Even though Game of Thrones officially wrapped up a few months ago, fans are still reeling from some of the narrative choices made in the final season of the hit HBO series. Among those choices is the sinister Night King and his alleged effectiveness on the battle field and as an antagonist in the series. Fans have been quick to point out his less-than-stellar track record in that department before, noting that Bucky Barnes killed more Starks than he, and now another comparison has come to light. Another fan on Reddit’s “Free Folk” subreddit realized that one character, who never even appeared on screen, had a higher death count.
“It hits you like a bag of bricks,” u/pandatropical wrote online, referencing a meme that reads: “My face when I realized that the boar that killed Robert Baratheon has killed more major characters than the Night King.” The ever popular “Sad Ben Affleck” meme accompanies the caption.
Baratheon, played by Mark Addy in the series, made his debut in the pilot episode of Game of Thrones as the then current leader of the Seven Kingdoms. His mortal wound by the aforementioned boar is not seen on screen, but the aftermath of it and his death are depicted, and a major catalyst for the remainder of the series as his death kick starts the War of the Five Kings, the major plot point for the entirety of the show. As for the Night King, his appearances in the series were spread throughout the later half of the show where his menacing glare and sinister smile saw many wights kill characters. Some disputed the meme though, noting that not only did Theon Greyjoy die by the Night King’s hand, but so did the dragon Viserion and even the Three-Eyed Raven.
“Theon and Viserion pretty pissed off about this take,” u/EvergreenHulk wrote.
“I am as disappointed about the Night King as anyone else, but the boar didn’t kill anyone except Robert, right? Surely Theon is more of a major character than Robert?” u/Impudenter posited.
“Im pretty sure some bricks have more kills than the both combined,” u/jrodz_938 quipped, a jab at the killer debris in the final episodes which arguably killed more major characters than either the boar or the Night King as Cersei and Jaime Lannister both died from it in the series.
“The Boar is also leading the Golden Company with its kill count,” u/treefox joked, referencing the mercenary army from the series.
All eight seasons of Game of Thrones can be watched on HBO, with a House Targaryen prequel in the works.
