The 60 Most Important Deaths on Game of Thrones
By Corey Smith
45. Syrio Forel
Wielding only a wooden training sword, poor Syrio Forel went down fighting armored men with sharpened steel in their hands, defending Arya Stark against Lannister soldiers who wanted to lock her up like her sister. Syrio’s bravery earned him the undying love of the fans, some of whom still think he’s out there telling off Death to this day; we didn’t see him die on screen, after all.
Honestly, this spot could have easily gone to Syrio’s killer, Meryn Trant. Trant’s brutal murder at Arya’s hands four seasons later was an important turning point for the teenage assassin, but Syrio’s death had a larger impact on Arya. Beyond simply losing a teacher and a friend, Syrio’s murder was the start of Arya’s seasons-long revenge quest. Ned’s death fueled her rage and Jaqen H’ghar gave her the means to really do some damage, but Syrio’s death set Arya on her path.
True, Arya had encountered death before, when Cersei Lannister forced Ned Stark to kill Lady, Sansa’s direwolf. But Syrio was the first person to die whom Arya knew and cared for. She’d found a kindred spirit in her dancing master, and his death taught her a hard lesson about how dangerous the world could be, one that she never forgot.
44. The Sand Snakes
Game of Thrones is packed to the brim with intriguing, well-written characters. The Sand Snakes of Dorne as one of the unfortunate exceptions. Nearly every moment they spent on screen was cringe-worthy, and their deaths place this high on the list mainly for the pressure it took off our sanity.
To be fair, technically the three Sand Snakes were murdered in two separate instances, both of which were pretty epic. Euron Greyjoy killed Obara and Nymeria Sand during a battle at sea, while Cersei Lannister poisoned Tyene Sand in the black cells under the Red Keep. The latter scene in particular was as satisfying and twisted as any revenge scene on the show, and almost justified the tedium we withstood to get there. For all three of these characters, their death scene were their finest moments.
Zooming out a bit, the deaths of the Sand Snakes and their leader Ellaria left Dorne without leadership, neutering Daenerys’ once-formidable looking coalition. Their deaths were also the coin Euron used to purchase his place at Cersei’s side, and eventually, in her bed.