History TearJerker / GameOfThrones

--> "Now that [[BloodBrothers Robb Stark]] is gone- Oh, that's right, Reek. Robb Stark is dead. Sorry. I know he was like a brother to you, but my father put a knife through his heart."

*** Despite her having left Volantis out of disgust with the Ghiscari slave-owning culture, Talisa's family clearly still loved her, enough to keep in touch. The Red Wedding will probably not be as big news in Essos as it is in Westeros, meaning they'll probably never even know what happened to her.

* As much as [[KickTheSonOfABitch many viewers were looking forward to it]], Joffrey's death is [[AlasPoorVillain horrifying and traumatizing]] rather than fully emotionally satisfying. No-one would disagree that Joffrey had it coming, but Cersei and Jaime's reactions as he slowly and painfully dies are absolutely heartbreaking.

* Even if [[KickTheSonOfABitch they deserve it for all the murders they committed]], the revenge Cersei carries out on Ellaria and Tyene for murdering her daughter Myrcella is still horrifying and heartbreaking. Cersei [[KissOfDeath forcefully kisses Tyene]], who quickly realizes that Cersei has duplicated and taken the same [[DruggedLipstick poison]] that Ellaria used to kill Myrcella and plans to have Ellaria be ForcedToWatch her daughter die and literally rot before her, with Cersei even vowing to force Ellaria to eat in order to keep her alive for as long as possible. As Cersei leaves, they’re struggling against their chains, just inches away, desperately trying to reach and comfort each other in Tyene's final hours.

** Ramsay's depravity has already left its mark on a bruised Sansa, physically and psychologically. She's being abused daily and tries to enlist Theon and outside help. [[StockholmSyndrome Theon/Reek instead runs to Ramsay and confesses]]. Ramsay flays the lady who was helping Sansa and then [[HopeCrusher shows Sansa the body]].

** When Drogon turns his attention on Jon, Jon only quietly braces himself instead of trying to run or defend himself. He fully expected to die after killing Daenerys and per the script for the final episode, it's [[DeathSeeker revealed he wants to die]] after killing Daenerys.

* Ned, who deeply cares for his children and their well-being, is forced to kill Lady, Sansa’s pet direwolf, after Cersei demands her execution from Robert. Lady is completely innocent as ([[NobleWolf Nymeria]] is the one who attacks Joffrey when he goes AxCrazy on Arya) and the order itself is hard enough for Ned to resist, but the fact that he chooses to do it ''personally'' and his utter discomfort of doing it makes it even sadder. Even Arya chews out Cersei over Lady’s innocence and cries with Sansa over her impending doom. It is no coincidence this is the page-image, as it is pretty much emblematic of every tragedy that befalls the Starks in the future. Of which there are many.

* Ned, who deeply cares for his children and their well-being, nonetheless has to kill Lady, Sansa’s pet direwolf, after Cersei demands her execution from Robert. Lady is completely innocent ([[NobleWolf Nymeria]] is the one who attacks Joffrey when he goes AxCrazy on Arya) and the order itself is hard enough to stomach, but the fact that he chooses to do it ''personally'' makes it even sadder. Even Arya chews out Cersei over Lady’s innocence and cries with Sansa over her impending doom. It is no coincidence this is the page-image, as it is pretty much emblematic of every tragedy that befalls the Starks in the future. Of which there are many.

* In a weird way, Littlefinger's death has more than a few shades of this if only because [[AintTooProudToBeg he gets so pathetic]] during it that while you may be glad the man he became is dead, you could at least feel sadness for what he once was -- [[UsedToBeASweetKid a kind little boy]] who just wanted to win the hand of the girl he loved [[StartOfDarkness and only ended up getting his ass kicked and nearly killed.]]

** Before that, after he kisses her, Missandei breaks the kiss. Jacob Anderson's look of complete heartbreak '''will''' break your heart. Fortunately for Grey Worm, it was only to [[DressHitsFloor take things further]].

* Sansa and Theon's reunion in the kennel. It starts out as pure NightmareFuel with TheDarkChick Myranda and the aggressively barking hounds, but when the two see each other it's just heartbreaking on multiple levels.

* When Jorah proves to be the winner of the gladiator combat, [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Dany has to mask her look of concern with one of cold disapproval]]. At least if Jorah had died it would have been over; now she has to go back to being TheHighQueen.

* For book readers especially, Robb and Talisa finally [[TheyDo giving in to their love for each other]] and sealing Robb's fate, as the music swells sorrowfully. If Robb had listened to his mother had remained faithful to his deal with the Freys, the Red Wedding would not have happened.

--> Gendry: [[{{AintTooProudToBeg}} Please, please your grace...my lord.]]

* Ned, who deeply cares for his children and their well-being, nonetheless has to kill Lady after Cersei demands it from Robert. Lady is completely innocent (Nymeria is the one who attacks Joffrey when Joffrey goes AxCrazy) and the order itself is hard enough to stomach, but the fact that he chooses to do it ''personally'' makes it even sadder. It is no coincidence this is the page-image, as it is pretty much emblematic of every tragedy that befalls the Starks in the future. Of which there are many.

** On a meta-level this is even sadder since Ghost was the last of the Stark's direwolves to still be with their respective Stark. The family only renewed their bond with their sigil animal for a few years before they were either dead or separated once again.

* This is where we discover just how sad and flawed a character [[BrokenAce Stannis]] [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Baratheon]] truly is. Having lived his whole life believing he should fulfill his duties no matter what and being led to believe that he is not only a king, but TheChosenOne and that the fate of the world rests on his shoulders, his entire worldview has been shattered by conflicting values: [[TheFettered his own principles]] versus [[TheUnfettered the greater good.]] His stubborn, obsessive personality and desperation to succeed has led him down a path him that ultimately puts him in a situation where he feels he must burn his only daughter and heir alive for TheNeedsOfTheMany. To hear him try to put his own predicament into words, you get the sense of how trapped this great warrior and so-called king really is.

*** Alternatively, when Melisandre says that it was "the only way" Davos correctly points out, "[[AllForNothing The only way for what? They all died anyway.]]"

** TheReveal puts Jon's relationship with Ned in a new, tearjerking context in retrospect. Jon is actually the son of Ned's deceased sister Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Jon is Ned's ''nephew'', the only child of Ned's beloved sister, and Ned devoted the rest of his life to protecting his nephew and keeping his promise to his dying sister. Lyanna pleaded with Ned to protect her son from Robert Baratheon, because she knew Robert wanted to wipe out the Targaryens and wouldn't have cared that Jon was just a baby. So Ned, out of love for his sister and nephew, brought Jon home with him and spent the rest of his life lying to the world about Jon's parentage to protect him. Though Ned loves Jon and raises him as his own child alongside his own children at Winterfell, he had to claim his nephew as his bastard son to keep Jon safe while Jon had to live with the label of 'bastard' his whole life. With this lie Ned told for the sake of his sister and nephew, he tarnished his honor, strained his marriage to Catelyn, and risked high treason if the truth of Jon's parentage were ever discovered. This is the extent of Ned's sacrifice - all to protect his nephew and honor his sister's last wish. Also, perhaps the only reason Ned allowed Jon to join the Watch instead of an alternative like taking him south to help keep his sisters safe was to protect Jon as it put as much distance between Jon and Robert (to say nothing of Cersei, who hated Lyanna) as humanly possible.

*** Also, the fact that Cat never found out the truth about Jon's parentage and that Ned was always a faithful husband to her. [[ForWantOfANail Imagine how much happier things might have been for both Cat and Jon if she had known he was her nephew rather than her husband's bastard son...]]

* Oberyn's monologue to Tyrion about what happened to the Martells during Robert's Rebellion, how his sister was humiliated by the noble Rhaegar who ran away with Lyanna Stark despite the fact she was a good woman who truly loved her husband and personally tended to her royal children, only to suffer one of the most horrific fates in the series at the hands of Gregor Clegane on Tywin Lannister's orders after her own children were butchered. While describing this his DashingHispanic mask cracks for the first time with a mixture of utter sadness and utter rage at what the Lannisters did to his family, to the point where he seems dangerously close to either bursting into tears or physically attacking Tyrion, showing that for all his sexual prowess and badassery, he is at heart a heartbroken brother yearning to avenge his beloved sister.

* Sansa is in deep depression after hearing about the Red Wedding massacre and refuses to eat and meet people. The cold, unfeeling way that she retells how Robb's body was mutilated and her mother was thrown into the river is heartbreaking. The real sadness is when she goes to the godswood and Tyrion hopes that she finds some consolation in religion, but Sansa disabuses that thoroughly by telling she goes there to be alone not to pray, in a way that suggests she's lost her faith.
** Tyrion's reactions are itself telling: he doesn't have any comeback or snarky way to make it right. He's torn by the pain felt by Sansa and Oberyn who suffered losses at his father's commands, and despite his TokenGoodTeammate status and not having anything to do with it, he accepts that he is complicit by association and the guilt eats at him.

* It's tragic that everytime Tyrion gets out a small mess, like his father finding out about Shae, an even bigger mess occurs, like being accused by his sister for regicide is waiting around the corner. The sad part is that Tyrion was actually on his best behaviour during the wedding, he was keeping his cool, and trying very hard not to snark back at Joffrey. Tyrion only uttered a single, elegant, witty quip about Joffrey's conduct during the Battle of Blackwater while he undergoes humiliation and indignity like nothing else in his life. He's even the first one to note that something is wrong with Joffrey's health when he starts coughing, and you can tell he's piecing together how it was happening, and then Cersei crashes everything down, just because Joffrey clearly extends a hand to Tyrion or the wine glass, more likely, given how weak his senses were.

* Lady Olenna all in black after the death of her entire house. She might be ambitious and snarky, but she truly loved her family. She's even ready to team up with people she doesn't trust and she even doesn't like to get revenge.

** Bran witnessing this and realizing who the baby is. Jon is not his brother, but his cousin, and he witnesses the great sacrifice Ned made out of love for his sister.

*** And the worst part of it all for Olenna? All was this was started by her desire to protect her beloved granddaughter from Joffrey. What she hadn't counted on was the dysfunction of the Lannisters to cause the deaths of not only Tywin, Myrcella, Lancel, Kevan, and Tommen, but the complete and total collapse of her house and everyone that Olenna held dear in the span of a few moments. [[AllForNothing All of that was for nothing]]. Talk about [[ShootTheShaggyDog shooting the shaggy dog]].

* The revelation of Rhaegar Targaryen's annulment of his marriage with Elia Martell is actually HarsherInHindsight. Though it did reveal an implication that Jon is indeed the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne, the fact that Rhaegar abandoned his wife and two children so [[LoveRuinsTheRealm he could be with Lyanna ignited a bloody civil war that destroyed thousands of lives and brought his house into ruin in the first place]]. This makes the man himself more of ''a selfish asshole'' [[DidntThinkThisThrough who never thought of the consequences]]. It also makes Oberyn's death and the destruction of House Martell more tragic; all because of Rhaegar who wanted to be with his mistress. Not to mention that his actions cost his house their hold to the Seven Kingdoms, leaving his two younger siblings, including the one he didn't know, into exile and living in poverty.

** Let’s not forget the deaths of Elia, Rhaenys and baby Aegon. The three of them were murdered (and in Elia’s case raped) because Rhaegar ran off with another woman and Aerys kept them hostage, even when he sent his own wife and children away. [[FromBadtoWorse to make matters worse,]] Rhaegar annulled his marriage to Elia, meaning her children would have been considered Bastards.
** Robert's marriage to Cersei also becomes much more heartbreaking in hindsight with these revelations. If Robert did know the truth about Lyanna, maybe he would've moved on and been a better king, and his marriage to Cersei would have been somewhat happier, with Robert's legitimate children being the rulers of Westeros, and perhaps even [[TheCaligula Joffrey]] could've been raised in a better way. All the crap Littlefinger and Varys and Tywin pulled in the series could have been for naught, with Robert (and Ned) possibly still being alive. To think that Robert devoted his entire life to a single woman who never actually loved him makes everything more bitter, harsh and tragic.

* The entire fate of the Stark family is this. It was established in the very first episode that the Starks place a high prominence on family and how the lone wolf dies but the pack survives. And despite everything they've been through and survived (mostly by sticking together), the family fractures apart for good forever. Bran is in the south, Jon is at the Wall and in the far North, Ayra forsakes Westeros and decides to explore the oceans west "where the maps stop" and Sansa becomes Queen in the North, finally free (but mostly alone; even her protector, Brienne, remains behind in King's Landing to become Lord Commander of the Kingsguard). Yes, the siblings get to live a life fitting for them... but after great emotional pain. And who knows when and if they will all come back together as a family.

** She then nearly breaks down as the topic changes to her daughter as she begs Oberyn to tell Myrcella how much she loves her.

* Jorah's face when [[EveryoneCanSeeIt Jon and Dany]] agree to sail together for [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow PR reasons.]] While the previous episode made it clear that he [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wholly supports their relationship,]] you can tell it still pains the poor guy.

* For book readers especially, Robb and Talisa finally [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex giving in to their love for each other]] and sealing Robb's fate, as the music swells sorrowfully. If Robb had listened to his mother had remained faithful to his deal with the Freys, the Red Wedding would not have happened.

* Tormund and Beric arrive at Last Hearth to find it abandoned, the ground soaked in blood, but no corpses. Further inside, they find Edd who leads them to the hearth where [[SacrificialLamb Ned Umber]] has been pinned to the wall by the White Walkers. The poor kid was already in over his head but tried to do right by his people by returning home to bring them to Winterfell, only for them to be slaughtered. To make matters worse, when Tormund turns away, the boy's eyes open and they're bright blue. Beric has to use his FlamingSword to [[MercyKill finish the now undead kid off]].

** What's more, he was the last. House Umber is now completely gone. That's one for the history books: "And House Umber was the first to succumb to Winter."

** Alys Karstark too. She is one of the group protecting Bran and dies entirely offscreen but no less tragically.