Game of Thrones: 5 Characters Who Died Too Soon (& 5 Who Should’ve Died Earlier)

Something people love about Game of Thrones is how it constantly keeps the audience on their toes by reminding them anyone can be killed off at any time. Characters can die at the height of their popularity or in the middle of their arc, all to help provide more realism to the fantasy epic.

Some character deaths enraged fans, while others have seemed like they should have happened much sooner, with the demise of those characters being a cause for celebration. So, out of all the thousands of deaths, here are five Game of Thrones characters who died too soon & 5 who should’ve died earlier.

10 Died Too Soon: Robb

Quite possibly the most devastating death of the series comes in the episode “The Rains of Castamere,” which saw Robb and the members of House Stark traveling to the Twins for his uncle Edmure’s wedding to one of Walder Frey’s daughters. The wedding was originally was supposed to be Robb’s before he disobeyed and got married to Talisa instead.

During the ceremonial feast, fans saw the King of the North get brutally murdered along with his pregnant wife, his mother, and the rest of his banner-men in an ambush by Walder Frey’s men. Robb was one of the few characters that could be considered “good,” so seeing him murdered stung a lot of viewers.

9 Should’ve Died Sooner: Ramsay

Seeing as he’s one of the show’s most dangerous villains, lots of people were happy to see Sansa kill him off and get her revenge by setting Ramsay’s own hounds on him in one of her best moments.

It’s almost unbelievable how one man was able to do so much damage and it’s just as surprising that it took so long for him to be killed, considering that if the character had died a lot sooner, the chaos he was responsible for creating probably would not have occurred, sparing a lot of lives and preventing a bunch of trauma.

8 Died Too Soon: Jorah

The Battle of Winterfell was the most epic battle in the show’s history and saw the death of a bunch of characters, one of the most important being Ser Jorah Mormont.

Jorah was an advisor and friend to Daenerys and helped her in her quest to become queen, so it was fitting that he died defending her from the Night King’s army of the undead. With his cousin Lyanna Mormont dying during the battle as well, it means their house was completely wiped out.

7 Should’ve Died Sooner: Joffrey

While nowhere as terrifying as Ramsay, Joffrey was a character that many found themselves loving to hate, so many were thrilled when he was killed in season 4. The event, which was dubbed The Purple Wedding by fans, occurred during the wedding feast celebrating his marriage to Margaery Tyrell.

After drinking from a poisoned cup of wine, Joffrey collapses and bleeds from his eyes while his face turns purple. It wouldn’t be revealed until before her death that Olenna Tyrell was the one who poisoned Joffrey to protect Margaery from the young man. Most fans, however, weren’t too concerned with who the culprit was, they were just glad someone did it.

6 Died Too Soon: Oberyn

Pedro Pascal’s Oberyn Martell was first introduced in season 4 and despite only appearing in seven episodes, Pascal brings a strong charisma to the character, making him an interesting addition to the show’s already large cast of characters.

Unfortunately, the character’s time on the series was short due to him being killed by the Mountain after deciding to fight on behalf of Tyrion in his trial by combat for the murder of King Joffrey. He could have won the fight had he not been so insistent on demanding that The Mountain admit to the rape of his sister and the murder of her and her children, which resulted in Clegane gaining the upper hand, murdering him, and leaving Tyrion worse off.

5 Should’ve Died Sooner: Cersei

Overall, Cersei Lannister’s death got an easy death when you consider all the chaos she caused during her reign as queen. Both Cersei and her brother/lover, Jaime Lannister, were killed after they were crushed by the falling debris of the Red Keep during Daenerys’ attack on the city.

Although the character deserved to be killed much more horribly than she did and it shouldn’t have happened along with a bunch of innocent lives, it was great to see her face justice.

4 Died Too Soon: Varys

After learning the truth about Jon’s parents from Tyrion, Varys became adamant that Jon had more of a right to the throne than Daenerys. Due to his belief that Jon should rule, Varys began writing a letter to let the rest of Westeros know the truth.

After finding out about his act of treason, Daenerys had Varys burned alive, as she promised him she would have if she ever found out he had betrayed her. Unfortunately for everyone else, Varys warnings about Daenerys being a potential threat came true just a few episodes later.

3 Should’ve Died Sooner: Euron

Euron Greyjoy was the commander of the Iron Fleet that formed an alliance and a romantic relationship with Cersei in season 7. Near the end of season 8, after barely escaping an attack on by Daenerys, he gets into a duel with Jaime Lannister, which ends with Euron getting stabbed.

Even as he dies, he boasts to himself that he was able to kill the “Kingslayer,” even though Jaime doesn’t end up succumbing to his wounds and dies with Cersei later on. In the books, Euron is much more dangerous of a character, but in the series, he is more of an annoyance than a major threat. Regardless, seeing Jaime kill another of the show’s murderer-rapists was a satisfying moment.

2 Died Too Soon: Ygritte

Ygritte was a member of the Free Folk and Mance Rayder’s army who became romantically involved with Jon Snow. They shared similar beliefs, particularly that the real threat was the White Walkers. During the attack on Castle Black, the two reunited right before Ygritte is murdered by Olly, who shoots her in the chest with an arrow, repeating the iconic “You know nothing, Jon Snow” line before dying in Jon’s arms.

The show and specifically Jon’s relationship with Daenerys could have been much different had she not have died and could have made for an extremely emotional moment if she were killed during one of the more important battles in later seasons.

1 Should’ve Died Sooner: Littlefinger

Game of Thrones, in no way, was short on manipulative characters and an example of one that managed to survive a lot longer than they should have is Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger. On numerous occasions, Baelish sold out and betrayed those around him in order to advance himself towards power.

While that’s usually a move that helps a character survive Westeros, it ultimately led to his downfall. In the season 7 finale, Beaelish was killed by Arya after being sentenced to death by Sansa following his attempts to get the two sisters to turn on each other. Based on the turmoil he’s caused their family, it’s easy to understand why.

About The Author