Five ASOIAF characters that should have made it into Game of Thrones

Griff (Jon Connington)

I already included Young Griff on this list, but his guardian Jon Connington is a rich character in his own right, with a compelling backstory. Jon Connington was one of Prince Rhaegar’s best friends until Rhaegar died fighting Robert Baratheon in the Battle of the Trident. Back then, Lord Connington was a headstrong and arrogant warrior who was fiercely loyal to the Targaryens, and quite possibly in love with his friend Prince Rhaegar.

Named Hand of the King as a young man by Mad King Aerys, Rhaegar's father, Jon was tasked with killing Robert Baratheon and suppressing the rebellion. After losing a critical battle, Aerys turned on him, stripped him of his lordship and exiled him from the Seven Kingdoms. In his first year of exile, he joined the famous band of mercenaries the Golded Company and rose quickly within their ranks.

But the Iron Throne was not done with him yet. Approaching Connington secretly, Varys convinced him to fake his own death and go into seclusion to raise Prince Rhaegar’s son Aegon in secret, preparing the infant boy to eventually take the Iron Throne. In a subplot taken by Jorah Mormont in the TV series, Connington contracts greyscale while saving Tyrion from stonemen. This does not stop him, as he wins the Golden Company to young Prince Aegon’s side and goes with them to conquer Westeros. While the greyscale will eventually kill him, Connington is determined to first make recompense for the failures of his youth, defeat the enemies of House Targaryen, and set the son of the man he loved upon the Iron Throne.

Connington is a bad*** character whose plot I cannot wait to read more of. It was a real shame that show-only watchers never got to see this character.

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