Game of Thrones: Most heartbreaking deaths up until season 8

Season 7

The seventh season of Game of Thrones was full of character deaths—an unsurprising fact given that the Lannisters and Daenerys are warring over the throne—but many of them were more satisfying than sad. Littlefinger certainly falls into this category, and we can’t really say we wept for the men of House Tarly either, especially after their treatment of Sam and Gilly during season six. But even though plenty of characters got their comeuppance during season 7, there were a few deaths that hit viewers in the hearts.

Viserion

Viserion is the major death of Game of Thrones‘ seventh season, and it’s one that many fans just weren’t prepared for. For most of the series, Daenerys and her dragons seem untouchable compared to everyone else in Westeros. The Night King stripped viewers of that illusion when he took down Viserion, seemingly with little effort. Daenerys’ expression as she watches her “child” fall from the sky is enough to cleave viewers’ hearts in two, but imagining her reaction when she realizes that Viserion has been turned into the undead makes it that much worse. We just hope the Night King gets what’s coming to him after that.

Olenna Tyrell

The last member of House Tyrell, Olenna’s was a death that most fans were not looking forward to. The matriarch of the Tyrell family, Olenna was a fierce woman who did anything she could to protect her children and grandchildren. She was the source of plenty of laughs throughout the series, and she also did viewers the favor of getting rid of Joffrey, something we’ll be eternally grateful for. That said, while we were sad to see her go, it was fitting that she died on her own terms—and with the last word.

Tyene Sand

Although Ellaria Sand and her daughters might have brought their deaths upon themselves after what they did to Myrcella, Tyene Sand’s murder was a particularly brutal one. Repaying Ellaria for what she did to Myrcella, Cersei poisons the girl and locks the two of them in a dungeon together, forcing Ellaria to watch her child die. It’s one of Cersei’s more vicious machinations, and we were admittedly a little sad for Ellaria and Tyene.

There will likely be more characters added to this list when the final season of Game of Thrones finally airs, but we’re crossing our fingers that the big finale won’t break our hearts too much. That’s probably overly optimistic, but we’re holding out hope that some of our favorites get a happy ending.