The biggest plot holes in Game of Thrones

Jon Ledford @JonLedford

Like everyone else, we've been glued to our screens since HBO brought George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books to life with their hit Game of Thrones series, but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed a few omissions and oversights in the story. Most of these have to do with certain characters, factions, or events on the show whose current statuses are unresolved, and we're still wondering how such noteworthy plot holes could remain unchecked or overlooked. (As you'd expect, major, up-to-date spoilers await.)

Gendry, the son of King Robert Baratheon, disappears

Gendry the apprentice blacksmith was a pretty big deal in the first few seasons of Game of Thrones. Due to Robert Baratheon's fondness for brothels, Gendry turns out to be the late king's bastard son. Since Queen Cersei conceived her children with her twin brother (eww), this means that Gendry has more of a claim to the Iron Throne than Joffrey or Tommen Baratheon. After his trip to the Night's Watch was cancelled and he had to part ways with Arya Stark and Hot Pie, Gendry was last seen with Ser Davos Seaworth, who freed the young man, fearing Melisandre would sacrifice him to the Lord of Light (usually via burning at a stake). The last we've really seen of Gendry is him escaping Dragonstone in a rowboat en route to King's Landing, and it's already been a few seasons since then.

Melisandre took off the necklace before and didn't turn old

We were all shocked at the end of the season six premiere after seeing the red priestess Melisandre remove her magical necklace, showing viewers she's really a centuries-old crone. When we were first introduced to the character, she knowingly drank a cup of poison that was intended to kill her and survived, with her shining necklace proving she had some viable powers to back up her fanatical religious beliefs. As magical as Melisandre is, there was a previous scene in the series that showed her bathing without the necklace on. A beautiful naked lady on the screen is a good distraction from what could be a major continuity error or an obvious plot hole: Melisandre should have been shown in her true, older form during that bath.

Tyrion forgot Littlefinger framed him for Bran's assassination

Remember all the way back in season one when an assassin failed at killing a crippled Bran Stark? The assassin had a dagger made of Valyrian steel. As Catelyn Stark was investigating the assassin in King's Landing, Petyr Baelish lied to her, saying the dagger belonged to Tyrion Lannister. This led to Catelyn Stark capturing and kidnapping him, ending with Bronn winning a trial by combat fight for Tyrion's innocence at the Eyrie. Tyrion suffered greatly due to Littlefinger's accusations—and Baelish basically rubbed it in his face—but Tyrion Lannister never tried to get even. We know Tyrion was a fan of brothels and all, but why would he forget all the injustices he faced due to Littlefinger trying to pin Bran's assassination attempt on him?

Where did all the Unsullied go?

Daenerys Targaryen had over 8,000 of the baddest fighters anyone could ever ask for, raised and castrated at young ages to be ready for nothing but war. She used them to liberate almost every city between Astapor and Meereen. Throughout season five, these 8,000 Unsullied soldiers were almost nowhere to be seen. At best, we saw only a few dozen total throughout the entire season. We know Meereen is a huge city and all, but it just seemed like HBO might have been trying to cut costs by having so few Unsullied featured onscreen.

Ser Barristan Selmy losing to faceless nobodies

While this might seem more like a gripe than a plot hole, we're still scratching our heads at the death of Ser Barristan Selmy in season five. For decades, Selmy was regarded as one of the greatest swordsmen in the world. Even in his old age, his skills were only rivaled by Arthur Dayne, Jaime Lannister (with both hands), Ned Stark, and very few other fighters—so we cringed when he died in an alleyway during the episode "Sons of the Harpy." If you rewatch the episode, you'll see eight Unsullied soldiers and Selmy pretty much losing to 16 Sons of the Harpy, who are basically slave owners armed with daggers and completely lacking in any real combat training. Worst of all, he's still alive in the books!

The Sand Snakes got there fast

This plot hole is all about Ellaria Sand and her conniving Sand Snakes. At the end of season five, Princess Myrcella Baratheon died from Ellaria's poison aboard a boat heading for King's Landing, which also had her Uncle-Dad Jaime Lannister and her betrothed, Trystane Martell. In the beginning of season six, half of the Sand Snakes murder Trystane's father, Prince Doran (the ruler of Dorne), and the captain of his guard, Areo Hotah.

The other two Sand Snakes, Obara and Nym, appear on Jaime's ship to kill Trystane. The big problem here is that ship sailed for King's Landing with all of the Sand Snakes looking on from a pier, so how could have Obara and Nym changed their clothes, armed themselves, and boarded the ship with such a huge head start?

No sacrifice needed for Jon Snow's return

Melisandre's magic from the Lord of Light has been very hit or miss over the years. Usually, spells of great significance require an equal or greater sacrifice, usually in the form of burning some unfortunate soul tied to a stake. Remember why Stannis ordered the burning of his innocent daughter, Shireen? It was to lift the blizzard hitting his army en route to Winterfell from King's Landing. (Yep—they burned a little princess alive just to take care of a snowstorm.) Meanwhile, there hardly seems to be a cost for bringing Jon Snow back from the dead. In the books, Catelyn Stark was resurrected as Lady Stoneheart after Beric Dondarrion gave his life for hers, but apparently all Melisandre needs to do is give Jon a post-mortem sponge bath and a haircut.