10 Best Game Of Thrones Episode Endings
6. The Mountain And The Viper (Season 4, Episode 8)
The Ending: After seemingly defeating The Mountain in Tyrion's trial, Oberyn Martel is seized by his opponent, who obliterates his head. Tywin sentences Tyrion to death, much to Cersei's delight.
Why It's Great: Game of Thrones is a violent show. That was already well solidified by the time season 4 rolled around, but who could have prepared for this?
Oberyn Martel's extremely graphic death scene is easily what makes this episode so memorable. He wasn't a major character, having only showed up earlier that season, but he was a compelling one, and seeing him go out like this left pretty much every viewer scarred for life.
But it's also notable for Tywin deliberately sentencing his own son to death without a second thought. It was already known he hated Tyrion (as does Cersei), but that he would sentence him to death like this showed just how much he abhorred his son (and was a major point in the fantastic final scene between Tyrion and his father in the season 4 finale).