Did Joffrey, Ramsay, or Walder Frey ever do a good thing in their lives? Like you, my first thought was no, they were straight up terrible from start to finish, but everyone has at least one decent act in them. On special occasions, the Game of Thrones villains do positive things. Granted, most of the positive things they have done over the past six seasons have been by accident or under duress, but even an unintentional good deed should count for something.
Westeros' most evil, diabolical citizens have zero chance of redemption. There is just no coming back from the horrors Ramsay and Joffrey inflicted on people. However, it is interesting to examine each character's story in hopes of finding one thing that actually positively impacted lives. If you are looking for unabashed altruism you have come to the wrong place, but ironically, sometimes even bad behavior can lead to an overall positive effect on the rest of Westeros. These baddies are not the kind of people who have true soft sides, they just sometimes stumble their way into helping out the heroes of Game of Thrones when they need it the most.
Here are 11 times the Game of Thrones villains did something positive, and yet still remained the absolute worst.
1. Walder Frey Lets Robb's Army Cross
Before Robb got the silly notion he could marry for love in Westeros, Walder Frey actually made a solid deal with the Starks allowing them safe passage across his bridge and the use of his army.
2. Melisandre Resurrects Jon
After what she did to Shireen, Melisandre became an actual villain whether she wanted to admit it or not, but she did resurrect Jon in Season 6. She deserves props for ending the long national nightmare that was Jon Snow's death.
3. Ramsay Gives Theon An Opportunity To Atone
Yes, Ramsay was leading Theon into a horrible trap when Theon came to terms with all the things he had done, but admitting he knew deep down the Starks were his family was a cathartic moment. Intentionally or not, for a moment, Ramsay gave Theon a chance to bare his soul and gain some peace.
4. Littlefinger Sends His Army To The Battle Of The Bastards
By sending in the cavalry during the Battle of the Bastards, Littlefinger kept his word to Sansa and turned the tide in favor of Jon.
5. Cersei Eliminates The High Sparrow
Her methods were messy and resulted in way too much collateral damage, but dispatching the High Sparrow and his ilk was a blessing.
6. Jaime Saves Brienne In The Bear Pit
Pushing Bran out of a window may be a move Jaime can never come back from, so I am forced to consider him a villain in the grand scheme of things. He is, however, a villain who has done his share of noble deeds including selflessly saving Brienne from a bear.
7. Tywin Shows Arya Some Kindness
Tywin was a terrible man who completely destroyed any chance his children had at leading normal lives. Still, he showed Arya true kindness when she served as his cup bearer and he opened up about how much he loved his own son, Jaime.
8. Stannis Knights Ser Davos
Yes, it happened off camera, but Stannis knighting Davos is a reminder he was once a decent man before he became obsessed with ruling Westeros.
9. The Waif Teaches Arya How To Fight In The Dark
Teaching Arya how to fight blind ended badly for the Waif. It was an incredibly useful skill for Arya to learn though.
10. Thorne Unites Sam & Jon
The best thing Thorne ever did was introduce Sam to Jon. His in goal life was to make them miserable, but the two became each other's life line during their time at The Wall. Sam and Jon's friendship only made Thorne resent them more, but he had no one but himself to thank for their closeness.
11. Joffrey Shows Arya Her Strength
Joffrey honestly never did a single good thing in his short life aside from maybe make Cersei happy when he was a kid. However, when he attacked Micah in Season 1, he became the first person to meet Arya's wrath and in the process awaken her to her strength. He did not mean to unleash the most kick butt character ever on Westeros, but for once him being a sniveling little brat paid off.
It's so easy to be bad when you are a Game of Thrones villain, but these characters all had a positive impact on the lives of the people of Westeros at least once during their reigns of terror.
Images: HBO; Giphy (11)
