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What—and Who—'Game of Thrones' Fans on Twitter Love and Hate the Most

By Natalie Zamora

Game of Thrones will no doubt go down in TV history as one of the most influential series ever, as the show attracts an enormous audience (the season 7 finale drew a record 16.5 million viewers) and has an incredibly dedicated fan base. Viewers are always coming up with new theories about what’s to come in new episodes, have named their pets after their favorite characters, and of course, are constantly discussing the show on social media.

As the final season is premiering in just a few days, we’re looking at results from musicMagpie, which analyzed Twitter discussions about the show (131 million tweets, to be exact) to see which moments generated the most chatter, who fans love the most, and who has made them the most angry—along with the most sad.

The most talked about episodes on the platform include, in order, Season 7’s “The Dragon and the Wolf,” Season 6’s “The Winds of Winter,” Season 7’s “Beyond the Wall,” Season 6’s “Battle of the Bastards,” and Season 7’s “Dragonstone.” Similarly unsurprising, the most talked about characters are as follows:

  1. Jon Snow (2,910,331 mentions)
  2. Daenerys Targaryen 2,654,984 mentions)
  3. Arya Stark (1,374,955 mentions)
  4. Sansa Stark (1,080,462 mentions)
  5. Tyrion Lannister (991,965 mentions)

But beyond the most talked-about characters, the results on who people love and hate the most are much more interesting. According to musicMagpie's sentiment analysis, fans on Twitter have expressed the most joy about Tormund and Brienne! (Note: many of the main characters don’t make top spots listed below. Also, Tywin Lannister? Talk about a wildcard.) Below are the most-loved characters, according to the percentage of tweets about them that can be characterized as "joyful."

  1. Tormund Giantsbane - 57 percent joy
  2. Brienne of Tarth - 49 percent joy
  3. Samwell Tarly - 42 percent joy
  4. Tyrion Lannister - 42 percent joy
  5. Arya Stark - 37 percent joy
  6. Ygritte Wildling - 37 percent joy
  7. Tywin Lannister - 37 percent joy

As for the most hated characters, whom Twitter users have posted the most angry messages about? They are as follows:

  1. Bronn - 24 percent anger
  2. Bran Stark - 17 percent anger
  3. Joffrey Baratheon - 17 percent anger
  4. Theon Greyjoy - 17 percent anger
  5. Jaime Lannister - 16 percent anger
  6. Shae - 15 percent anger
  7. Sansa Stark - 14 percent anger

And finally, seemingly the most upsetting moment in Game of Thrones history—at least in terms of social media chatter—seems to be the death of Daenerys' dragon Viserion, as 82 percent of tweets about him are sad.

We can only imagine the magnitude of fan tweets come during the final season, as we’re expecting an episode-long battle, some major revelations, and inevitably, someone to end up on the Iron Throne. Game of Thrones returns on April 14.

This article also appears on Mental Floss.