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Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

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Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#41

Post by lizardking »

kyriakos wrote: post #7
jsmith0295 wrote: post #6

spoiler alert I wouldn't say this necessarily points to the "main" character, as its just one measure of a character's significance. Littlefinger (Petyr on this diagram) is rather small and on the edge - but he's ultimately responsible for a huge amount of what goes on.

you are right but the aim is to find who the writers consider the "main" character and not who had the most impact on the GoT universe. If we take it in that sense the white walkers are probably the most significant.

Some of the characters who have had the most effect on the events as they are taking place in the books are dead before they start and get very little page time.

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#43

Post by xiaq »

skywhopper wrote: post #33

The graph is interesting. But maybe Game of Thrones doesn't have a "main" character. One of the things fans love about the books is that they subvert genre expectations at every turn. Given how things are going, in fact, I won't be surprised if the next literary convention GRRM eschews is "conclusion".

Exactly. Instead of a lot of plotting and planning, people just kill and die. It's very, very refreshing.

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#44

Post by neipfjin239 »

thom wrote: post #24

The dragon has three heads, so we're told. Tyrion, Jon, Daenerys?

This is a popular fan theory (Jon's parentage is very ambiguous, and it can be argued that Tyrion's parentage is not completely clear, leading to speculation that they both have Targaryen blood).

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#45

Post by talmand »

repsilat wrote: post #37
talmand wrote: post #25

This is only a popularity contest among the known characters and their known interactions. For instance, Littlefinger started out seemingly as a small player but then we learn later he was actually a rather significant player in almost all aspects of what has been happening so far. Granted his obvious interactions are with rather important people but by appearances the number of interactions seem low while actually b…

> [Tyrion is] not so significant He was essentially responsible for the successful defense of King's Landing at the Battle of the Blackwater. If he hadn't been there, Stannis would be on the Iron Throne -- I'd call that high-impact. I agree that Littlefinger's impact is under-represented by this measure, though. And obviously Arya has had no impact on anything important at all ti date...

Defense of King's Landing? You mean the event that everyone immediately dismissed and took credit away from him? How many characters even recall it that way? It was significant at that moment, but dwindled away to next to nothing almost immediately. Other than that one thing, Tyrion has mostly gone along for the ride, which fits his character.

As for Stannis being on the Iron Throne, it would makes some things different but it would not make a huge difference in the overall storyline so far as to what's coming. We wouldn't have gotten all the fun stuff with Tyrion's family true, but most of everything else likely would have continued on the same. Just because Stannis would have taken the throne wouldn't mean everything else would suddenly stop or change.

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#46

Post by talmand »

lizardking wrote: post #39
repsilat wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [Tyrion is] not so significant He was essentially responsible for the successful defense of King's Landing at the Battle of the Blackwater. If he hadn't been there, Stannis would be on the Iron Throne -- I'd call that high-impact. I agree that Littlefinger's impact is under-represented by this measure, though. And obviously Arya has had no impact on anything important at all ti date...

Not to mention his kidnapping was responsible for the war that broke out in the first book and set the stage for every major event in the series. He also put a cross bow bolt through the gut of the guy who had been running the 7 kingdoms.

The kidnapping was not the reason, it was the excuse.

He was also accused of killing the King, which is more important than killing his father in the scheme of things. But notice he didn't do it and not many characters care anymore.

Tywin wasn't running the 7 kingdoms and never did. Once he came into that level of power there was no unity in the kingdoms, half of them or so in open revolt. He controlled King's Landing and related lands through his grandchild. His family was broke and the only thing they had left was family on the throne (which is not a rightful claim), which is quickly dwindling away and under direct threat from multiple fronts. Notice that once he was dead, it was swept away to something not to worry over just like much of anything involving Tyrion.

Tyrion has been present at many significant events but in the end has little impact on their outcomes. I suspect he'll continue this trend and then one day people may actually start listening to him, which will make things really interesting.

This is one of the things that make this story interesting; that anybody can be made insignificant regardless of their position and power. If there is to be a main character named, I would say it's the "game" because all the characters are just pieces on the board.

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#47

Post by lmm »

evgen wrote: post #17
Raphmedia wrote: post #9

Or you know... you could count the number of chapters that every character has and come up with the one that has the highest number of chapters as the main character?

Which, if your RTFA, they have done and noted. They show that this is not quite as simple as it seems since, for example, Arya has more POV chapters but Sansa is more important to the story.

Is she though? What measure are you using to say that Sansa is more important than Arya?

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#48

Post by lumberjack »

skywhopper wrote: post #33

The graph is interesting. But maybe Game of Thrones doesn't have a "main" character. One of the things fans love about the books is that they subvert genre expectations at every turn. Given how things are going, in fact, I won't be surprised if the next literary convention GRRM eschews is "conclusion".

I've only read three fantasy series besides ASOIAF but all of the have similar character development.

I think the difference in ASOIAF is that there isn't a clear set of protagonists and antagonists. Or maybe the story so far only talked about the protagonists and the antagonists are yet to be revealed.

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#49

Post by qrendel »

skywhopper wrote: post #33

The graph is interesting. But maybe Game of Thrones doesn't have a "main" character. One of the things fans love about the books is that they subvert genre expectations at every turn. Given how things are going, in fact, I won't be surprised if the next literary convention GRRM eschews is "conclusion".

I think this is one way to look at it, at least for the books. For the TV show, over all the seasons it seems like three main characters have emerged (based on longevity, screentime, and plot importance): Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jon Snow. You could perhaps argue Cersei as well - iirc she has more POV chapters and page-time in the books than any other character.

An alternative view is that the main character(s) change from book to book and season to season. Ned was probably the main character in the first book & season one, Robb replaced him in book/season two, with similar evolutions for other "temporary-mains." Though really the first explanation seems better: a "main character" just doesn't fit the structure of ASOIAF very well.

Re: Mathematicians mapped “Game of Thrones” relationship to find the main character

#50

Post by FnuGk »

qrendel wrote: post #49
skywhopper wrote: post #33

The graph is interesting. But maybe Game of Thrones doesn't have a "main" character. One of the things fans love about the books is that they subvert genre expectations at every turn. Given how things are going, in fact, I won't be surprised if the next literary convention GRRM eschews is "conclusion".

I think this is one way to look at it, at least for the books. For the TV show, over all the seasons it seems like three main characters have emerged (based on longevity, screentime, and plot importance): Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jon Snow. You could perhaps argue Cersei as well - iirc she has more POV chapters and page-time in the books than any other character. An alternative view is that the main character(s) change f…

Robb was never a POV character
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