Why do my favorite characters keep dying?

Imagine sitting on the couch watching your favorite show. Your favorite character walks across the scene looking rather attractive. 

All of a sudden, they die. 

Well, if you’re a fan of Game of Thrones this happens every single time you turn on your television. Just like any other show, you don’t really find yourself wondering when the protagonist will die. It’s kind of just… implied that they will be on the show forever. With Game of Thrones, we see something a little different. Dating back to the first season, characters continuously get killed off with no remorse or warning. George R. R. Martin is genius in this way because he repeatedly gives us reasons to come back and figure out more. While I have never been a superfan of this show, I can say that I have never been so interested in seeing who will die next. This leads me to ask the question, is anyone truly safe in Game of Thrones? The only answer to this question is absolutely not. In most narratives, you typically make the assumption that the main protagonists are safe because if you kill them off, you risk the audience losing interest in the show. However, Game of Thrones goes against this assumption by killing off main character, beginning with Ned’s beheading in season 1. The show manages these deaths so well that the audience looks forward to who will live and who will eventually die. If you haven’t watched or read anything past season 2, I apologize for the following spoilers, but these things have to be said.

https://www.eonline.com/photos/12041/ranking-the-25-most-important-deaths-on-game-of-thrones/371007

Ned Stark, our beloved protagonist and Warden of the North, was painted on the very first advertisements when the show, Game of Thrones, was debuting on HBO. Ned is one of those favorite characters that you see on the screen then suddenly they die. While I cannot say that Ned was a handsome character, he was one that we guessed would be on the show forever. Of course, we guessed wrong. Painting Ned as the picture we would see forever on Game of Thrones, was absolutely maleficent of the creator of the ads. Knowing damn well Ned would be dead within the first nine episodes. As stated previously, most of us avid tv watchers have never seen anything quite like this series. Knowing that many of the characters on the show are terrible people, we were rooting for Ned and his honorable ways. Well, depends on what you think honorable is. Steering away from that, we simply never expected Ned to be dead so soon, or like ever. After Robert’s death, Ned was supposed to be King, but of course something crazy happens and we find Joffrey killing off the people that protect Ned in order for him to sit at the throne. Did I mention Joffrey isn’t even the rightful heir? I mean, Ned isn’t either, but technically he is because Robert said he was until someone was old enough. Of course, we have Joffrey’s psychopathic ways play a huge role in this episode, so crazy that Cersei had zero control over him. Ned denied that Joffrey was King but would never tell the people why. If Ned would have been less honorable then maybe he would still be alive, but you know, that’s not always how the cookie will crumble. Now on to the part that literally sends every single Game of Thrones fan into shock, Ned’s beheading. Not only is Ned put in front of everyone to confess of his “sins,” but he did not confess anything or tell anyone what he knows that would change every single thing right from the beginning. We knew that Ned was honorable, but we didn’t know that he was so “honorable” that he would have to ability to let himself be beheaded. Joffrey tells the executioner to cut Ned’s head off, either way he was going to die whether he complied or not. I know we all had some sort of hope that someone would save him, I even thought for a split second that Cersei would come to the rescue, but clearly, she is below her son at this point. Yet as stressed as this treatment of Ned makes us as viewers, Trey Alston argues that bold actions of this kind are what have made Game of Thrones the rating success it is. Killing off the protagonist is simply not American, but boy do we love the anxiety that this show brings. 

            As shocking as killing off the protagonists was, is Game of Thrones really the only show to have done that? It may be the only show that has killed off its main character within the first 9 episodes, but it is certainly not the only show to have killed its protagonist. In an IGN article about TV shows that have killed their shows protagonists, they say that The Wire’s main character, Russell “Stringer” Bell, was killed in the show after the first 3 seasons. While Russell Bell played an important role in the show, it continued to release 2 more seasons after that. Although the show continued, the ratings eventually hit an all-time low and they cancelled the show. While this is a failed example of killing off the protagonist early in the series, Grey’s Anatomy was a little more successful in this way. While the circumstances are not the same in Grey’s Anatomy because Derek Shepherd did not die until season 11, this still hit home for its viewers. In Lindsay Denniger’s article, she discloses rating information that is quite shocking, especially for me. Personally, I quit watching Grey’s Anatomy after Derek Shepherd died because I felt as if the show were nothing to me anymore, but after his death, the viewership went up 11 percent and continued into season 15. In comparison, after Ned Stark died in season 1, the series continued for 7 more seasons. Ani Bundel’s article about the shock of Ned’s death, reveals that the show was successful in doing this by going against the norms of a prime protagonists in the show. She also says that because this show is so widely known, an early death of the protagonist may never be pulled off as well as Game of Thrones did ever again. I couldn’t agree more. Another reason this may be successful in Game of Thrones is because they intentionally plan when actors are killed off of the show. In Grey’s Anatomy and The Wire, the show has no choice when killing off the main characters because the actors quit. Most shows are forced to enact character deaths, but Game of Thrones is fundamentally different in this sense because they kill them for the sake of plot not business.

While Ned’s death is certainly breathtaking and sends its viewers into a deep depression, Khal Drogo’s character was also one that was taken too soon. As we see Daenerys and Drogo’s relationship evolve from an arranged marriage into a romantic relationship based on genuine affection, we don’t get too see it much longer. We could argue that it is Daenerys’s fault, but really who has time to get into that. Let’s just talk about how we lost one of the most attractive men on the entire show. Drogo’s death was extremely shocking because I never thought Dany would be a widow so soon. Since this show is a fantasy, my hopes were high when Dany ordered Mirra Maz Durr to bring Drogo back to life. On the other hand, because this show is a fantasy, I need to learn not to expect anything from Game of Thrones that will put my heart at ease. However, I can respect the way George R. R. Martin kills Drogo’s character off because it is calmer than any other death I have witnessed on this show. Although viewers were upset about Drogo’s sudden death, we see instant character growth in Dany. Not only does Drogo’s incapacitation give Dany the confidence to burn Mirra Maz Durr along with his body, she had the courage to smother Drogo with a pillow for the good of both of them. I thought that if she were risking her baby’s life that at least one of them would come out alive, but instead she got the cutest baby dragons.

https://www.thewrap.com/game-of-thrones-brienne-of-tarths-character-ar/renly/

            Another death of a major character that shocked the audience was Renly. Our beloved Renly whom we thought would take the throne after defeating Stannis, died in cold blood and took our hearts with him. Out of all of the deaths, I definitely did not see this one coming. As I was reading this section, I felt confident in the battle between Renly and Stannis. If I were in this scene, you would see me suiting up that is how ready I was for the battle. Of course, George R. R. Martin ruined Stannis’s defeat for me. Who would have thought that Stannis, Renly’s brother, would use dark magic to stab him in the back? Certainly not me. I remember screaming in the library when I realized that Renly had just been stabbed and began bleeding all over Brienne. While I’m not quite sure the impact this has on the show thus far, I know that if Stannis reaches the throne, I will instantly cry out for Renly to be brought back to life. Oh and not to mention, he is extremely hot, so what happens when all of the hot characters are killed off of the show? 

            Despite all of these losses, Game of Thrones remains a fan favorite. What other show have you watched that you will go back to after it puts you through as much emotional distress as this one? On top of that, the ratings continue to go up even after viewers’ favorite characters have been unexpectedly killed off. While most shows unintentionally and ineffectively kill off their main characters, Game of Thrones is effective in its ways when killing characters for plot success and having the side effect of making us feel like no one in this world is safe.