10 Heartbreaking Times Lead Characters Left TV Shows
9. Ned Stark - Game Of Thrones
Game Of Thrones was not a show to play by the rules. Questionable ending aside, it was one of the greatest sagas in TV history, with one of the first major twists being Ned Stark’s death in the ninth episode of Season One.
Unless you’d read the books, it was pretty much impossible to see this coming. It was clearly going to be an epic, lengthy narrative, Ned Stark was the central character and featured in all the posters. They even had a hugely famous and talented actor in Sean Bean play Ned, surrounded by a cast mainly made up of unknowns.
Sure, he had a reputation for dying early, and they’d just killed off the King a few episodes earlier, but still, Ned would be protected by plot armour, right? Then down came the sword. It was a twist Game Of Thrones didn’t really top until the Red Wedding, and it left everyone speechless.
Heartbroken probably isn’t the adjective you’d use to describe it though. Devastated, maybe. Shocked, definitely. It’s clear though that the show frames this through Arya’s viewpoint, shot not as the loss of a central character, but as a young girl losing her father.