For a series so well-known for its villainous characters, one would be forgiven for being hard-pressed if they had trouble naming an antagonist that tops the monsters in Game of Thrones. However, one person had no trouble naming one specific character as being far worse than anyone in Westeros — and that was Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin himself.
Given Martin’s expertise in developing incredibly detestable characters, some may find it interesting to learn that he believed Breaking Bad‘s Walter White was more evil than even the Night King. While this easily could have changed in the time since he posted his thoughts on Better Call Saul‘s legendary predecessor, his words are still a testament to Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and the unforgettable performance put on display by Bryan Cranston.
George R. R. Martin Believes Walter White Is A Bigger Monster Than Anyone In Westeros
And Admitted He Needed To Change That
Breaking Bad
- Network: AMC
- Created by: Vince Gilligan
- Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Betsy Brandt, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Jesse Plemons
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96%
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 97%
- IMDb Rating: 9.5/10
In a 2013 post made on his old LiveJournal «Not A Blog,» Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin took the time to gush about AMC’s hit show, Breaking Bad. In the same post, Martin made it a point to note that he believes Walter White to be a bigger monster than anybody in Westeros, the primary setting of Game of Thrones. This is notable mainly due to the fact that Game of Thrones is synonymous with horrific antagonists that plague the heroes of the story to the point that many viewers began to give up hope that a happy ending was possible. These fears were partially true, too, as the widely panned ending to Game of Thrones wasn’t an entirely happy one, with both major protagonists — Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen — meeting unsatisfying ends. On the topic of Breaking Bad, Daenerys herself even broke bad with only a single episode remaining of the show.
In the LiveJournal post, Martin suggested that he needed to write a character that became an even larger monster than Walter White — and perhaps Daenerys was Martin’s answer to that. However, unlike Daenerys’ heel turn — which many Game of Thrones fans felt was far too sudden — White’s deviance grew slowly throughout Breaking Bad‘s five seasons. Audiences watched as an innocent high school chemistry teacher plagued with a cancer diagnosis went to the darkest parts of his psyche and became one of TV’s most infamous villains.
Martin may have been onto something when suggesting Walter was more monstrous than any of his characters. White himself admitted in Breaking Bad‘s finale, «Felina,» that he had always gone through his villainous transformation to satisfy himself — not to make money, he could leave his family after he had passed as he had initially presented his intentions. From watching Jane die and doing nothing to bombing a nursing home to eliminate Gus Fring, Walter truly was a horrifying person at his core.
Game of Thrones Features Some Of TV's Greatest Villains
Making Martin's Opinion Even More Noteworthy
Game of Thrones
- Network: HBO
- Created by: George R. R. Martin, David Benioff, D. B. Weiss
- Starring: Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams, Peter Dinklage, Gwendoline Christie, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Sophie Turner, Liam Cunningham, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sean Bean
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89%
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 85%
- IMDb Rating: 9.2/10
What adds so much credence to Martin’s opinion on Walter White is the fact that so many of the most notorious villains in TV history come straight from his own imagination via Game of Thrones. Viewers still haven’t forgotten Joffrey Baratheon, who ordered the execution of the famously honorable Ned Stark toward the end of Season 1 — and even presented the head on a spike to Ned’s own daughter, Sansa. Of course, his behavior came as a direct result of his equally wicked mother, Cersei Lannister. Cersei manipulated everyone she met until she could no longer do so, at which point she simply murdered them all in an explosive wildfire attack that saw the utter disintegration of the Great Sept of Balor — which, of course, was a house of religious worship. Cersei’s death became one of the least satisfying moments in Game of Thrones, but that doesn’t change how malicious she was while she was still around.
As soon as Joffrey was taken out of the equation, Ramsay Bolton was right there to pick up the evil slack. Ramsay’s injustices include flaying those who opposed him, feeding his own infant brother and his mother to his ruthless hounds, and murdering Rickon Stark, the youngest of the Stark children. One way to tell just how truly horrible these characters were within the story is how satisfying it was to see them get taken out. Jon Snow and Sansa Stark’s dismantling of Ramsay’s forces during the Battle of the Bastards in Game of Thrones‘ sixth season remains one of the most rewarding moments in TV history.
Walter White taking Martin’s top spot for monster becomes all the more impressive when one remembers that Game of Thrones also featured an evil ice king — known specifically as the Night King — who led an entire army of walking dead throughout Westeros’ northern landscape. With the ability to raise the dead to join his army and ride a giant ice dragon to destroy all in his path, the Night King is a tough act to top when it comes to monstrous characters. However, that just speaks to the level of writing and development that went into Walter White’s character arc throughout Breaking Bad. Audiences only got a short flashback to see the Night King’s origin in Game of Thrones, but were gifted with five immaculate seasons of TV to follow White’s descent step-by-step. This dedication to character makes all the difference in the world when developing a villain. Game of Thrones wanted a lot more out of The Night King than the show unfortunately didn’t deliver, but it’d be difficult to act like any integral details were missing from Walter White’s turn to the dark side.
