HBO’s fantasy epicGame of Throneswas a worldwide phenomenonthat dominated TV ratings and pop culture. Based on the book seriesA Song of Ice and Fireby George R.R. Martin,Game of Throneshas been praised for its high-quality production, its talented ensemble cast, its blend of realism and fantasy, and its epic battle sequences. But one of the show’s most defining elements is itsunpredictable plot twists.
Game Of Thrones
Game of Thronesis filled with shocking moments that leave its audience’s jaws on the floor. Characters are slain unexpectedly, sometimes in the most brutal ways. No one is ever truly safe in Westeros, not even the most significant and beloved heroes.
Most of the show’s plot twists, even its most vicious ones, are awesome. But as we get closer to the show’s divisive finale, we’re hit with awful plot twists that continue to leave a bitter taste in fans' mouths all these years later. Here are ten amazing plot twists, and five horrible ones, that madeGame of Thronesviewers gasp, jump out of their seats, and frantically message their fellow fans.
Great Twist: Jon Snow’s Parentage
ThroughoutGame of Thrones,Jon Snow(Kit Harrington) is known as the bastard son of Ned Stark. But the show’s later seasons reveal the epic truth about Jon’s parentage. He’s not Ned Stark’s son. The guy isn’t even a bastard. Jon Snow is the true-born son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, the heir to the Iron Throne.
Jon Snow’s heritage is one of the greatest plot twists ever, a revelation that has yet to come to light in Martin’s books. But avid fans ofA Song of Ice and Firemanaged to snipe out the truth about Jon Snow, following the subtle clues and trail of breadcrumbs that Martin left in his novels. The Jon Snow theory spread like wildfire, engulfing every person who picked upASong of Ice and Firebook. Even fans who only watched the show became familiar with this theory by the timeGame of Thronesconfirmed it, which is why this is ranked lower on our list. But even if you were expecting it, Jon’s heritage still makes for an incredible plot twist.
Great Twist: Joffrey Is Jamie and Cersei’s Son
Game of Thrones’first episodeends with a plot twist and cliffhanger that left viewers' heads spinning: siblings Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Cersei (Lena Headey) Lannister were having an affair. At the time, this incestuous relationship was unknown in the Seven Kingdoms.
Ned Stark (Sean Bean) spends much of the first season trying to uncover the mystery of what happened to his son Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright), who was pushed from a tower and left paralyzed after witnessing the affair.
Ned follows a trail of breadcrumbs that leads him to another shocking revelation: Cersei’s children, including her firstborn son and the new king Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), aren’t related to the former king, Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy). “And they’re all Jaime’s,“Ned tells Cersei in their epic confrontation. It’s a major plot twist that ignites another civil war in Westeros, the War of the Five Kings.
Awful: Bran Becomes King
Westeros is looking for a new ruler after the death of Queen Cersei. Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) is brought before a council to help fill this position and determine the future of the Seven Kingdoms.
Apparently, his words carry a lot of weight, even when he’s a prisoner in chains. Tyrion proposes not Jon, or Sansa, or even himself as the new ruler of Westeros. He proposes Bran Stark for the young man’s unique, omniscient ability – and everyone at the council agrees.Bran is made king, even though he had minimalinvolvement in the story and seems to be detached from humanity.
Does he even care what happens to Westeros? This decision caused a lot of outrage among fans. No one had Bran on their Bingo card as the next king of Westeros.
Even with an undead army of 100,000 zombies (or wights as they’re called inGame of Thrones), the White Walkers seemed to be at a disadvantage in their imminent battle against Westeros. Team Jon and Dany had three fire-breathing dragons that could soar overhead while torching the battlefield of White Walkers and wights.
The tide turned, however, whenthe Night King unexpectedly launched a spearthat killed one of Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons, Viserion. We could all guess what was coming next: Viserion was resurrected as an undead dragon, a weapon of mass destruction for the Night King that breathed blue flames. Suddenly, the battle didn’t seem so uneven.
Great Twist: Joffrey’s Death
Since season one,Joffrey Baratheon was the villain that audiences loved to hate– a cruel, violent, and psychotic blend of unchecked privilege. Fans eagerly awaited the day when Joffrey would get his comeuppance. And then finally, it arrived.
In a shocking but satisfying scene, fans got to watch the wicked King Joffrey choke, suffocate, turn purple, and then die at his own wedding, before a crowd of his royal subjects. Good riddance.
Awful: Jaime and Cersei Die Together
In Martin’s third book,A Storm of Swords,Jaime thinks to himself, “I cannot die while Cersei lives…We will die together as we were born together.” Book readers hoped this wouldn’t come true, and it seemed to be going that way inGame of Thrones.Jaime’s character grew and flourished, turning him into more of a good guy, while Cersei doubled down on her evil ways and embraced her role as a villain.
Their relationship worsened as her behavior became more and more dangerous and erratic. The pair disagreed on almost everything, including what to do about the itty, bitty problem of the White Walkers. Jaime wound up distancing himself from Cersei. Literally. He abandoned her at King’s Landing and traveled North to help in the battle against the White Walkers.He even slept with Brienne of Tarth.
Jaime had come such a long way in the show, both literally and figuratively. He had freed himself from Cersei’s shackles and was finally able to stand on his own. And then at the last second,Game of Thronesundid his entire character arc and sent him scampering back to his sister.
Despite their estranged relationship, Jaime and Cersei died in each other’s arms, as the Red Keep came crumbling down on top of them. Fans were upset to see this reversal in Jaime’s character – and were even more upset to see Cersei meet such a PG ending. At least, byThronesstandards.
Great Twist: Cersei Destroys the Great Sept of Baelor
After enduring imprisonment, suffering, and public humiliation at the hands of the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), Cersei becomes hellbent on taking revenge on those who have wronged her and concoctsher most diabolical scheme yet.
On the day of her trial, everyone who’s anyone in King’s Landing gathers at the Great Sept of Baelor, including the High Sparrow, Margarey Tyrell (Natalie Dormer), and most of her family. It isn’t until it’s too late – when Cersei and her son, King Tomnen, don’t show up to the trial – that they all realize something is wrong.
The Great Sept explodes in an eruption of green flames, ignited by the wildfire that had been secretly stored underneath it. In one fell swoop, Cersei took out the majority of her enemies. Taking out the High Sparrow was an expected move. But killing Margarey and her family with wildfire – no one saw that coming.
Great Twist: Oberyn’s Death
Oberyn Martell (played by the then unknown Pedro Pascal) became an immediate fan favorite when he was introduced in season four. His badass personality and I-do-what-I-want lifestyle made him an alluring character.
Fans rejoiced when Oberyn volunteered to fight in a trial by combat for Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), who was accused and imprisoned for King Joffrey’s death. Oberyn’s true objective was to kill Tyrion’s opponent, Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson), also known as the Mountain, who allegedly murdered Oberyn’s sister and her children. Despite the Mountain’s tremendous size, Oberyn actually manages to strike him down. Victory seems to be in the bag – until Oberyn gets cocky.
Rather than kill the Mountain, Oberyn taunts and screams at his opponent, demanding to know who gave the order to murder his family. In a stunning twist that we all should’ve seen coming, the Mountain flips the battle on its head. As for Oberyn’s head? The Mountain pops it like a balloon, leaving the audience as horrified and stunned as poor Tyrion.
Awful: Arya Kills the Night King
The very first scene ofGame of Thronesdidn’t include any major characters. It all began with the White Walkers, the evil, frozen creatures of legend. Since then, fans had been waiting for the White Walkers to invade Westeros, especially after their badass leader, the Night King, was introduced. The White Walkers' long-awaited assault lasted only a single episode in the show’s final season, which was filled with dark shots, expected deaths, and a polarizing victorious blow.
Everyone was expecting Jon Snow to slay the Night King. Forget the Prince that was Promised/A Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, which many fans believe points to Jon Snow. Jon and the Night King hadbeef.They shared several tense and epic moments where they glared at each other from afar, as if sizing each other up, wordlessly committing to an imminent fight to the death.
These moments seemed to be setting up a rivalry that promised to rank among the best in television, alongside Batman and the Joker or Sherlock and Moriarty. But that promise was broken. We do see Jon and the Night King battle with dragons, but that’s about it. In the end, it’s Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) who comes out of nowhere (literally) and lands the finishing blow, using the very blade that we’ve seen inHouse of the Dragon.
In typicalThronesfashion, the showrunners wanted to subvert audience expectations by having Arya kill the Night King. But sometimes, the obvious choice (in this case, Jon Snow)isthe right choice. The fact that Jon didn’t slay the Night King, or even cross swords with him, made this one of the show’s most disappointing plot twists.
Great Twist: “Hold the Door!”
If you’re a fan ofGame of Thrones,then you know exactly what we mean when we say, “Hold the door!” By season six,Throneshad outpaced Martin’s glacially slow book writing and ran out of source material to follow.He did, however, provide showrunners with a few major plot twists– and this was one of them.
Since season 1, audiences had come to know Hodor (Kristian Nairn) as Winterfell’s gentle giant, a dim-witted but lovable character who could only mutter his own name. And we finally learn why in the season six episode “The Door”.
Using his Three-Eyed Raven superpowers, Bran and his consciousness travel back in time and come across a young Hodor, who, at that time, is named Wylis and is fully capable of speech.
Meanwhile, back in the present timeline, Bran’s unconscious body, Meera (Ellie Kendrick), and the adult Hodor are under attack by wights. Young Wylis takes notice of the time-traveling Bran – and the effects of this silent interaction are devastating.
Wylis somehow gets his wires crossed between present and future, where Meera screams repeatedly at the adult Hodor, “Hold the door!” Hodor keeps his tremendous weight pressed against the door, barring any wights from getting through and chasing after Meera and Bran.
As the two make their escape, young Wylis falls to the ground, convulsing, his voice echoing Meera’s desperate pleas: “Hold the door, hold the door!” These three words gradually mesh together into a single word, Hodor, becoming the namesake of the character. It’s a powerful, heart-wrenching scene that results inone of the most memorable deaths on the show. Leave it to George R.R. Martin to come up with a tragic finale for a supporting character who only speaks one word.
