Anyone even remotely familiar with George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' novels and the epic TV show based on them is aware of the astonishing mortality rate of many of the central characters. As an avid lover of both the books and the show, I find this to be one of the most emotional and brilliant aspects of Martin's world, having spent hours getting attached to these rich, interesting characters only to have my allegiance unexpectedly broken by their sudden, shocking and often gruesome demise. I also found it incredibly difficult to write this piece without major spoilers for forthcoming episodes. But even for those who haven't read the books, there's a virtual gold mine of devastating and shocking kill-offs, with these being my top ten from the show so far.
10. Renly Baratheon
I'll admit I feel as though I've only really included Renly for the sake of rounding out the list to an even ten. I never really felt as attached to him as several of the other characters in this list, therefore it was less of a crushing blow to me when he died. That being the case though, there's no denying his death was certainly one of the more sudden and shocking of the second season. Despite having fairly little screen time, Renly was a charismatic, charming character who played a fairly important role in the war until his shocking death at the hands of Stannis, Melisandre and their supernatural shadow assassin (that may very well have a proper title that I've missed in the books). While Renly's death therefore wasn't terribly upsetting to me, it was certainly a shocking kill-off that set Stannis up as a true contender for the Iron Throne, as well as hinting at the supernatural elements of Martin's world that are often overlooked.