2. The Starks - Game Of Thrones (Season 1 & Season 3 Episode 9)
What separates George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series from any other fantasy series is that the good guys, the ones you are rooting for, don't always prevail. This is actually an understatement. If a character is an honorable fan-favorite, they're most likely going to meet a horrible death. The Starks are the heroes of the story. Fans who hadn't read the books when Game of Thrones premiered probably thought that he whole point of this saga was to ultimately see Ned Stark prevail in taking down the incestuous Cersei Lannister and her brood from power. Nope. Joffrey ended up having Ned's head chopped off in the penultimate episode of Season 1, after he rightfully accused Joffrey of being a false heir to the iron throne. Cue the fan outrage. The supposed main character of the series was killed off in the first season. Yet, this wasn't the end of the shocking deaths. We still had Robb and Catelyn Stark, who spent the next two seasons fighting for the North against the Lannisters. You would think that Robb ultimately succeeded in avenging his father's death. Then, when everything seemed to be going splendidly, Robb and Catelyn were murdered by the Freys in what is known as the Red Wedding. This all happened because Robb married Talisa instead of a Frey, a simple misstep that cost him his life and ended the Northern rebellion. This was even more shocking than Ned's death, as viewers who hadn't read the books probably didn't see anything like this happening since Ned was already dead. Now that the Red Wedding has passed, a death of a fan favorite character won't be much of a surprise. It will be expected.
Recent graduate of Towson University, with a B.S. in Journalism/New Media. I enjoy Chipotle, red wine and 'Game of Thrones,' preferably at the same time. Follow me on Twitter @ZelayaIan.
What separates George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series from any other fantasy series is that the good guys, the ones you are rooting for, don't always prevail. This is actually an understatement. If a character is an honorable fan-favorite, they're most likely going to meet a horrible death. The Starks are the heroes of the story. Fans who hadn't read the books when Game of Thrones premiered probably thought that he whole point of this saga was to ultimately see Ned Stark prevail in taking down the incestuous Cersei Lannister and her brood from power. Nope. Joffrey ended up having Ned's head chopped off in the penultimate episode of Season 1, after he rightfully accused Joffrey of being a false heir to the iron throne. Cue the fan outrage. The supposed main character of the series was killed off in the first season. Yet, this wasn't the end of the shocking deaths. We still had Robb and Catelyn Stark, who spent the next two seasons fighting for the North against the Lannisters. You would think that Robb ultimately succeeded in avenging his father's death. Then, when everything seemed to be going splendidly, Robb and Catelyn were murdered by the Freys in what is known as the Red Wedding. This all happened because Robb married Talisa instead of a Frey, a simple misstep that cost him his life and ended the Northern rebellion. This was even more shocking than Ned's death, as viewers who hadn't read the books probably didn't see anything like this happening since Ned was already dead. Now that the Red Wedding has passed, a death of a fan favorite character won't be much of a surprise. It will be expected.