Game Of Thrones is a modern phenomenon.
The epic fantasy series premiered on HBO in 2011.
Based on George RR Martin’s incomplete A Song of Ice and Fire book series, the show proved hugely popular and spanned eight seasons.
READ MORE: House of the Dragon star admits he’s ‘past it’ as he wasn’t part of any sex scenes
The series also proved controversial and drew a lot of criticism over its premiere reign.
As the Targaryen-based Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon gets set to swoop onto TV screens, Daily Star takes a look inside the original show’s most gruesome moments.
Prince Oberyn’s death
(Image: hbo)
Prince Oberyn Martell had a pretty strong grudge against Gregor ‘The Mountain’ Clegane when the pair duked it out in a trial by combat in the show’s fourth season.
The Mountain was rumoured to have murdered Oberyn’s sister Elia and her children at the request of Tywin Lannister.
With Oberyn stabbing The Mountain with his poisoned spear during the trial, it looked like the end was in sight.
However, a nasty twist in the tale resulted in one of Game of Thrones’ most gruesome deaths.
(Image: HBO)
As The Mountain got the upper hand on Oberyn, he confessed to the rape and murder of Elia and her children.
He then proceeded to gouge Oberyn’s eyes with his fingers before crushing his skull with his bare hands in truly grisly scenes.
The Mountain may have victored in the battle but he far from got away with his crimes.
Following his supposedly fatal poisoning from Oberyn’s spear, dark magic was used by Qyburn to restore The Mountain to life as a zombie guard for Cersei Lannister.
The Red Wedding
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The Red Wedding proved Ned Stark’s beheading was far from an anomaly, with no character safe from GoT’s savage storylines.
Renowned for its brutality, the season three masssacre saw Catelyn Stark, her son Robb Stark and Rob’s pregnant wife Talisa and unborn child slain alongside a number of their comrades at The Twins.
The betrayal was orchestrated by Lord Walder Frey in retaliation for Robb renegading on his promise to wed one of his daughters – with the Lannisters once again in the mix.
Robb died at the hands of Roose Bolton, who chillingly declared: “The Lannisters send their regards.”
Melisandre births Shadow
(Image: ©2015 Home Box Office, Inc. A)
One disturbing Game of Thrones plot was memorably dropped from the show’s consciousness after season two.
After having sex with Stannis Baratheon, red witch Melisandre gave birth to a shadow baby which proceeded to kill Stannis’ brother Renley Baratheon.
The disturbing scene horrified Ser Davos Seaworth alongside fans of the show, with the monster using its clawed hands to crawl out of Melisandre’s womb.
(Image: HBO)
Without explanation, the shadow baby was brushed under the carpet for the rest of the show’s run.
While Renley’s murder was discussed by characters in several episodes, with Stannis informing Brienne of Tarth that ‘his child’ had killed Renley, the creature itself stayed – ahem – in the shadows.
Fans were left bemused by the dropped plot and no indication of the shadow baby’s fate has really been given since.
Sansa’s rape by Ramsay
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A growing concern for GoT’s depiction of female violence reached its crescendo in season five with the rape of Sansa Stark.
The eldest Stark daughter was sexually assaulted by her husband Ramsay Bolton on their wedding night, with the evil Ramsay instructing Sansa’s childhood friend Theon Greyjoy to watch.
Also featured in the book series, the scene sparked an intense backlash, with actors Sophie Turner and Iwan Rheon both sharing their unsavoury memories of the scene in recent years.
(Image: HBO)
Speaking earlier this year, Sophie revealed she still carried “trauma” from filming the show.
Iwan, meanwhile, described filming the scene as ‘the worst day of his career’ in a 2020 interview.
He told Metro: “We’re just acting, it’s not real.
“Then [there is] something like that where you’re in the actual reality of the situation, [it] is very difficult to deal with.
“It was a horrible, horrible day.”
Shireen’s public burning
(Image: HBO)
Shireen Baratheon’s murder in season five signalled the end for Stannis’ delusional bid for the throne.
Having offed his brother Renley with he and Melisandre’s shadow baby, Stannis committed the ultimate betrayal when he allowed Melisandre to convince him to sacrifice his daughter Shireen to the Lord of Light.
As Shireen pleaded for her life, her mother and father watched her burn.
(Image: HBO)
Alongside Ser Davos, who had formed a bond with the youngster who taught him to read, viewers were left heartbroken by Shireen’s death – with many claiming the show had gone too far.
In the wake of Shireen’s death, Melisandre abandoned Stannis and his wife Selyse died by suicide.
Stannis soon met his own end at the hands of Brienne.
Khal Drogo kills Viserys
(Image: HBO)
Not many Game of Thrones fans were sad to see the back of Daenerys Targaryen’s creepy brother Viserys near the end of the first season.
His manner of death, however, did leave a lot of viewers horrified.
After Viserys confronted Daenerys’ husband Khal Drogo and threatened to cut their child from her womb if he wasn’t given a crown, Drogo took matters into his own hands.
Melting down Viserys’ gold belt of medallions, the Dothraki leader poured the molten gold over Viserys head – killing him almost instantly.
Rickon’s death in Battle of the Bastards
(Image: hbo)
Ramsay Bolton had a flare for cruelty and when he came face-to-face with Jon Snow at the Battle of the Bastards, his savagery didn’t disappoint.
Producing the supposedly missing Rickon Stark, Ramsay instructed the youngster to cross the no man’s land between their two warring armies.
Of course, a twist was in store.
As Rickon and Jon ran towards each other, Ramsay skewered Rickon with an arrow and Jon was forced to watch as Rickon died in his arms.
The brutal moment left fans, who were hoping for the safe return of the youngest Stark sibling, horrified.
Jaime paralysing Bran
(Image: HBO)
Beyond the politics of Westeros, Game of Thrones teased its disturbing side in the closing moments of its premiere episode.
As fans were left horrified by the revelation of a sexual relationship between twin siblings Jaime and Cersei Lannister as they canoodled in the broken tower of Winterfell, a further twist was in store.
Viewers were soon confronted with having to witness Jaime push a young Bran Stark from the tower in order to keep his affair with Cersei secret.
(Image: HBO)
With previous TV shows up until that point mostly shying away from depictions of child violence, the scene went down in history as one of the show’s most shocking moments.
Now, to see what House of the Dragon has in store…
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