This article originally appeared on INSIDER and is republished with permission. Catch up on all of INSIDER’s more-detailed-than-a-map-of-the-Seven-Kingdoms Game of Thrones content HERE.
THIS ARTICLE ALSO CONTAINS HUGE SPOILERS ABOUT GAME OF THRONES SEASON 8, EPISODE 5 “THE BELLS”. IF YOU DO NOT WANT THESE THINGS SPOILED, STOP READING.
Game of Thrones has never been shy about killing major characters, but Sunday’s penultimate episode of HBO‘s hit series saw death and destruction on a massive scale.
Daenerys Targaryen‘s (Emilia Clarke) highly anticipated sack of King’s Landing quickly turned horrific when she decided to ignore the city’s surrender and burn it to the ground. Many main characters died as a result, and still others died for entirely different reasons.
Keep reading for a list of who didn’t survive the deadly episode.
Lord Varys was executed by Daenerys Targaryen’s dragon, Drogon.
Varys (Conleth Hill) also known as the Spider, served many kings and queens as the Master of Whisperers. Over the course of season eight, he became convinced that Daenerys could no longer be trusted and tried to convince Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to take her place, as the rightful King of Westeros.
When Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) told Daenerys of Varys’ changing loyalties, she ordered her dragon to burn him alive, as she once promised to do if he ever betrayed her.
Harry Strickland was skewered by Grey Worm.
Harry Strickland (Marc Rissmann) was known as the formidable captain of the Golden Company, a group of mercenaries from Essos.
As it turns out, he and his men were gravely outmatched by Daenerys and her army. Harry Strickland was narrowly spared by Drogon — but stabbed by Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) shortly after.
Euron Greyjoy was stabbed in the stomach by Jaime Lannister.
Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk), the King of the Iron Islands, had hoped to marry Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and become King of Westeros.
Instead, he was thrown overboard when Daenerys attacked on his ships and washed up onshore, positioned perfectly to confront Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). He taunted Jaime and nearly killed him, but Jaime managed to stab Euron through the stomach.
Qyburn was brutally killed by The Mountain.
Qyburn (Anton Lesser) was a former maester and Cersei’s last remaining loyalist. As Hand of the Queen, he tried to help her safely escape Daenerys’ attack — flanked by the undead Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson), who was reanimated by Qyburn to protect the queen.
However, when Gregor aka the Mountain encountered his brother Sandor (Rory McCann) aka the Hound, the zombie soldier seemed to forget his purpose.
When Qyburn ordered him to defend Cersei, the Mountain grabbed him by the neck and threw him against a rock, killing him instantly.
The Hound sacrificed himself to kill his brother, the Mountain.
Ever since they were children, Sandor Clegane was driven by a hatred of his brother and motivated by his desire for revenge. He was finally able to confront his brother, the Mountain, in King’s Landing.
But since the Mountain had already died and been reanimated, he proved nearly impossible to kill. The Hound managed to stab his brother through the heart and the eye, but neither finished him off.
So finally, the Hound decided to tackle his brother over the castle wall, into the burning city below.
The Mountain was killed (again) by his brother, the Hound.
The Mountain was already killed by Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), back on season four. But he was reanimated by Qyburn and became a murderous, undead soldier, loyal to Cersei.
The Mountain was finally destroyed by his brother, who threw them both off a castle wall and into a raging fire.
Cersei Lannister died in the tunnels beneath King’s Landing.
Cersei was convinced that Daenerys would not take King’s Landing, but she was quickly proven wrong. As she tried to escape the collapsing walls of the Red Keep, she found her brother Jaime, who had come to rescue her.
Jaime brought Cersei to a secret escape route beneath the city, but it had already caved in. They were both crushed as Daenerys burned the city and the ceiling collapsed above them.
Read more: Cersei’s unexpected cause of death has left fans bewildered
Jaime Lannister died trying to rescue his twin and lover, Cersei.
Jaime had gone through a dramatic redemption arc on Game of Thrones, but he quickly regressed when he heard his twin and longtime lover, Cersei, was in real danger.
Jaime abandoned his other lover in Winterfell, Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), to try and save Cersei’s life. He was ultimately unsuccessful and they died in each others’ arms, crushed in the tunnels beneath King’s Landing.
