15 Times S**t Got Real In Game Of Thrones
There's a time for subtext. These are not those times.
We've been treated to hours and hours of beautifully crafted dialogue, and entire scenes filled with hidden motives and meaning. We've followed gentle words in a council chamber all the way to their bloody consequences, sometimes even across the world. A favourite activity of 'Thrones fans is to examine these scenes and try to divine what will come of these moments in the future, but the moments in this list need no such examination.
What really excites us is when all pretence is dropped and the brutal, naked truth is spoken plainly and with ill intent; when there is nothing left to talk about, and all that remains is the blunt force of confrontation. Some of these situations are interrupted or neutralised, and some explode in violence.
Here are some of the best examples of times our nerves were worked to unbearable levels. Those scenes that made us anxious, excited and terrified, sometimes all at the same time.
15. Mountain Is A Bad Loser
Way back in Season One, many of us were blissfully ignorant of Gregor Clegane and what he was capable of. Game Of Thrones was intent on rectifying this early on.
Watching the joust in Ned Stark's honour, Petyr Baelish fills us in on the tale of The Mountain and The Hound, horrifying Sansa Stark as he goes. When Loras uses a mare in heat to distract Gregor's massive mount and unhorse him, The Mountain calls for his sword and full-on executes his horse Ned Stark style.
Before Loras' shield is obliterated, The Hound takes it upon himself to attack his brother. This is an abrupt and violent exchange that sets up both brothers and sets the table for the possible upcoming Cleganebowl.
We were all quite innocent at the time, never having been exposed to the horrors that 'Thrones would gleefully visit upon us, so this was harrowing. After seeing this fans should have all been less shocked than we were at the Viper popping.
Animal death is always much more shocking than characters in peril and this is handled viscerally. The Mountain's scenes from here on out have been either foreboding or savagely unforgiving.