5 Shocking Scenes From ‘Game of Thrones’

To say that Game of Thrones has had its fair share of controversial moments would in many ways be an understatement. But there are some moments that stand out as being far more shocking than others.

The writers and producers deserve a lot of credit for their ability to continuously one-up each controversial scene with one that feels somehow impossible to top, and yet, they do.

In season one, they really set the pace and tone with the beheading of Ned Stark, the character who had been the center of the plot for the entirety of the season.

As the seasons have rolled on, there have been numerous shocking moments that far exceed the incensed feeling viewers got from Ned’s death and they just keep on coming. The Daily Beast put together a list of the most WTF scenes the series has ever shown, and we’ve condensed that list for you below.

Scroll Down to Read About the Most Shocking Scenes From ‘Game of Thrones’

The Red Wedding

Season: Three

Episode: Nine, “The Rains of Castamere”

Easily landing in the top three most controversial moments on Game of Thrones, is The Red Wedding.

In this scene, Lord Walder Frey had invited Robb Stark, Robb’s pregnant wife Talisa, and Robb’s mother Catelyn to attend a wedding at his castle. Things start to turn when the doors close and Frey has Talisa murdered by being repeatedly stabbed in the stomach.

Then crossbow assassins fire upon the group and hit Robb, who doesn’t immediately die. Frey then has him stabbed in the heart while his mother watches. Catelyn takes one of Frey’s wives hostage, but this doesn’t Frey one.

Catelyn slits the girl’s throat before her own throat is slit by a member of the Frey family.

All of this happened because Robb had offended Frey by breaking a marriage pact with Frey so that he could marry Talisa.

Joffrey’s Sadistic Kinks

Season: Two, Three

Episode: Four, “Garden of Bones”; Six, “The Climb”

There may be no death more celebrated in all of pop-culture entertainment than that of King Joffrey Baratheon. He was such a sadistic character.

One of his more gruesome moments came after he stripped down Sansa in the King’s Landing throne room and threatens to kill her with a crossbow. That was bad, but it actually gets worse.

Tyrion thinks Joffrey needs to release some frustration and has two prostitutes sent to him. In clear Joffrey fashion, however, the young king ends up cruelty forcing one of the women to beat the other.

In the third season, we see that remaining prostitute, Ros, end up being used as crossbow target practice by Joffrey as her lifeless body hangs from his bed.

Evil Shadow Baby

Season: Two

Episode: Four, “Garden of Bones”

Melisandre has been at the center of many, many controversial moments on Game of Thrones, not the least of which was the time she gave birth.

The Red Woman had sex with Stannis Baratheon, who was the older brother to King Robert Baratheon, under the promise that she would deliver him a son. She does become pregnant, and then eventually has the baby in a cave.

This isn’t just any baby, though, because Melisandre isn’t just any woman. She gives birth to a monstrous shadow baby while Ser Davos watches on in horror. The “baby” then transforms into a horrible creature than enters the camp of Renly Baratheon and murders him directly in front of Catelyn Stark and Brienne of Tarth.

Daenerys Eats a Horse Heart

Season: One

Episode: Six, “A Golden Crown”

Daenerys has been apart of many shocking Game of Thrones scenes, but she’s rarely the cause of them. Most of the time it’s something that’s happening to or around her.

This moment from season one is a little bit of both, as she wasn’t technically “forced” into the situation, but she didn’t really have a choice either.

After becoming pregnant while with husband Khal Drogo, the Dothraki priestesses, known as the dosh khaleen, bring Daenerys in for a special ceremony where she is required to eat an entire horse heart.

Interestingly, in a commentary on the season’s Blu-ray release, Emilia Clarke revealed that the arteries of the “heart” were made of dry pasta and tasted “a little like bleach.” She then revealed that the gag reflex in the scene wasn’t acting. It was real.

Theon Botches a Beheading

Season: Two

Episode: Six, “The Old Gods and the New”

Theon Greyjoy has done a lot of terrible things that he is now trying to make up for, it seems, but one of the hardest to watch moments was when he failed to effectively decapitate Ser Rodrik.

After Theon takes over Winterfell, Ser Rodrik is captured and brought to him. Consequently, Ser Rodrik continuously spits on Theon to show his contempt and disgust. At this point, Theon decides to personally execute Ser Rodrik by beheading.

When it comes time to perform the execution, however, Theon finds himself ill-prepared. He strikes a blow but it doesn’t go all the way through so he has to hack a few times before Ser Rodrik’s head comes off. It is certainly a gruesome and shocking moment for the show.