Game Of Thrones' 10 Greatest Character Endings

Spoilers for Game of ThronesNot every character in Game of Thrones got a great ending, but these ten rode off into the sunset in style, in one way or another. A tragic, dramatic, epic series, Game of Thrones is not exactly filled with happy endings, and even the victory at the end of eight seasons comes with some great costs.

On our way towards the final credits of the series, we saw dozens of characters end their stories, often in very bloody fashion, so it won't surprise you to see many dead characters on this list. This is not a list of characters who had happy ends, or who we were glad died, or whose deaths were the most grisly. This is a list of endings that suited their characters' arcs the best and worked the best within Game of Thrones.

Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane)

Duty Done Outside Winterfell

Stannis Baratheon was at one point one of the most beloved characters in the series. In the War of the Five Kings, Stannis seemed the most level-headed, the most honest, and the least concerned with his own glory. Sure, he burned a few people alive, but we all go a little bit crazy in the pursuit of our goals sometimes.

So dutiful to what he believed was the salvation of the world, Stannis even abandoned his fight for King's Landing to sail up North and defend the Wall. After murdering his daughter and losing his wife, councilor, and most of his men, Stannis realizes his quest is over. Still, even in the face of annihilation, he leads his army to battle. When Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) finds him injured afterward, his resignation feels like an apology for all his mistakes.

Tommen Baratheon (Dean-Charles Chapman)

One Way Out In King's Landing

Compared to his brother Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), Tommen Baratheon felt like the greatest king to ever sit on the Iron Throne. The reality is that he was little more than a child when he took the crown, and everyone immediately began pulling him apart for their own uses. He never really stood a chance.

Tommen represents how a modest, unsure king can do just as much damage as a vindictive, evil one. Tommen spends his whole reign being pushed around by everyone, including his mother. When she destroys the few things that are "his", he realizes he has no other options. His plunge out of the Red Keep is darkly humorous for how quickly it happens, but also seems like the only fate his character could end with.

Sandor "The Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann)

Faced His Fears In King's Landing

The Hound is one of the best-written characters in Game of Thrones. His journey from a cruel, silent bodyguard, to reluctant protector to actual protector, to someone looking for love and redemption is as moving and compelling as anything in the story. In the way of this redemption is his painful past, represented by fire and his older brother, The Mountain (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson).

As powerful and fearless as Sandor Clegane is, he quakes in the face of fire, though he seems ever ready to kill his brother. In the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, the Hound confronts both his fears, tackling his undead brother into the flames, closing the book on a great arc and giving viewers the Clegane-Bowl they'd been hoping for.

Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen)

Became A Good Man In The Godswood

Theon Greyjoy isn't quite detestable when we first meet him in Winterfell, but he's very unlikable. When he betrays the Starks and attacks Winterfell, we like him even less. Still, nothing he does makes him deserving of being tortured by Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), though Theon has to admit to himself that he's the cause of what has come down on him.

His realization that he is most to blame for his fate takes a few tries, and his bursts of courage are followed by cowardice. However, eventually he does decide to stop living as Reek and become the man he was always supposed to be. His gallant though suicidal charge into the Night King while Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) says he is "a good man" is the most important moment of that episode.

Hodor (Kristian Nairn)

Fulfilled His Destiny

One of the greatest moments in the later seasons of Game of Thrones comes from the reveal of how Hodor (Kristian Nairn) earned his name, the only words he seems capable of saying. During Bran and Meera's escape from the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran wargs into present-day Hodor and Wylis (Sam Coleman) in the past.

This time loop paradox causes Wylis to start seizing in the past, resulting in his reduced mental capacities and inability to say any other word other than "Hodor", short for "hold the door", which Meera (Ellie Kendrick) tells him to do while Bran escapes. Hodor dies protecting Bran and Meera, and finally seems to connect the present with what happened to him decades ago.

Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance)

Died On The Wrong Throne

Tywin Lannister's exit from Game of Thrones is one of the great losses of the series, and it might not be a coincidence that the show lowers a degree in quality after he dies. He had to die, however. Tywin was too smart and ruthless; no other progress in the story could be made with him alive.

The way he gets taken down is absolutely perfect as well. His lifelong underestimation of his son Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is his undoing, and a few paternal words to save his own life won't excuse a lifetime of abuse. Dying on the privy at the hands of his hated son is a grotesque fitting fate for a man who thought himself without equal.

Oberyn "The Red Viper" Martell (Pedro Pascal)

Prematurely Celebrated His Victory

Oberyn Martell is one of George R.R. Martin's greatest character creations, and Pedro Pascal's performance as the Red Viper of Dorne essentially rocketed him into the current tier of megastardom he sits in. Oberyn is dangerous, intelligent, calculating, and a heartthrob to everyone he meets.

When Oberyn volunteers to help Tyrion, it's in part out of pity, and it's in part a clever way to make sure he gets some justice for his deceased sister and her children. When he puts the Mountain on his back, you actually think good has triumphed for once. When the Mountain takes over and knocks out his teeth, it's one of the most horrific moments in television brought to grisly life by Pascal's performance.

Jon Snow (Kit Harington)

Returned To His True Home In The Real North

One of the few characters who doesn't need to die to tie up their journey in a satisfying way, Jon Snow does, in fact, die, but that's not the end of his story. By the Game of Thrones finale, Jon has died, arisen, thought about dying again, decided to keep living, and then killed the love of his life.

It's been a journey of pain for Jon, and it's unclear what will make him happy after how much he has suffered. Game of Thrones makes the right choice by sending Jon back up to the true North with the Wildlings. Mance Rayder (Ciarán Hinds) was right; Jon had become one of them, and he would never kneel again.

Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley)

Bluff Called At The Red Wedding

Catelyn Stark is a quietly tragic figure in Game of Thrones. Even before the show starts, she suffers loss when her betrothed, Ned's brother, is killed by the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen. The rest of her time on the series is spent watching her son recover from a terrible fall, learning of her daughter's kidnapping, and hearing that her husband has been beheaded.

Just when things start looking up for Catelyn, and it appears she's brokered an alliance with the Freys, her family is betrayed, and she has to watch her son die in front of her. Catelyn is not one to go quietly, though, and she goes through with her threat to murder Walder Frey's (David Bradley) wife, killing her just before she herself is killed. It's cold, brutal, mean, and the kind of period on a character arc that only Game of Thrones can get away with.

Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean)

Played The Game Of Thrones Poorly At The Great Sept

The death that shook a TV-viewing public, Ned Stark's beheading at the end of season 1, was a mind-blowing surprise for those who had not read the books. Ned was positioned as at least one of the main characters of the series, and Sean Bean was the type of actor who could lead this kind of show.

Even while Ned was imprisoned, you figured he would find some way out of this predicament. Up until Ilyn Payne (Wilko Johnson) holds Ned's head in the air, you're still not entirely sure that he's gone. His death sets the tone for Game of Thrones, and crucially gets the main plot rolling in earnest.