It's a tough life in the "Game of Thrones" universe, and most folks haven't gotten out alive. Let's count down the HBO series' most unsettling deaths.
10. Before she was Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen had an abusive brother, Viserys, who got his comeuppance in Season 1 when Khal Drogo dumped molten gold on his head.
9. The Red Viper, Oberyn Martell, almost had his revenge in a Season 4 duel with the Mountain, the man who raped and murdered his sister. But he didn't finish the job and instead ended up having his skull crushed between his opponent's giant hands.
8. Ygritte, a free folk warrior and forbidden lover of Jon Snow, died in battle at Castle Black near the end of Season 4 (shot with an arrow by young Olly). An unfortunate ending for the woman who gave us the phrase "You know nothing, Jon Snow."
7. The aging warrior Barristan Selmy (allied with Daenerys) died in Mereen fighting against an uprising of the Sons of the Harpies in Season 5. Stabbed many, many times.
6. Tyrion escaped execution for the murder of Joffrey (which he didn't commit) at the end of Season 4. On his way out, he found former lover Shae in his father Tywin's bed. So he murdered her, and shot Dad with a crossbow as Tywin sat on the toilet. Fitting.
5. Stannis Baratheon burned his daughter Shireen alive in a sacrifice intended to help him take Winterfell, in one of the show's most upsetting scenes. It didn't work, and he deservedly met his own end shortly thereafter.
4. Ned Stark's execution by newly crowned King Joffrey in Season 1 established exactly what kind of show this is: one in which nobody is safe, even the person presumed to be the main character.
