‘Game Of Thrones’: Australian Red Cross Works Out Who Is The Worst War Criminal In The Epic Fantasy Series

There is no denying that HBO’s Game of Thrones is filled with violence as the leaders of Westeros — and beyond — fight to claim the iron throne. However, who is the worst offender in the hist epis fantasy series?

According to News.com.au, a team of volunteers from the Australian Red Cross sat down and pored over hours and hours of Game of Thrones in order to work out who should be considered the worst war criminal in the TV series. These volunteers also refused to take sides as they made a note of body counts and the details surrounding these deaths.

What they found was, in total, “no fewer than 103 violations of the laws of war in the first seven seasons,” according to ABC Australia. This also equates to approximately “one-and-a-half war crimes per episode.”

While many could argue that Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) with her dragons could have committed the largest amount of carnage in the name of war, it is actually a little more complicated than mere body count.

“It’s actually kind of complicated,” the manager of the Australian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law program, Yvette Zegenhagen, explains.

“Sometimes the dragons can target military targets specifically, and it’s the most effective weapon in Daenerys’ arsenal. So that might be OK.”

To celebrate how much we all love #GoT and #IHL here at Red Cross we analysed every ep to find the show's worst war criminal. #GoTIHL #gameofthrones https://t.co/J2JDxMoSm5 pic.twitter.com/P6XQUcyetr

— Australian Red Cross (@RedCrossAU) April 8, 2019

Considering the suffering of victims is also taken into account, using dragon fire to instantly incinerate victims is considered less of a crime than human torture. However, the fact that the dragons are not always discerning in their victims, it then places them in a slightly more precarious position when it comes to war crimes.

After careful consideration, the Australian Red Cross decided that Daenerys reached No. 2 in their list of the worst war criminals on Game of Thrones. She is deemed to have committed 15 violations so far.

Taking all this into consideration, it will likely come as no surprise to dedicated fans of Game of Thrones that Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) is considered to be the worst war criminal in Westeros.

“The Warden of the North, Ramsay Bolton is the worst offender with 17 serious violations of the laws of war,” the Australian Red Cross Explains.

“The character has obviously got dad issues but that’s no excuse for his gruesome predilection for torture, cruel or inhuman treatment (six offenses) and use of sexual violence (two offenses), including a horrific act of emasculation on his wretched prisoner, Theon Greyjoy.”

Ramsay’s father, Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton), came in at third spot with eight offenses. The Night King (Vladimir Furdik) has six violations so far and the Sons of the Harpy rounded out the top five list with six violations as well.

As for Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who is now King in the North? He just missed out on making the Top 5 list and came in at No. 6, also having committed six offenses. By comparison, Robb Stark (Richard Madden, also once named as King in the North, is considered to be the most humanitarian of the combatants in Game of Thrones with only one offense.

Everyone’s most hated king, Joffrey (Paul Gleeson), was considered as having three violations. His mother, Cersei (Lena Headey) also has three violations so far.

In addition, the Australian Red Cross also noted that it was near impossible to find a character within the show that had a clean slate when it came to war offenses. Even Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), a fan favorite, and one considered to have the best intentions of the common people in mind have still managed to wipe out an army with wildfire, which is considered chemical warfare. Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) and Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) are listed as having the least war offenses. Surprisingly, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) is listed close to the bottom of the list as well. However, his only violation was for burning his daughter alive.

The full list of Game of Thrones characters and their list of violations can be viewed here.

The final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones will begin on April 14. The synopsis for Season 8, or its subsequent episodes, has not yet been released. However, as previously reported by The Inquisitr, the length of time for each episode in the final series has recently been announced.