Game Of Thrones' Shocking Moments

In a season full of despicable people, Viserys Targaryen was almost certainly one of the worst. Not only did he sell his own underage sister to a barbarian horselord, but he treats her like garbage afterward. It wasn’t really a surprise that Viserys got what was coming to him at the hands of his brother-in-law Drogo, but it certainly was shocking how it all went down.

After suffering no small amount of embarrassment, Viserys had enough of waiting and wanted to demand that Drogo sail to Westeros and reclaim he Iron Throne for him. But when he interrupted a feast in the holy Dothraki city of Vaes Dothrak, he went too far, prompting Drogo to give Viserys the golden crown he wanted so badly... by dumping molten gold on Viserys’ spiteful, insolent head, a clever work around of Vaes Dothrak’s prohibition against drawing blood within the city.

In Game of Thrones, Lord Eddard Stark is depicted as a patient, principled, thoughtful, if a bit severe, man. When he decides to make his play against the new king Joffrey Baratheon and his regent Cersei, he first makes sure that he has the proper backing to walk into that particular lion’s den. Unfortunately for him, there’s really no trusting anyone within King’s Landing.

With the help of Lord Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish, Stark hoped to have the backing of the city guard, but when Cersei demanded he be arrested, instead of coming to his aid, the guard turned their swords against him. Most shocking of all, however, was that Baelish himself, who had previously pledged loyalty to Stark’s wife, snuck up behind Ned to put a knife against his rival’s throat with his own hands.

Even though I knew it was coming since before the first episode even began, I still found it shocking when Joffrey ordered Lord Eddard Stark executed, completely disregarding what amounted to a medieval plea bargain. The scene itself was chilling, as Ned’s daughter Sansa witnessed the entire thing from mere steps away and his daughter Arya was forced to look away by a well-meaning member of the Night’s Watch.

What made Ned’s beheading extra shocking, however, was that the Lord of Winterfell had served as such a crucial part of the entire series, and that Sean Bean was easily the show’s most recognizable name and face. It was ballsy of Martin to kill off his first book’s most central character, but it was even more ballsy of HBO to follow through with the plan, in a move that made many viewers more than a little unhappy.

As shocking as the initial episode of Game of Thrones was, the first season finale was even more jaw dropping, largely due to what went down with Daenerys Targaryen across the Narrow Sea. When she was last seen, Dany was going into labor as a witch used blood magic to try and save the life of Khal Drogo. When Dany awakens, her entire world has changed, as she has been abandoned by much of the khalasar, her child revealed to be stillborn and her husband having become little more than a vegetable.

As Westeros was embroiled in political machinations, Dany’s story pointed toward an impending Targaryen return, likely with a horde of “Dothraki screamers.” Thanks to the final episode of Game of Thrones’ first season, however, that’s no longer likely or even possible, as Dany is utterly alone in a foreign land. This, like the death of Ned Stark, is a great example of how Martin is unafraid to change gears and toy with the audience’s expectations, by quite literally killing off his creations.