Analysis Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events.
An illustrated guide
to all 6,887 deaths in
‘Game of Thrones’
Deaths by season
After years of frame-by-frame analysis, here it is: a complete database to every on-screen death from “Game of Thrones,” including who, how, why and where. And after eight seasons of continually rising body counts, we can definitively confirm — “Valar Morghulis” — all men must indeed die.
Season 1
59
deaths
The season that started it all. When Ned Stark, the main hero and character supposedly least at risk, was beheaded, viewers everywhere realized that no one was safe.
Characters are organized according to level of importance: Major, secondary major, minor and background extra. Higher levels of importance get larger illustrations.
To see more information on how a character was killed, click on the illustration or the “more info” button to the bottom
Khal Drogo
Ned Stark
Robert Baratheon
Viserys Targaryen
Click on the illustration for more info
Jory Cassel
Lady
Mirri Maz Duur
Mycah
Septa Mordane
Syrio Forel
The deadliest locations
Winterfell
3,709
deaths
King’s Landing
1,357
deaths
Beyond the Wall
1,092
deaths
Meereen
154
deaths
Goldroad
116
deaths
Season 2
130
deaths
Season 2 may have the fewest major characters killed, but it also gave viewers the show's first big battle scene: the Battle of the Blackwater.
Here's a fun fact: Next time you watch a battle scene, pay close attention to the battle sounds vs. the actual action. You'll notice that death noises are often inserted into scenes in which no one is actually dying. The illusion of a higher body count, perhaps?
Renly Baratheon
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Doreah
Irri
Maester Luwin
Matthos Seaworth
Pyat Pree
Qhorin Halfhand
Rakharo
Rodrik Cassel
The Spice King
Xaro Xhoan Daxos
Yoren
Season 3
87
deaths
The infamous Red Wedding claimed the lives of four major characters in one fell swoop. The fallout also led to Arya Stark's vicious killing of a Frey soldier who bragged about sewing Grey Wind's head to Robb Stark's body. Lesson learned: Don't get on that girl's bad side.
Catelyn Stark
Grey Wind
Jeor Mormont
Robb Stark
Talisa Stark
Click on the illustration for more info
Beric Dondarrion
Craster
Kraznys mo Nakloz
Orell
Rickard Karstark
Ros
The background extras who died the most often
Wights
2,900
deaths
Horses
755
deaths
Dothraki riders
743
deaths
Golden Company soldiers
567
deaths
Lannister soldiers
290
deaths
Season 4
181
deaths
Whether it was Joffrey's poisoning, Oberyn's “mind-blowing” end, or Tywin's unglamorous death in the bathroom, “Game of Thrones” proved it could still shock viewers four seasons in.
Prior to Season 5, season 4 had boasted the highest body count: a whopping 181 deaths. The Battle of Castle Black was responsible for 86. (Despite its name, the battle in fact spanned across Castle Black, The Wall and Beyond the Wall.) In comparison, 58 characters died in Season 1.
Joffrey Baratheon
Jojen Reed
Oberyn Martell
Shae
Tywin Lannister
Ygritte
Click on the illustration for more info
Dontos Hollard
Grenn
Karl Tanner
Locke
Lysa Arryn
Polliver
Pypar
Rast
Styr
Season 5
246
deaths
Though Season 5 had fewer deaths in between major battles, the Massacre at Hardhome and the two revolts by the Sons of the Harpy were enough to catapult Season 5 to a body count of 246. The Massacre at Hardhome alone had 98, surpassing even the Battle of Castle Black's 86 deaths.
Here's a question though: If everyone who died at the Massacre at Hardhome is revived as a wight, has anyone truly died? And if Jon Snow is revived in Season 6 (which is looking likely), has he technically died? Is he on his second life? Who knew this show could cause such existential angst?
Jon Snow
Mance Rayder
Stannis Baratheon
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Barristan Selmy
Faceless man
Hizdahr zo Loraq
Janos Slynt
Karsi
Maester Aemon Targaryen
Magnar Loboda
Meryn Trant
Mossador
Myranda
Myrcella Baratheon
Selyse Baratheon
Shireen Baratheon
The deadliest weapon categories
Animal
1,756
deaths
Magic
1,244
deaths
Blade
801
deaths
Fire/Burning
307
deaths
Arrow/Bolt
209
deaths
Season 6
540
deaths
Season 6’s massive body count comes as no surprise thanks to the deadly Battle of the Bastards and its whopping 168 on-screen deaths. With 540 deaths, Season 6 has a higher body count than Seasons 1-4 combined. Three major houses also got wiped out almost completely: Houses Baratheon, Bolton and Tyrell no longer have any heirs.
However, you might be surprised to learn that Cersei’s use of wildfire at the Great Sept of Baelor easily surpassed the Battle of the Bastards. The explosion killed 198 people in one fell swoop. The killer move put Cersei on top of not only the Iron Throne but also, at the time, our list of deadliest killers.
High Sparrow
Hodor
Loras Tyrell
Margaery Tyrell
Ramsay Bolton
Rickon Stark
Roose Bolton
Tommen Baratheon
Walder Frey
Click on the illustration for more info
Alliser Thorne
Areo Hotah
Balon Greyjoy
Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully
Doran Martell
Grand Maester Pycelle
Kevan Lannister
Lady Crane
Lancel Lannister
Leaf
Mace Tyrell
Olly
Osha
Summer
The Waif
Three-Eyed Raven
Trystane Martell
Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun
Season 7
1,096
deaths
With just a handful of the original main characters left, Season 7 actually has the lowest total count of deaths for named characters. (After all, you can whittle only so far.) Just 13 out of 1,096 deaths weren’t background extras or nameless one-and-dones.
Viserion’s death, however, was a game changer. His untimely end and subsequent resurrection as a wight single-handedly gave the army of the dead a way past The Wall, setting up the epic human-vs.-wight war the show has been foreshadowing for years.
Olenna Tyrell
Petyr Baelish
Viserion
Click on the illustration for more info
Benjen Stark
Dickon Tarly
Nymeria Sand
Obara Sand
Randyll Tarly
Thoros of Myr
Tyene Sand
The deadliest battles
Battle of Winterfell
3,512
deaths
Burning of King’s Landing
1,020
deaths
The Wight Hunt
849
deaths
Battle of the Bastards
168
deaths
Destruction of the
Great Sept of Baelor
198
deaths
Season 8
4,548
deaths
Winter is finally here, and the Night King came with it. Halfway through the season, the living met the dead in the climactic Battle of Winterfell. Thousands died (including this reporter’s sanity), but Arya Stark came in as the MVP at the last minute and slew the Night King. After all, what do we say to the God of Death? Not today.
But the war didn’t stop there. Things took a dark (and heavily criticized) turn when Daenerys Targaryen “went mad” and burned King’s Landing to ashes, killing Lannisters and civilians alike. Her death at the hands of Jon Snow was, fittingly, the last one of the entire series. The show that once ended its first season with the hopeful birth of a dragon has now ended its final season with the mournful departure of one.
Daenerys Targaryen
Cersei Lannister
Jaime Lannister
Euron Greyjoy
Jorah Mormont
Melisandre “the Red Woman” of Asshai
Missandei
Night King
Sandor “the Hound” Clegane
Theon Greyjoy
Varys
Rhaegal
Viserion (Wight)
Click on the illustration for more info
Beric Dondarrion
Eddison Tollett
Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane
Lyanna Mormont
Qyburn
The deadliest killers
Drogon
1,426
kills
Deadliest weapon: Dragonfire
Most on-screen kills:
Burning of King’s LandingS8, E5 (918 kills)
Notable kill:
Destroying King’s Landing and everyone within, Lannisters and soldiers alikeS8, E5
Arya Stark
1,278
kills
Deadliest weapon: Valyrian steel dagger
Most on-screen kills:
Battle of WinterfellS8, E3 (1,214 kills)
Notable kill:
Killing the Night King and defeating the entire army of the deadS8, E3
Rhaegal
273
kills
Deadliest weapon: Dragonfire
Most on-screen kills:
Battle on the frozen lake during the “Wight Hunt”S7, E6 (170 kills)
Notable kill:
Burning massive hordes of wights to help Jon Snow and his “wight hunting” partyS7, E6
Cersei Lannister
199
kills
Deadliest weapon: Wildfire
Most on-screen kills:
Explosion at the Great Sept of BaelorS6, E10 (198 kills)
Notable kill:
I mean, killing everybody at the Great Sept of Baelor is pretty notableS6, E10
Jon Snow
112
kills
Deadliest weapon: Sword (Longclaw)
Most on-screen kills:
Battle on the frozen lake during the “Wight Hunt”S7, E6 (42 kills)
Notable kill:
Stabbing Daenerys Targaryen after a final kiss goodbyeS8, E6
To download the data for this project, click here.
Methodology
A death is counted only if:
The character is killed on-screen.
The character dies off-screen, but the death is confirmed or assumed due to imminent death while on screen.
Only prominent off-screen deaths are listed. (Prominence is determined mainly by importance to the plot.)
Other notes:
The importance level of a character is determined by his/her/its significance to the plot. This is why Lady has a less important rank than Grey Wind, even though they are both Stark direwolves.
For cases in which the character’s appearance isn’t known before his/her death (e.g. if disfigured upon death or unborn), the illustration takes artistic liberties with his/her depiction.
If a character orders the death of another, the character who does the direct killing receives credit, not the one who orders the kill. But for cases in which where the direct killer is unidentifiable, as when Cersei Lannister uses the caches of wildfire to blow up the Great Sept of Baelor, the order-giver receives credit.
In cases of overlapping weapon types (e.g. magic fireball vs. fire vs. magic), the weapon category is assigned based on the origin. For example, dragonfire is considered an “animal” death and magic fireball is considered a “magic” death.
If a character is mercy-killed, the mercy kill is used to categorize the death, not the injuries leading up to the moment.
Season 5 update:
In cases like the Massacre at Hardhome, normal human standards are applied to wights to simplify the process. In other words, an arrow through the skull or a sword through the spine counts as a death, even though officially speaking, a wight is never killed unless burned or stabbed with dragonglass.
Season 6 updates:
If a character dies but is brought back to life (e.g. Jon Snow), the death count stands and the revival is counted as a “second life.” Temporary deaths like Euron Greyjoy’s drowning ceremony are not counted. Beric Dondarrion has been added to the death count as a result of this rule. Gregor Clegane has not been added because it is unclear whether he died off-screen and was then reanimated, or was “altered” while still alive.
For the Battle of the Bastards, it is often unclear which side a dying soldier belongs to. Educated guesses are made based on the shape of the helmets (Bolton soldiers had pointier helmets) and sigils that can be seen on armor.
Season 8 updates:
Because dragonfire covers up the things it burns, educated guesses are made based on approximately the size of the dragonfire’s area of attack. For example, if the fire is about 11 people wide and 2 people deep, we would multiply 11 by 2 to get 22 people. We also assume that the fire only kills enemies and not allies by accident, though we can’t be sure.
For the Battle of Winterfell, both Ironborn and Karstark soldiers help protect Bran in the Godswood. But because we don’t know who is who, we’ve simplified it and labeled them all as Ironborn because Theon was the leader. Similarly, we’ve labeled all unknown soldiers during the main battle as “Stark soldiers” because we have no way of knowing who they actually are. (The soldiers who surrounded Lyanna Mormont, however, were assumed to be Mormont soldiers and labeled as such.)
Similarly to above, all foot soldiers in the attack on King’s Landing are labeled as either Stark or Lannister soldiers, unless obviously otherwise. (E.g. Unsullied have obvious uniforms and are therefore labeled as such.)
Though we do count the death of a wight-version of a character as a second death, the deaths of characters like “Wight Eddison Tollett” are not included because we technically didn’t see them die on-screen during the Battle of Winterfell.
When Euron Greyjoy’s fleet attacks Daenerys Targaryen’s fleet in episode four, we technically don’t see any Unsullied die on camera. Some soldiers were flung into the air and out of the boat because of the bolts’ force, but we can’t assume they all immediately died. Therefore, no Unsullied deaths were counted from that attack because we saw no on-screen deaths.
When Daenerys Targaryen burns Euron Greyjoy’s fleet, it is difficult to see how many soldiers are on each boat though we see movement that indicates they are there and therefore died “on-screen.” Educated guesses are made based on previous scenes showing that approximately seven people are needed to operate each scorpion. There may be more killed, but they could not be visibly seen.
Deaths by rubble/wildfire caused by Drogon’s dragonfire are attributed to Drogon, though they may be inadvertant. This is because Daenerys’s intent was to kill as many as possible; these aren’t just accidental deaths that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
About this story
“Deadliest locations” illustrations and map by Alberto Cuadra. Episode information from “Game of Thrones” HBO television show.
Data compiled by Shelly Tan/The Washington Post and available through GitHub.
Originally published April 6, 2015.
