This Game of Thrones Characters Death Was Way Worse Than the Books
Death is an inescapable fact of life in reality, but on the continent of Westeros - the setting for much of Game of Thrones - it somehow seemed even more inescapable. Between 2011 and 2019, fans of the HBO fantasy/drama series were put through the wringer on an almost weekly basis, given that there were almost no episodes without death. Further, when the God of Death wanted to claim yet another victim, it was just as common for someone likable to get whisked out of the show in an instant, unlike other shows which may tend to favor killing off people who had it coming. Whether it was during large-scale battle scenes or within shocking events like the infamous Red Wedding towards the end of the show's third season, Game of Thrones wasn't shy about showing people dying gruesome deaths. Some might further argue that the biggest and most upsetting death in Game of Thrones was the show itself, given its infamous final season and ultimate finale. But as far as on-screen character deaths go, none went out quite as messily - and tragically - as fan-favorite character Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), AKA the Red Viper.
Anyone who's had the misfortune of seeing the eighth episode of Game of Thrones's fourth season, "The Mountain and the Viper," will already understand why: it's just about as graphically violent as the infamously graphic show gets. But the reasons for it being the show's most gruesome and upsetting death go deeper than that because it's not like a horrific thing that happened to just any old person. Oberyn's demise is made all the worse by the fact that it happened to such a likable character, it ramped up an already intense scene from the book series the show is based on (A Song of Ice and Fire), and because of additional circumstances surrounding the death, specifically when it came to impacting other characters. It's been almost a decade since that fateful episode first aired, but it still feels a little raw. Shows featuring a good deal of death don't get much more deadly than Game of Thrones, and with that show specifically, individual deaths don't get a whole lot more gruesome than Oberyn Martell's.
What Made Oberyn Martell Such a Fan Favorite?
Despite appearing in less than a season of Game of Thrones, Oberyn Martell instantly established himself as one of its best-ever characters (and truth be told, he had to do it pretty much instantly, given how he wasn't around for long). By no means was it Pedro Pascal's first role, since he'd been acting since the late 1990s, predominantly in guest roles on TV and in some short films. But it's fair to call Game of Thrones the show that gave him his breakout role, and the one that got him significant attention from viewers all around the world. In the years since, he's become a big name, acting in movies and having lead roles on popular shows like Narcos, The Mandalorian, and, most recently, The Last of Us. He has a natural screen presence and charm, and he shone as Oberyn because that's the kind of character the Red Viper is - charming, witty, and unwilling to play by the rules that seem to bind so many other characters on the show.
He appears in the third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, approximately half of which was adapted into Season 4 (it was a particularly long book). From House Martell, he's the younger brother of Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig), who's the ruler of Dorne, which is the southernmost land of the continent of Westeros. Seeing as Doran's ill, Oberyn travels to the capital of Westeros, King's Landing, explicitly to represent Dorne on the city's small council, but also to seek vengeance for horrific acts committed against his sister, Elia Martell, and her children (they were killed by Gregor Clegane during the Sack of King's Landing). Beyond possessing confidence, being handsome, having charm, and also not caring much about what other people think of him, Oberyn's already endearing. But his entering the shady world of King's Landing (most people there are very much not good people) and being motivated to right the wrongs committed against his family also serves to make him sympathetic and worth rooting for. Hence, it stands to reason that something bad happening to him would be horrendously traumatic to see.
The Horrible Way That Oberyn Meets His End
Some episodes before Oberyn's unfortunate demise, viewers were treated to a rarity in Game of Thrones: the death of a character who really had it coming. King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) was kind of the worst and got killed off in the second episode of the fourth season - poisoned during his own wedding reception. It was a good time to be a Game of Thrones fan circa early Season 4, what with Joffrey being bumped off and Oberyn getting introduced, making for a little relief after the traumatic way Season 3 concluded. Yet the relief couldn't last long (would it even be Game of Thrones otherwise?) Another fan-favorite character, Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), is accused of murdering Joffrey, leading to his being questioned and put on trial. Eventually, Tyrion asks for a trial by combat to win his innocence. Gregor Clegane is the champion for Joffrey's mother, Cersei Lannister (who's accused her brother of the murder), and Oberyn volunteers to be the champion for Tyrion, seeing combat as a way to get revenge.
Oberyn's heart was in the right place because it was a clean and efficient way to enact vengeance on the monster who caused him and his family so much pain. The fight - which takes place in episode 8 - appears to be going well for Oberyn. He manages to strike Gregor twice, using speed and his superior fighting skills to outmaneuver his larger, stronger opponent. Yet it's when Oberyn thinks he's won that he lets his guard down. Gregor's on the ground, after being struck on the leg and impaled with a spear, and Oberyn begins demanding he acknowledge his crimes and admit the orders came from Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), the father of Tyrion and Cersei (Lena Headey). But shortly after Gregor knocks an unsuspecting Oberyn down, things turn to horror. Gregor pins Oberyn down, punches him with such force that his teeth fly out, and then begins to eye gouge him. As he does this, he admits to his crimes, and it's the last thing Oberyn ever would've heard, given seconds later, Gregor crushes Oberyn's head, causing it to explode in a bloody mess. Worse still, it's basically all on-screen, with almost nothing shied away from.
How Oberyn's Death Is (Slightly) Less Horrific in the Books
Make no mistake, Oberyn is shown to die in a similar fashion in the third A Song of Ice and Fire book, and reading about it is harrowing enough. But the impact of seeing it on-screen is automatically far worse, due to the graphic visuals, the fact that Oberyn feels like a little more of a fleshed-out character in the show, and due to nothing being cut away from or implied (while viewers are spared from entirely seeing the moment Oberyn's head is crushed, the fact the aftermath is clearly shown ends up being arguably worse). Additionally, the show makes things more explicit. The details surrounding what happens to Oberyn's eyes and teeth are similar, but the book describes Gregor's killing blow as follows: "As he drew back his huge fist, the blood on his gauntlet seemed to smoke in the cold dawn air. There was a sickening crunch," after which there are no more details regarding Oberyn or the state of his body, beyond how Tyrion and Oberyn's partner, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma), react to the death before the chapter ends.
It's definitely horrifying, and it could imply that Oberyn's head comes apart... or viewers may choose to tone it down a little in their heads by imagining the final blow killing Oberyn without his head going all Scanners (1981). Showing the aftermath feels more explicit than what happens in the book, given no real aftermath is described, and it's left up to readers' imaginations. This ultimately serves to make the death shocking to book readers who were watching Game of Thrones and were aware it was coming. It might've made such readers feel unpleasantly surprised by the whole thing twice, with a similar strategy being used during the aforementioned Red Wedding. In the book version, it's horrifying, but the TV version makes it even more gruesome and tragic, given it adds a victim with Talisa Stark (Oona Chaplin), who informs viewers she's pregnant right before she dies, and has her demise be particularly graphic. As hard as such scenes can be to watch, they do succeed in making moments that already shocked readers become shocking all over again, ultimately keeping both book readers and viewers who haven't read the books on their toes.
Beyond the Graphic Detail, the Circumstances of the Death Are Also Upsetting
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Of course, it's not just it being graphic, uncompromising, and more explicit than in the books that make Oberyn's death such an infamously sad and brutal one. The shock from those witnessing the fight really sells the horror of its conclusion, with Tyrion and (especially) Ellaria reacting in terror and despair to a sight that would traumatize just about anyone. There's also the fact that Oberyn came so close to winning the fight and freeing Tyrion, but took his focus off Gregor for a second, and that ended up spelling his doom. It's frustrating to watch and even to rewatch, and just one of many moments where Game of Thrones feels particularly cruel. His goal of making Gregor confess was obviously a noble and sympathetic one, too, ensuring the end of the fight crushed viewers' souls almost as violently as Gregor crushed Oberyn's head.
It's also the fact that the episode ends right after the fight, with Tyrion seeming doomed, given that Oberyn losing means he's ultimately guilty of poisoning Joffrey by law. It's just a bad time all around for the few characters in King's Landing who were actually decent people, and that makes episode 8 justifiably one of Game of Thrones's most infamous (it's undeniably memorable and effective, though). It was sad to see such a great character die so gruesomely, but while Oberyn has gone, Pedro Pascal most certainly hasn't, with his career taking off following his brief (and iconic) stint on the show. It's not easy to watch, it's incredibly bloody, and it feels unjust and upsetting, but Oberyn walked, so Pascal could run in a range of other very popular shows and movies. And, at the end of the day, maybe it's best to try and find a silver lining among all the horror, blood, skull fragments, and dashed brains.
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