TV's Redeem Team: 17 best villains gone good

No one exactly had it easy in the world of , but did anyone pay as disproportionately for their trespasses as the former ward of House Stark? Sure, Theon was an over-ambitious little asshole in the first few seasons. Sure, he sacked his adopted family’s ancestral home, killed a few farm boys, and passed them off as his pseudo kid brothers. But no one deserves to have their personhood tortured out of them by a sadistic sociopath like he did. Watching Theon claw his way back to an honorable life by saving multiple members of the family he once betrayed was an emotional journey to say the least. And when Bran told him he was a good man in his final moments? A perfect ending for an improbably great character. [Emma Keates]

There are two ways to look at Jaime Lannister’s “redemption arc.” (That’s in quotes for a reason.) If you, like us, have created a special little world for yourself in which the final season of never happened at all, Jaime’s path from viscerally hated kid pusher and sister, er, lover to almost universally beloved secret savior of Westeros is a feat of television writing for the ages. (That’s minus, of course, from season four that was altered from the book for some reason.) If you do factor in the final season—well, really just the final episode which makes it all the more egregious—all that good work and Brienne romancing was for naught. Ah, GOT. It still stings when we think about it for too long. [Emma Keates]

Jonathan Nolan’s deeply underrated sci-fi-epic-disguised-as-a-boring-procedural skewed toward the redemptive side, filled as it was with black-ops spies, dirty cops, and misanthropic hackers all trying to make good. But Samantha “Root” Groves (Amy Acker) was a special case amongst special cases: Introduced as a sociopathic assassin and hacker with an unhealthy fascination with crime-predicting AI “The Machine,” Root spends the show’s first two seasons kidnapping, torturing, and trying to kill our heroes on a fairly regular basis in hopes of “unchaining” the artificial mind. But a funny thing happens on the way to the machine apocalypse: Once it actually gets some of that vaunted freedom, The Machine devotes a considerable portion of it to the redemption of Root herself, pushing her to help instead of kill, connect instead of cut off. By the time the show ends, well … Root is still a bit of a gleeful psychopath. But she’s one who’s at least willing to use her bag of murderous tricks on the side of the angels. [William Hughes]

Helena’s (Tatiana Maslany) remarkable redemption arc made her a fan favorite with the Clone Club. (She also coined the term “sestra,” one of the show’s most identifiable memes.) In the first season, she was a legitimately bone-chilling villain, a clone that was religiously brainwashed and raised to eliminate her sisters. She would appear dripping in blood with a scary, screeching personal soundtrack, a loose cannon whose presence electrified the screen. Her redemption was seeded in season one as her fascination with Sarah bloomed into sincere loyalty to all her sestras, and she began fighting for them instead of against. Her previously terrifying nature was transformed into surprising comic relief as she learned, essentially, to be a real person (and a mother). This redemption arc is a testament to the writing, but also crucially to Maslany’s excellent Emmy-winning performance that imbued Helena with humanity while always keeping her killer instinct razor-sharp. [Mary Kate Carr]

Jane The Virgin gets points for creating a devious female antagonist whose redemption feels earned without softening the strong, sharp character she is. That’s Petra Solano (Yael Grobglas), who begins the series as Jane’s (Gina Rodriguez) romantic rival and ends it as her dear friend. Petra’s difficult childhood made her ruthless and willing to do anything to secure herself a better life. That renders her, at least temporarily, a tormentor of her ex-husband Rafael (Justin Baldoni) and Jane. However, when Petra becomes pregnant shortly after Jane (itself a villainous task, since she sort of steals Rafael’s sperm to do it), the pair become tentative allies as new mothers over the course of the second season. By the third season, the trio are one big happy modern family, and Petra has blossomed into a confident business owner in her own right. Though she and Jane often don’t see eye to eye in the later seasons, it’s a far cry from the woman who schemed to keep them apart in the first season—and a beautiful transformation for viewers who stuck through every twist and turn. [Mary Kate Carr]

’s original cast had a lot of baddies—half the Sky People were delinquent kids, and half were adults who sent a bunch of kids to a hostile planet as an experiment—but no one did amoral like John Murphy (Richard Harmon). Cast out of the 100’s camp for vengeful acts of violence, he spends much of the first three seasons looking out for himself (and his eventual girlfriend, Emori [Luisa D’Oliveira]) and only helping his Ark neighbors when it brings him benefits. However, witnessing that many near-extinction level events is bound to change a person, and in the third and fourth seasons he slowly develops a true conscience and a sense of loyalty. Being part of a small family of survivors in space for six years (in the fifth season) helps solidify his standing with the good guys, but he’s still occasionally swayed by a bad actor (like his bid for immortality in the sixth season). However, it’s that exact perspective as a “cockroach” who always comes out alive that ultimately benefits his friends time and again, making him a flawed but compelling hero (when he chooses to be). [Mary Kate Carr]

When began, no one suspected Michael was a villain in need of a redemption arc. If anything, he was a heavenly architect redeeming the four humans who died and entered utopia. So the reveal of his hellish roots—delivered via a maniacally perfect laugh by —was a shocker of epic proportions. It also launched a gradual narrative thread of Michael’s desperate need to be good. Moreover, he wanted to be a good human, striving to improve himself like Eleanor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), and Jason (Manny Jacinto). Hey, what else are good friends for if not to help you turn from a literal devil into an angel? At least that’s the message In Michael’s case, the writing successfully achieved this goal. He ends the show by getting his wish—he’s a struggling human, just learning guitar as life goes on. But he also designs a way for everyone to improve, going from crafting personal hellscapes to actual utopia. Now that’s a redemption if we’ve ever seen one. [Saloni Gajjar]

Spoiler alert! It’s fair to say s Peter () died as he lived: on the edge, without fear, and super randomly. You never knew what to expect with series creator Tony McNamara’s version of this notable figure because always kept audiences on their toes, turning history on its head as it unveiled Peter and Catherine’s () love story. Peter started as a murderous asshole on the show, killing and fucking whoever he wanted, consequences be damned. His actions don’t entirely change, but his perspective and reasons do once Catherine comes along and usurps his throne. He uses his affection for her and their newborn son to at least try and become a decent man and supportive husband. (That is, to the best of his abilities—it’s hard for him.) He’s done plenty of irredeemable things, like sleeping with his mother-in-law and then accidentally killing her during sex or murdering Catherine’s not-so-secret lover. However, in , it’s easy to root for the central couple as they try to earnestly overcome their issues. Neither of them is perfect, but at least The Great earns a few huzzahs for ably turning Peter into a lovable figure before icing him to death. [Saloni Gajjar]