’s  basically untouchable at the height of his power, if he’s not actively being written as a moron.  But looking at the actual plan, Littlefinger wanted Ned to side with the Lannisters and worst  case scenario name Renly king if Joffrey ever became too insane. However, since Ned is honor  bound, he was insistent on Stannis being king.

The issue here for Littlefinger is, under Stannis,  he can’t meaningfully thrive in that environment because realistically Stannis would at best expel  him from the small council or at worst execute him for treason. This leads him to want the Lannisters  in control because he can easily manipulate them, he already has their good favor, and can rise  to power quickly in his current position. He has a lot to gain here, whereas, this other  scenario he loses everything. Looking at it from that perspective you can see why  Littlefinger quickly betrays Ned. Along with that fundamental dislike he has for him  given their past. So bamboozling him at the last second and thus proving his loyalty to  the Lannisters even more was masterfully done.

Number 6, Stannis coming north to help the  Night’s Watch. Alright now here me out. I know this may seem very high, but there’s a lot here  that benefits Stannis drastically to the point that it makes this play genius level in a vast  sea of options, and there’s three reasons why this is the best one. Firstly, Stannis needs to  win the North as a whole. He needs to bolster his reputation by first defeating the king beyond  the wall. Solidifying that he’s actually being a true king of Westeros because he’s helping keep  the peace and protecting his subjects. Unlike the people currently running it into the ground. This  also helps achieve his other overarching objective of making sure the Night’s Watch is intact for  the Long Night. Secondly, and this is the biggest reason among everything in that, Stannis is really  hedging on Jon accepting becoming Jon Stark. Thus completely winning over the North in its entirety  and most of the houses would most likely turn on the Boltons at that point. On a technicality,  most of the North didn’t support Jon in season 6, but that was more because he had a small army  of wildlings and he was the losing side. For Stannis that would’ve been the opposite. But  in general, Jon saying no was a massive blow and was very surprising to Stannis. Then  lastly, and this is more of a hail marry, Stannis had the possibility of adopting the  wildlings into his army. He brings forth a pretty good proposal but since Mance is way too stubborn,  that unfortunately doesn’t fly. And there’s also an additional positive in the books where  Stannis recruits the mountain clans. Although, that’s more of a Jon idea. So considering all  of these aspects and how many things Stannis could have done in Westeros as a whole, I think  accruing 3-4 possible positives is a great path to pursue. It just unfortunately didn’t work out  very well since every play at the end of the day can have a gambling factor baked in. And when  it comes to that lottery, Stannis got shafted.

Number 5, the Blackwater explosion. Easily the  most insane play that Tyrion makes. You can’t really dispute that without this action, they  still would’ve won. At first I didn’t think this should be classified as a very smart play because,  oh Tyrion had wildfire at his disposal so it’s kind of a no-brainer to use it in some capacity,  but then I remembered that Tyrion had to discover this information. Specifically through an entire  plot in which he corrupts Lancel to spy on Cersei, to which he finds out that the pyromancers  have been working overtime and Cersei intends to use the wildfire in makeshift pot  grenades, which is a terrible idea. Instead, Tyrion enacts his own scheme. We don’t  need to engage Stannis in naval warfare, that’s basically a forced loss given his legendary  status during the Grejoy rebellion where he defeated Victarion Grejoy in the sea battle of  fair isle. So let’s make a literal nuke and send it into his fleet to detonate. Pretty miraculous  idea and it even goes farther in the books in which Tyrion constructs a long line of metal  chains that traps the ships in Blackwater Bay, so that any ship that wasn’t engulfed in the  initial explosion, would still eventually succumb to fire being spread from other ships.  Along with just everything crashing together in absolute chaos. Even without that in  the show, it’s still a top 5 play to me.

Number 4, Joffrey getting poisoned. This scheme  has a bit more layers in terms of everyone’s motivations that I didn’t initially fully  consider. Remember how at number 8 I highlighted how Varys subverted a scheme in which Littlefinger  was going to steal away Sansa? Well, really one of the main reasons why Littlefinger is doing this is  because it easily gets Sansa into his possession without anyone knowing since he’s not currently  in Kingslanding. It’s one of the most elaborate and crazy schemes that essentially operates as a  massive decoy for what he really wants. Although Joffrey's death does also benefit Petyr in the  sense that it destabilizes the realm even more to give him more opportunities. Then past the  motivation perspective, the planning of this was stellar. Planting the poison on Sansa so that she  easily smuggles it in, Olenna only having to pick a piece of it off to then poison Joffrey, and the  biggest part of all of this is who the blame lands on. Like since Littlefinger knows the deep disdain  Cersei has for Tyrion, it’s basically a guarantee that she’ll falsely accuse him. And Tywin would  also gladly let this mummer’s farce get so out of hand to a point that he’d get to see his own  personal objective of abolishing tyrion from life in general. So what may otherwise be construed as  a simple poisoning, I think it goes far deeper in terms of the methodical planning that was required  for this plan to work as effectively as it did.

Number 3, Whispering Wood. The play that  essentially solidifies that Robb Stark is a force to be reckoned with. Sending a small  portion of his army to confront Tywin, while he takes the main force across the Twins to liberate  Riverrun from a siege. Thus winning a key battle, while also further bolstering his army with  the support of Riverrun. This macro plan is great and it essentially plays into the notion  that Tywin and everyone is expecting Robb to be a green boy. Someone who mindlessly rushes  into battle. So he takes advantage of that assumption and puts forth a complex play that  thoroughly pays off. Now the actual battle of Wispering Wood is actually originally a plan from  Brynden Tully. In the books, he’s introduced much earlier and is a part of Robb’s war council. He  basically sets up the whole notion of predicting Jaime’s behavior of being restless and him  wanting to deal with raiding parties himself, which is the entire framework of their trap, he  specifically picks the location of the ambush, and he’s commanding a few hundred scouts that  are doing all of the work here. Brynden in this regard is an absolute chad and David and  Dan mostly import all of that worth into Robb instead. Making him a singular military mind.  Also, this moment is so influential that even Jaime is referencing how he learned from this  in season 7. Even though his application of that plan doesn’t make any sense, but that’s more  of a failure on David and Dan than Jaime himself.

Number 2, The Red Wedding. Wow, what a twist!  The red wedding isn’t number one on my list for once! Even still not being my personal  top pick for the smartest play in the show, this is still a 4d chess play. Luring Robb into a  trap so inconceivably evil that no one expects is just deviously smart. Like Robb kind of suspects  that something may be off, but he’s hinging most of his safety on guest right and his general  high sense of honor is blinding him to seeing the potential of human depravity. Everything behind  the scenes for this plan is very impressive.

Primarily in the regards of Tywin orchestrating  this event to where no traces lead back to him.

And another aspect is him not only convincing the  Freys, but also the Boltons. Which simultaneously indirectly gets him back Jaime since by this  point Roose was turned to Tywin’s side. This illustrates that there’s also immense  importance in information, politics, and complex house relations when it comes to  war. Tywin is an expert in this regard and is directly and meticulously exploiting  Robb’s internal blunders. Leading to an outcome in which Robb loses the war,  despite never losing a single battle.

Dishonorable mention, Tyrion’s trial  by combat. I’m just throwing this in because I know people will comment this  and I don’t really think it applies as being a smart play. Primarily because it’s  really Tyrion’s only option and even then, he has no prospects for a suitable champion  so this operates as a desperate hail marry.

Number 1, Littlefinger ordering the death Jon  Arryn. For this singular play, there’s so much depth to it, that it consumes an entire season  long mystery and we still learn more about it even until season 4 when Lysa reveals that  she poisoned Jon at Petyr’s request. There’s a lot to unpack here in a short time, but Petyr’s  goal is to destabilize the realm. Enacting this scheme sets forth a long domino chain he foresees  that ultimately benefits him the most. Jon Arryn was the embodiment of competence, something that  Littlefinger doesn’t want and he was also working with Stannis in uncovering the truth surrounding  Cersei’s children. The act of killing him was also extremely well thought out. Like most people  and even Pycelle assumed that the Lannisters did it. So to protect the Lannisters, Pycelle opted to  label this assassination as just being an illness.

Completely leaving no trail of suspicion towards  Littlefinger. Then the biggest piece of his plan is the letter Lysa sends to Cat. Declaring that  the Lannisters killed Jon Arryn. Which essentially marks the beginning of the feud between the  Lannisters and Starks. This is a long chain of events that I’m also simplifying since it goes  even further in terms of Petyr setting up Tyrion which spurs catelyn into seizing him and that  results in Tywin going into military overdrive.

And this is just looking at the war aspect of  this plan. Since killing Jon also frees Lysa into needing a husband. Thus allowing Petyr to  eventually claim the Vale. Also another aspect here is that had Jon Arryn revealed the true  identities of Cersei’s children, and given that he’s a beloved and reputable source,  house Lannister would basically be screwed.

So this all goes back to Petyr not wanting  the Baratheons to be in control and wanted the more incompetent Lannisters to bugger  the realm for him to sack it for his gain.

Those are what I’d say are the top 20 smartest  plays in Game of Thrones. Let me know in the comments what your favorite plays are  and make sure to follow my Letterboxd, join my chill discord community in which we’ve  been talking a lot about Silksong, and I have a patreon if you want to support the channel.  Thanks to my incredible top patron Logan Farmer.