10 Worst Parents in the Game of Thrones Universe, Ranked

Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the HBO shows Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.One of the central themes of Game of Thrones and the spin-off show House of the Dragon is family. Family plays a gigantic role in the story, which usually involves multiple families quarreling for power. Such memorable families include the Hightowers, the Targaryens, the Starks, the Lannisters, and the Baratheons, though there are, of course, many more.

With family being such a recurring theme, there are multiple family members, including siblings, cousins, children, and yes, parents. There are a lot of good parents in the series who treat their kids with the love and compassion that they deserve, and who adequately prepare their children for the nightmare that is Westeros, teaching them to stand up for themselves and fight, but also to be kind and diplomatic. However, not every parent has the same methods, and there have been many parents throughout the shows who have been just plain awful.

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10 Lysa Arryn

Mother to: Robin Arryn

Lysa Arryn (Kate Dickie) isn’t a bad parent because she’s abusive – she’s a bad parent because she coddles her only son way too much. Her son, Robin (Lino Facioli) is a young lord after the untimely death of his father (which his mother and stepfather helped orchestrate), but she treats him like he’s the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Anything he wants, he gets, no questions asked. She even allows him to continue to breastfeed at an age where it starts to become a little odd.

Her constant coddling of him makes Robin a weak and cowardly ruler, which is not good considering he lives in Westeros. He is not capable of doing anything by himself. It’s a miracle he didn’t get eaten alive by the other lords of Westeros, especially given how young and mediocre he is. In short, Lysa did a very poor job of preparing him for the dangers of Westeros or for the responsibility of ruling the Vale, which doesn’t make her the absolute worst but definitely puts her up there.

9 Robert Baratheon

Father to: Gendry and an unknown number of illegitimate children

At first glance, Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) seems like a great guy to be friends with. He’s jovial, loves drinking and partying, is a good fighter, and has a fantastic sense of humor. But that’s the thing: he’d be good as a friend, not as a father. He has cheated on his wife numerous times, producing several illegitimate children with random women. Of course, he never makes an effort to be present in the lives of these children, choosing to not even support them financially, which forces them to live the lives of peasants. Assuming he even knows about their existence at all, that is. One example of this is his son Gendry (Joe Dempsie), who works as a blacksmith’s apprentice, far from the Red Keep.

Even with the kids that are ostensibly his, he is negligent and never present. Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) had three kids while married to him, and told them they were his even though they weren’t. Yet he doesn’t ever talk to them, and barely even acknowledges their existence. He’s just not willing to make any sort of effort to be a dad, so it’s no surprise that his kids don’t really feel all that close to him.

8 Cersei Lannister

Mother to: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen Baratheon

Cersei Lannister is a parent who plays favorites. Her oldest, Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) is her golden boy (no pun intended), who is constantly being coddled by her. She lets him get away with pretty much anything he wants and gets extremely angry if someone calls him out on his behavior. It’s not that she doesn’t love Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free) and Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman), she just clearly loves Joffrey a whole lot more.

But perhaps her biggest flaw is her incestuous relationship with her twin brother, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who is the real father of her children, not Robert. Cersei maintains this relationship with Jaime, even with the social stigma around it, and doesn’t ever tell her kids who their true father is, which they have a right to know. She is constantly giving her kids too much power, and doing little to stop them from going wild with it, especially Joffrey.

7 Tywin Lannister

Father to: Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion Lannister

Tywin (Charles Dance) is the patriarch of the Lannister family and makes no effort to hide who his favorite children are. He’s not one to ever actually display any affection, but from the way he treats Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), it’s obvious that he despises him. Tyrion’s mother, Tywin’s wife died during childbirth, and the rest of the family, including his own father, blames Tyrion for it, despite it not being his fault at all. Not only is Tywin cold, callous, and neglectful towards Tyrion, but some of the things he does to him are downright diabolical.

For example, Tyrion used to be married, but once Tywin learned his wife was a commoner, he orchestrated a scheme for his guards to “get rid of her.” What they actually did is unknown, but Tyrion never saw his beloved wife again. Tywin has no respect for any of his children, least of all his youngest, and comes as an uncaring and abrasive father figure in their lives. No wonder Cersei turned out the way she did.

6 Otto Hightower

Father to: Alicent and Gwayne Hightower, and several other unnamed children

To Otto (Rhys Ifans), his children are nothing but cogs in the machine; playthings that serve only to win him the Iron Throne, and not much else. First off, he gives his daughter away as a child bride, which is revolting in its own right. But later in her life, she means less than nothing to him. His list of priorities consists mainly of political power – his kids don’t even make an appearance on that list.

Throughout the show, it is clear that he prioritizes his own power and position more than the happiness and well-being of his children, which is not something that any parent should ever do. If he ever shows any amount of interest in what his kids are doing, it’s because he knows he can get something out of them. While not the worst parent in House of the Dragon, he is far from a shining example of quality parenting.

5 Walder Frey

Father to: Stevron, Lothar, and Roslin Frey, Walder and Ryger Rivers, and several other unnamed children

Walder Frey (David Bradley) has had about nine wives, many of them decades younger than him, and so many kids that he himself can barely keep track of them all. There are a couple that he bothers with, but he only either berates them or makes them perform menial tasks for him. His offspring, much like his wives, are entirely disposable to him.

To him, his sons and daughters aren’t even worth killing. They’re just a vessel to bequeath his lands to, and nothing else. He marries them off to some of Westeros’ most horrible people just to gain something out of the partnership, and is barely involved in the lives of his kids. Out of all the kids he has, it’s safe to say that none of them ever bought him a “World’s Best Dad” coffee mug for his birthday. Which is just as well, because he doesn’t deserve one whatsoever.

4 Balon Greyjoy

Father to: Theon and Yara Greyjoy

Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide) was forced to give up his son, Theon (Alfie Allen) at the end of Robert’s Rebellion in order as penance for supporting the Targaryens. Theon was taken in by the Stark family, who treated him with more care and compassion than his own father did. When Theon finally returns home to the Iron Islands, Balon doesn’t even look happy to see him. You’d think most fathers would be thrilled that their son has returned after years and years of being away from home.

But no, Balon couldn’t care less. He’s more concerned with his daughter, Yara (Gemma Whelan), who he sees as the most viable heir he has. And that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean he can just toss Theon aside and pretend he doesn’t exist. The only time Balon acknowledges Theon is to insult him, which really isn’t fair considering how hard Theon tries to please his father, yet Balon doesn’t even spare him a second thought. He’s not the only one in the Game of Thrones universe to have a favorite child, but it’s how distant and apathetic he is towards Theon that makes him a terrible parent, especially given how much time they spent apart.

3 Randyll Tarly

Father to: Dickon, Samwell, and Talla Tarly

Randyll Tarly (James Faulkner) is by far one of the most despicable characters ever featured in Game of Thrones. Not only does he favor his son Dickon (Tom Hopper) over his other son, Sam (John Bradley), but he is more concerned with being macho and tough than he is with being a parent. He never lets his kids express any sort of emotion, which is evident when Dickon confesses to Jaime that battle scares and disgusts him, but is clearly apprehensive about mentioning how he feels in front of his father.

Also, he absolutely despises Sam, and sends him to the Night’s Watch to “make a man out of him.” Sure, Sam might not be a warrior, but his résumé is really impressive. He becomes one of the greatest healers Westeros has seen in decades and is the first person to actually cure someone of Greyscale in ages. What father wouldn’t be proud of their son becoming a doctor? He isn’t even happy upon hearing that Sam has found a girlfriend, who he saved from certain doom at the hands of a White Walker. That’s something most fathers would be proud of too, but once again, poor Sam can’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of his father. Randyll is horrible in every way – he is abusive towards his sons, and holds nothing but contempt for Sam, which is entirely undeserved. But what is deserved is Randyll’s death at the hands of Drogon.

2 Alicent Hightower

Mother to: Aegon II, Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron Targaryen

If Cersei and Tywin are anything to go by, the apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the tree. Such is also the case with Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), who most likely learned her ways from her father, Otto. Sometimes she makes the effort, but for the most part, she has no idea how to love her kids. In fact, most of the time she shows them the opposite of love.

Her kids often beg for her affection, pleading with her to show them guidance or comfort them as a mother should, but these pleas fall on deaf ears. And what is perhaps the most disgusting, the most vile thing about her is the fact that she forces two of her kids, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Helaena (Phia Saban) to marry and produce offspring with each other, even though the two have made it explicitly clear that they are not interested in incest. That is dirty, creepy, gross, insulting, insensitive, and just plain stupid. This is what makes her among the worst parents in House of the Dragon, no question about it.

1 Stannis Baratheon

Father to: Shireen Baratheon

Look, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) might love his daughter, Shireen (Kerry Ingram) quite a lot, but sacrificing her to some witch on the off chance that his army might win favor with a god and survive the harsh winter is the lowest of the low. For the most part, he does show that he cares but is mostly absent from his daughter’s life. He’s never antagonistic or cruel towards her, he’s just a bit of a ghostly presence in her life.

The only time he really shows that he cares is the day before she dies because he knows what’s coming and wants to make sure she is happy on her last day in Westeros. Even though he might not be aggressive towards her, he’s one of the only parents in the show who has actually allowed his child to be killed right in front of him, believing the lies of Melisandre (Carice van Houten) who ensures him that her sacrifice will please the Lord of Light and allow Stannis’ army to brave the winter, fight against the Boltons, and succeed. This, of course, doesn’t happen, making Shireen’s horrific burning at the stake sting a lot more. It’s safe to say that Stannis is by far the worst parent of the show for this reason. But at least he met his own end shortly after.

NEXT: The Greatest Battles from ‘Game of Thrones,’ Ranked