The 60 Most Important Deaths on Game of Thrones
By Corey Smith
17. Jorah Mormont
Speaking of deaths that marked turning points in Daenerys Targaryen’s journey, we have to talk about Jorah Mormont. There was nothing that would keep Jorah apart from his queen, not a wasting disease like greyscale, not her clear disinterest in his romantic advances, and not armies of undead warriors bent on eradicating humanity. He stuck with her through the end and died protecting her from waves of wights during the Battle of Winterfell. The shot of Dany crying over the body of her fallen friend is heartbreaking.
Jorah’s death is a big deal because Jorah is a great character, and one of a select group who appeared in all eight season of the show. Iain Glen had spent nearly a decade painting sympathetic portrait of a basically good-hearted man torn by conflicting impulses, and fans had grown to love him. Losing him hurt, plain and simple.
But Jorah’s death is also important because it left Daenerys without one of the most important moderating voices in her inner circle, and gave her one less trusted advisor to talk to about the dark thoughts she’d been having since coming to Westeros. Would Dany have done what she went on to do if Jorah had been around to play devil’s advocate?
It’s impossible to say, and given how devoted he was to her, there’s a good chance that Jorah would have gone along with whatever Dany wanted, no matter how extreme. But his death left a hole that wasn’t easily filled. – Dan
16. Missandei
If Jorah’s death inched Dany closer to her genocidal bombing run of King’s Landing, Missandei’s death damn near pushed her over the edge. Jorah’s death may have been a blow to the Dragon Queen, but at least she still had her closest confidante Missandei to talk to. But when Cersei Lannister beheaded Missandei right in front of her, Dany went into a cold rage that she rode all the way to disaster. Perhaps if Daenerys had found a way to grieve for her friend, events might have transpired differently, but by this point things were too intense and moving too fast for her to stop.
What gets lost a bit in Missandei’s death is Missandei herself. She was a likable, interesting, well-drawn supporting character, but the show could have done more in this final stretch to show what the final moments of her life meant to her, instead of just what they meant to Dany.
That said, Missandei’s final word before she is executed — a defiant cry of “Dracarys” Daenerys could not fail to hear and understand — is chilling, and clearly signals what’s about to happen to the city. Missandei was often a gentle character, but clearly she could be pushed into scarier territory. – Dan