11 Game of Thrones characters who should’ve survived to the end

10) Margaery Tyrell

Margaery Tyrell met her end alongside everyone else in the Great Sept of Baelor when the coldly calculating Cersei Lannister conspired to blow the whole thing up in the season 6 finale, and it was as if wildfire consumed our hearts.

It was wrenching to see Margaery, as canny a player of the game of thrones as there ever was, taken so quickly. Our dear Margaery deserved more, and her death left a void that was hard for the show to fill. It was also heartbreaking to lose the talented Natalie Dormer from the cast.

9) Syrio Forel

The fun and fearless Syrio Forel was introduced in the first season of Game of Thrones, which is also when he died. Syrio was an enigmatic sword-master who began to sculpt young Arya Stark into a formidable warrior while she was still ensconced in the deceptive safety of King’s Landing. Syrio seemed to meet his end when Lannister guards came to collect Arya following the arrest of her father Ned, after the death of King Robert Baratheon. He fought them off, giving Arya time to escape.

His final scene is ambiguous enough that some fans wonder if he really died at all. Whatever his fate, his teachings resonated with Arya long after his departure, as did his catchphrase. “What do we say to the god of death?” “Not today.”

Despite his brief screen time, each moment Syrio shared with Arya was brimming with profundity and whimsy. He quickly endeared himself to fans and was missed right through to the end of the series. His teachings were Arya’s guiding star as she morphed from a defiant young girl into a relentless assassin capable of striking down the strongest of opponents.