Game Of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 - Every Death In 'The Bells' Ranked Worst To Best

8. The Mother & Daughter

Big battle set-pieces like this (though it's not so much a battle as a massacre mashed up with a disaster movie) often have characters standing in for the audience. Previously, we've seen Tyrion and Bronn and Jon Snow playing that role, but for the impact of Dany's attack to really land, we had to see it through the eyes of innocent parties who we had no investment in.

As such, we were introduced to a nameless mother and child who appeared at various points in the episode as the main characters converged on King's Landing. They were our surrogates in the episode, so it was natural to grow attached to them (in fact, it was heartily encouraged). So when they ended up being killed in a loving clinch reminiscent of the tragic victims of Mount Vesuvius, it was a difficult moment to take.

Unfortunately, the lingering also felt a little over-the-top and manipulative. The message was clear and easy to understand, but that ending of their arc was just a little bit too much.