Game of Thrones’s most uncomfortable couples ever

These two outsiders formed a nuanced and heartwarming relationship early on in season one, but things were doomed for Tyrion and Shae as soon as they moved to King’s Landing together in season two.

Shae had to remain hidden and it put great strain on them both. It all came to a devastating conclusion after she betrayed Tyrion following his forced marriage to Sansa. Seeing her sleep with his father broke Tyrion’s heart, and he ended up shooting Tywin with a crossbow and strangling Shae to death as a result. As far as breakups go, it’s pretty messy.

Jon and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke)

‘Wait, aren’t they related?’ That’s what thousands of fans found themselves wondering after the show’s two biggest characters got together in the later throes of the series.

Game of Thrones has never shied away from portraying incestuous relationships, and if you can briefly ignore the fact that Daenerys is technically Jon’s aunt you can almost get past it – they did a good job against the white walkers together, after all.

But Jon and Daenerys’s relationship failed to deliver the emotional blows that series eight required, and their romantic story all played out a bit too quickly after years of buildup. There was also the small matter of Jon stabbing Daenerys to death in the final season. Not the happy ending many were hoping for.

Stannis (Stephen Dillane) and Melisandre (Carice van Houten)

Stannis Baratheon seemed a nice enough bloke at the start of Game of Thrones, but his obsession with power and his romance with the Red Woman Melisandre led to increasingly twisted plot turns.

After welcoming the Lord of the Light into his life, it wasn’t long before he was agreeing to have his brother killed by a shadow demon, before sacrificing his daughter at Melisandre’s behest in one of the show’s most devastating moments.

After he’d lost everything through cruelty, Melisandre decided to up sticks and leave him anyway.

Daenerys and Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa)

A mismatched pairing from the start, the early days of Daenerys and Khal Drogo’s relationship were steeped in abuse.

As Daenerys grew in stature, she earned the respect of her husband across the first season and became the Queen of the Dothraki following his death. She ended up learning a lot about leadership and ruthlessness from Khal, but it came at a great cost.

The fact that Khal slowly grew to recognise her as his equal certainly didn’t undo his unforgivable actions at the beginning, either.

The OG problematic couple. Cersei and Jaime tick just about every single box on the controversy scale. From incest, to murder and extortion, the pair were up to just about anything you could think of over the course of the series.

The twin siblings formed a romantic relationship to keep the Lannister bloodline pure, doing anything to protect their secret. In the very first episode of the show, we saw Jamie push Bran Stark (Issac Hempstead Wright) off a tower just to keep the truth about their romance safe. For all of their sins, it was still an emotional gut-punch to see them reach an (albeit slightly anti-climactic) death together in season eight.

Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Joffrey (Jack Gleeson)

One of the most detestable, loathsome, hateful villains in the history of TV, Joffrey stole the show in the first four seasons of Game of Thrones, and it was poor old Sansa who bore the brunt of his malevolence. Their marriage didn’t get off to a great start, what with Joffrey killing Sansa’s father and imprisoning her at King’s Landing.

It only got worse, too. The young king spent their entire relationship being abusive to the young Stark, visibly enjoying her misery and pain. He was one of the show’s finest characters, portrayed perfectly by Jack Gleeson, but we have to admit we were cheering when Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) popped something in his drink in season four.

Sansa and Ramsay (Iwan Rheon)

Just when you thought Joffrey was the biggest s*** that Westeros could ever possibly produce, along came Ramsay Bolton.