‘Game of Thrones’ Spoiler Alert: The Most Shocking Deaths in Episode 5

The Battle of Winterfell was nothing compared to the tragedy that struck King’s Landing in episode 5 of “Game of Thrones” on Sunday night. With Daenerys’s spiral into madness, many people lost their lives – some we expected, some we rooted for, some who, let’s be honest, definitely needed to go.

While the most tragic loss of all was probably all of King’s Landing and the innocent people that went down with it, here were a few of the character losses that are hitting particularly hard: 

Harry Strickland 

The Golden Company won’t be making any more strides towards the Iron Throne, it seems, since their leader, Harry Strickland, made moves that got them all wiped out. 

Varys 

This heartbreaking death was a result of Tyrion Lannister revealing Varys’s betrayal to Daenerys, which led to his death by dragon fire. Tyrion and Varys shared a heartbreaking moment before his execution that left fans teary-eyed. 

Euron Greyjoy 

This was not a fun death to watch, but not undeserved, either. After taunting Jaime Lannister into a sword fight, Euron Greyjoy meets his end despite badly injuring Jaime. 

Qyburn

This Hand of the Queen took one step in the wrong direction, which led to the snapping of his neck at the hand of Gregor Clegane. It was so quick, fans weren’t even sure it happened at first.

Sandor and Gregor Clegane

Cleganebowl fan theories came to a brutal head in episode 5 when Sandor (The Hound) and Gregor duked it out for a while before ultimately falling to their deaths into a pit of flames. 

Jamie and Cersei Lannister 

After being released from captivity by Tyrion, Jaime Lannister immediately rushed to Cersei’s side in an effort to save her. When they realized they were too late, and the rubble had blocked entrances to the underground tunnels, they died in each other’s arms as the castle collapsed on top of them. 

So what’s next? Well, many of the trusted favorites are still alive – Jon Snow, Arya Stark, and everyone at Winterfell, to name a few – and all of them are probably eyeing the target on Daenerys’s back.