On Game of Thrones, anyone can go at anytime. Whether we loved them or hated them, we’ve watched for seven seasons as characters have dropped dead, whether by beheading or ripped to pieces by a horde of zombies or eaten by a pack of hungry dogs. In Westeros, death lurks around every corner. As the eighth and final season approaches, we’re nervous for the characters left standing.
But death doesn’t have to mean the end. Jon Snow and Beric Dondarrion returned from the great beyond ready to continue the fight, and the Night King is always happy to recruit new mindless wights into his army. And even though a lot of characters have died, we didn’t always see it happen, which allows us to nurse ridiculous fantasies about ducking out of sight to reemerge and fight another day. If what is dead may never die, who would we want to see return from the grave in the final six episodes? And on the flip side, who would we really prefer stay in the ground?
We’re not here to argue whether these characters are actually likely to come back; we’re just considering what their return would do to our poor hearts. Let’s start by shedding some bitter tears over a man taken from us far too soon: