Game Of Thrones: Best Death Scenes, Ranked

Game of Thrones made every fan know that Westeros is a place where nobody is safe. As Cersei Lannister explains, “When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die.” Whether it is a king, the hand of the king, or the chosen one, no one knows when the tragedy will strike. This unexpected nature of GOT has made fans fall in love with it. Writers never shy away from taking several bold steps to kill off prominent characters to further intensify the trajectory of the story.

Even though some deaths were just for shock value and poorly executed, such as the death of Ser Barristan Selmy, these were well executed and perfectly captured the essence of GOT.

7. Viserys Targaryen

The Mad Dragon Got His Rightful Crown

• A Golden Crown (Season 1, episode 6)

Viserys Targaryen was among the few Targaryens left in Westeros after Robert hunted down each of them. He was an arrogant kid who just wanted to take the Iron Throne after his father, the Mad King, was thrown off the throne. He was ready to do anything to make this happen, and as one of his steps, he married his sister, Daenerys Targaryen, to Khal Drogo to get his Dothraki army. After some time in the marriage, he confronts Khal Drogo about his deal.

He yells at him and disrespects Daenerys in front of everyone. This was his biggest mistake. Viserys was constantly raging about his crown, and this is what Khal Drogo gave him. Drogo melts his gold ornaments and pours this hot, melted gold over Viserys’ head. Daenerys watches the fate of her brother with a straight face. Even though Viserys’ time in the show was limited, his death scene was grotesque and left every fan in awe.

6. Jon Snow

Like Father, Like Son

• Mother’s Mercy (Season 5, episode 10)

When the lord commander of Castle Black, Joer Mormont, died during the Mutiny at Craster’s Keep, the Night’s Watch needed a new lord commander. During the battle of Castle Black, the wildlings from the south of the wall launched a two-front attack on the Night’s Watch. The Brotherhood, despite being outnumbered, won the battle under the command of Jon Snow. Later, when the time came to pick the lord commander, Ser Alliser Thorne was the favorite to take the post. However, Sam proposed and put Jon’s name forward to be the lord commander for his heroics in the battle of Castle Black. Jon knew that the wildlings were not real enemies, and White Walkers were the ones they had to deal with.

So, he made the controversial decision to bring free-folk south of the wall. It doesn’t sit well with many members of the Night Watch. Night Watch has always despised the wildlings and considered them their enemy. Many even lost their closed ones at the hands of wildlings. Jon reasoned that the wildling would either die and join the army of the dead or help them fight the White Walkers. But hate doesn’t let people understand what Jon was doing. So, Ser Alliser Thorne, along with his loyal men, plans to assassinate Jon. With the help of a small kid, Olly, who initially has a connection with Jon, lures him into a trap. Every member there stabs Jon turn by turn while saying, “For the watch.” It was a similar moment that his father, Ned, faced. Being noble cost him his life. However, Jon was resurrected by the witch Mellisandre and executed everyone who was involved in his assassination, even Olly.

5. Tywin Lannister

A Poetic End to the Powerful Character

• The Children (Season 4, episode 8)

Tywin Lannister was the powerful head of House Lannister, who was always plotting and pulling the strings in the background to keep his and his house’s position strong in Westeros. He had an unmatched aura towards everything he did, even if it was just him staring at a plain wall. He was a calculated player and knew when to move his pawns and in which direction. He decimated the House Stark with his plotting outside the battlefield. When he took the position of Hand of the King after the battle of Blackwater, he was the one who was ruling Westeros, and Joffrey was just a king by face.

Out of all his children, he despised his youngest child, Tyrion Lannister. He was a dwarf, and his mother died just after he came to the world. After the death of Joffrey, Tyrion was accused of killing the king, and Tywin conducted these trials. He was hell-bent on doing everything he needed to do to punish Tyrion. He even makes Tyrion’s lover, Shae, lie in court. After Tyrion lost the trial by combat, his end was near. But there was one Lannister who loved him, his brother Jamie.

Jamie helped him escape Westeros before his execution. However, Tyrion had other things to do. He sneaks into Tywin’s room, where he finds Shae in his bed. After killing Shae, he gets Tywin, who was sitting on the toilet seat, pants down. Even in this situation, with him helpless and his son, whom he tried to execute, pointing a crossbow at him, his attitude didn’t fade away. He confesses his hate towards Tyrion and gets shot in his heart. The most powerful person and a glorious warrior in Westeros, who had everything in control, dies pants down in a bathroom.

4. Robb Stark

The Supposed End of House Stark

• The Rains of Castamere (Season 3, episode 9)

When Ned Stark is arrested for treason in King’s Landing, Robb Stark starts mobilizing his bannermen against the Lannisters. He was the acting Lord of Winterfell and just wanted to save his father. When Ned was executed, his bannerman named him King in the North, and now their battle was to secede North from the rule of the Iron Throne. He fought multiple battles against Lannister soldiers. Later, his army started to grow weak. During this time, the Lannisters started scheming against Robb Stark. Robb Stark earlier broke a promise with Walder Frey that he would marry one of the Frey girls.

However, he falls in love with Talisa Maegyr and marries her instead. So, to make up for this, they decide to marry Edmure Tully to the Frey girl instead. During the wedding, people were feasting and dancing. Suddenly, the Rain of Castemere starts playing, which is sort of a warning song by House Lannister. Catelyn Stark quickly realizes that something is wrong, and with the blink of an eye, it is a bloodbath. The Red Wedding was a setup by Walder Frey and Roose Bolton, orchestrated by the Lannisters. Robb Stark was shot with arrows, and Roose Bolton, whose house was once a loyal bannerman of House Stark, stabbed him, saying, “The Lannisters send their regards.” To scale up the grotesque nature of the death, Freys sewed Robb’s Direwolf Greywind’s head on his body and marched it.

3. Oberyn Martell

The Red Viper Gone Too Soon

• The Mountain and the Viper (Season 4, episode 8)

From the get-go, Oberyn solidifies himself as a cunning and sharp-witted Dornish. Played by Pedro Pascal, Obreyn had a sway and that intoxicating energy that just makes fans see him more. He made no secret of his hatred towards the Lannisters as he believed it was Tywin Lannister who ordered Ser Gregor Clegane to rape and kill his sister Elia Martell, wife of Rhaegar Targaryen. He wanted his revenge, primarily against the Mountain, to get her sister justice.

So, when Tyrion Lannister chose trial by combat during his trial for murdering Joffrey Baratheon, Oberyn stepped up to be his fighter. He knew the Lannisters would choose the Mountain, so he just wanted to return the receipt. During their battle, Oberyn Martell surprisingly dominated Ser Gregon, but he was so much in his head that he was distracted from the main objective. While Obreyn was screaming on the Mountain to accept his crime for taking his sister Elia’s life, the Mountain swooped his leg, put his thumbs in his eye sockets, and smashed his skull while admitting everything. The scene was way too graphic and was so sudden that it just made fans think about “what just happened.”

2. Ned Stark

Too Noble for Westeros

• Baelor (Season 1, episode 9)

Eddard Stark was the central figure in season 1 of Game of Thrones. He was a righteous man who wanted everything to be done in an ethically right way. However, such a noble person had no place in the world of Westeros, and he paid for it. When King Robert Baratheon brought Ned to the King’s Landing to be his Hand, he knew something fishy was cooking in the kingdom. He starts digging deep and discovers Joffrey doesn’t have the right to the throne as he was not a legitimate child of Robert. He wanted to put Robert’s brother, Stannis, on the throne as the rightful king. However, Ned was too honorable. He confronted Cersei first about this and told her he knew the truth about her kids.

This was his biggest mistake. Cersei knew exactly what she needed to do. She tore away the will of Robert Baratheon in which he named Ned the “Protector Of The Realm” till his son, Joffrey, came of the right age. She crowned Joffrey the king, and Ned was arrested for treason. Cersei and the council wanted Ned to be thrown to the Wall and thus manipulated Sansa to make Ned accept his treason so that they could spare his life. During the execution, everyone thought that Ned was so noble that he wouldn’t lie about his treason, but he confessed it in the hope that her daughters and his life would be spared. However, the new young king, Joffrey, was so swayed away from power that he ordered the execution. And bam! Ned Stark loses his head for being such an honorable man in a place where only snakes can survive.

1. Joffrey Baratheon

Totally Deserved Every Second of Suffering

• The Lion and the Rose (Season 4, episode 2)

If there’s any character that every Game of Thrones despises, it is Joffrey Baratheon. From killing Ned Stark to torturing Sansa and making her life hell, Joffrey was the embodiment of evil. He became the King of the 7 Kingdoms at the age of 13, and he didn’t shy away from showing his brash teenage attitude. And thus, his death was the most satisfying moment in GOT.

During his wedding to Margery Tyrell of House Tyrell, he spared no expense in disrespecting his uncle Tyrion Lannister and his wife, Sansa Stark. He organized a dwarf show to mock Tyrion and Sansa’s dead brother, Robb Stark. Joffrey even ordered Tyrion, his cup-bearer, to disrespect him in front of everyone. While he is giving a toast, Joffrey suddenly starts choking and falls to the ground. His whole face turns purple. He points his finger towards Tyrion, accusing him as the one who poisoned the wine. His death was a pivotal point that made the storyline of King’s Landing more interesting. Later in the series, it is revealed that Lady Olleana was the one behind the poisoning of Joffrey Baratheon.