10 Most Difficult To Watch Game Of Thrones Moments

We can sit through stabbings and beatings without blinking an eye. But these were something else.

HBOHBOGame of Thrones is pretty much the definition of shock television, and has been proudly carrying that mantle for years now. They're not happy unless someone's dying, getting raped, losing a limb, or being separated from their loved ones forever. They're like emotional vampires, taking nourishment from our anger and despair. Now that the show's been on for four years, though, we've become a little bit desensitized to the pain and torment the characters go through. Back in season one, a graphic death (let alone one of a major character) was a huge event. Nowadays, do we even really notice when someone gets disemboweled anymore? We can sit through stabbings and beatings without blinking an eye. But despite our general apathy, there are some moments that make even the most hardened Game of Thrones fan wince. Scenes that we simply don't have the emotional strength to watch more than once. These are, for lack of a better word, Doozies. Moments that were so genuinely horrific that they went beyond the Game of Thrones fandom, and sent reverberations throughout pop culture at large. Obviously, watch out for spoilers.

10. The Purple Wedding

HBOHBOSome might think that the Purple Wedding made this list because of King Joffrey's painful death by poison at his own wedding reception. Not so. His death was long overdue and actually pretty cathartic for most viewers, who had been clamoring for his head on a platter since his very first appearance. No, it's not so much the death as it is the entire reception that precedes it. His cruel and humiliating treatment of Tyrion, potshots at Ned Stark while Sansa is present, and the entire sequence with the battling dwarfs are enough to make anyone with a conscience feel sick to their stomach. Even the unfailingly awesome Margaery's attempts to deflect attention away from Joffrey's sociopathic tendencies can't cut through the mounting tension that fills this scene. You want to look away from the horror out of sheer secondhand embarrassment, but it's like a really awkward train wreck that you can't help but gape mindlessly at. In a way, Joffrey suffocating and turning a delicate shade of purple actually comes as a little bit of a relief.
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Contributor

Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.