The 60 Most Important Deaths on Game of Thrones
By Corey Smith
27. Mance Rayder
Like a character in a horror film saying they’ll be right back, if you’re alive in Westeros, best not to discuss your own death. So it was that Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, died shortly after confessing his desire to live to Jon Snow. Mance was burned alive by King Stannis and his red witch Melisandre, with an assist from future King in the North Jon Snow. So many kings, who can keep track?
Mance’s death was important because of how much pain could have been avoided had Stannis just bent a little (impossible for him, I know) and met Mance halfway. Had Mance been alive and the kings of the lands south of the Wall receptive, he could have quickly convinced the wildlings to come south, and the Night King wouldn’t have gotten his hands on a new army of the dead at Hardhome.
Mance was also a capable and charismatic leader who knew the White Walkers better than anyone south of the Wall. Right about his now, his wisdom is much missed. Too bad Stannis had to ruin it all.
26. The Frey soldiers Arya kills
Of all of Arya Stark’s many victims, this random group of Frey soldiers from the season 3 finale rank highest on our list. While their deaths may not matter much in the grand scheme of things, they marked Arya’s biggest single step on her journey from precocious child to cold-blooded killer.
Technically, Arya’s first victim was the stable boy she killed escaping the Red Keep in season 1, but there, her actions were accidental and reactive. In season 2, she graduated to commanding Jaqen H’ghar to kill Lannister guardsmen in Harrenhal, but the murders didn’t involve her directly. These Frey soldiers, who are bragging about pulling off the Red Wedding right after Arya barely escaped that slaughter with her life, are different. Here, Arya takes bloody revenge in the most visceral way possible. Killing these men makes Arya feel good, and immediately afterward, she clutches the Braavosi coin Jaqen gave her and says the words, “Valar Morghulis.” All men must die. This is the moment Arya commits to the path she will take.
And you know, it’s not a great path, as fun as it’s been to watch. Even if Arya survives the series, she has a lot of blood on her hands, and we wonder if she’ll be able to live with everything she’s done, in the long run.