The 60 Most Important Deaths on Game of Thrones

7. Khal Drogo

Thanks to an unforgettable performance from Jason Momoa, Khal Drogo left an impression on viewers that belied his brief screentime. And among the characters, he influenced no one more than Daenerys Targaryen. When we first meet Daenerys, the future queen is afraid of almost everyone in her life, from her brother to Drogo himself, but as they spent more time together, she began to change and become more confident. She was able to leave behind her abusive brother for good and exerted her influence to ensure that Drogo’s Dothraki warriors did not rape the slaves they took.

But it was Drogo’s death that changed Dany the most. First of all, his death may have been part of the spell that gave birth to her dragons — recall that her biggest and most fearsome dragon, Drogon, is named for him. But we can also see Dany channeling her late husband when she sacks Astapor, which gains her the army she needs to achieve her dream of ruling Westeros. As with several other characters on this list, in some ways Drogo needed to die so Dany could get out of his shadow and find her own power, and once she found it, there was no stopping her.

Dany also carried Drogo’s memory with her for years. She loved him fiercely and never really got serious with anyone else until she met Jon Snow. (She was never truly devoted to Daario.) In Dany’s mind, Drogo is immortalized. You can still see shades of him whenever Dany delivers righteous righteous vengeance, a fire burning behind her eyes. He would be proud.

6. Jon Snow

Jon Snow began his time on Game of Thrones as the bastard of Winterfell before rising to the position of Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and finally the King in the North. And in between the second and third things, he died. Without his death and resurrection, he would not have been released from his Night’s Watch vow, which means he could not have driven the Boltons from Winterfell, made an alliance with the Dragon Queen or (we hope) lead humanity to a victory over the army of the dead. We have a lot to thank those murderous traitors for.

I suppose you could argue that Jon’s death doesn’t really count as a “death.” After all, aren’t dead people…dead? We say boo on that, particularly when you’re dealing with a fantasy show where the undead are major players. Jon Snow was cold as ice, a proper corpse laying on a slab in Castle Black. Melisandre of Asshai brought him back to life, but he was well and truly dead, and deserves to be on this list.

And let’s not forget the hubbub Jon’s death caused. It’s all anyone talked about between seasons 5 and 6, with people paying close attention to his hair for clues of his potential resurrection. Jon Snow’s death didn’t just affect the characters or the plot on Game of Thrones; it reached out into our world. That deserves a high place on our list.