Current Events > In hindsight, which Game of Thrones deaths were actually most important? (Spoi

(+) Yeah! (+)

Obviously Ned is #1. Main character, basically all the sub-plots were tied to him in one way or another, and his death actually propelled the plot forward.

Robert was fairly shocking even though it was obvious he was going to die. You didn't know how soon into the show it would happen even if there was a 0% chance of him lasting a full season.

Viserys had a good death, but again was super telegraphed from the first episode and I wouldn't say he had much plot relevance.

Those are all season 1. After that.... who wise interesting dies? For a show where "nobody is safe" they're not really any gamechanging deaths outside season 1. Joffrey and Robb were some MC deaths but their arcs had largely resolved so they weren't terribly important. Oberyn was an iconic death but he was barely present in the show. If his head didn't get popped, I doubt anyone would care.

And then the latter half obviously everyone had plot armor so whatever

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "important" here. Important plot-wise or shock-wise?

Plot-wise, the death of Jon Arryn kicks off the entire story.
Shock-wise, the Red Wedding was the entire reason that D&D wanted to adapt the books in the first place.

When I read the book, I thought Viserys had long term importance and I was surprised he went out so early. He was the first big one.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Shock-wise, the Red Wedding was the entire reason that D&D wanted to adapt the books in the first place.

Is this why the show got bad in season 4? They stopped caring after their favorite scene?

I always consider Tywin's death the end of peak GoT. After that, the quality of the writing became increasingly uneven.

In terms of plot, it's probably Lyanna Stark.

This really depends on book vs. tv show.

Rob Stark
Ned Stark
Catelyn Stark

Those three have the most impact in both the novels and the TV show. Lady Stoneheart's plot is still ongoing in the novels.

That knight guy Bronn took apart. If he hadn't, Tyrion wouldn't have masterminded the defense of King's Landing, and Stannis would have taken it.

Most important to fictional Westeros?
Ned - started the war of the 5 kings
Tywin - the end of (relatively) stable, competent leadership in Kings Landing
Daenerys - ushers in a new age in Westeros

Oberyn. He was planning to take Tyrion with him back to Dorne and raise Myrcella up as queen of Westeros since Dornish law says that the oldest child regardless of gender is next in line.

lilORANG posted...

Obviously Ned is #1. Main character, basically all the sub-plots were tied to him in one way or another, and his death actually propelled the plot forward.

Robert was fairly shocking even though it was obvious he was going to die. You didn't know how soon into the show it would happen even if there was a 0% chance of him lasting a full season.

Viserys had a good death, but again was super telegraphed from the first episode and I wouldn't say he had much plot relevance.

Those are all season 1. After that.... who wise interesting dies? For a show where "nobody is safe" they're not really any gamechanging deaths outside season 1. Joffrey and Robb were some MC deaths but their arcs had largely resolved so they weren't terribly important. Oberyn was an iconic death but he was barely present in the show. If his head didn't get popped, I doubt anyone would care.

And then the latter half obviously everyone had plot armor so whatever

If Robert hadn't been fed some much wine he probably wouldn't have died from being gored

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

If Robert hadn't been fed some much wine he probably wouldn't have died from being gored

Right. The manner was shocking and unexpected but it was very clear Cersei was planning something from the beginning. If not a pig, it would have been poisoned wine.

lilORANG posted...

Right. The manner was shocking and unexpected but it was very clear Cersei was planning something from the beginning. If not a pig, it would have been poisoned wine.

Exactly. Honestly Ned's death could have been avoided too. Certainly even gave him an out and he didn't even take it. Renly offered and he was like nah. His death was totally meaningless

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

Exactly. Honestly Ned's death could have been avoided too. Certainly even gave him an out and he didn't even take it. Renly offered and he was like nah. His death was totally meaningless

His honor got in the way. Renly didn't have a legit claim to the throne.

Rob Stark

lilORANG posted...

His honor got in the way. Renly didn't have a legit claim to the throne.

It did and he didn't but he had outs and didn't take them. A lot of stuff could have been prevented had he just taken the one of them. Stannis had the rightful claim however Renly had way more of a claim then joffery did though.

In terms of plot, the #1 most important death in the series is Jon Arryn. Nothing happens without that.

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

It did and he didn't but he had outs and didn't take them. A lot of stuff could have been prevented had he just taken the one of them. Stannis had the rightful claim however Renly had way more of a claim then joffery did though.

How was Ned dumb enough to lose to cersei after we find out in book 4 she's much less cunning than previously presented.

In book 1 it showed that ned underestimated cersei because she's just a women with her children and gave her a heads up that he was gonna go after her because he thought she wasn't a threat. And she won against him, indicating that she's so much more cunning than his dumb face.

But then in book 4 we find out she's crazy and downright unstable, its a completely different character than the one presented in the entirety of book 1

Noumas posted...

But then in book 4 we find out she's crazy and downright unstable, its a completely different character than the one presented in the entirety of book 1

Ned tells her some news and she immediately does something reckless that can very easily lead back to her, that sounds like the same character.

Noumas posted...

How was Ned dumb enough to lose to cersei after we find out in book 4 she's much less cunning than previously presented.

In book 1 it showed that ned underestimated cersei because she's just a women with her children and gave her a heads up that he was gonna go after her because he thought she wasn't a threat. And she won against him, indicating that she's so much more cunning than his dumb face.

But then in book 4 we find out she's crazy and downright unstable, its a completely different character than the one presented in the entirety of book 1

He was dumb to even warn her. That gave her enough time to do everything she did. If anything Ned should have made sure a maester was there to actually see Robert's will