Jon Snow’s Death, Massacre at Hardhome Topping Year-End Lists

Even for those of us who knew this day was foretold back in 2011 when A Dance with Dragons came out, it was still a gut punch. The death of Jon Snow, at the end of an season finale hour that saw about a death every ten or so minutes, was the biggest explosion on the internet since the Red Wedding. And now, unsurprisingly, it has made the top of several year-end lists as one of the most Emotional Moments on TV for 2015.

The Daily Mail put it right at number one for the year. “The horrendous scene garnered 687,871 tweets with 10.43 million viewers tuning in. Most fans voiced shock over the decision to kill off one of the most popular characters on the show, a move which echoed the stunning death of Jon’s father Ned Stark (played by Sean Bean.)”

For Entertainment Weekly, Jon’s death was one of the 40 Most Shocking Moment of the Year, but not so shocking as to make Number One. (It seems some of us have become inured to shows that kill off the hero every other year). It did make their Top Ten though, clocking in at Number 9. As they pointed out, viewers had been re-lulled into a sense of complacency when it came to the “Big Four.”

“…by the end of season 5, Ned Stark’s iconic execution appeared like a brilliant bait-and-switch. He was never the hero at all; it was Jon Snow, Tyrion, Daenerys, and Arya. Those four are the real main characters. You can gouge out all the princes’ eyes you want, we know these four are safe … or so we thought.”

So what beat Thrones out for shock value? Turns out McDreamy’s death on Grey’s Anatomy, for one.

Meanwhile, over at Cartermatt.com, the voting is still underway for the Most Surprising Moment, and Jon Snow is on the ballot (but Glenn’s death on The Walking Dead is currently in the lead). For those who want to make their opinions heard, voting goes through to the end of the year.

Elsewhere, the Massacre at Hardhome has been giving Jon Snow’s death a run for its money. WhatCulture ranked the epic fight scene as #5 on its list of 10 Great TV Moments, and first on its list of the 10 Best Game of Thrones Moments from 2015. Meanwhile, Inverse named “Hardhome” the best single episode of TV in 2015, singling out the short but memorable character arc of Karsi, the quiet tension right before the wights strike, and the richness of the battle itself.

"Jon Snow is at the center of it all, furthering the development of his uneven reign as the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. The camera stays tight on his face as we feel his panic, his desperation. We wonder, along with him, how he can possibly get out of this. To be able to weave that kind of character work alongside breakneck action sequences is universally great television."

Meanwhile, Bustle topped them all with an essay about why the Massacre at Hardhome was “arguably the defining moment of the entire series so far.” Basically, its argument was that the Massacre at Hardhome gave us our first real look at the evil man behind the curtain, something the characters on the show sorely need. “This event was about death, yes, but it was about something that’s incredibly important to life — perspective.”

Next: Celeb roundup: Maisie Williams spreads Christmas cheer, Sean Bean gets cancelled