One of the keystones of popular culture in the 2010s was HBO’sGame of Thrones. Based on theA Song of Ice and Firebooks byGeorge R. R. Martin, the show details the lives of numerous noble families split between two continents: Westeros, dominated by seven kingdoms unified under one crown, and Essos, where each city is an independent state. As everyone vies for power in an ever-changing political landscape, magic returns to the world in the form of dragons and an army of the undead.
The complicated web of political intrigue ensnared audiences thanks to the cunning of the characters and the plot’s shocking twists and turns.Some of the most memorable came in the form of backstabbing and betrayals, thanks to understandable character motivations, shock value, and how it impacted the story going forward.
Game Of Thrones
10Elaria Sand Kills House Martell to Avenge House Martell
“The Red Woman” (Season 6, Episode 1)
Following the death of Prince Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), his paramour, Ellaria Sand (Indira Anne Varma), recruited his eldest daughters, the Sand Snakes, to help her get revenge on the Lannisters by killing Princess Myrcella Baratheon (Aimee RichardsonandNell Tiger Free). Oberyn’s older brother, Prince Doran (Alexander Siddig), halted the first attempt, but Myrcella was poisoned and died at sea. Ellaria and the Sand Snakes then kill Doran and, thanks to the power of teleportation, somehow get onto Myrcella’s ship to kill Doran’s son, Prince Trystane (Toby Sebastian).
This twist exists so the writers can wrap up the universally hated Dorne plot, but it does contain a few elements that make it brutal in universe. Ellaria and the Sand Snakes have fallen so deep into their vengeance that not only are they wiping out what is left of Oberyn’s family, whom he loved dearly, but they’re also showing no concern for kinslaying, one of the greatest sins in Westeros.If this betrayal had come after more time to properly build up to it, maybe it could have worked, but as is, the brutality is lost under a mountain of plot contrivances and terrible dialogue.
9"I Have Only Ever Loved One Woman"
“Mockingbird” (Season 4, Episode 7)
In an attempt to finally be with her love, Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen), Lysa Arryn (KateDickie) follows his instructions to poison her husband, Jon Arryn (John Standing), and frame the Lannisters, thus kicking off the plot of the show. Petyr and her are eventually wedded when he becomes Lord of Harrenhal, but he also kisses Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) due to the unrequited love he had for her mother, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley). Lysa’s paranoia leads her to almost kill Sansa, but Petyr calms Lysa down before coldly revealing the truth and pushing her to her death.
Petyr is one ofGoT’s best villains, and this twist is a good reminder of how ruthless he is. While he never loved Lysa, she proved to be a valuable asset in his quest to collect more power and authority, but it wasn’t enough to spare her once she proved to be too uncontrollable. The fact that he tells Lysa he only loved her sister is the final twist of the knife, ensuring Lysa knows that all her familial betrayals were for nothing as she plunged to her death.
8Theon Betrays Robb
When Robb Stark (Richard Madden) is made King in the North, he sends Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) to his father, Balon (Patrick Malahide), with terms for an alliance. However, Balon decides to use the chaos in Westeros to crown himself King of the Iron Islands and claim the North by right of conquest. Theon finds himself torn between loyalty to his family and his friendship with Robb, but ultimately sides with his father.
Before Theon makes up his mind, he writes a letter to Robb, making the audience feel like he will side with his adoptive brother over his physically and emotionally abusive father. Unfortunately, Theon burns it and commits himself to the surprise attack.This act snowballs into a series ofterrible decisions that sees Theon capture Winterfellin the episode “The Old Gods and The New,” and kill anyone who resists, including the castle’s master at arms, Sir Roderick (Ron Donachie).
7Shae Sleeps with Tywin
“The Children” (Season 4, Episode 10)
Before fleeing Westeros to avoid execution for the death of King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) sneaks his way into the Tower of the Hand to confront his father, Tywin (Charles Dance). There, he finds his former lover, Shae (Sibel Kekilli), who was last seen giving false testimony at his trial. She is lying on Tywin’s bed and calls out for “her lion,” when she hears Tyrion enter, though their reunion quickly turns violent.
One could make a justification for Shae speaking at the trial because Tyrion broke her heart in an attempt to save her life, but there is no way to justify how quickly Shae reaches for a weapon and tries to murder Tyrion.It’s the final confirmation that any chance the two had for a future together was shattered, and Tyrion is forced to strangle her in self-defense. Her presence in Tywin’s quarters also shows that Tywin, who always chastised Tyrion for his love of sex workers, was more hypocritical than first thought.
6"I Did Warn You Not to Trust Me"
“You Win or You Die” (Season 1, Episode 7)
Having learned that the children of King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) are the product of incest between Quen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and her twin, Ser Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) makes plans to secure the throne for Robert’s brother, Stannis (Stephen Dilane) as the king is on his deathbed. He requests the help of Petyr Baelish in rallying the Gold Cloaks to his cause, though Petyr suggests it would be better to use this information to control Joffrey. Eddard goes ahead with the plan, but Petyr turns on him and orders the Gold Cloaks to kill his men.
At this point, Petyr was certainly a shady individual, but due to his love for Catelyn, he presented himself as an ally to Eddard and offered to navigate him through the complex lies of King’s Landing.This betrayal solidified him as one of the show’s most cunning minds, able to play both sides and take advantage of the chaos. It also highlightedthe problem with Eddard’s code of honor, as in a world as corrupt as King’s Landing, people are more willing to fight for power or personal gain than to do what is right by the law and common decency.
5Stannis Burns His Daughter
“The Dance of Dragons” (Season 5, Episode 9)
While attempting to march on Winterfell, Stannis' army is beset by terrible weather and sabotage by Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) and twenty good men. Desperate to turn his luck around, he turns to the Red Priestess of R’hllor, Melisandre (Carice van Houten), who claims that there is power in the blood of kings. Thus,Stannis allows her to burn his only child, Princess Shireen (Kerry Ingram).
Until Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) burned down King’s Landing, this was perhaps the best example of character assassination inGame of Thrones. Stannis is defined by his unwavering belief in duty, justice, and law, so not only should he be against kinslaying, but even if the sacrifice worked, he now has no heir, so what was the point? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, as he loses to the Boltons and is executed by Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), whichmakes this betrayal feel like needless shock value.
4The Purple Wedding
“The Lion and the Rose” (Season 4, Episode 2)
Joffrey’s wedding to Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) solidifies the alliance between House Lannister and Tyrell, making them the strongest force in Westeros. However, Joffrey makes an ass of himself by tormenting Tyrion throughout the whole affair, and then he is assassinated via poison and dies in his mother’s arms. While everyone believes Tyrion is responsible, the culprit was actually Margaery’s grandmother, Olenna (Dame Diana Rigg), in partnership with Petyr Baelish.
Themurder of Joffrey is effectiveon so many levels: not only is it cathartic to see one of the show’s main antagonists finally bite it, but it comes as a shock given that the Lannisters are at the height of their power. While Petyr worked towards regicide to rescue Sansa, Olenna did it out of love for her granddaughter, as with Joffrey dead, she would instead marry his kinder younger brother, Tommen (Callum WharryandDean-Charles Chapman). It’s an event that sends ripples throughout Season 4 and shows how something as simple as Sansa telling the Tyrells the truth about Joffrey’s character can have unforeseen consequences down the line.
3Cersei Kills Her Allies
“The Winds of Winter” (Season 6, Episode 10)
After the death of Tywin, Cersei did a wonderful job of ruining House Lannister’s position by destroying the alliance with House Tyrell and allowing the High Sparrow (Sir Jonathan Price) to re-establish the Faith Militant. While this did lead to Margaery’s arrest, Cersei also found herself imprisoned for the crime of incest and adultery, and a trial was set to decide the fate of both queens. However, Cersei used the opportunity to use King Aerys II Targaryen’s (David Rintoul) stashes of Wildfire to blow up the Sept of Balor, killing the High Sparrow, most of House Tyrell, and even her uncle, Sir Kevan Lannister (Ian Gelder).
This betrayal stunned audiences thanks to the visual marvel that is the Sept’s destruction, and the fantastic build-up, which goes a long way into making the episodeGame of Thrones’best finale. In a single move,Cersei wiped out all those who would stand between her and absolute power, though not without a cost. Not only does this leave her politically isolated and drives the remaining Tyrells to side with Daenerys, but it also leads to the death of Tommen and further erosions in her and Jaime’s relationship.
2"For the Watch"
“Mother’s Mercy” (Season 5, Episode 10)
While war rages across the Seven Kingdoms, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and the brothers of the Night’s Watch stand firm against Wildling invaders and an army of the dead led by mythical White Walkers. When Jon becomes Lord Commander, he makes the controversial decision to ally with the Wildlings and bring them into Westeros, reasoning that it’s better to fight alongside them against the dead than add to the coming army by killing each other. Not everyone agrees with Jon; one night, a group of them led by Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) stab Jon to death while repeating “For the watch.”
Deaths of major characters were commonplace by this point in the show, but Jon’s death is particularly brutal because he’s doing the right thing. While Eddard and Robb’s deaths were caused by a refusal to compromise on morals and broken vows,Jon’s came from man’s inability to look past prejudices, even in the face of mutual annihilation. Of course, Jon doesn’t stay dead for long, but at the time it looked like the last main character who could be considered “good,” was killed off.
1The Red Wedding
“The Rains of Castamere” (Season 3, Episode 9)
When Robb Stark went to war with the Lannisters, he agreed to marry one of the daughters of Walder Frey (David Bradley) in exchange for his army and the use of his bridge. However, Robb broke the marriage alliance when he married Talisa of Volantis (Oona Chaplin), but he tries to patch things up by marrying his uncle and lord of Riverrun, Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies), to Roslin Frey (Alexandra Dowling). Walder accepts, but the wedding quickly turns into a bloodbath as he and Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) slaughter the Stark army, as well as Robb, Talisa, and Catelyn.
The Red Wedding remains one of the most shockingmoments in television historythanks not only to its brutality and the loss of fan-favorite characters, but because it makes perfect sense how we got here. This isn’t death for the sake of shock value, but the culmination of multiple bad decisions that alienated Robb from his allies, who instead turned to Tywin Lannister. It brought the Starks to their lowest point, and while the show would have many more betrayals before the end, none can match the raw emotions of the Red Wedding, nor re-create the hollow feeling left in its wake.
