Game of Thrones is one of the bloodiest shows on television, and it's taken some serious
creative liberties with the source material, especially since it's now surpassed the timeline
in George R.R. Martin's books.
With a body count that continues to climb with every episode, there've been quite a
few characters to bite the dust on the show, even if they're still alive and well in Martin's
world.
Here are some of those dead Game of Thrones characters you may still read about in The
Winds of Winter.
Catelyn Stark
On the show, Catelyn Stark's sad tale ended when her throat was slit by the Freys at the
Red Wedding.
In the books, though, she's still kicking around—although we're not sure you could
call her "alive."
Instead of letting Catelyn rest in peace after she was brutally murdered, George R.R. Martin
had the Freys throw her body into the Green Fork of the Trident.
She drifted downstream until being discovered by the direwolf Nymeria, who was being unconsciously
warged into by Arya Stark.
Nymeria pulled Catelyn from the river, and she was later found by Beric Dondarrion and
the Brotherhood Without Banners.
After Thoros of Myr refused to revive her because she was three days dead, Beric gave
Catelyn the kiss of of life himself, bringing her back at the cost of his own life.
Undead Catelyn became Lady Stoneheart, the new leader of the Brotherhood who set forth
on a bloody campaign of vengeance against anyone even remotely associated with the Freys,
the Boltons, or the Lannisters.
Although Game of Thrones hasn't been shy about reviving people from the dead -- even ones
that were already starting to rot like The Mountain -- Lady Stoneheart has never gotten
to come out to play and slay on the show.
Ramsay Bolton
Game of Thrones fans may have breathed a sigh of relief when the "King of Cruel" finally
bit the dust in Season 6.
Ramsay Bolton's death finally gave Sansa Stark some satisfactory revenge against her tormenter
and served up some payback for all the times he'd sicced his dogs on other people.
In the books, though, Ramsay is still alive and wreaking havoc on Westeros right alongside
his dad Roose.
Ramsay last appeared in A Dance with Dragons after wedding Sansa's friend Jeyne Poole—a
steward's daughter that Littlefinger "trained" to impersonate Arya.
Several weeks after their nuptials, a still-alive Mance Rayder disguised himself as a bard named
Rattleshirt to help Theon and Jeyne flee Winterfell before they ran into Stannis Baratheon's army.
Later, Jon Snow, who didn't know Ramsay's bride wasn't the real Arya, received a letter
from Ramsay, demanding the return of his wife and Reek.
Ramsay claimed to have defeated Stannis' army and slain Stannis himself.
Since we know how much Ramsay loves to lie …
"I grew up on a salt cliff, my lord.
I was only a boy when they took you away."
… It would be smart to take the Bastard of Bolton's words with a grain of salt until
we learn the truth in book six.
Which means we should probably consider Stannis as still among the books' living for now as
well.
Shireen Baratheon
There's no doubt that Stannis Baratheon is a cold man in the books and on the show, as
his thirst for power comes at the expense of his affection for his wife and daughter.
But the show version of Stannis was so much worse than it had to be.
In season five, the red witch Melisandre convinced Stannis and his wife Selyse to allow her to
sacrifice Shireen to the Lord of Light so he might bless Stannis' army and lead them
to victory against the Boltons.
Instead, half of Stannis' army deserted him, Selyse hung herself, and Ramsay Bolton easily
wiped out the remaining soldiers in battle.
All while poor Shireen became a pile of dust on her pyre.
For readers, the sacrifice scene was probably a shock, since Stannis didn't take Shireen
with him to confront Ramsay in Martin's version.
In fact, Shireen, Selyse, and Melisandre were all left behind at Castle Black when his army
marched with instructions that the Princess should be left in charge if he fell.
As far as we know, Shireen's still kicking it in her castle, even if her gray scale scars
frighten the wildlings.
According to the Game of Thrones showrunners, though, Shireen's fiery death was one of three
secrets that Martin revealed to them about the future of his books.
So, even if living through Shireen's demise once was enough, it might happen again on
paper soon enough.
Alliser Thorne
At the end of season five, Alliser Thorne managed to organize a successful mutiny against
Jon Snow and murdered him to claim the title of Lord Commander.
His reign was short, however—after Melisandre resurrected Jon and the Wildlings captured
the mutineers, Jon executed them Alliser for his betrayal.
In the books, Alliser still intensely dislikes Jon …but he's wisely avoided giving Jon
any excuse to execute him.
"I never once disobeyed an order.
Loyalty is the foundation upon which the Night's Watch is built."
In fact, Thorne was still away from the Wall when the mutineers killed Jon, so he had no
part of their treachery.
If Jon does get resurrected in the books, then he'll no doubt execute the mutineers—but
Alliser Thorne won't be on the gallows with them.
"If I had to do it all over, knowing where I'd end up, I pray I'd make the right choice
again."
Tommen Baratheon
At the end of Season 6, King Tommen gave new meaning to the name of his homestead, King's
Landing.
After his wife Margaery and the entire crowd at the Sept of Baelor were blown up by his
mother Cersei he lept from his window at the Red Keep and fell to his death.
While there was a tragic end for the young king on the show, he's still alive and seated
firmly on the Iron Throne in the books—for now, at least.
The book version of Tommen is several years younger than he is on the television series,
and his primary hobbies are signing anything the small council puts before him and playing
with the kittens Margaery gave him.
Speaking of his lady wife, she's also still alive in the story, and while the two are
married in the books, they most definitely have not consummated their marriage bed.
As of A Dance With Dragons, Tommen's future rule was looking bright with his uncle Kevan
as Hand and Regent, but Varys nipped that in the bud when he murdered Kevan and Pycelle
Considering that the prophecy about Cersei's children dying in shrouds of gold still looms
large for all the Lannisters, Tommen's death is probably imminent on paper as well.
Myrcella Baratheon
Unlike most of the Lannisters, Myrcella was actually a sweet and courteous princess who
was flourishing in Dorne and was quite obviously in love with Prince Trystane.
In Season 6, though, Myrcella became one of the first victims of Ellaria Sand and her
daughters.
In her thirst for vengeance over Oberyn Martell's death, Ellaria gave Myrcella a poisoned kiss
that later took her life in her uncle-slash-father Jaime's arms.
In the books, however, Myrcella is alive in Dorne, albeit gravely injured.
Cersei sent one of the Kingsguard to bring her back to King's Landing, but Prince Doran's
daughter Arianne abducted her in an attempt to have her crowned in opposition of Tommen.
In a confrontation with Doran's guardsmen, one of Arianne's accomplices tried to murder
Myrcella to force a war with the Lannisters, but instead of killing her, his sword maimed
her by cutting off her ear and leaving a nasty scar on her face.
As of A Dance with Dragons, Myrcella was traveling back to King's Landing, accompanied by Nymeria
Sand—who will be taking a seat on the Small Council.
Rickon Stark
On the show, Rickon Stark joined his oldest brother Robb in death when he was killed by
Ramsay Bolton to kick off the Battle of the Bastards.
He'd taken refuge with the Umbers, but that house betrayed him by pledging fealty, and
turning him over, to the Boltons.
Poor Rickon.
In the books, some of Rickon's story remains the same.
Osha took him and Shaggydog, and they split from Bran's group in order to keep the Stark
siblings safe.
Last we heard of him in A Dance With Dragons, he'd fled across the Bay of Seals, where Ser
Davos Seaworth was set to go retrieve him.
Hodor
Hold the door!
Even though Hodor was given a devastating backstory and final moment in Season 6, the
gentle giant is still alive and well in the books.
In A Dance With Dragons, Bran, Meera, Jojen, Hodor and Summer reached the cave of the Three-Eyed
Raven.
Although they were attacked by wights just as they arrived, everyone survived the encounter,
and Bran hasn't encountered the Night King in any of his green dreams yet.
That doesn't mean Hodor will make it through A Song of Ice and Fire unscathed, though.
According to George R.R. Martin, while the meaning of his name will be the same in the
books, the way its origin is revealed will be different.
Knowing Martin, that probably means it'll be just as heartbreaking, though.
Lancel Lannister
Cousin Lancel's future on the show went up in smoke when he was killed in the season
six finale.
After being dispatched by the High Sparrow to find Cersei, Lancel spotted one of Qyburn's
child spies and followed him into the labyrinth of passages below the Sept of Baelor.
There, the child shanked him and left him to watch as a puddle of wildfire ignited to
burn him and the whole Sept of Baelor.
In the books, Lancel was gravely injured in the Battle of the Blackwater, leaving him
a frail and pious man after his recovery.
He joined the Faith Militant as a member of the Warrior's Sons, an order of knights sworn
to serve the High Septon.
And when he last appeared in the books, it was to serve as an escort for Cersei during
her walk of atonement in A Dance With Dragons.
So, whether he'll still be punished by way of wildfire remains to be seen, which also
leaves the fates of the High Sparrow, Margaery, and Ser Loras in question for now as well.
Walder Frey
While fans of the show had to wait several years for it, Lord Walder Frey finally got
his comeuppance for the events of the Red Wedding when he was killed by Arya Stark in
the season six finale.
She murdered his sons Lothar and Black Walder before baking them into a pie and serving
it to their father while disguised as a serving wench.
After she revealed herself and killed him, Arya took his face and posed as Lord Walder
in order to organize a feast for the remaining Frey kinsmen—where she murdered them all
with pitchers of poisoned wine.
Like the fine vintage that ended the Freys, the scenes were delicious.
"Winter came for House Frey."
As satisfying as all that was, though, Lord Walder is still hale and hearty in the books.
As of A Dance with Dragons, the prickly and treacherous octogenarian was recently wed
to another young new wife.
Somehow, we have to believe winter is coming for him in the books, too.
Olenna Tyrell
The "Queen of Thorns" Olenna Tyrell received a relatively gentle death by Game of Thrones
standards in season seven, when she took the painless poison offered to her by Jaime Lannister
after his army sacked Highgarden.
Displaying her trademark sharp tongue, the Tyrell matriarch opted to take the poison
before revealing to Jaime that she was the one responsible for the murder of his son,
Joffrey.
"Tell Cersei.
I want her to know it was me."
Like her onscreen counterpart, the book version of Olenna has taken leave of King's Landing,
returning to Highgarden the day after Margaery's wedding to Tommen.
She hasn't been seen in the books since A Feast for Crows, so it's unknown if Olenna
later returned to the capital after her granddaughter was arrested by the High Sparrow.
For her sake, we hope not.
Benjen Stark
Uncle Benjen didn't have a whole lot to do on Game of Thrones, despite lasting for seven
seasons.
He was mostly just portrayed as that benevolent uncle who rode in to rescue his nephews from
certain doom beyond the wall.
And after he was toppled by the Night King's army in Season 7, he's probably not coming
back for another rescue mission any time soon.
In the books, we never actually got a real confirmation that Benjen was the mysterious
undead "Coldhands," but all the clues point to that being the case.
He popped up to save Sam and Gilly from the wights as they fled south from Craster's Keep,
and he also killed the Night Watch's mutineers that attacked Lord Commander Mormont.
So, while he still can't get past the Wall because of magical spells, he's probably still
lurking out there in the woods for the next time the Three-Eyed Raven needs his help.
Littlefinger
In the season seven finale of Game of Thrones, Littlefinger's scheming finally caught up
to him when Sansa decided she'd had enough of his meddling.
With the help of an info-bomb from Bran and the slicing skills of Arya, Sansa managed
to catch Littlefinger in his own web of lies and had him executed for treason and murder.
In the books, however, Littlefinger is still trying to pull a fast one on people for personal
reasons over in the Eyrie.
Following his murder of Lysa Arryn, Littlefinger's latest plot is to marry Sansa off with Robin's
cousin so that she can ascend the throne when Robin eventually succumbs to his chronic illnesses.
A sample chapter from The Winds of Winter indicates that Sansa will have mixed feelings
about this arrangement, simultaneously working to protect Robin while seducing his cousin.
And since the woods witch prophesied that Sansa would slay a savage giant, which sounds
like the sigil of House Baelish, he might not make it much longer there either.
"Should I send word that I'll be delayed?"
Viserion
One of the most shocking moments of season seven came when Jon Snow's brigade of zombie-captors
had to be rescued from a sea of White Walkers by Daenerys and her dragons.
In the midst of the rescue, the Night King took aim at Viserion and managed to slay the
dragon before resurrecting him as a new undead mount that he could take through the wall.
In the books, Viserion and his siblings are safe—for now.
One of the Martells tried to capture one of the dragons but failed miserably, and when
we last saw Viserion in A Dance with Dragons, he was happily roasting and eating the plague-filled
corpses that the Yunkish army were flinging into Meereen.
Yum.
The rest of the undead
As if those names weren't enough to prove the Game of Thrones showrunners have an even
heavier hand than George R.R. Martin, some of the other characters the author has yet
to kill off include Barristan Selmy, Doran Martell, Brynden "the Blackfish" Tully, Randyll
and Dickon Tarly, Lady Walda Bolton, the Sand Snakes, Thoros of Myr, and Wun Wun, just to
name a few.
In other words, if you thought George R.R. Martin was savage, he's clearly got nothing
on the TV show's writers.
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