9 of the best ships from Game of Thrones

Although romance isn't generally the first thing that comes to fans' minds when thinking about Game of Thrones, it is a prominent aspect of the show. Some couples have genuine love and respect for each other, others are stuck together by outside forces, and others are wildly abusive for one or both parties. Regardless of their circumstances, fans have put a lot of effort into discussing their favorite couples, whether they ended up together or not.

What makes a good pairing? In general, it might just be that the actors would look good together, but fans usually have deeper reasoning behind the relationships they champion. For Game of Thrones in particular, the most common reasons for a ship to become popular seems to be a combination of the characters having similar ambitions and skills, the characters treating each other kindly in dark circumstances, and the belief that, together, the pair could win the Iron Throne.

Over the course of eight seasons and 73 episodes, practically every major player ran into each other at some point. This gave audiences the opportunity to see how well they would work together. But sometimes, it was those who never met that intrigued fans the most, as the what-if of their partnership tugged at their hearts.

Looking back on all of the possible relationships and pairings that came from Game of Thrones, these nine are some of the best ships the show ever introduced. Some are as delicate and sweet as first love, while others show how much one or both characters grew since they first interacted with their proposed partners. But all show that worthwhile relationships can form, even in the most brutal of worlds.

WHAT IF: Sansa Stark and Margaery Tyrell (Sansaery)

There aren't a lot of same-sex pairings in the world of Game of Thrones, with fewer still that don't include one party at a major power imbalance with the other. But perhaps the best proposed LGBTQ+ ship is between Sansa and Margaery. Both characters were engaged to Joffrey and mistreated by him, but Margaery knew how to play the game—something Sansa desperately needed to learn.

That’s the starting point for Sansaery. They were characters on similar paths who could learn from each other. But fans really fell in love with them because Margaery went out of her way to try to help Sansa. While she began talking to her just to learn more about Joffrey, the two young women became good friends and actually cared what happened to each other. Through all the politics and scheming of King’s Landing, this seemed like a genuine connection.

Of course, there are many directions to take this. Some more cynical viewers believe Margaery only ever helped Sansa because she was the key to the North, but even if that’s true, there’s no reason that couldn’t have developed into something more. Some supporters of the ship imagine Margaery might have trained Sansa in the art of seduction like Doreah did for Daenerys. It was a doomed relationship, no matter how the two might have felt about each other, but it’s hard to deny how good it was to see kindness in King’s Landing after all the horror.

WHAT IF: Robb Stark and Margaery Tyrell (Robbaery)

Game of Thrones is a show that easily sets up “What if” ships, pairing characters that might have been politically advantageous or had good chemistry. One of the prominent examples of this is partnering one of the Stark men (Robb or Jon) with a woman from the right family (Usually Myrcella Baratheon, Margaery Tyrell, or Arianne Martell, for book lovers).

The specific version of this trend worth discussing here is the potential pairing of Robb Stark and Margaery Tyrell, as this had the most potential to completely shift the narrative. Robb and Margaery never met in-world. Margaery was married to Renly, Joffrey, and Tommen, making her Queen through three Baratheon marriages. But it might have been better to make her a Stark.

Robb was a good military leader with loyal subjects, multiple younger siblings for marriage alliances, and a kingdom that was geographically bigger than all the others. Margaery was from one of the Great Houses with similar value systems, a great mind for politics, and as much money and food as they could need. Not only would this have been a considerably happier marriage for Margaery than any of her canon ones, but it would have given both characters a partner who had the skills and resources they lacked.

WHAT IF: Sansa Stark and the Hound (SanSan)

This is not a personal favorite of mine, but I can see the appeal, especially for those who have read the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin. When Sansa saw the Hound, she was terrified of him. The little girl who dreamed of a handsome knight to sweep her off her feet was not prepared for the king’s dog who was always so insistent that he was no knight. But that’s precisely why so many people love them together.

SanSan is one of the best unlikely pairings because it has a lot of canon justification. When everybody else was cruel to her, Sandor Clegane was kind to Sansa, protecting her from Joffrey as best he could and even offering to help her escape the city. He’s gruff and unwilling to mince words, but maybe that’s exactly what a naive Sansa needed. The dog and the little bird were both brutalized by the world, and many fans wanted to see them take comfort in each other.

Sansa staying in King's Landing while the Hound left pretty much ended any chance for this relationship to develop onscreen, but that didn't stop fans from making it the fifth most-popular relationship in Archive of Our Own's Game of Thrones catalog. The Hound went on to develop a strange kind of mentorship with Arya, a pairing that only made fans more excited to see how Sansa might perceive the man the next time they met.

CLOSE TO PERFECTION: Jon Snow and Ygritte (Jongritte)

Jon and Ygritte are often considered one of the best relationships from Game of Thrones, and it's not hard to see why. The books said that love is the death of duty, and this relationship was one of Jon’s greatest tests. He broke his celibacy vow for Ygritte, but more importantly, he fundamentally changed his belief systems after seeing the world from her perspective.

Ygritte was a complex character, serving as far more than a love interest for Jon. She pushed him to see the threat that the White Walkers posed and the humanity of the wildlings, and while they remained on opposite sides of a war, their connection couldn’t be broken. In a beautifully tragic way, their relationship killed them both, Ygritte by being distracted in battle and Jon by developing too much sympathy for the wildlings. The only problem is that they never really managed to choose a side.

This kind of romance is usually doomed because the lovers betray others for the sake of the one they loved, but Jon and Ygritte never really did. There was no running away together, no true rejection of their former lives. But even so, they both ended up dead for having been with each other. A lack of happy ending is hardly a surprising thing in Game of Thrones, but it felt like the real tragedy of Jongritte was that they lost so much never having fully committed to each other. They didn’t die because of their love; they died because they happened to be in love at the wrong place and time.

CLOSE TO PERFECTION: Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister (Sanrion)

Before Game of Thrones ended, several people theorized that a reunited Sansa and Tyrion might actually claim the Iron Throne as a married couple. The romantic side of this is similar to Sansa and Sandor Clegane: Tyrion didn’t hurt Sansa, even when he was fully expected to. His decision to leave her alone on and after their wedding night is such a contrast to the other arranged marriages in the show that many Sansa fans considered him a viable option for her in the future.

Again, like in SanSan, the concept was that Sansa has now grown up enough to know that an ideal marriage is based on respect and shared ambition, not beauty. But a bigger draw for this ship is their common skill at playing the game. Tyrion was a tactical genius earlier on, but Sansa was the one who won the Battle of the Bastards and managed the administration of the North. In addition, both cared about honor and compassion, having seen what happened when a person was in power without those values.

Fans of this relationship actually got a major win in the final season when Tyrion mused that they should have stayed married and Sansa assured him that he “was the best of [her partners].” While that bar was very low, it showed that Sansa had come to value Tyrion's kindness. Had they chosen to get together by choice, they might have been a power couple, advising the leaders and respecting one another. Sadly, this conversation never went anywhere, and the only tolerable Stark-Lannister pairing in the show stayed dead.

CLOSE TO PERFECTION: Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth (Braime)

Jaime and Brienne have the most tagged fanfiction entries for all A Song of Ice and Fire works on AO3, and they are one of the most beloved pairings in the franchise. This is because, unlike a lot of other relationships in Game of Thrones, the characters both grew from being together. Jaime learned to be a better person and respect himself beyond Cersei and his family name, and Brienne stopped letting other people’s opinions of her dictate her life.

They fight for each other, banter back and forth, and have an undeniable chemistry in the books and the show. While most of the show’s couples were either forced together for political reasons or doomed for the same reason, Braime works because it’s their choice. They have repeatedly confirmed their mutual respect for one another, saving each other when needed and pushing each other the rest of the time.

They're even endorsed by Cersei Lannister herself (Or, Lena Headey, anyway), who said:

"Jaime's almost one of the purest characters, weirdly, amongst it all. And his change and his education with being with Brienne to becoming a really rounded human being is great."

Honestly, this ship should be at the top of the list, because there are very few people who dislike it. Unfortunately, the showrunners seem to be among them, because they threw away the relationship and Jaime’s entire character arc in the final season. Regression is a part of life that's worth acknowledging onscreen, but having Jaime sleep with Brienne just to abandon her for Cersei came off as disrespectful to the characters and the audience.

CANON SOUL MATES: Arya Stark and Gendry Waters (Gendrya)

Arya has never been a character with a traditional, lady-like path, so why should she have a lady-like romance? She became friends with Gendry when both were on the run from Cersei, and that gave them plenty of opportunities to fight for one another. Fans quickly latched onto this pairing because it seemed like a true meeting of souls. Arya was a girl in disguise and Gendry was a royal bastard, both on the run from the Lannisters, but that never seemed to matter when they were together.

Their dynamic was wonderful to watch, but once they went down different paths, it seemed like it was over. The question then became when they would reunite, and how their dynamic might have shifted in their time apart. Both had spent years figuring out who they were and what mattered to them, which made it more impactful for them to still choose each other when they finally reconnected. Arya once offered to be Gendry's family, and that connection was more important than any sexual tension or political value they might have had for each other.

But they, like Sansa and Tyrion, had a somewhat lackluster ending in the final season. They had a sexual encounter, but Arya refused to marry Gendry and then ran away to explore other parts of the world. Even so, it didn’t seem like a future romance was completely out of the question, as much as a traditional romance was. Whether in the books or just in fans’ imaginations, it seems perfectly reasonable that the couple could come together again, figuring out their own kind of partnership in the aftermath of all the war and chaos.

CANON SOUL MATES: Grey Worm and Missandei

Danaerys may not have had many successful relationships, but her two closest allies had one of the best relationships in Game of Thrones. Both had lived without agency for most of their lives, gaining power and freedom under Danaerys’ rule. One of those freedoms was the ability to entrust their hearts and safety to each other, a vulnerable move that most characters couldn't manage.

Although their growing romance was often in the background, since it was not part of the overall political scheming, that made it that much more important. Grey Worm and Missandei were just two ordinary people finding joy in each other’s company. It might not have been an epic journey, but it was a wholesome one.

Grey Worm protected Missandei just as fiercely as he protected Danaerys, and Missandei helped him to learn the Common Tongue and remember what it was to be a person instead of just an Unsullied soldier. Fans may not like how their relationship ended, or its repercussions, but Grey Worm would burn the world for his love, and that’s the kind of devotion romance novels have been trying to capture for decades.

CANON SOUL MATES: Samwell Tarly and Gilly (Samgilly)

A member of the Knight’s Watch can never have a wife, never have a child, but Sam was never really meant to be a member of the Watch. He was forced into the role, and though he did his best, Sam’s greatest offering to the Watch was his loyalty, the same offering he gave to Gilly the wildling.

When Jon and Sam saved Gilly from her abusive father, it seemed like she would be a one-off character. But she quickly became something more, loving and honoring Sam for exactly who he is and naming her child after him. Although Jon and his friends had protected Sam, there was generally a level of pity involved. But Gilly just loved Sam, and he loved her in return.

Sam the self-proclaimed coward killed a White Walker to protect Gilly. She, in turn, learned to adapt to many different environments to be with him and maintain their little family. Game of Thrones is often posed as an edgy series, killing the honorable and hurting the innocent. But Sam and Gilly were the ultimate counter-example, showing that people can find happiness even in darkness, and that loyalty and devotion can overcome insurmountable odds.

By the end, fans got to see most of their favorite ships at least acknowledge their dynamic, even if they didn't stay together. In a world full of war, magic, and terror, a few happy moments might be all a couple needs to stand out. But whether their relationship ended in triumph or tragedy, these nine definitely made an impact on the fanbase and set a high standard for all ASOIAF couples to come.

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