10 Most Shocking Game Of Thrones Moments

"Yes, now the rains weep o'er his halls, and not a soul to hear."

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HBO

Game of Thrones is a show that rests on a foundation of shocking moments.

People may stay for the wonderfully written characters, the dense world, and the escalating plot that leaves you wondering just what will happen next, but it's the shocking moments that get people in. It's the water-cooler chatter, the "oh, did you see Thrones last night?", the scenes that break the internet - they transcend the show and permeate a wider culture.

Seeing Sansa's journey from Westeros' unluckiest maiden to a real political player, Jaime's search for redemption, and the flowing power struggles within King's Landing and beyond are some of the joys of the show, but if you don't watch it, then you won't know what's going on. Meanwhile, pretty much everyone has heard of the Red Wedding.

These are the moments that make you want to close your eyes, but find yourself unable to look away from. That you'll all want to talk about, but render you speechless.

Trying to whittle down Thrones' most shocking moments to just 10 is something of a fool's errand. So just call me Ser Dontos and let's get into it.

10. Bran's Fall

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HBO

After years of deaths, rape, and torture, you might think this one isn't such a big deal. Someone gets pushed from a window. They live. So what?

Jaime pushing Bran out of the window makes the top 10 because of its context. This happened right back in the very first episode, before Game of Thrones was the behemoth it is today, and when most viewers (save for those who'd already read the book(s)) didn't know what they were letting themselves in for.

It's shocking enough to see Jaime and Cersei having incestuous sex, but taken way further when Bran catches them at it. The series' violence was obvious by this stage anyway, but pushing an innocent child out of a window to his potential death was the show's first big shocking moment, and showed just how far it might be prepared to go.

Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.