Check out this illustrated guide to every death on Game of Thrones
Valar Morghulis, all men must die. This is the title of an all new, comprehensive and illustrated guide to every death on Game of Thrones created by the folks over at the Washington Post. The guide contains 456 deaths in all, and even includes those disgusting leeches that Melisandre is so fond of…so you know it’s thorough.
“Ned Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, Oberyn Martell — the list of “Game of Thrones” characters goes on and on. But the 456 characters below all have one thing in common: They’re dead.”
Before you go down this extremely elaborate rabbit hole, beware of SPOILERS, especially if you haven’t finished watching all the seasons of Game of Thrones. This list also does not take into account fan theories (sorry Syrio Forel conspiracy theorists), and it includes what in my opinion is a glaringly obvious misstep. Now, without further ado, let us begin.
The guide, while extensive and detailed, is quite simple to follow. Each character is listed with which House of people they identified with, in life, their manner of death, when/where it all ended, and who killed them. Since numbers never lie, Season 4 holds the crown where deaths are concerned.
The Washington Post also tallied the deadliest locations in Game of Thrones. It reads like a “where not to live in Westeros” brochure. Predictably, the number one place for death is King’s Landing. Even compared to Castle Black and that huge Season 4 battle at the Wall, King’s Landing is just not the place to live…or even visit. Although, I imagine that total is a bit bloated thanks to the Battle of the Blackwater.
Oh, if you were wondering who’s the deadliest character on Game of Thrones, Bronn takes the top spot.
Here’s how the Post tabulated their numbers.
A death is counted only if:
The character is killed on-screen.
The character dies off-screen, but the death is confirmed or assumed due to imminent death while on screen. (If injuries are mortal, character is assumed dead, as in the case of Sandor “the Hound” Clegane.)
Only prominent off-screen deaths are listed. (Prominence is determined mainly by importance to the plot.)
Again, I whole-heartedly disagree with The Hound’s inclusion on this list. Yes his wounds were pretty terrible, but we do not know that he died.
Other notes:
The importance level of a character is determined by his/her/its significance to the plot. This is why Lady has a less important rank than Grey Wind, even though they are both Stark direwolves.
For cases in which the character’s appearance isn’t known before his/her death (e.g. if disfigured upon death or unborn), the illustration takes artistic liberties with his/her depiction.
If a character orders the death of another, the character who does the direct killing receives credit, not the one who orders the kill. But for cases in which where the direct killer is unidentifiable, as when Daenaerys Targaryen orders Doreah and Xaro Xhoan Daxos to be sealed into a vault, the order-giver receives credit.
In cases of overlapping weapon types (e.g. magic fireball vs. fire vs. magic), the weapon category is assigned based on the origin. For example, dragonfire is considered an “animal” death and magic fireball is considered a “magic” death.
If a character is mercy-killed, the mercy kill is used to categorize the death, not the injuries leading up to the moment.
This makes sense, as Lady’s overall story is rather non-existent, compared to that of Grey Wind’s. Also, having a dragon fire kill listed as animal helps the user to delineate between fireballs being lobbed by the child of the forest from the final episode of Season 4.
The Washington Post will update this Illustrated Guide (Which you can visit by clicking this link), once the deaths start rolling in during Season 5, which by all accounts should swell that total substantially.
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