TV Valar morghulis: 20 Game of Thrones stars look back on their character deaths By Nick Romano Nick Romano Nick is an entertainment journalist based in New York, NY. If you like pugs and the occasional blurry photo of an action figure, follow him on Twitter @NickARomano. EW's editorial guidelines Updated on May 20, 2019 08:52AM EDT Close 01 of 21 Dearly departed Helen Sloan/HBO(3) Yes, all men must die, but did they all have to die so soon? As Game of Thrones nears its epic conclusion, we catch up with some of the most notable losses from the series. (Spoilers abound, obviously.) This article was originally published April 1, 2019, and most recently updated May 20. 02 of 21 Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 1, episode 6 HOW HE DIED: His sister's Dothraki husband gave him the crown he always wanted by pouring molten gold on his head. ON DROGO'S GENEROUS POUR: "I talked to some doctor friend about what would kill you. 'Would it be the gold penetrating the skull? Cutting off the brain? What would actually be the thing that kills you?' And I was thinking about how to play that. In the end, when it happens, I just screamed." 03 of 21 Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 1, episode 10 HOW HE DIED: Smothered by Daenerys after she learned he would not recover from a vegetative state. ON GETTING COMATOSE: "I had to die, like, four different ways: He was in a coma, then it got worse, then the actual death. I was with my wife and was like, 'I've never died before.' I have to do all these different looks to see this sickness get worse and worse. I showed my wife, 'What do you think about this, honey?' I did the face and she goes, 'Don't do that face!' But I did the face and it was f—ing great!" 04 of 21 Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean) HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 1, episode 9 HOW HE DIED: Publicly executed after finding out too much about King Joffrey. ON NED'S FINAL MOMENTS: "With things like that there's a sort of gallows humor to it. It's awful what's happening, and you start giggling and laughing. When the head fell off, there were mistakes. It didn't quite work out sometimes. It was quite comic. So it breaks the ice a bit." 05 of 21 Ros (Esmé Bianco) HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 3, episode 6 HOW SHE DIED: As revenge for Ros allying with Varys, Littlefinger handed her over to Joffrey for a "fresh experience." ON PLAYING DEAD: "They created these spikes coming out of the various places where the crossbows had entered me... I found it remarkably graphic and emotional. There was one arrow that went into my stomach, and every time I looked down and saw this thing sticking out of me and the blood, I said, 'Oh, I'm gonna throw up.'" 06 of 21 Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 3, episode 9 HOW SHE DIED: Throat slit after watching the Freys slaughter her son, Rob Stark, and pregnant daughter-in-law Talisa Stark, at the Red Wedding. ON HER IMPENDING DOOM: "We were very fortunate—we had a week to shoot the whole wedding sequence and did it chronologically as well. So every day we edged closer to the slaughter. By the end of the week, you were getting emotional. You know it's coming and it's calm and it's a wedding, but as the week progresses you're nervous and you have to remain concentrated. But you have to remain [looking] fooled as well." —Reporting by James Hibberd 07 of 21 Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 4, episode 8 HOW HE DIED: An eye-popping blow from his archenemy, Gregor Clegane, in a trial by combat. ON LOSING TO THE MOUNTAIN: "It was a gut punch. I remember just telling [showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff], 'You guys are so perverse.… This is going to really f— up my family when they see it.' I experienced the visceral sorrow of my character's end early, so that by the time we were shooting it, I was just cackling over seeing my face get squished." —Reporting by Devan Coggan 08 of 21 Ygritte (Rose Leslie) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 4, episode 9 HOW SHE DIED: Shot in the back during the battle at Castle Black. WHAT YGRITTE WOULD THINK OF DAENERYS: "There had to be a crescendo moment with Jon Snow and Ygritte. He had to go on as a lone soldier, and I think the relationship would've been too much of a hindrance.… I think she'd be in utter awe [of Dany]. How wonderful to meet anybody with dragons." 09 of 21 Shae (Sibel Kekilli) Neil Davidson/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 4, episode 10 HOW SHE DIED: Tyrion strangled his lover after he found her in his father's bed, less than a day after she testified against him in court. ON SHAE'S BETRAYAL: "People are still asking me, 'Did Shae love [Tyrion] really?' I'm like, 'Of course!' This guy betrayed me, this guy is married to another woman, I was her handmaiden. What should I do? Him saying to Shae, 'You whore,' he said that to protect her, but at that moment it was too much for her. She couldn't think clearly." 10 of 21 Shireen Baratheon (Kerry Ingram) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 5, episode 9 HOW SHE DIED: Burned alive by her father's Red Priestess to bring good fortune to their army. It didn't work out. ON FILMING WITH FIRE: "I remember the fire getting a little close at one point for my liking. They did a close-up and were like, 'That was really good.' I was like, 'That [fear] was real!' It was fine. All the safety precautions were there, but from my angle it looked like it was getting a lot closer than I wanted." 11 of 21 Hodor (Kristian Nairn) HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 6, episode 5 HOW HE DIED: In a time-rippling fight against invading White Walkers, Meera said, "Hold the door!" so Hodor held the door. ON HOLDING THAT DOOR: "At one stage I think there were nine people behind the door trying to stop me from getting through. I'm a pretty strong guy, and the entire set was moving and I was inching forward as I was slamming against the door. It was both physically and emotionally intense." 12 of 21 Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 6, episode 9 HOW HE DIED: Eaten by his own starved dogs after the Battle of the Bastards. ON FAN REACTIONS: "I think, secretly, people did like Ramsay, or they loved to hate him. There's something about him which is different than Joffrey. Ramsay was kind of funny, and I think maybe that helps me in the real world. But I think people know that I'm an actor. If anybody comes up to me, they say, 'Oh, God, you're terrible,' 'I hate you,' or whatever, but I don't get shouted at." 13 of 21 Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) WHEN SHE DIED: Season 6, episode 10 HOW SHE DIED: Cersei blew up the Sept of Baelor—and everyone in it—with wildfire. ON GOING OUT WITH A BANG: "It was such an epic exit. I was always suspicious that the Tyrells weren't gonna make it to the end.… There was that moment of knowing before the explosion when Margaery, she knew. She wasn't a casualty of her own incompetence. The reason Cersei won is not really because Margaery lost, it was because of the High Sparrow." 14 of 21 Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 7, episode 3 HOW SHE DIED: Drinking poison from Jaime Lannister after the invasion of Highgarden. ON HER FAMOUS LAST WORDS: "It seemed to me to be absolutely right. I had been kept alive much longer than in the book, for example, and sooner or later it was obvious she was going to have to go.… It's in the nature of this series, isn't it? That people are dispensed with quite often." 15 of 21 Melisandre (Carice van Houten) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 8, episode 3 HOW SHE DIED: As the sun rose on the North the morning after the Battle of Winterfell, the Red Woman took off the necklace housing her youth-preserving magic and walked toward the horizon until she fell dead. ON HER LAST STROLL: "I was a bit emotional. I really like that we finally know what she came for, and it's the end of her journey. 'I can go now, my work is done'—without it being really dramatic. It's a life that's been hundreds of years that's come to an end now." —Reporting by James Hibberd 16 of 21 Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 8, episode 3 HOW HE DIED: Protecting his queen, Daenerys, from the never-ending onslaught of White Walkers. ON WHAT DANY WHISPERED IN HIS EAR AT THE FUNERAL: "It's something entirely sincere and true to the moment and something that I'll never forget.… I'll always cherish it because it's something no one will ever know but the two of us. And that's a memory to hold onto." —Reporting by James Hibberd 17 of 21 The Night King (Vladimir Furdik) The Night King in 'Game of Thrones'. HBO WHEN HE DIED: Season 8, episode 3 HOW HE DIED: Arya Stark once again said "not today" to the God of Death, and she meant it, especially as she drove her Valyrian steel blade into the gut of the Night King. MAISIE WILLIAMS ON DEFEATING DEATH: "It was so unbelievably exciting. But I immediately thought that everybody would hate it; that Arya doesn't deserve it. The hardest thing is in any series is when you build up a villain that's so impossible to defeat and then you defeat them. It has to be intelligently done because otherwise people are like, 'Well, [the villain] couldn't have been that bad when some 100-pound girl comes in and stabs him.' You gotta make it cool. And then I told my boyfriend and he was like, 'Mmm, should be Jon though really, shouldn't it?'… When we did the whole bit with Melisandre, I realized the whole scene with [the Red Woman] brings it back to everything I've been working for over these past 6 seasons—4 if you think about it since [Arya] got to the House of Black and White." —Reporting by James Hibberd 18 of 21 Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 8, episode 3 HOW SHE DIED: Taking down a zombie giant during the Battle of Winterfell. ON HER GIANT EXIT: "There was one thing [director Miguel Sapochnik] said to me that I don't think I'll ever forget. I wasn't sure if she would be really scared or just a slight bit of scared. We tried it several ways. He said, "It's like someone removed her fear gene." And that was just… yeah, that was a really great bit of direction." —Reporting by James Hibberd 19 of 21 Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) Courtesy of HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 8, episode 4 HOW SHE DIED: Cersei, whose forces captured Missandei when Euron Greyjoy's fleet surprised Daenerys' troupe, threatened to kill the Dragon Queen's friend and advisor if she did not surrender. Dany didn't. You know the rest. ON HER LAST STAND: "I found it heartbreaking for a number of reasons. There's like a cruel inevitability in this show where anybody who finds that happiness is going to have to watch that taken away from them. So I thought either Grey Worm or Missandei, that one would be taken from another. I honestly thought Grey Worm was gone in that episode. And I even had that thought: 'Take me!' She's come through so much sh— that she's had to deal with her life. As soon as it looks like they're about to enjoy it, it all gets snatched away. So I didn't expect it and I had to lay down the script for a bit." —Reporting by James Hibberd 20 of 21 Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) Helen Sloan/HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 8, episode 5 HOW SHE DIED: As Daenerys ordered her dragon to rain fire on King's Landing, Cersei was buried beneath falling rubble along with her brother and lover, Jaime. The twins entered this world together, and they left this world together. ON BEING BURIED WITH HER SOUL MATE: "I think the important thing is that Jaime had a chance at freedom [with Brienne] and finally liberated himself from Cersei, which I think the audience will be thrilled about. I think the biggest surprise is he came back for her. Cersei realizes just how she loves him and just how much he loves her. It's the most authentic connection she's ever had. Ultimately they belong together.… It's maybe the first time that Cersei has been at peace." —Reporting by James Hibberd 21 of 21 Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) HBO WHEN SHE DIED: Season 8, Episode 6 HOW SHE DIED: Stabbed by her lover/nephew Jon Snow after she burned down King's Landing and vowed to send her armies around the world to "free" everyone else. ON FIRST LEARNING DANY'S FATE: "I cried. And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house and took my keys and phone and walked back with blisters on my feet. I didn't come back for five hours. I'm like, 'How am I going to do this?'" Ultimately, Clarke adds, "I stand by Daenerys. I stand by her! I can't not." —Reporting by James Hibberd.