Top 20 Times Game of Thrones Went Too Far
#20: The Death of Rickon
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“Battle of the Bastards” You could probably count the number of lines Rickon Stark says during the entire show on one hand. The youngest Stark child just doesn’t have a lot going on. He’s absent from the show for several years, and unfortunately, when he does return, it’s as a captive of Ramsay Bolton. Jon and Sansa go to war over their brother’s captivity. Tragically, and naturally, Ramsay shoots Rickon with an arrow through the heart after he’s released towards the opposing army. Granted, Rickon’s presence in the books isn’t that much bigger, but he does have a subplot brewing involving Davos, of all people, and it’s a shame the show couldn’t bring it to life.
#19: Ramsay Feeds His Stepmother & Brother to Dogs
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“Home” When it comes to upsetting moments, Ramsay Bolton is going to make our list several times. While this bastard gets legitimized by his equally terrible dad, Ramsay still feels threatened when his new stepmother, Walda, has a son. After killing his father, Ramsay decides to pay her a visit. Him holding his infant brother is enough to make anyone’s skin crawl, but he proceeds to lure Walda into the dog kennel. Walda realizes what’s going on and offers to leave, but Ramsay still releases his hounds to attack her and the baby while he watches. It’s not the first death of a child in the show, but it’s easily the most upsetting.
#18: Ser Rodrik’s Beheading
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“The Old Gods and the New” Theon Greyjoy’s betrayal of the Starks is upsetting for everyone involved. Ned Stark’s ward draws most of Winterfell’s forces, led by Ser Rodrik Cassel, away and takes the fortress. After Rodrik is brought back, he spits in the face of the traitorous Theon. When Theon’s men insist he kill Rodrik, Theon reluctantly does so. While Bran’s pleading for Theon to stop makes the scene traumatic enough, what’s worse is that Theon botches the beheading. Although we don’t see the act in detail, the fact that he has to hack away at a man’s neck and then kick his head off the rest of the way is disturbing enough in concept.
#17: The Death of the Night King
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“The Long Night” While “Game of Thrones” lacks an overall antagonist, many would argue that the Night King is the closest we get. The leader of the White Walkers proves terrifying, like a force of nature personified. Even in his final outing, he shrugs off dragon fire like it’s nothing! When he’s faced with Bran Stark and all hope seems lost, Arya comes leaping out of the darkness with her famous dagger drawn. The Night King stops her, but she drops the blade into her other hand and sticks him with it, killing him and all the White Walkers in a single blow. It’s a neat move, but ultimately, many found it unsatisfying after years of build-up for such a huge antagonist to die in the blink of an eye.
#16: Peeling the Greyscale
“Stormborn” Jorah Mormont has a rough go of things. As if having unrequited feelings for a queen isn’t enough, he also contracts greyscale; a nasty magical disease that gradually turns the infected to stone. Luckily for Jorah, he goes to Oldtown, where Samwell Tarly is studying to be a Maester. Sam decides to attempt a procedure that will cure Jorah’s greyscale. The only problem is that it’s incredibly painful, risky, and, frankly, gross. It involves removing the top layer of stony skin, and while we don’t see much of it, what we do see is enough to make us avoid this episode when we’re eating.
#15: Jaime Leaving Brienne
“The Last of the Starks” Jaime Lannister’s most defining relationships are arguably with his sister, Cersei, and with Brienne of Tarth. After the battle with the Night King, he and Brienne finally get together. Unfortunately, their pairing is all too brief. When Jaime hears that Daenerys is unlikely to spare his sister, he decides to rush to her aide in King’s Landing. His departure from Winterfell sees him play the heel and break Brienne’s heart. Even if you don’t think that’s out of character, it’s still awful to see her so upset. But at least the payoff was worth it. RIGHT?!
#14: Joffrey Tortures Ros & Daisy
“Garden of Bones” When the showrunners of “Game of Thrones” adapted the material to the screen, they sometimes added new scenes. Some of them were welcome and improved the source material. This one was not. In an effort to get his monstrous nephew to chill out, Tyrion sends Joffrey Ros and Daisy, two prostitutes. For most teenage boys, this would be a dream come true. But, because Joffrey is a deranged monster, he instead forces Ros to abuse Daisy, possibly to death. Fans already knew Joffrey was one of the vilest characters in history, so this scene just felt like overkill.
#13: Cersei Torments Ellaria & Tyene
“The Queen’s Justice” If Joffrey is the apple, then Cersei’s the tree. Upon the capture of Ellaria and Tyene Sand, who were responsible for the death of Cersei’s daughter Myrcella, she takes great pleasure in her revenge. Chaining them up beneath the Red Keep, she gives Tyene a poisoned kiss, just as Ellaria did to Myrcella. Cersei goes into explicit detail, claiming that she will force Ellaria to watch as her daughter’s body rots in front of her, not even allowing her to die to escape it. Although not as graphic as some moments, the image Cersei paints is profoundly disturbing.
#12: Robin Breastfeeding
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“The Wolf and the Lion” After taking Tyrion as her captive, Lady Catelyn Stark seeks shelter at the Eyrie, home of her sister Lysa Arryn. The Lady of the great house greets her guests in the audience room of the castle alongside her son Robin … who is actively breastfeeding despite being WAY too old for it. The look on everyone's faces says it all. Not only is it cringe-worthy enough to make audiences feel like throwing themselves out the Moon Door, we’re pretty sure that’s edging into abuse territory. Fortunately, a prosthetic boob was used for the scene. Still, a wicked gross way to demonstrate that this lady is one raven short of a roost.
#11: The Mountain Kills His Horse
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“The Wolf and the Lion” A commonly used method for giving a character official “Bad Guy” status is to demonstrate their negative attitude towards animals. This is generally done with a simple dislike of dogs (or some other villainous spurn), but when you’re talking about Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane, everything is over the top. In the ultimate rage-quit, after losing a joust to Ser Loras Tyrell, he kills his mount with a blow from his great-sword. Poor horse! The disturbing death and poor sportsmanship is something of a buzzkill for the joust spectators. Of course, it wouldn’t be the last shocking death at the hands of The Mountain.
#10: Cersei, Jaime & Pushing Bran Out the Window
“Winter Is Coming” The very first episode had a lot of characters to establish, and it did a fantastic job of highlighting personalities while setting the tone for the coming season. We first see Bran as a curious and adventurous little boy – really, too curious for his own good. After climbing up an abandoned tower at Winterfell, he comes across a startling scene: The queen and her twin brother making the beast with two backs. Jaime stops him from running off and decides to resolve the matter by pushing the boy out the window. The surprising scene set up the “no one is safe” theme that the show became famous for. Fortunately, Bran survives, but ew Lannisters. Ew.
#9: Oberyn Martell’s Death
“The Mountain and the Viper” By season four, audiences were starting to feel like they’d seen it all. The hardened viewers had watched their favorite characters die off (or just disappear); endured scenes of torture and betrayal; breathlessly and patiently awaited the Army of the Dead – and then this happened. Even those who had read the scene in the book and knew what was coming were shocked by the graphic nature of the moment. Ellaria Sand’s scream was all of us, to be honest. We knew not to get too attached to any one character, but seriously, this is audience abuse.
#8: Missandei’s Death
“The Last of the Starks” Missandei is one of Daenerys’s closest advisors and friends. So when she’s captured, Daenerys, as well as her lover Grey Worm, are quite upset. During the ensuing standoff at King’s Landing, Missandei is displayed atop the wall. Despite Tyrion’s best efforts to talk Cersei down, Cersei ultimately decides to have Missandei executed in front of the two people who love her most – one of whom has a dragon. Missandei’s final word, dracarys, proves to be the last word on King’s Landing. But more on that soon. What made the scene too much was the gratuitous nature of the death, as well as the fact that the show reduced one of its most prominent and enduring side characters to a cheap plot device.
#7: Cersei’s Walk of Atonement
“Mother’s Mercy” Ruthless, manipulative, and ambitious though she is, Cersei’s motivation is her family and she will do anything for her children. When she is unable to control the monster she created in the High Sparrow, she is charged with high treason, fornication, and incest (among other things). As atonement, she is forced to walk naked and dirty, head shaved, back to the Red Keep, pelted with garbage and curses all the way. Considering that her charges were actually no worse than things most other characters in the show have done, and she’s the only one to be publicly humiliated for it, it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for the cruel queen.
#6: “Theon’s Torture”
Various Of all the terrible character journeys, Theon has perhaps had it the worst. One could argue that he brought it on himself – betraying Robb, killing innocent children, his clumsy capture of Winterfell and beheading of Ser Rodrik – but seriously, karma... this might be overkill. Over the course of multiple episodes in season three, Theon is brutally tortured. The barbaric scenes do not let up and there is just something so horrible about someone frantically begging for mercy; it’s deeply disturbing. Of course, when you think it can’t get worse, Theon is viciously castrated. Tortured both physically and psychologically, Theon becomes a husk of his former self and audiences were left shaken.
#5: The Red Wedding
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“The Rains of Castamere” Perhaps the most infamous scene in the entire series. After the death of Eddard Stark, it looked like Robb was on-track to avenge his father and take the North back as its own kingdom. Having never lost a battle, the Young Wolf seemed unstoppable, despite making a few little miscalculations along the way. Michelle Fairley’s powerful performance only ratchets up the tension until the final, brutal cut. To this day, the haunting refrain of Rains of Castamere remains the melody of treachery and defeat. The abrupt end to the King in the North storyline shocked fans everywhere, and left viewers wondering upon whom they should pin their hopes on moving forward.
#4: The Fate of Shireen Baratheon
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“The Dance of Dragons” One of the only truly innocent characters in the show, Shireen Baratheon, the only child of Stannis Baratheon, is sweet and kind to everyone she meets. As Stannis’ bid for the Throne continues to falter, Melisandre convinces him that the Lord of Light requires a sacrifice. Brought to the pyre, Shireen dies seeing her mother and father do nothing to save her - despite her heartbreaking pleas for help. Her mother, Selyse, belatedly tries to take it back, but it’s far too late. It is one of the hardest scenes to watch in the entire series, and we were more than happy to see Stannis meet Brienne in the very next episode.
#3: Daenerys Burns King’s Landing
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“The Bells” The final battle against Cersei sees Dany use her dragon to deadly effect, taking down the armies outside the gates and destroying the huge ballistae atop them. However, the plan is that if the city rings the bells to surrender, then she’ll stand down. They ring…and Daenerys decides to burn King’s Landing anyway. Granted, her rage and propensity for violence have always been a part of her character and Missandei’s final words certainly hit her hard. But many fans still felt like Dany’s transition from the “Breaker of Chains” to the “Burner of Children” was far too abrupt to feel natural.
#2: Jaime's Actions Towards Cersei Following Joffrey's Death
“Breaker of Chains” Finally returned to Kings Landing after a long captivity, Jaime finds Cersei in the Great Sept of Baelor mourning the death of their son, Joffrey. His comfort soon turns aggressive as he begins to force intercourse despite Cersei telling him to stop. The scene is even worse when you know that in the book the sex is consensual, meaning the show went out of its way to make it rape. The gratuitous scene caused a huge uproar amongst fans, with showrunners and producers doing some major damage control after the episode aired, claiming it was bad editing and camera work that made it LOOK like the intended consensual sex was assault. Right…
#1: What Happens to Sansa on Her Wedding Night
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“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” It’s been widely noted that Game of Thrones has a problem when it comes to rape and sexual portrayals of women. In a show that is well-cast with many excellent female characters, by season five it was apparent that there was a disproportionate and increasing rate of sexual assaults against them. To throw up hands and say “That’s just the story” is not good enough (or accurate), and audiences finally reached a breaking point with the rape of Sansa Stark. Like the other assault on this list, this part is not in the book, the showrunners literally wrote in an audibly graphic scene for no reason. And then they have the gall for Sansa reflect on it like it made her a better person?! WHAT?!
