Although a lot of major characters have been killed off Game of Thrones (it’s kind of its thing), it’s the demise of some of the more minor characters that really punch a hole in your gut past the point where recovery seems possible. Watching characters become collateral damage to the action of the main crew can be just as, if not more upsetting than watching Ned Stark beheaded, or the massacre at the Red Wedding.
So because we are masochistic, Game of Thrones-obsessed emos, we’re going to honour those more minor characters by dredging up the painful details of their deaths.
#1. Shireen
Sweet Shireen Baratheon, daughter of Stannis Baratheon, you deserved so much better. Shireen was marked with grayscale since birth but she grew up to be a bright, well-read, gentle young girl. She taught Davos Seaworth how to read, and adored her father in spite of the fact that he kept her hidden away.
We will never get over episode 9, season 5, ‘The Dance of Dragons’, when Stannis let Melisandre burn Shireen alive as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light. The scene was horrific to watch and the only thing that ends up coming of it is Shireen’s mother’s suicide.
This was perhaps the lowest low point of Game of Thrones.
#2. Ros
Ros was renowned for her beauty and never did anything to deserve what she got. She was a sex worker who was popular from a town outside Winterfell, but unfortunately ended up at King’s Landing.
She died a particularly graphic death in season three at the hands of King Joffrey, who used tied her up and used her as a live shooting target. The saddest part is that it is simply because of her profession that she is treated as subhuman and disposable.
The tragedy of Ros’s death is part of what made Joffrey’s death so satisfying.
#3 Rickon Stark
Although Rickon was a Stark, we barely knew him compared to the rest of the clan. The emotional weight his death carries for the rest of the characters who we know and love is a big part of what makes it so upsetting to watch.
But watch it we did, in season six’s epic ‘Battle of the Bastards’ when Ramsay Bolton murders him in an unbearably sadistic that is signature to his character. Ramsay pretends to release the young Stark boy back to Jon Snow ‘unscathed’, only to shoot him down by arrow right in front of Jon. The trauma is still raw.
#4. Tommen Baratheon
Again, Tommen is technically a part of one of the show’s main clans, and actually sits on the Iron Throne, but he never gets a chance to really become a key player. After watching his wife Maergery Tyrell – along with a huge chunk of the King’s Landing royal court – being killed by his mother’s Wildfire explosion, Tommen takes his own life in season six.
It’s hard to watch the murders, but suicide is always harder. Tommen was too sweet for the Lannister way and we would have liked to see him survive via alliance with a Lannister enemy. He was actually an innocent kid and he was so young.
#5. Hodor
All Hodor ever did was help, and that will forever be his legacy. He sacrificed himself to the Wights by “holding the door” for as long as possible to protect Bran, and it was one of the most upsetting, and revealing episodes of season six.
While watching his final moments, we discovered that Hodor’s act of self-sacrifice actually shaped much of his adult life. The mental impairment that causes him to only say ‘Hodor’ is actually caused from this moment, as Meera’s calls to “hold the door” take hold of a young Hodor through Bran’s time bridging.
Hodor might never have been a main player vying for the Iron Throne, but his death will always be one of the most heartbreaking to watch.
The Great War is nearly here, and as a look back on all the beloved characters we’ve lost along the way, Foxtel have created a Grave of Thrones. You can pay your respects to the Old Gods at Fearnley Grounds in Sydney’s Centennial Park from April 12 to 14.
Game of Thrones the final season streaming April 15. Only on Foxtel.