15 Dead Game Of Thrones Characters (That Are Still Alive In The Books)

One of the most shocking moments of Game of Thrones fifth season occurred at the end of the third episode, when Barristan Selmy was killed off after a skirmish with the Sons of the Harpy resistance movement opposed to Daenerys Targeryen's rule of Meereen. Said incident, which came out of nowhere, was particularly controversial given Selmy's status as a legendary warrior and the Sons' status as a group of former slave masters, many of whom would never have held a sword in their lives previously.

True, it took a great many of them to take him down, but Barristan's counsel to Dany was always sensible and level-headed, whilst his loyalty was second to none. The same can't be said for the returning Jorah Mormont and the mercenary Daario Naharis, who lead the search for Dany following her flight from Meereen at the end of season five, leaving Tyrion Lannister and Varys to rule Meereen in their stead.

In the books, Tyrion and Dany have not yet met, whilst Jorah has not yet made his return following his banishment for previously spying on her. Varys remains in King's Landing, whilst Daario, a minor character on the page, is a hostage of the Yunkai forces laying siege to the city.

As a result, it falls to Barristan to take control when the seemingly treacherous Hizdahr zo Loraq begins to exert his rule, and the Winds of Winter will presumably see him have several defining character moments as he and Grey Worm deal with the looming Battle of Meereen and the resurgence of the Sons of the Harpy at the same time.

This may well claim his life, but for now, Meereen, a mess in the books on many occasions, will enter season six as an area where the series has now completely deviated from its source material, meaning that anything goes from here on.