No other television show has shocked viewers quite as much as Game of Thrones.
While the series was initially marketed as “The Sopranos in Middle Earth”, few people were prepared for George RR Martin’s brutal fantasy world.
Take the first episode: a child gets paralysed by being pushed out a window, an incestuous royal scandal is uncovered, and a Targaryen princess is raped by a Dothraki chief.
Over the course of the following seven seasons, Game of Thrones has remained consistently unpredictable, unafraid of unceremoniously killing off its characters and letting the villains come out victorious.
Though there have dozens of head-exploding moments, The Independent has ranked the top 22.
Flick through the below gallery to see the 22 most shocking Game of Thrones moments, ranked.
1/23 Game of Thrones’ 22 most shocking moments
Click through the gallery to see what made the list…
HBO
2/23 George W Bush’s head on spike
This was shocking but not because it was violent. During the last episode of season one, we saw former president George W Bush’s head on a spike. The directors have since confirmed that no subliminal political messaging was intended: they just needed an extra prosthetic heads and Bush’s was lying around.
HBO
3/23 Daenerys takes over Meereen
It’s after offering the slaves of Meeren a chance of freedom that Daenerys first reveals her deadly side: “I am not your enemy. Your enemy is beside you. I do not bring you commands. I bring you a choice. And I bring your enemies what they deserve.” Cue the crucifixion of the city’s slaveowners and Daenerys announcing herself as queen of Meereen.
HBO
4/23 Lysa breast feeding Robin
Not that Breastfeeding should ever be a taboo subject on TV, but when the feeding child is 10 years old, well, there’s obviously going to be some kind of uproar. The scene in question came in season one and some viewers could not handle the sight of Catelyn’s sister, Lysa, sitting on a throne with her near-adolescent son, Robin, attached at her breast.
HBO
5/23 Rat torture
Watching people being tortured is a pretty common occurrence in Game of Thrones. Perhaps the most horrible method of all came in season two, when a bucket of rats was strapped to a man’s chest. Rather than just letting the rodents sit there, a torturer proceeded to heat up the bucket, leading to the rats having to eat their way through the man to escape.
HBO
6/23 Theon botches a beheading
Although it feels like a long time ago, there was a time when Theon took control of Winterfell. During his governorship, Theon not only had two children killed (believing them to be the Starks), but beheaded Ser Rodrick Cassel himself. Unfortunately, the Greyjoy managed to botch the job, having to take four swings at Cassel until eventually just kicking off the head.
HBO
7/23 Joffrey murders Ros
Joffrey was a great villain, the writers doing an excellent job of making sure everyone who watched the show despised the child king. One of the most violent moments featuring the Lannister came during season three, when he decided to use the prostitute Ros as a living target. Vile.
HBO
8/23 Arya ends Littlefinger’s life
A brutal, if overdue, moment occurred in the season seven finale with Arya slitting the throat of Littlefinger, a character who has been playing his own game of thrones since the very first season. Having his life ended by the youngest daughter of Lady Catelyn Stark, the woman he loved, was likely not the way Lord Baelish expected to go.
HBO
9/23 Jaime rapes Cersei
Joffrey’s death, in itself, was horrifying. To then witness Jaime rape his sister Cersei, as they argue next to their child, was utterly mortifying. What made the scene particularly controversial was that, in George RR Martin’s books, the moment between Jaime and Cersei was seemingly consensual. Showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have yet to respond to the outrage that followed after the episode’s broadcast.
10/23 Theon gets his penis chopped off
While Theon may have been a smug arse, watching the Greyjoy being tortured for almost an entire season was not pleasant. The worst came when Ramsay, also a smug arse, decided to cut off Theon’s penis and send it to his family. Theon quickly became a shell of his former self and Ramsay renamed him Reek.
HBO
11/23 Tommen jumps out of a window
In the dramatic season six finale, Cersei’s deadly plan is put into motion, which minutes leads to the fiery death of Margaery Tyrell. Cut to King Tommen who, after learning of his wife’s death, sets his crown down and calmly jumps out of the nearest window.
HBO
12/23 Ice dragon
Most fans may have seen this twist coming from a mile off, but those who didn’t would have been left stunned after the Night King turned one of Daenerys’s dragons into one of his own. As the deceased Viserion’s eye opens, the future of Westeros looks a lot more uncertain.
HBO
13/23 Jaime loses his hand
The smarmy Jaime Lannister AKA The Kingslayer was dealt an unexpected blow early into season three after his identity was discovered by a group of sell-swords. Their reaction? To cut off his hand. This moment marked a huge development in Jaime’s character evolution.
HBO
14/23 Battle of the Bastards
Fans knew a battle between Ramsay and Jon, two bastards, was coming. Exactly how things would go down, though, no one was quite ready for. The battle started with Rickon being allowed to run towards his brother, only for Ramsay to begin firing arrows at the young Stark. It was brutal. Then, during the battle, Jon looked to be losing. Luckily, Sansa and Littlefinger came to the rescue with the Knights of the Vale and things ended with Jon beating Ramsay to a pulp. Sansa ended up feeding Ramsay to the hounds – a moment of bloody justice.
HBO
15/23 Tyrion kills Shae and Tywin
Tyrion Lannister broke bad in the season four finale after finding his beloved girlfriend Shae in bed with his hateful father, Tywin. The Tyrion fans met in season one would have silently sloped off into the shadows, but not this time: he strangles Shae to death and kills his own father with a crossbow as the senior Lannister sits on the toilet.
HBO
16/23 Shireen is sacrificed by Stannis
A scene as dark as it is harrowing: the power-hungry Stannis Baratheon, inspired by Melisandre, burns his only daughter, Shireen, at the stake as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light.
HBO
17/23 Jon Snow dies
“For the Watch.” There were screams around the world as our hero Jon Snow was stabbed multiple times by members of the Night’s Watch. The last person to put the knife in? Ollie, Jon’s former protégé who murdered his Wildling partner Ygritte. It was almost Shakespearean. For months after, the fandom rabidly speculated over how/when the the Stark bastard would return. Thankfully, the Red Woman, using a little magic, brought him back within a couple of episodes – and those few traitors got their comeuppance.
HBO
18/23 “Hold the door”
“The Door” retells Hodor’s tragic time-bending story with a delicacy the show rarely manages. As he’s torn apart by an army of wights, Hodor tries to “Hold the door” shut to save Meera and Bran, who wargs into a young version of Hodor, then known as Wylis. With Bran in his head, Wylis suffers a seizure, repeating their words – “Hold the door” – until they merge to become the one word he will be able to say for the remainder of his life: “Hodor”.
HBO
19/23 Jaime pushes Bran out of a window
The Game of Thrones pilot episode may have happened aeons ago (the Stark children look so young), but it still holds up. It’s helped by the terrific final moment, which sets the tone perfectly: Bran catches Lannister siblings Jaime and Cersei having incestuous sex, so Jaime pushes him out of a Winterfell tower window.
HBO
20/23 Sansa and Ramsay’s wedding night
Sansa and Ramsay’s controversial wedding night has gone down as the most controversial scene in all of Game of Thrones. The episode, which came midway through season five, saw Ramsay brutally rape his new wife while a terrified Theon/Reek watched on. Some people vowed never to watch the show again.
HBO
21/23 The Mountain verses The Viper
Everything was going Oberyn Martell’s way. Not only were fans lusting after Pedro Pascal’s character, but the Viper was fighting for the life of another fan-favourite, Tyrion Lannister. Of course, this is Games of Thrones, and Oberyn’s plans soon blew up in his face – literally. The warrior’s head ended up looking like a squashed watermelon after The Mountain crushed it. With Oberyn dead and Tyion’s fate seemingly doomed, the season four moment was a gut punch.
HBO
22/23 Ned’s beheading
For those uninitiated with George RR Martin’s source material, the death of Ned Stark was unthinkable: Sean Bean was the main star and a leading charge for good in a show filled with villainous characters. Ned getting beheaded was a strike for the Lannisters and tipped off viewers to expect the unexpected.
HBO
23/23 The Red Wedding
The Red Wedding has become a defining moment in modern pop culture. Never before had a television series risked showing a pregnant woman being stabbed in the stomach as her husband and mother-in-law watched on, only for them to be killed seconds later. Game of Thrones, staying true to the source material, went there, brutally murdering three major characters; Robb, Talisa and Catelyn Stark.The royal bloodbath sent shockwaves through the fandom and soon became bigger than Game of Thrones. Memes quickly began spreading like wildfire as the world restlessly talked about those five infamous minutes of terrifying television. After Catelyn’s neck was slit and the screen cut to black, television was never the same again.
HBO
1/23 Game of Thrones’ 22 most shocking moments
Click through the gallery to see what made the list…
HBO
2/23 George W Bush’s head on spike
This was shocking but not because it was violent. During the last episode of season one, we saw former president George W Bush’s head on a spike. The directors have since confirmed that no subliminal political messaging was intended: they just needed an extra prosthetic heads and Bush’s was lying around.
HBO
3/23 Daenerys takes over Meereen
It’s after offering the slaves of Meeren a chance of freedom that Daenerys first reveals her deadly side: “I am not your enemy. Your enemy is beside you. I do not bring you commands. I bring you a choice. And I bring your enemies what they deserve.” Cue the crucifixion of the city’s slaveowners and Daenerys announcing herself as queen of Meereen.
HBO
4/23 Lysa breast feeding Robin
Not that Breastfeeding should ever be a taboo subject on TV, but when the feeding child is 10 years old, well, there’s obviously going to be some kind of uproar. The scene in question came in season one and some viewers could not handle the sight of Catelyn’s sister, Lysa, sitting on a throne with her near-adolescent son, Robin, attached at her breast.
HBO
5/23 Rat torture
Watching people being tortured is a pretty common occurrence in Game of Thrones. Perhaps the most horrible method of all came in season two, when a bucket of rats was strapped to a man’s chest. Rather than just letting the rodents sit there, a torturer proceeded to heat up the bucket, leading to the rats having to eat their way through the man to escape.
HBO
6/23 Theon botches a beheading
Although it feels like a long time ago, there was a time when Theon took control of Winterfell. During his governorship, Theon not only had two children killed (believing them to be the Starks), but beheaded Ser Rodrick Cassel himself. Unfortunately, the Greyjoy managed to botch the job, having to take four swings at Cassel until eventually just kicking off the head.
HBO
7/23 Joffrey murders Ros
Joffrey was a great villain, the writers doing an excellent job of making sure everyone who watched the show despised the child king. One of the most violent moments featuring the Lannister came during season three, when he decided to use the prostitute Ros as a living target. Vile.
HBO
8/23 Arya ends Littlefinger’s life
A brutal, if overdue, moment occurred in the season seven finale with Arya slitting the throat of Littlefinger, a character who has been playing his own game of thrones since the very first season. Having his life ended by the youngest daughter of Lady Catelyn Stark, the woman he loved, was likely not the way Lord Baelish expected to go.
HBO
9/23 Jaime rapes Cersei
Joffrey’s death, in itself, was horrifying. To then witness Jaime rape his sister Cersei, as they argue next to their child, was utterly mortifying. What made the scene particularly controversial was that, in George RR Martin’s books, the moment between Jaime and Cersei was seemingly consensual. Showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have yet to respond to the outrage that followed after the episode’s broadcast.
10/23 Theon gets his penis chopped off
While Theon may have been a smug arse, watching the Greyjoy being tortured for almost an entire season was not pleasant. The worst came when Ramsay, also a smug arse, decided to cut off Theon’s penis and send it to his family. Theon quickly became a shell of his former self and Ramsay renamed him Reek.
HBO
11/23 Tommen jumps out of a window
In the dramatic season six finale, Cersei’s deadly plan is put into motion, which minutes leads to the fiery death of Margaery Tyrell. Cut to King Tommen who, after learning of his wife’s death, sets his crown down and calmly jumps out of the nearest window.
HBO
12/23 Ice dragon
Most fans may have seen this twist coming from a mile off, but those who didn’t would have been left stunned after the Night King turned one of Daenerys’s dragons into one of his own. As the deceased Viserion’s eye opens, the future of Westeros looks a lot more uncertain.
HBO
13/23 Jaime loses his hand
The smarmy Jaime Lannister AKA The Kingslayer was dealt an unexpected blow early into season three after his identity was discovered by a group of sell-swords. Their reaction? To cut off his hand. This moment marked a huge development in Jaime’s character evolution.
HBO
14/23 Battle of the Bastards
Fans knew a battle between Ramsay and Jon, two bastards, was coming. Exactly how things would go down, though, no one was quite ready for. The battle started with Rickon being allowed to run towards his brother, only for Ramsay to begin firing arrows at the young Stark. It was brutal. Then, during the battle, Jon looked to be losing. Luckily, Sansa and Littlefinger came to the rescue with the Knights of the Vale and things ended with Jon beating Ramsay to a pulp. Sansa ended up feeding Ramsay to the hounds – a moment of bloody justice.
HBO
15/23 Tyrion kills Shae and Tywin
Tyrion Lannister broke bad in the season four finale after finding his beloved girlfriend Shae in bed with his hateful father, Tywin. The Tyrion fans met in season one would have silently sloped off into the shadows, but not this time: he strangles Shae to death and kills his own father with a crossbow as the senior Lannister sits on the toilet.
HBO
16/23 Shireen is sacrificed by Stannis
A scene as dark as it is harrowing: the power-hungry Stannis Baratheon, inspired by Melisandre, burns his only daughter, Shireen, at the stake as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light.
HBO
17/23 Jon Snow dies
“For the Watch.” There were screams around the world as our hero Jon Snow was stabbed multiple times by members of the Night’s Watch. The last person to put the knife in? Ollie, Jon’s former protégé who murdered his Wildling partner Ygritte. It was almost Shakespearean. For months after, the fandom rabidly speculated over how/when the the Stark bastard would return. Thankfully, the Red Woman, using a little magic, brought him back within a couple of episodes – and those few traitors got their comeuppance.
HBO
18/23 “Hold the door”
“The Door” retells Hodor’s tragic time-bending story with a delicacy the show rarely manages. As he’s torn apart by an army of wights, Hodor tries to “Hold the door” shut to save Meera and Bran, who wargs into a young version of Hodor, then known as Wylis. With Bran in his head, Wylis suffers a seizure, repeating their words – “Hold the door” – until they merge to become the one word he will be able to say for the remainder of his life: “Hodor”.
HBO
19/23 Jaime pushes Bran out of a window
The Game of Thrones pilot episode may have happened aeons ago (the Stark children look so young), but it still holds up. It’s helped by the terrific final moment, which sets the tone perfectly: Bran catches Lannister siblings Jaime and Cersei having incestuous sex, so Jaime pushes him out of a Winterfell tower window.
HBO
20/23 Sansa and Ramsay’s wedding night
Sansa and Ramsay’s controversial wedding night has gone down as the most controversial scene in all of Game of Thrones. The episode, which came midway through season five, saw Ramsay brutally rape his new wife while a terrified Theon/Reek watched on. Some people vowed never to watch the show again.
HBO
21/23 The Mountain verses The Viper
Everything was going Oberyn Martell’s way. Not only were fans lusting after Pedro Pascal’s character, but the Viper was fighting for the life of another fan-favourite, Tyrion Lannister. Of course, this is Games of Thrones, and Oberyn’s plans soon blew up in his face – literally. The warrior’s head ended up looking like a squashed watermelon after The Mountain crushed it. With Oberyn dead and Tyion’s fate seemingly doomed, the season four moment was a gut punch.
HBO
22/23 Ned’s beheading
For those uninitiated with George RR Martin’s source material, the death of Ned Stark was unthinkable: Sean Bean was the main star and a leading charge for good in a show filled with villainous characters. Ned getting beheaded was a strike for the Lannisters and tipped off viewers to expect the unexpected.
HBO
23/23 The Red Wedding
The Red Wedding has become a defining moment in modern pop culture. Never before had a television series risked showing a pregnant woman being stabbed in the stomach as her husband and mother-in-law watched on, only for them to be killed seconds later. Game of Thrones, staying true to the source material, went there, brutally murdering three major characters; Robb, Talisa and Catelyn Stark.The royal bloodbath sent shockwaves through the fandom and soon became bigger than Game of Thrones. Memes quickly began spreading like wildfire as the world restlessly talked about those five infamous minutes of terrifying television. After Catelyn’s neck was slit and the screen cut to black, television was never the same again.
HBO
The final season of Game of Thrones reaches TV screens 14 April. The show will be available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK. Read everything you need to know about the final six episodes here.
