There have been many, many deaths in Game of Thrones history. Most of them have hurt, a lot. But, as absurd as it seems, it is possible to quantify the pain of death – at least when it comes to fictional characters. Some deaths were both shocking and painful, others were like the Gods (or GRRM, the God of Death) were laughing in our faces, and then, of course, others were just …so bad we can barely speak of them.
So, here it is – our Game of Thrones Death ranking. Sorry Jon, only deaths that stuck count on this one. Not saying yours didn’t hurt, but we were sure you were coming back, and you did. The same can’t be said for most of your family.
Here are our top ten Game of Thrones deaths, from OMFG to THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING, starting with …
Syrio Forel
Oh, we were young and innocent then. We thought Syrio was not meant to die. We thought we’d escape somehow. In fact, we’ve been concocting wild theories about his possible survival for years, and the reason why we have is this – his death hurt. It surprised us. We wish we could take it back. But then again, it didn’t hurt as much as …
Maester Luwin
Considering Maester Luwin was old, maybe his death hurt more because of the circumstances surrounding it, because he’d lost Bran and Rickon and then he got them back only to lose them again, in a more permanent way. His death also comes at a time in the show where we’re still holding on fast to some of our innocence. We want to believe the Starks can make it – we just don’t see how, and that’s why his death hurts. It’s a reminder that this story might not have a happy ending. But, it gets worse …
Ygritte
Did we even like her? Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t, but it seemed very clear from the beginning that Jon, our Jon, was a different person when he was around her, and her death hurt him, so it hurt us. Plus, again, in pure Game of Thrones fashion, there was the way she died, which just amplified the pain. But, of course, it gets worse …
Lady, Grey Wind, Shaggydog and Summer
They died at different moments, but the direwolves hurt so much because they’re a symbol of House Stark, the House we thought was the one who would win – the ones we recognized as the heroes of this tale. Their deaths also hurt because …innocent animals! What kind of person do you have to be to hurt innocent animals? But, this is just beginning …
Shireen Baratheon
A kid! One we didn’t care for that much, yes, but a kid. Burned at the stake. BY HER OWN PARENTS. Just when you thought Game of Thrones couldn’t get any crueler, they just raised the bar to unthinkable levels. But even that pales in comparison to what we felt when …
Khal Drogo
His death came pretty early on, and it hurt not as much because of who he was, but because we liked him. Yes, we knew Daenerys could go on alone, we knew she would kick ass with or without him, but the truth of the matter is, we wanted him to be there. Despite an ominous start, we liked Drogo, and maybe that’s why Game of Thrones took him from us. And, that brings us to …
Oberyn Martell
In the grand tradition of don’t get attached or that character is toast, we got attached to Oberyn Martell pretty early on in Season 4. Not only was he handsome and charming, he hated the Lannisters as much as we did. Which is why we cheered when he won, and cried when he was ultimately struck down. But even that pain was small compared to …
Hodor
It’s hard to say if we cared about Hodor as much before we knew what Hodor meant and we saw the self-fulfilling prophecy that was his name come to pass, but ever since the episode of his death aired we can’t hear anyone say “hold the door” without bursting into tears. And that’s child’s play when we remember …
Robb and Catelyn Stark
What was the most painful part of this: that we thought they’d won? That we’d hung all our hopes on Robb Stark? That Catelyn had to watch her son die? That Robb had to watch HIS unborn child die? Or was it that the episode killed our hopes and our dreams just as swiftly as it killed these two characters? And to think that wasn’t even as painful as …
Ned Stark
This was the moment everything changed, the moment Game of Thrones went from fantasy epic to WOW WHAT IS THIS SHOW DOING I NEED TO CONTINUE WATCHING BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT’S GOING. It’s also the moment where we, as viewers, grew up. This was our wake-up call. The days of watching TV and turning our brains off were gone. Game of Thrones was going to require our full, undivided attention.
Agree? Disagree? Have another Game of Thrones death that hurt you more? What’s your ranking? Share with us in the comments below!
Game of Thrones Season 6 premieres July 16th, 2017 on HBO.
