In 1996, the first book in George R. R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones, hit the shelves and presented a fantasy world steeped in historical courtly intrigue, brutal violence, and actions that always have consequences. In 2011, HBO debuted its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. It quickly became a keystone of popular culture throughout the 2010s, and even after its disastrous finale, it continues to inspire the look and tone of new fantasy shows and movies.
Much like the books, Game of Thrones gripped audiences thanks to its willingness to kill off important and beloved characters. Many of these deaths shaped the story in unforeseen ways, resulting in new storylines or massive shakeups of the status quo.
10
The Tyrells
House Tyrell is the ruling family of the Reach—Westeros’ breadbasket—and second in power and influence to the Lannisters of the Westerlands. They formed an alliance with the Lannisters when Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) was betrothed to King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), and Lord Mace Tyrell (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) was given a spot on the Small Council. However, the paranoia of Queen Regent Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) leads first to Margaery and her brother, Ser Loras (Finn Jones), being imprisoned by the newly empowered Faith Militant. When the faith turns on Cersei and tries to put her on trial, she detonates a huge supply of Wildfire that destroys the High Sparrow (Ser Jonathan Pryce), the Tyrells, and members of her own family.
The destruction of House Tyrell has a major impact on the show’s final seasons, namely on the allegiance of the other houses of the Reach. Mace’s mother, Olenna (Dame Diana Rigg), sides with Queen Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) when she invades Westeros for revenge against Cersei, but Lord Randyll Tarly (James Faulkner) is convinced to betray her by Ser Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), ultimately leading to his own destruction when Daenerys kills him and his youngest son, Dickon (Freddie Stroma and Tom Hopper). Really, the fallout of the destruction of a major house should have been bigger than the show made it, but the showrunners were eager to move on to new projects, so it became one of many unfulfilling GoT storylines.
9
The Three-Eyed Raven
The main storyline of the second-youngest member of House Stark, Brandon (Isaac Hempstead Wright), was to find the enigmatic Three-Eyed Raven (Struan Rodger and Max von Sydow) and master his magic powers. He turns out to be a man bound to ancient Weerwood trees that allow him to look into the past and thus preserve human history. However, when Brandon ignores his warnings and uses his powers recklessly, he allows the leader of the mystical White Walkers, the Night King (Richard Brake and Vladimir Furdik), to enter the raven’s cave and kill him.
The death of the Three-Eyed Raven’s biggest ripple is that it forces Brandon to become his replacement before he’s ready. This manifests through Brandon becoming an emotionless robot in the last few seasons, but his new omniscience allows him and his siblings to bring about the downfall of master manipulator Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen). Bran’s ascension also means that the Night King becomes laser-focused on killing him and erasing humanity’s link to the past, which factors into the living’s battle plan when the army of the dead arrives in Winterfell.
8
Lysa Arryn
The event that kicks off Game of Thrones is the death of the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn (John Standing), which prompts his foster son, Eddard Stark (Sebastian Croft, Robert Aramayo, and Sean Bean), to investigate his death as part of a greater conspiracy. As it turns out, he was poisoned by his wife, Lysa (Kate Dickie), on the orders of her lover, Petyr Baelish, to spur Westeros towards war. Littlefinger then goes on to marry her, but when Lysa almost kills her niece, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), in a jealous fit, he pushes her to her death.
Since he married Lysa before her death, Petyr becomes lord protector of the Vale and the legal guardian of her son, Lord Robin Arryn (Lino Facioli). While Lysa kept the Vale neutral during the War of the Five Kings, Littlefinger sends their knights to aid Sansa in retaking the North from Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon). Without these reinforcements, the Stark loyalists would have lost the Battle of the Bastards.
7
Renly Baratheon
The youngest of King Robert Baratheon’s (Mark Addy) brothers, Renly (Gethin Anthony), looked like his brother did in his youth, but has a greater preference for the finer aspects of courtly life. This leads to him forming a secret relationship with Ser Loras Tyrell, which leads to an alliance with House Tyrell when Robert dies. Renly pushed his own claim to the throne by right of conquest, ignoring the legitimacy of his older brother, Stannis (Stephen Dillane). Before he could defeat Stannis’ army in battle, he was killed by a shadow assassin birthed by the red priestess of R’hllor, Melisandre (Carice van Houten).
Renly was the first king in the War of the Five Kings to die, and his death immediately tipped the balance of power. His army immediately switches allegiance to Stannis, giving him enough forces to launch an ambitious attack against King’s Landing. As for the Tyrells, they are instead convinced by Littlefinger to side with House Lannister, leading to Stannis’ defeat. His death also deeply affects Brienne of Tarth (Gwendolyn Christie), who swears to, and eventually does, murder Stannis and avenge Renly.
6
Khal Drogo
After an assassin almost kills his pregnant wife, Daenerys, Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) vows to claim the Iron Throne of Westeros for their son. During a raid on a Lhazareen village, Drogo was injured in a duel and quickly weakened from infection. Daenerys implored the skills of the witch Mirri Maz Duur (Mia Soteriou), and while she did save his life, the process killed their unborn son and left Drogo in a catatonic state, so Daenerys mercifully killed him.
Drogo was one of many major character deaths at the end of Season 1 that left audiences eager to see the follow-up in Season 2. His death caused Daenerys to lose all the political power she had spent the season gathering when his Khalasar split up, and left her stranded in the desert with little food and water. However, she also hatched three dragons from his funeral pyre—the first ones born in over a century—restoring magic to the world and beginning Daenerys’ journey of conquest and liberation.
5
Joffrey Baratheon
Born of secret incest between the Lannister twins, Joffrey grew up cruel and spoiled due to his mother’s coddling. He quickly assumed the throne after Robert died and used his new position as king to torment and torture whoever he pleased, though he had particular animosity towards Sansa and his uncle, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage). His chickens finally came home to roost during his wedding to Margaery Tyrell, where he was poisoned by Olenna and Littlefinger.
Few deaths in Game of Thrones were as satisfying as Joffrey’s, and it was made even better by how much it shook up the status quo. Since it happened early into Season 4, it destroyed the image of Lannister invincibility following Season 3, while also replacing Joffrey with his younger brother, Tommen (Callum Wharry and Dean-Charles Chapman), who is much easier to control. His death also allowed Littlefinger to steal away Sansa and pin the blame on Tyrion, removing the former as a Lannister hostage and leaving the latter fighting for his life to prove his innocence.
4
Tywin Lannister
While Joffrey was the king of Westeros, the real power in the Red Keep was his grandfather, Lord Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance). A ruthless man utterly obsessed with legacy and power, he crushed his enemies with everything from a stroke of a pen to the mention of a song, and used his children as political bargaining chips to ensure House Lannister would always reign supreme. Karma finally caught him when Tyrion, who he particularly hated, shot him with a crossbow while on the privy, an inglorious death for such a proud man.
Tywin’s death not only saw the loss of the show’s primary antagonist, but it also showed that Tywin’s vision for House Lannister could only stand if he was there to guide it. Once he’s gone, Lannister power rapidly crumbles, mostly due to Cersei’s incompetence, which sees more and more noble houses rebel against Lannister rule, either independently or by joining Daenerys. His death also convinces Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) to abandon King’s Landing and travel to Essos with Tyrion to offer his services to Daenerys.
3
Robert Baratheon
When Mad King Aerys II Targaryen (David Rintoul) was overthrown, Robert Baratheon was chosen to be the new king due to his Targaryen ancestry and his victory over Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding) at the Battle of the Trident. However, Robert showed that good warriors don’t always make good kings: he fell into a deep depression over Lyanna Stark’s (Aisling Franciosi) death and his loveless marriage to Cersei, and spent his days drinking, hunting, and whoring. This eventually caught up to him when, drunk with wine provided by Lancel Lannister (Eugene Simon) on Cersei’s orders, he was fatally gored by a wild boar.
Robert’s death is one of the show’s most important because, combined with the reveal of his children’s parentage, it kicked off the War of the Five Kings. Littlefinger and Renly both try to make alliances with Eddard Stark, whom Robert named regent until Joffrey came of age, but Eddard refused them and instead sent word to Stannis Baratheon. His attempt to enforce Robert’s will ended in his imprisonment, which set the stage for the next big shakeup.
2
Eddard Stark
Betrayed by Littlefinger and with his guards slaughtered, Eddard was sent down to the Black Cells to linger in darkness. When his son, Robb Stark (Richard Madden), declared rebellion, Varys convinced Eddard to swallow his honor and confess to trying to take power for himself for the sake of his family. Unfortunately, rather than being sent to The Wall, Joffrey ordered Eddard’s execution.
Eddard’s death is what set Game of Thrones on the path to pop culture domination, as it was virtually unheard of to kill a main character so suddenly within the first season. Within the show, Eddard’s death was a colossal blunder that killed any chance of peace between the Starks and the Lannisters, and saw Robb Stark crowned King in the North by his men. There might still have been a chance for stability after Robert died, but Eddard losing his head ensured that Westeros would bleed.
1
Robb Stark
While Eddard’s death was a heartbreaking twist, his eldest son still had a massive army and was winning every battle he fought. It’s the classic setup for a hero’s journey where the son avenges the death of his father and brings stability and peace to the realm. Sadly, Martin is all about subverting classic tropes. Like Robert before him, Robb couldn’t win the war of ink and quill and made too many blunders that turned allies into enemies. This led them to work with Tywin to assassinate Robb and his army in the bloody Red Wedding.
Robb’s death was the twist of the dagger in the audience’s heart that brought the show to its lowest moment. With him gone, House Stark lost its best chance at revenge, and it paved the way for Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) to rise to power as the new Warden of the North, leading to more bloodshed. His death also made Sansa’s position even more precarious; the world assumed her younger brothers were dead, meaning that she was now the key to establishing a new ruling dynasty in the North. Even long after the show concluded, the Red Wedding remains one of the most talked-about and shocking moments in television history, so it’s little wonder that it would have such a large impact on the show.
