Top 20 Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon Characters Who Got What They Deserved

“Mother’s Mercy”
Cruel and arrogant, Ser Meryn Trant personifies what a Kingsguard knight should not be. He wields his power against the weak and helpless, reveling in wanton violence, and blindly follows the sadistic orders of King Joffrey. It’s no surprise that he gets himself on Arya’s list after killing her instructor Syrio. She finally gets her revenge in the fifth season finale, when she ambushes Trant in a brothel. As satisfying as his death is, it also has to be one of the most brutal in the show. Those gurgly screams are something else…

“No One”
One of the main antagonists of the fifth and sixth seasons, the Waif is a devoted acolyte of the Faceless Men who lives to torment Arya Stark. Ruthless and brutal, she’s a professional assassin tasked with training Arya; but she resents the Stark girl and hopes to one day kill her. Unfortunately for the Waif, the pupil becomes the master. Arya survives the Waif’s attempt on her life, and lures her into a dark room - where, used to fighting without sight, Arya has the advantage. We don’t see the kill itself, but we do see the aftermath in the Hall of Faces. Arya really does have a thing for eyes…

“King of the Narrow Sea”
This pompous suitor from House Bracken didn’t have a lot of screen time, but it was enough to make us instantly hate him. Jerrel is at Storm’s End, hoping to wed the touring Rhaenyra Targaryen. He mocks his young rival, Willem Blackwood - amusing Rhaenyra. But, like most people on his ilk, Jerrel probably wasn’t betting on his target fighting back. Little Willem unsheathes his sword and challenges Jerrel to a duel - which he wins, stabbing Bracken in the guts. We were definitely rooting for Willem here, although we didn’t quite expect that outcome.

“Valar Morghulis”
Basically the Qarth equivalent of Littlefinger, Xaro Xhoan Daxos is an ambitious man concerned with little more than his own personal power. And if gaining power means manipulation, betrayal, and murder, then so be it. He hopes to use Daenerys to usurp the Thirteen and become the King of Qarth. His mistake lies in stealing her dragons. Needless to say, the Targaryen doesn’t appreciate that very much, and after retrieving her babies, she storms Xaro’s house and locks him inside an empty vault. It’s a wonderfully symbolic death - the duplicitous Xaro dying inside of his own lie.

“And Now His Watch Is Ended”
The “Game of Thrones” universe is rife with incest, and Craster is one of its biggest practitioners. A member of the Free Folk, Craster is known far and wide for marrying his own daughters and fathering more daughters with them. When they birth boys, Craster sacrifices his sons to the White Walkers, having long conceded defeat and hoping to ally himself to their cause. So when Night’s Watchman Karl Tanner stabs Craster through the chin, we can’t say that we’re surprised - even if Karl was just after Craster’s winter stockpiles. Frankly, it was only a matter of time before someone snapped.

“The Queen’s Justice”
Children are meant to be off limits. It’s one of those simple facts of life we all agree on. So while we felt bad for Ellaria Sand after her lover Oberyn was killed, our sympathy flew out the window once she murdered both Myrcella Baratheon and Trystane Martell. Hellbent on revenge, Ellaria even kills Oberyn’s older brother Doran, usurping power in Dorne. She’s eventually captured alongside her daughter Tyene by Euron Greyjoy and sent to Cersei, the Queen enacting an admittedly cruel act of revenge on the woman who killed her daughter. You don’t mess with a mama bear - especially if that mama bear is Cersei Lannister.

“The Winds of Winter”
Here’s another character who underestimated Cersei Lannister. As the smallfolk suffer during the War of the Five Kings, the High Sparrow emerges as a powerful religious leader. While compassionate towards the smallfolk, he’s also fanatical and cunning, reestablishing the dormant Faith Militant and ruling King’s Landing with an iron fist. But after he imprisons and humiliates the Queen Mother, well … you can only get one over on Cersei for so long. Set to go on trial in the Great Sept of Baelor, she instead uses the opportunity to ignite a cache of wildfire underneath the church, killing the High Sparrow and his followers. And he got off lucky - unlike Septa Unella, whom Cersei imprisons in the dungeons.

“Mother’s Mercy”
Now, we have to admit that Stannis has a point. He is, after all, the rightful King, as Robert’s children are not his own. He just goes about everything the wrong way, like having his younger brother Renly assassinated and burning his own child alive. Of course, he ends up reaping what he sowed. Much of his army deserts him after he burns Shireen, and then he naively storms Winterfell anyway. It’s no surprise that he’s handedly defeated by the Boltons. Ultimately, Stannis is executed by Brienne, who’s seeking revenge for the death of Renly. Sorry buddy, but you deserved everything that came to you.

“Second of His Name”
Known as the Crabfeeder to his enemies, Craghas Drahar is the self-styled prince-admiral of the Triarchy, an alliance of Free Cities over in Essos. He gets the attention of Westeros when he blockades sea lanes in the Stepstones, plundering Westerosi ships and feeding their crews to the crabs. You know, it’s not often that we side with Daemon, but in this case, we just can’t help ourselves. The Targaryen prince storms the island of Bloodstone, with the help of Laenor Velaryon astride Seasmoke, and pursues the Crabfeeder into a cave. He then does his business with Dark Sister, and the results are grotesque. Still, the guy deserved it…

“The Bells”
Whether you know him as Ser Gregor, The Mountain or essentially just a massive undead husk, Gregor Clegane was quite the brutal character. He was responsible for killing some of our favorite characters. Not only that, but he tormented his brother Sandor in their youth, a character we grew to appreciate as time drew on. As the series wound down to a close, we knew Cleganebowl was coming, and in the penultimate episode, Sandor finally confronts his zombified brother. On the steps of the crumbling Red Keep, the two have a rough-and-tumble brawl for the ages. With Gregor proving extremely difficult to kill, Sandor makes sure they both go out in a blaze of glory. Let’s just hope Gregor is actually dead for good.

“And Now His Watch Is Ended”
You may not know this slave-trader by name, but we guarantee you, you know his death. Operating in Astapor, Kraznys mo Nakloz was one of the most arrogant, disrespectful people in the known world, as if his profession wasn’t bad enough. Over the course of three episodes, Kraznys negotiates with Daenerys Targaryen over the sale of his Unsullied army. Believing her to not speak Valyrian, Kraznys insults Daenerys to no end with his misogynistic tongue. Eventually, Daenerys agrees to trade Drogon for the Unsullied. However, Daenerys not only reveals she can speak Valyrian, but has Drogon roast the trader on the spot before taking the army for herself. Let it be learned: this is what happens when you piss off the Queen of Dragons.

“Oathbreaker”
To be fair, Alliser Thorne and Olly are not the only ones who get punished for their crimes, but they’re the two who drew our ire the most, for very different reasons. Alliser, for his part, was always a crotchety old cow, constantly a thorn in everyone’s sides. Olly on the other hand is a character who should’ve had a better head on his shoulders, but ultimately got pulled astray. In the Season 5 finale, several men of the Night’s Watch ambush their Lord Commander Jon Snow for his controversial leadership decisions and do him in “for the Watch.” Thankfully, Jon comes back to life, and makes sure his first order of business is returning the favor. They knew what the punishment for treason was…

“Rhaenyra the Cruel”
We’ve seen our share of despicable villains throughout the franchise, but few stoop so low as Blood and Cheese. Blood is a gold cloak in the City Watch and Cheese a local ratcatcher, both of whom are hired by Daemon to kill Aemond Targaryen. Unable to find him in the Red Keep, they settle for young Jaehaerys. This is one of the most haunting scenes in either show, maybe even in the history of television, as the two psychopaths commit the unspeakable. Both are eventually killed by Aegon in retaliation, and we have to say, we don’t feel the least bit bad about it.

“The Lion and the Rose”
For a little over three seasons, no “Game of Thrones” character infuriated us quite like Joffrey Baratheon. While he started off as nothing but a brat, everything was exacerbated when he inherited the Throne. He constantly took to sadistically tormenting those beneath him, and even needlessly had killed ostensible series lead Ned Stark. Honestly, his comeuppance probably could’ve come a whole lot sooner, but boy was it gratifying when it did. During the wedding feast for his union to Margaery Tyrell, Joffrey is poisoned and starts convulsing in front of everyone. It’s not long before the Boy King’s face turns different colors and he takes his last breath. So that’s why it’s called the Purple Wedding.

“The Winds of Winter”
Speaking of horrifying weddings, Walder Frey executed perhaps the most grisly ambush in “Game of Thrones” history. At the union between Edmure Tully and one of his many daughters, Walder capped off the night by having slain Robb and Catelyn Stark, in addition to the former’s pregnant wife Talisa. This monster had to go, and thankfully his time came a few seasons later. Arya Stark, disguising herself as one of his serving girls, has Walder inadvertently consume his murderous sons she’s baked into a pie. Arya then reveals herself, making sure the elder Frey knows what comes around goes around. She then swiftly avenges her fallen mother and brother with one swift blade.

“Mockingbird”
When you have a character who callously has people thrown out a “Moon Door” to their precipitous demises, you gotta know that character’s going out the same way. Throughout her life, Lysa grew up in envy of her sister Catelyn, particularly with how the latter earned the affections of their companion Petyr Baelish, also known as Littlefinger. Lysa eventually grew to be a spiteful and callous woman, even when fate would seemingly bring her and Littlefinger together. At one point, she threatens to throw Sansa Stark out the Moon Door for something she didn’t do. Littlefinger, wretch though he is, too, cajoles Lysa before sending her to the very fate she doomed so many others to.

“A Golden Crown”
The Third of His Name - not to mention the Worst of His Name - Viserys Targaryen sought to reclaim the Iron Throne. Sure, a lot of people on “Game of Thrones” do, but few do it with quite as much indignation and disrespect for the people helping him. Indeed, with them coming from the same background, Daenerys should be his greatest ally. But Viserys only sees her as a pawn to be used to trade up for power. Viserys gives away Daenerys’s hand in marriage to Khal Drogo in exchange for an army, but he doesn’t count on them falling in love. When Viserys grows impatient, Drogo makes sure he gets his crown right then and there in the form of molten gold.

“The Dragon and the Wolf”
Having plotted and schemed for his entire life, Littlefinger had more coming to him than anyone. Seriously, even though Littlefinger’s reach exceeds his grasp, he essentially instigates a great portion of the show’s events, and by proxy, a great amount of misery. By orchestrating the murder of Jon Arryn, Littlefinger had a great ripple effect on Westeros. But thankfully, that ripple turned into a tsunami, and eventually swallowed him whole. After manipulating Sansa and Arya against each other, Littlefinger learns they were in turn manipulating him. Littlefinger finally loses at his own game, his many atrocities are brought to light before the vengeful daughters of the woman he loved see to his downfall.

“The Children”
Though we admire Tywin’s political savvy and no-nonsense nature, he’s still a real son of a bitch. Much like Gregor Clegane, Tywin meets his end at the hands of a family member he severely mistreated. Indeed, he all but disowned his son Tyrion simply for being a dwarf. After Tyrion is wrongfully put on trial for Joffrey’s murder, he’s released by the only relative who’s ever shown compassion to him, Jaime. Tyrion then seizes the opportunity to get back at his oppressors, starting with his former flame Shae whom Tywin turned against him. Then, catching Tywin in a compromising position, Tyrion makes sure his father pays for his insolence. The sins of the father came back to bite him.

“Battle of the Bastards”
Seriously, is there a more despised character on “Game of Thrones?” Though born a bastard and into a low station in life, Ramsay deserved none of it due to his sadistic and cruel ways. Sure, he put an end to his father, Roose Bolton, another character who had it coming, but Ramsay’s crimes against humanity have no parallel. He does unspeakable things to numerous characters, including feeding people to his pack of dogs. In a true display of karmic justice, Ramsay is captured and detained following the Battle of the Bastards. His unwilling wife Sansa makes sure he pays dearly, letting loose on him the very hounds he used to bring about so much death.


Which death did you find the most satisfying? Let us know in the comments below!