--- description: There have been many heart-wrenching deaths on Game of Thrones. These are the deaths that made you cringe because they were so disgusting. title: These Are the 15 Most Gruesome Deaths on 'Game of Thrones' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d93e8ff4085b01f/6988d9390b72e3b7786eefdd/got-deaths.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Relive the 15 Most Gruesome Death Scenes on _Game of Thrones_  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:56 AM CUTPublished: Aug 29, 2017 2:51 PM CUT  Photo Illustration by Kim Bubello; HBO  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:56 AM CUTPublished: Aug 29, 2017 2:51 PM CUT **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/ "undefined"). When you play the _Game of Thrones_, you win or you die. And many have died. Some deaths have made us cry. Others have made us cheer. But mostly, the deaths on _Game of Thrones_ have made us a little sick. And as [the world recovers](http://time.com/5578054/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-deaths/ "undefined") from the deaths [in the Battle of Winterfell that took place on episode 3](http://time.com/4911141/game-of-thrones-season-7-finale-the-dragon-and-the-wolf/ "undefined") – we present a list of the most gruesome deaths from the HBO show. This ranking is _not_ based on emotional resonance. Yes, we wept when Stannis Baratheon burned his daughter Shireen and when the [origin of Hodor’s name](http://time.com/4420272/game-of-thrones-hodor-bran/ "undefined") was revealed as he sacrificed himself to save Bran Stark. But the camera luckily cut away before we actually saw either of those two characters suffer too much. These are the scenes that made you scream and cover your face because they were almost too disgusting for television. Almost. In order to make this list, at least part of the death had to appear onscreen. Yes, Joffrey shooting Ros to death with a crossbow is horrid but, thankfully, we don’t actually see it happen. **MORE:** [Every Character Who Has Died on _Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/3924852/every-game-of-thrones-death/ "undefined") Enjoy reliving these highlights or lowlights, depending on your perspective. And remember: [_valar morghulis_](https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Valar%5Fmorghulis "undefined"). ## 15\. Lyanna Mormont stabs a wight giant in the eye as she is crushed to death This is particularly brutal given the fact that Lyanna may be a warrior, but she’s still a child. At least she took a [giant down with her](http://time.com/5565395/best-battle-of-winterfell-memes/ "undefined"). ## 14\. Arya Stark slit Walder Frey’s throat — while he’s eating his own children What makes this scene particularly gruesome (and this writer a bit worried about how much Arya enjoys killing people) is that Frey is unknowingly eating his sons in a pie before he gets his throat slit. ## 13\. Styr bludgeoned in the head with a hammer by Jon Snow Ouch. ## 12\. The Flasher’s head smashed by the Mountain Let this be a lesson to flashers everywhere. ## 11\. Mago’s throat ripped out by Khal Drogo We haven’t seen Drogo since season one, so it’s easy to forget what a badass he was. He defeated Mago in single combat without any weapon by _ripping his throat out_. ## 10\. Smalljon Umber’s throat eaten and face stabbed by Tormund Getting your throat ripped out is bad. Having someone _eat_ your throat out is worse. Tormund finishes the job by stabbing Smalljon in the darn face. ## 9\. Trystane Martell speared through the face by the Sand Snakes …But that was Trystane’s best feature! ## 8\. Ramsay Bolton eaten by his own dogs On an emotional level, this was extremely fulfilling. Objectively, it’s a horrifying way to go. ## 7\. Catelyn Stark’s throat slit It’s not just that Catelyn Stark’s throat is slit. It’s that her throat is slit after she’s watched her son and daughter-in-law and grandchild die, after she has begged for her son’s life and after she has taken the life of a Frey as vengeance. ## 6\. Joffrey Baratheon choking from poison Another villain gets his comeuppance — and how telling it is that literally no one helps Joffrey except for his own parents. But, as Lady Olenna told Jaime before her own death, Joffrey’s demise looked mighty uncomfortable: “I’d hate to die like your son — clawing at my neck, foam and bile spilling from my mouth, eyes blood red, skin purple.” ## 5\. Viserys Targaryen’s head burned by molten gold They did say he’d get his golden crown. Also the most telling part of this scene is when Jorah warns Daenerys to look away, and she says no. She likes watching her enemies burn. (Dany burns plenty of people alive. Those victims didn’t make this list because watching someone get roasted by a dragon just isn’t as traumatic an experience for some reason. Probably because dragons aren’t real, but molten gold is.) ## 4\. Talisa Stark stabbed in the pregnant belly Sorry to make you watch this scene again, but it’s one thing to get stabbed to death. It’s another thing to get stabbed while your fetus is also being stabbed. ## 3\. Ser Rodrik’s botched beheading by Theon Greyjoy We always knew Theon was no Ned Stark, but he can’t even get a beheading right. This is truly awful to watch. ## 2\. Meryn Trant’s eyes stabbed out before being stabbed by Arya Stark Again, Arya enjoys vengeance a little too much. A quick throat slash would have sufficed. ## 1\. Oberyn Martell’s face squished like a grape by the Mountain It’s hard to imagine anything on _Thrones_ will ever top the horror of this moment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4892186/game-of-thrones-gruesome-deaths/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4892186/game-of-thrones-gruesome-deaths/"},"headline":"Relive the 15 Most Gruesome Death Scenes on Game of Thrones","datePublished":"2017-08-29T14:51:34.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T04:56:26.000Z","description":"There have been many heart-wrenching deaths on Game of Thrones. These are the deaths that made you cringe because they were so disgusting.","url":"https://time.com/4892186/game-of-thrones-gruesome-deaths/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d93e8ff4085b01f/6988d9390b72e3b7786eefdd/got-deaths.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d93e8ff4085b01f/6988d9390b72e3b7786eefdd/got-deaths.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"game-of-thrones-gruesome-deaths","caption":"","creditText":"Photo Illustration by Kim Bubello; HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4892186/game-of-thrones-gruesome-deaths/","name":"Relive the 15 Most Gruesome Death Scenes on Game of Thrones"}}]}] ```