Since its first season, HBO’s Game of Thrones has acquired a reputation for being a show on which no one is safe. Based on the wildly popular, but as of yet unfinished, A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin, the series doesn’t shy away from the graphic realities of its quasi medieval society, nor the violence associated with a complex war that rages on and on between families and societies.
It’s almost impossible to keep track of the number of casualties the show has seen over its near eight season tenure. But what is easy to keep track of is the losses of major characters that have meant the most, and the exits of other major characters that have made relatively no impact at all.
Some characters’ abrupt departures have arguably hurt the show in the long run, while others were barely worth the screentime they took to depict. Here we take a look at the five losses that hurt Game of Thrones the most, and the five that really amounted to nothing.
Hurt: Ned Stark
One of the first major losses to occur in the series was the tragic death of Sean Bean’s Stark family patriarch, Ned Stark. In the ninth episode of the first season, Ned was executed as a result of charges of treason laid against him by King Joffrey I Baratheon and Queen Regent Cersei Lannister.
The loss of Ned from the overall story certainly had a sizable ripple effect on the remainder of the series. Untethered by the loss of their leader, the Stark family became all the more disparately distributed, and underwent significant emotional journeys independently of their family unit. But Ned’s loss also meant we were forced to endure Joffrey’s reign of terror as king, and also belabored the reveal of Jon’s heritage for far too many years.
Couldn’t Care Less: Robert Baratheon
It’s almost odd to say this, but the death of King Robert I Baratheon - although conceptually significant for the progression of the Game of Thrones story - made little to no impact on the characters, or the audience. Robert’s supporters within the world of Westeros were quite dismally low. Simply put, he was a terrible king, who squandered money and spent his time as ruler sleeping with women and drinking himself senseless.
It was certainly significant for Robert to die: without his murder, orchestrated by the Lannisters, there would be no way for Joffrey to ascend to the throne, and the Lannisters to become even more powerful players than they already were. But Robert was already a truly ineffectual leader as it was - more brutish boar than king. His death was merely a means to an end.
Hurt: Hodor
Who would ever have thought that the simple phrase “hold the door” could elicit so many tears? When viewers first met the sweet giant Hodor in the series’ first season, relatively little was known about him, and why it was that he only uttered the simple non-word Hodor. But through heartbreaking flashbacks, and Bran’s warging visions, the tragedy of Hodor’s life and heroism was ultimately revealed.
The loss of the kindhearted giant certainly made for one of the series’ most emotionally devastating episodes. But Hodor’s loss also led to a real decline in the series’ handling of Bran’s character. After Bran is brought to safety by Meera Reed, he is forever changed, becoming one and the same with the Three-Eyed Raven. Meera herself tells him that he died in the cave where Hodor sacrificed himself. With Hodor’s loss, the series lost Bran, too.
Couldn’t Care Less: Margaery Tyrell
From her introduction in the series, it was clear that Margaery Tyrell was someone who aspired to be a powerful political player, but never really had any of the necessary skills or talents to get that role for herself. Margaery’s entire arc is defined by her need to marry into power, as she fancies herself a skilled political genius, and wants to ensure financial security and political power for the Tyrell line.
It’s a shame, then, that her character is totally ineffectual. Whether romancing tweens, both evil and hapless; joining kingdom wide cults; or exchanging barbs with the far more skilled and dangerous Cersei, Margaery is a wasted character - and a waste of Natalie Dormer’s talents. Her death in the wildfire explosion at the Sept of Baelor, therefore, amounts to essentially nothing at all.
Hurt: Petyr Baelish
The man often known as Littlefinger is usually hardly at the top of anyone’s favorite characters list. But from the very beginning of the series - and truly even before it ever began at all - Petyr Baelish has been the driving factor behind the entire game of thrones itself. Responsible for the murder of Jon Arryn, Petyr established the need for a new Hand of the King in King’s Landing, planted seeds of doubt within the minds of the Lannisters, ensnared the Starks in various wicked plots, and much more.
Petyr was the series’ true master manipulator. While other characters are certainly manipulators in their own right, including Cersei and Tyrion and Daenerys, Petyr was always four steps ahead of everyone else - until the plot dictated he wasn’t, in one of the most predictable and sloppiest bits of writing in the post-ASOIAF canon episodes to date. Season eight has been strong so far, but there’s no denying the lack of a Machiavellian manipulator lurking in the shadows has lessened the political stakes.
Couldn’t Care Less: Lysa Arryn
Few characters have been depicted as truly mad from the very beginning of their tenure on the series. Lysa Arryn, formerly Lysa Tully, is one of those few characters who has been given that unenviable distinction. In her tense confrontations with estranged sister Catelyn, or in her moments of breast feeding her much too old son Robin, or in her supremely uncomfortable moments of flirtation with Littlefinger, Lysa is about as loathsome as they get.
And all of that comes before she attempts to murder her 17-year-old niece on the suspicion that she is engaging in an affair with her new husband. When Petyr quickly turns the tables on Lysa, and pushes her through the moon door in the floor of the Eyrie’s High Hall, it’s hardly a moment of loss for the series - or anyone in it - at all.
Hurt: Shireen Baratheon
In a world as dark and dismal as the world of Westeros, the few glimpses of light and genuine good that come along are very few and far between. The sweet, adorable young Shireen Baratheon was arguably one of the brightest lights that ever shone in the series. Scarred with greyscale from birth, Shireen was the daughter of Stannis Baratheon, forced to live in solitude and outside of the public view due to her appearance. Despite her life of forced secrecy, Shireen formed one of the series’ most heartwarming relationships with Ser Davos Seaworth, even teaching the Onion Knight how to read.
But Shireen’s life would come to a sudden and all too tragic end when she was sacrificed at the stake by the mad Melisandre as an offering to the Lord of Light. Shireen’s death would cause her mother to commit suicide as well. The moment exposed a real ugly side of the series, which had previously not shown very many such scenes including children.
Couldn’t Care Less: The Sand Snakes
Sometimes, a series decides to introduce characters who truly add absolutely nothing of importance at all. Sometimes, a series doubles down on such introductions by having these characters around for season after season after grueling, intensive season. The Sand Snakes of Dorne, best known as Ellaria Sand’s minions, are Game of Thrones’ clearest mistake in this category. Brutal assassins, the characters were introduced as Ellaria sought vengeance for the murder of her lover, Oberyn Martell.
But not once were these characters made to appear worth rooting for, or investing in, or - frankly - even paying attention to. Never explored individually, and always thought of as a unit, the Sand Snakes added a grand total of nothing to the series. Their ungraceful exits from it, therefore, changed absolutely nothing at all.
Hurt: Catelyn Stark
Lord Eddard Stark may have been the patriarch of the Stark family, but it was the fierce matriarch in Lady Catelyn Stark, formerly Catelyn Tully, that kept the Stark family strong in the years both before and after his demise. A true mother wolf of the North, Catelyn was one of the fiercest female characters in all of the series, even if she had some of the least battle preparation of them all. A truly gifted mind in planning, negotiation, and matters of the heart, Catelyn was only ever undone by her love for her children and her hopeful demeanor of trying to trust people.
In many ways, Catelyn may have seemed too soft to last in the harsh world of Westeros. But time and again, she showed that she had what it took to brave even the harshest of winters and the longest of nights. Her callous murder at the Red Wedding marked a true emotional low point for the series - and a storytelling loss it struggled to recover from for quite some time.
Couldn’t Care Less: Daario Naharis
Few characters have been shown to be as loathsome and arrogant as Daario Naharis - regardless of whichever face he may have been wearing at the time. Somehow, audiences were expected to root for the callous commander of the Stormcrows. Even worse, viewers were expected to root for his romantic success with Daenerys Targaryen for seasons upon end.
Daario’s tenure on the series mostly consisted of problems of his own making, confrontations with and belittling of more advanced and gifted minds, and the degradation of Dany’s character. He convinced her to take part in some of the worst decisions she ever made, such as reopening the fighting pits in Slaver’s Bay. He was a thorn in the side of Daenerys’ development, and the series as a whole. His unceremonious departure didn’t hurt the series in any way. It only improved it.
