The political intrigue on “Game of Thrones” is one of its strongest draws. The constant back-and-forths between the people who see the Iron Throne as their right, and the masterful manipulations they employ to get there, have made up some of the show’s most shocking moments.
That’s why when you look at the data to confirm who in Westeros and Essos has done the most backstabbing, it’s easy to see who’s holding the knife.
Venngage, an infographics firm, compiled a list of every “Game of Thrones” betrayal in order to map out the manipulations and deaths among six seasons. When pointing them out, you can see all the people who were at the receiving end of the most betrayals and the ones that were at the throwing end.
According to that data, Varys — Master of Whispers and known spider — has raked in the most with seven. This includes the complicated plan where he testified against Tyrion in Season 4, then helped Jaime Lannister to free Tyrion, only to get him to Daenerys in Meereen.
Considering he’s been in the Lannister’s employ and lives in King’s Landing, it makes sense that most of his plans have been against the Lannisters. He was also partially responsible for selling Daenerys off to Khal Drogo in Season 1.
Another high roller in the betrayal department includes another non-surprise — Petyr Baelish, who comes in with six. If you remember all the way back to Season 1, his first major backstabbing was against Ned Stark (“I did warn you not to trust me” was only the beginning of the end).
Honorable mentions include Tyrion, who has four, Ellaria, who has three and Cersei, who has six. The latter gets special consideration for manipulating almost everybody in King’s Landing and killing them all off in a giant explosion at the end of Season 6.
Betrayal is such an important aspect of living in Westeros that the only way to adapt is to learn the art. Both Sansa and Arya have low numbers on the list, but are working their way up. Arya spent most of Season 6 working on her skills, while Sansa finally got her freedom after the Battle of the Bastards.
The data also goes in the other direction, showing who was the butt of most schemes. The winner of that contest by a mile is Robb Stark, whose costly mistakes became the reasoning for one of the most brutal slaughters in the show’s history.
You can check out the full infographic below.
