The 10 Most Heartbreaking Deaths on Game of Thrones

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On a show like Game of Thrones, you have to keep your head on a swivel. Characters are dying left and right, and I’m not talking about minor ones either – George R.R. Martin builds up all of these wonderful characters and then just guts ’em like they’re nothing. For the most part, that translated to the HBO series as well. Still, with death rampant in the Thrones universe, some deaths have still hit us harder than others.

I will say before getting into this list that Olenna Tyrell was an impactful death. She became a fan favorite for that sassy mouth of her’s, but I don’t know that you can necessarily call her death tragic. The Queen of Thorns was sarcastic and witty to the bone, and got in a last jab at the Lannisters before being poisoned by Jaime Lannister. It was pretty badass. That wasn’t one that had me shook. That had my fist clinched, with me saying “you a bad bitch, Olenna. Respect.”

Also, “honorable mention,” I guess, if you could call it that, goes to The Blackfish. He never had a chance to really shine on the show, but he’s a pretty legendary guy. His death would’ve made the list, but we never saw it happen, and you know what they say about Game of Thrones. If you don’t see someone die, do they really even die? Who knows?

The 10 Most Heartbreaking Deaths on Game of Thrones

10. Syrio Forel – Who else held out for an unreasonable amount of time that Syrio would return to the show? He was Arya’s “dance instructor,” for those of you who may need a refresher. He was killed offscreen by Lannister troops, but the internet ran wild with theories about his whereabouts, including a nice rumor that he was actually one of the Faceless Men. I just think he’s dead…..and that’s sad.

9. Maester Luwin – When shit hit the fan, Maester Luwin stepped up and basically served as a dad to the Stark boys. He tried to convince Theon not to murder them, but he failed to do so. Luckily, Osha had already got Bran and Rickon the hell out of dodge. Still, Luwin was extremely loyal to the Starks and proud of the work he’d done with the family. Plus, he was just a really sweet old man.

8. Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun – We didn’t get to know this giant very well, but he very easily won over our hearts with his allegiance to Jon Snow. Plus, it was just fucking awesome to see a giant demolish things. His emergence came at a pivotal time as Jon was trying to bridge the Night’s Watch and the wildlings, but when Ramsay put an arrow through his eye (along with about a thousand others from his men), it brought the giant down. And, I was super pissed.

7. Margery Tyrell – Listen, I’m going to level with you guys. Was there anything particularly riveting about Margery’s character? I’d say not – but her death meant no more Natalie Dormer on the show, and well….I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this…

6. Ygritte – The sassy wildling who became the lover of Jon Snow delivered one of the pivotal catchphrases in the entire show: “you know nothing, Jon Snow.” But, she was more than just Jon’s lover. She understood that the real enemy was the army of the undead, and worked with Jon to unite the free folk and those living South of The Wall.

5. Oberyn Martell – The Red Viper of Dorne was an underrated hero in the HBO series. He was a brave and skilled warrior and a man of deep passion. Excuse me if I sound like I’m swooning, but can you blame me? No man or woman is immune to this man’s charm. He was an honorable dude, and the show was worse off without him. I’m all in on the long-rumored spinoff chronicling the life of the Red Viper.

4. Ned Stark – I remember watching the most honorable man in Game of Thrones die and thinking, “shit – do I want to watch this show? like, what have i gotten myself into?” It just goes to show you what happens to honorable men in this universe. Ned always had a strong sense of what was right, and he followed his arrow, whether it got him into trouble or not. And, yes – judging by the fact that his involvement in Game of Thrones ended with him being beheaded at the orders of punk bitch Joffrey Baratheon, his moral compass did get him in a lot of trouble.

3. The Red Wedding (everyone) – I originally had all of the deaths listed and then I thought, “you could do a top 10 list of these people alone,” so I’m just going to give it the nod all on its own. But, holy shit – look at all the people who died at this event! The King in the North, Robb Stark and his wife, Talisa, along with Robb’s mother, Catelyn Stark, were the marquee deaths, but those treacherous Freys and Boltons murdered DOZENS of Robb’s banner men, too. Specifically, though, Lady Stark getting her throat gashed open was a jarring sight. This was one of the handful of Thrones episodes that seemed to break the internet.

2. Shireen Baratheon – Uhhhhh……they lit a little girl on fire as a human sacrifice to the Lord of Light. Do I really need to remind anyone of why this death was so tragic?

1. Hodor – If you watched the “hold the door” episode and were able to function the next day, I don’t know if you are human. I was completely shook. It’s the only time the show has actually produced a tear in my eye. Hodor was a testament to the true power of perspective. By all means, he should’ve been a miserable human being, but despite his condition, he was still a lovable, cheery, giant man. That makes his death all the more tragic, but he went out a hero, saving Bran and company from the army of the undead. There was something beautifully depressing about it.

Check out our 10 most satisfying deaths on Game of Thrones here.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley@WrestlingNewsCo

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