Game Of Thrones: 18 Terrible Ideas That Were Great To Watch

13. Beheading NedGame Of Thrones Ned Beheaded I'll come out and admit that I didn't read the books until after season 1, and I avoided spoilers like the bloody flux until I saw Daenerys emerge from a fire with some strategically placed dragons wrapped around her body at the end of episode 10. I didn't even start the show until the first season was over. I'd seen Sean Bean in all of the promotional material for season 1 and recognized him as the main protagonist right away. I was invested in his arc from the very first episode. By the end, as Ned's honor was proving more and more unwise, I was sad but resigned to Ned's looming exile at the Wall. He'd have to renounce all titles and holdings, but he had an heir and a few spares to take up the mantle as Lord of Winterfell. Besides, he'd be free to hang out with his brother and his maybe bastard son Jon. It didn't sound so bad. He'd head to the Wall and we'd get started on the ice zombie plotline. It was only the first of his many seasons on the show; of course he couldn't win everything right away. He'd go into exile and then make a triumphant return to the capitol by season 7, right? Right? Enter Joffrey. We already knew that Joffrey was a monster. Arya knew that Joffrey was a monster. Everybody except for Sansa knew that Joffrey was a monster. Still, it wasn't until the final scene of the penultimate episode of season 1 that we found out that he was also extremely stupid. Sure, Joffrey, beheading one of the most prominent and respected men in the Seven Kingdoms despite the advice of everybody is definitely a good plan. Nothing could go wrong with that one. No one able to amass a huge army could possibly want to seek revenge or anything. Jaime may have pushed Bran out of a window, Catelyn may have kidnapped Tyrion, and Littlefinger may have betrayed Ned, but it was Joffrey who truly started the War of the Five Kings when he ordered Ned's head removed by the blade of his own sword. And it was amazing. Or so I realized once I stopped crying.

Contributor
Contributor

Fiction buff and writer. If it's on Netflix, it's probably in my queue. I've bought DVDs for the special features and usually claim that the book is better than the movie or show (and can provide examples). I've never met a TV show that I won't marathon. Follow on Twitter @lah9891 .