Game Of Thrones: 20 Most Paused Moments

16. Khal Drogo Rips Out A Tongue (Season 1, Episode 8)

Those Dothraki guys sure love their killing, made no clearer than in Khal Drogo's duel with Mago, a raider whose actions Daenerys disapproved of, namely raping women they capture rather than taking them for wives. Drogo defends his wife, and faces off against Mago. After a brief fight, Drogo defeats Mago by ripping his tongue out through his throat, easily one of the goriest and most unpleasant deaths to befall any character in the show so far. And because the idea of it isn't bad enough, we get a brief but very clear glimpse of Drogo holding up the torn, meaty mass with a certain demented pride. Charming.

15. Ned Stark Dies (Season 1, Episode 9)

While those who have read the books will have been anticipating this moment since the very first episode, for everyone else it was a major shock, a game-changing moment which completely altered the course of the show, and made it clear that nobody was safe from death, no matter how important they seemed. The scene has Ned Stark making a false confession to treason and swearing fealty to King Joffrey after Varys told him that doing so would cause the King to spare his life and also ensure his daughter Sansa was kept safe. However, in a scene that forever made Joffrey one of TV's most despised characters, he relented on his promise, ordering Ned to be beheaded in front of his daughters. Even until the very last moment, most viewers probably assumed he would be saved, but in the show's biggest shock so far, Ned is brutally decapitated, and things have never been the same since, as this act has essentially come to define the series and many of its characters.