From the Battle of Winterfell to the Final War, death was everywhere this season on Game of Thrones.
Seven major characters died in episode three -- we don't exactly miss you, Night King -- and two more in episode four, but our Starks, Targaryens and Lannisters were all still living. That all changed with episode five, as Daenerys' fiery wrath took out most of King's Landing, including several major characters. After all, only one can sit on the Iron Throne.
Our Dragon Queen actually made it to that sought-after seat in episode six -- only to have Jon Snow kill her and put an end to her reign soon after it began. RIP!
Valar Morghulis -- but we're paying tribute to every one who's fallen here at ETonline. Here's everyone's who has died this season, and how it happened:
EPISODE 1: NED UMBER
Wee lad Ned Umber (Harry Grasby) was our first death of note this season -- and we kind of knew it was going to happen. Ned opened the season with a Bran Stark-like climb up a tree, making a brief appearance in the middle of the episode, before it was revealed that he was turned into a wight by the Night King at his ancestral home, The Last Hearth, and then stabbed by Beric's fire sword.
EPISODE 3: THE DOTHRAKI ARMY
The Dothraki's descent into darkness in episode three had us truly convinced we were going to lose Winterfell. As the frontline of Dany's army, they stormed right into battle with the White Walkers, and were never to be seen again.
EPISODE 3: BERIC DONDARRION
Though we thought he couldn't die, the Lord of Light decided on Sunday night that Beric (Richard Dormer) had finally served his purpose. He died after turning himself into a human shield against the wights, allowing Arya and The Hound to get away. "I had goosebumps," Dormer told ET. "Goosebumps on goosebumps."
EPISODE 3: MELISANDRE
Melisandre (Carice van Houten) made a surprise appearance at the beginning of the episode, just before the battle was about to begin. She told Ser Davos that she wouldn't make it through the night, and she was right. When the battle was over, Melisandre took off her enchanted necklace and wandered into the dawn, dying as her old self. Her reaction to her final scene was simple: "I was really happy and pleased," she told ET.
EPISODE 3: JORAH MORMONT
Poor Jorah (Iain Glen) died protecting his Khaleesi, succumbing to injuries he suffered while protecting her outside Winterfell's walls. "[My reaction was] just that the guys nailed it," Glen shared. "I think really, throughout all the episodes, just wonderful writing. It's such a hard thing to pull off, I think the expectations are so high and I just think they managed all the story lines incredibly well. It's full of the Thrones mix of the unexpected and dramatic and massive set pieces and extraordinary things beyond our ken, and it's kind of more of the same but bigger and better."
EPISODE 3: THEON GREYJOY
Theon (Alfie Allen) attempted to make up for his not-so-kind ways in seasons past by protecting Bran until the end -- and he did. He defended our Three-Eyed Raven from legions of wights before the Night King descended on the weirwood tree, leaving Bran to say his farewells. "Theon," Bran called after returning to his body from warging. "You're a good man. Thank you." With that, Theon charged at the Night King, and was instantly killed by a spear through the torso.
EPISODE 3: LADY LYANNA MORMONT
Our favorite little lady proved just how brave she was when she took on a giant wight. Proving once and for all that one Bear Islander is worth 10 mainlanders, Lyanna (Bella Ramsey) charged at the giant, and took him out with her as she was crushed to death. She was later reanimated by the Night King, but died again when he met his end.
EPISODE 3: EDDISON TOLLETT
We kind of saw this coming, but it didn't make it any less sad. Dolorous Edd (Ben Crompton) was one of the first to go on Sunday's episode, killed by a wight in battle.
EPISODE 3: THE NIGHT KING
The dandy ol' Night King (Vladimir Furdik) wasn't killed by fire, but rather by Arya Stark, who surprised him from behind and stabbed him with Littlefinger's Valyrian steel blade. With that, he shattered to his death -- as did his entire army of White Walkers and wights.
EPISODE 4: RHAEGAL
With that, we're left with just one dragon. Rhaegal managed to come out of the Battle of Winterfell alive, but he was no match for Euron Greyjoy's arrows, as he ambushed Dany and her army approaching King's Landing in episode four. Dany mourned her dragon as his body succumbed to its injuries and sunk into the ocean.
EPISODE 4: MISSANDEI
Death didn't end with Rhaegal. The ambush was a mission for Cersei, who took Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) as prisoner -- and later ordered the Mountain to behead her at King's Landing, in front of Dany. Missandei's last words? "Dracarys."
"I think for Cersei, the only good prisoner is a dead prisoner," showrunner David Benioff explained during the "Inside the Episode" featurette. "I think what's probably echoing in Dany's head in those final moments would be Missandei's final words. 'Dracarys' is clearly meant for for Dany. Messendei knows that her life is over and she's saying, you know, 'Light them up.'"
EPISODE 5: VARYS
After lying and manipulating his way into the final season, the former Master of Whispers (Conleth Hill) got roasted by Drogon at Dany's command. The execution came after Tyrion sold Varys out to his queen, and mercy for any betrayal just wasn't an option in Dany's mind. "I think that Varys knew it was unlikely he would survive the attempt to overthrow Dany in favor of Jon," GoT co-showrunner D.B. Weiss explained on the "Inside the Episode" featurette. "He also knew that ethically, in his mind, he had no choice but to try to do that anyway."
EPISODE 5: EURON GREYJOY
While we didn't see Euron (Pilou Asbæk) die on screen, we're pretty sure this baddie didn't survive his battle with the Kingslayer. "You fought well for a cripple," Euron told Jaime mid-duel, realizing he wasn't leaving this one alive. "Another king for you."
"I got you!" Euron he yelled out as blood poured from his mouth following a sword to the chest. "I'm the man who killed Jaime Lannister." He didn't kill him then and there, but Jaime did die.
EPISODE 5: QYBURN
Cersei's Hand (Anton Lesser) was victim No. 1 in the much-hyped Clegane Bowl. As he, Cersei and the Mountain attempted to finally escape the Red Keep amid Dany's destruction, it was his monster who killed him. When the Mountain refused to continue his job as Cersei's bodyguard, Qyburn attempted to intervene -- prompting the Mountain to toss him down a set of stars, killing him on impact.
EPISODE 5: THE MOUNTAIN
The Mountain, aka Gregor Celgane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) died by Clegane Bowl in episode five, when his brother, the Hound, finally brought him to his end. After many attempts at taking him down (we mean many -- there was a lot of stabbing here), the Hound finally stabbed his brother in the head and pushed him off a crumbling tower into their fire-filled deaths.
"We've always wanted to see these two face off again, and they finally did," Benioff said. "It struck us that it would be kind of apocalyptically beautiful to see them fighting on this stairway to nowhere with the sky in the background and the dragon flying by and the flames everywhere."
EPISODE 5: THE HOUND
"F**king die!" were the Hound's (Rory McCann) memorable last words to his brother before sending them both to their deaths.
"We knew these two were going to die together and at each other's hands and we knew that the Hound's death had to be a death by fire," Weiss explained, noting that the Hound's fear of fire was nothing compared to "his hatred of the person who put that fear there in the first place."
EPISODE 5: JAIME LANNISTER
After returning to King's Landing (with Tyrion's help) to try to convince his sister/lover, Cersei, to just give up the Iron Throne and start a new life with him, Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) finally found each other in the courtyard. They attempted their escape, but with the city destroyed, there was no way out but death.
"I want our baby to live... please don't let me die. I don't want to die!" Cersei cried in her final moments. She and Jaime shared an emotional embraced and were crushed by the city on top of them.
"Jaime talked about dying in the arms of the woman he loved, and this is it," Benioff simply explained.
EPISODE 5: CERSEI LANNISTER
With that, Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) was queen no longer. After eight seasons of fighting to remain on the Iron Throne, the queen's final moments were emotional ones, crying to save her unborn child and begging not to die.
"I think [Jaime] knows that they belong together, they came into this world together, that they need to go out of this world together," Weiss said.
EPISODE 6: DAENERYS TARGARYEN
Just after one queen fell, another one followed suit. Jon followed Tyrion's advice following the King's Landing massacre and killed Dany just moments after she entered the Throne Room. "You are my queen, now and always," he promised just before stabbing her. A distraught Drogon then melted down the throne before flying off with his mother's lifeless body.
Star Emilia Clarke wasn't exactly thrilled with her character's fate, admitting to Entertainment Weekly that the big twist came "out of f**king nowhere." "I'm flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming," the actress candidly said.
"I thought she was going to die," Clarke later conceded. "I feel very taken care of as a character in that sense. It’s a very beautiful and touching ending. Hopefully, what you’ll see in that last moment as she’s dying is: There’s the vulnerability -- there’s the little girl you met in season 1. See? She’s right there. And now, she’s not there anymore…"
Click here to see how everyone else survived the season, and see more on Game of Thrones in the video below.
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