History NightmareFuel / GameOfThrones

Remember all the [[NightmareFuel/ASongOfIceAndFire Nightmare Fuel]] that ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' had? With ''Series/GameOfThrones'', [[UpToEleven it's now in live action.]] '''''Enjoy.'''''

** It was actually a pity they AdaptedOut TheReveal about Tysha. While [=LiveAction=]!Tyrion was pretty scary, Book!Tyrion went completely psycho. It was a pity we couldn't see Peter Dinklage repeat his performance at the trial scene UpToEleven.

** In the aftermath, Arya wanders around the streets of Braavos, soaking wet and dripping blood while clutching her stomach. She's in very desperate need of medical attention, but she can't trust anybody because anybody and everybody could be the Waif or another Faceless Man in disguise waiting for the right chance to finish her off. FridgeHorror and ParanoiaFuel in one UpToEleven.

--> '''Catelyn''' (in ''[[Recap/GameOfThronesS3E9TheRainsOfCastamere The Rains of Castamere]])'': ''Show them how it feels to lose what they love.''
--> '''Sansa''' (''in this episode''): '''''Your words will disappear, your house will disappear, your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear.'''''

* The death of Oberyn at the hands of the Mountain was easily the most nightmarishly violent and brutal death shown in the ENTIRE series... and yes that's including Ser Hugh, Talissa, and all those guys gutted and bisected by the Clegane Brothers. After a furious yet brutal fight which he easily won due to his skills and swiftness, Oberyn gets far too cocky and enraged over Gregor's continued silence so he stands a ''little'' too close to his seemingly dying body... only for Gregor to grab his leg, pull him down on top of him, and smash his face in and [[TeethFlying knock out most of his teeth with a single punch.]] He then wrenches himself ''on top'' of Oberyn, shove his thumbs into his eye sockets, and as he literally begins to crush his skull, roar in triumph how he killed his sister's children, then raped and murdered her, punctuating this by exploding his skull with a sickening crunch. We see and hear all of this, including the aftermath with Oberyn's brain spilled out [[http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/02/article-2645807-1E6555C600000578-38_634x399.jpg onto the floor.]]
** Oh yeah, and during the part where Oberyn has two thumbs wrenching into his eye sockets, the poor guy is actually ''[[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl shrieking]]'' in agony. Good luck sleeping after watching that. Ellaria's screams are heart wrenching, and only add to the horror.
** Perhaps what makes this even worse is the sheer OhCrap the audience experiences, which then turns into pure Squick when you realise that, after the Mountain punches Oberyn in the face with his mailed fist, you're given a loving shot of the latter's teeth scattering across the ground.
** [[http://31.media.tumblr.com/8c1f9a3e72bf230fe7a0204ae9e49272/tumblr_n6izvuI7kW1qzucdqo3_500.gif Here]] is a helpful gif which illustrates the horror quite nicely.
** And here's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0SXDXVMNUk actual scene.]] You may really want to rush off [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel here]] ''immediately'' afterwards.
** Some added NightmareFuel for the scene? When Gregor literally fucking mounted Oberyn and began to crush his skull, he could well have been consciously re-enacting his rape of Elia for the sheer sake of it. Seeing it happen to the dashing badass Oberyn was horrifying enough, but the reminder he did exactly this and MUCH worse to Elia whom had been so lovingly described by Oberyn as the kindest and most gentle person imaginable is just nightmarish.

* Stannis, under the guidance of Melisandre, finally [[MoralEventHorizon decides to sacrifice his daughter and only heir Shireen to the lord of light]]. What makes this scene even more harrowing is that all the while [[TheScream Shireen is screaming for her parents and then in agony as the flames consume her.]] Her mother is powerless to save her and Stannis is commited to the act.
** Stannis's cold and resolute expression as she's burning and screaming, in contrast to his men, who are openly horrified and/or ashamed. And then her screams just cut off...
** [[DissonantSerenity Melisandre's perfectly placid smile]] as Shireen screams and burns. If it wasn't clear before, it's clear now. Individual people mean nothing to her unless they're contributing to her god in ''any'' way.
** It's worth noting that, despite what some might say on this entry, Stannis appears ''extremely'' uncomfortable during the whole process, at least as much as this notorious deadpan can appear to ''be'' uncomfortable. For instance, when he first enters Shireens tent, she asks him "are you not cold?" This, along with his noticeably slurred speech as he rambles to his daughter, affirms that he is [[DrowningMySorrows clearly]] [[HealItWithBooze rather drunk]], to numb the immense guilt of the action he is about to undertake. This is a man who is known to stay away from the drink under almost any circumstance, a habit he breaks just to make it bearable. And when he's staring at Shireens burning body? That's not a face of indifference - it's a man's mind warring with itself, wondering whether it was the right thing to do for the good of the realm.
** Shireen's screams are nightmare-inducing, especially for any parents who may be watching. This scene feels more uncomfortable than any rape scene that has occurred so far on the show.

*** The last scream Unella lets out when the door shuts. '''Oh, dear God...''' [[NothingIsScarier And you don't know what the fuck's going on behind that door.]] Given that [=GoT=]'s not shy about showing every kind of violence imaginable (take how Pycelle dies moments before, for instance) and they're ''not'' showing you this, it's very likely YouDoNotWantToKnow.
*** Given Ser Gregor's proclivities in life, it's actually made terrifyingly clear what's going to happen in that cell. '''Unella is going to be raped and tortured by a zombie until she dies'''. At least if Gregor were still alive, he probably would have ended up killing her once he got bored.

** The Rains of Castamere starts to play. Nothing even happens as it does, but after an entire season of references to the song, the viewer already knows it's the [[{{Leitmotif}} Lannister's theme]] and know something really, really horrible is about to happen.

** Lothar Frey ''repeatedly stabbing Talisa's pregnant stomach''. And after it happens she stands up, clearly so stunned by the attack that she has no idea what to do - allowing us to see the blood gushing out while she screams in pain.

** Catelyn has a catatonic reaction to Robb's death. She just slits the throat of Walder's wife and then looks on in StunnedSilence before Black Walder Frey comes up and slices her own throat open.
*** Not exactly. If one watches that scene again you will clearly see that Catelyn has an absolute look of horror and is silently crying her eyes out as Robb dies in front of her. Then she screams/cries out in anguish as she slices Frey's wife's throat before her own death.

[[caption-width-right:350:G’night folks.]]

->''"There is only one hell, Princess. The one we live in now."''

* Khal Drogo's enraged declaration of war against Westeros.

* Down in the dungeons, Varys urges Ned to confess to treason and urge his son's northern army to stand down, saying Cersei will spare his life and [[ReassignedToAntarctica let him go off to exile in the Night's Watch]]. Ned flatly refuses to compromise his honour, [[HonorBeforeReason even to save his own life]], but he's given pause when Varys reminds Ned that [[IHaveYourWife the Lannisters still hold his daughter hostage]]...and implies that [[AdultFear Sansa will pay]] [[WouldHurtAChild with her life]] if Ned continues to defy Cersei.

** Also, the price of the spell turned out to be greater than a mere horse, since Dany's child Rhaego came out of her womb stillborn and freakishly deformed. The docile way Mirri Maz Duur describes the poor thing really sells it. It's the epitome of BodyHorror, with a little AdultFear added into the mix.

* Though it is mostly a heartwarming moment, Stannis's story about Shireen contracting greyscale as a baby -- and the fact that everyone actually told him to give up on her and send her to the ruins of Old Valyria to live out her short life with the Stone Men -- is a rather surprising and effective case of AdultFear. Luckily, Stannis had the resources and sheer determination to save his daughter's life.

* Jon angrily telling an uncooperative Tormund that unless the wildlings and the Night's Watch work together against their common enemy, [[AdultFear the noncombatants amongst his people will be left at the mercy of the White Walkers]], who will [[KillEmAll kill them all]] and [[AnimateDead use their corpses to swell their undead legions further]].

** From Ned's perspective, this is 100% NightmareFuel, since his little sister dying of childbirth was the least thing he was expecting, after having fought a war to rescue her. Also promising her to protect her son is pure AdultFear, given that the kid is Rhaegar Targaryen's last surviving child and hiding him would be treason against the new king, who was not only Rhaegar's [[{{Archenemy}} number one enemy]], but also '''Ned's best friend'''. "''I wish you good fortune in the wars to come''" indeed.

** Cersei [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty caressing Tyene's face in an oddly gentle way]] and calling her a "perfect Dornish beauty", while casually musing that she thought of having Ser Gregor crush her skull like a duck egg. While Ellaria is forced to watch helplessly, knowing that a horrible fate is in store for her daughter--and that it's her own fault her daughter is there in the first place. This scene is the epitome of AdultFear.

** The build-up starting when Daenerys tells him he'll have "[[TitleDrop a golden crown]] [[FalseReassurance that men shall]] ''[[DeadlyEuphemism tremble]]'' [[FalseReassurance to behold]]".

** The Rains of Castamere starts to play. Nothing even happens as it does, but after an entire season of references to the song, the viewer already knows it's the Lannister's theme and know something really, really horrible is about to happen.

** As it turns out, this is all an act to fool Littlefinger. But that it comes across as being so convincing speaks volumes.

* "He was Jon Arryn's squire, look how far he's come": Blood drips from the mouth and claws of the painted dog on Gregor Clegane's shield, representing his murder of Ser Hugh.
* "Take him alive, kill his men": Jaime's approaching reflection is seen in the pupil of Jory's bleeding eye.
* "A crown for a king": Molten gold drips down from a pot in the shape of a skull, representing Viserys' death.
* "Dracarys!": A burnt red skeleton is backed by Drogon's shadow, for the deaths of the Undying Ones.
* "Chaos isn't a pit, chaos is a ladder": Ros's body is shown in profile, riddled by arrows that look like the rungs of a ladder.
* "The Lannisters send their regards": A musician wearing chainmail sleeves draws his bow across a cello as blood drips down it in vertical lines, visually evoking Catelyn Stark's throat being slit.
* "What good is an empty cup?": Red wine flows from a spilled golden cup onto the ground and down the stairs, forming a pair of hands choking a Joffrey-shaped shadow.
* "Kill the Masters": Several bloodied swords are impaled into the ground like tombstones, each one's shadow taking the form of a crucified Meereenese noble.
* "This is turning into a lovely evening": Crossed swords, covered with bloodstains shaped like fighting soldiers, form the bars of Theon's cell.
* "The gods have made their will known": As a mountain looms in the background, a snake winds around a bloodied spear. Half of its body is red and patterned in Martell suns, while the other half has been reduced to a skeleton.
* "I am your son, I have always been your son": Tyrion's massive shadow looms over his father's corpse, Tywin's blood on the floor taking the shape of Casterly Rock.
* "You're not going to serve, you're going to die": Fire rises from a burning brazier in the shapes of the Dothraki khals' screaming faces.
* "That was a command, not an offer": Holding Longclaw, Jon looks down at the bloodied execution block he just beheaded Janos Slynt over, seeing his father Ned in his shadow looking back at him.
* "I made my choice long ago": Snakes weave around and through the eye sockets of a skull that has the pointy end of Obara's spear coming out its mouth.
* "Your name will disappear": Sansa stands in the cell with her face shadowed and two halves of a broken arrow in her hands, the hunting dogs looming at her sides and Ramsay's bones piled at her feet, picked clean of all flesh.
* "Long may she reign": Cersei clasps a green crown in her hands with points shaped like burning wildfire, presiding over a pile of skulls lit by an eerie green glow. One of them -- Loras's skull -- has a seven-pointed star cut in its forehead.
* "You are my queen, now and always": The Iron Throne's points are fading into smoke as a trail of blood runs down it, surrounded by symbolic objects from Daenerys' journey including a Sons of the Harpy mask, the three dragon eggs, Jaime's golden hand and a fallen bell.

* Wildfire itself is an alchemically created liquid that bursts into sickly green flames, the closest equivalent to antiquity's dreaded Greek fire. And not even ocean water can extinguish it, as demonstrated in the Battle of the Blackwater.

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*** The Dothraki, Unsullied and [[NotSoDifferent even the Northmen]] slaughtering the civilians and Lannister soldiers who just surrendered. While some of the Lannister soldiers did fight back, the entire battle is completely one-sided. Even the civilians are caught in the line of fire and one of the Northmen attempted to rape a woman until Jon himself has to stop and kill him in self-defense.

* While the wildling archers are attempting to keep wights from climbing over the walls, the camera pans back and rises to show ''a huge horde of wights charging the wall''. RealityEnsues near the end of the battle where their combined weight not only causes the wall to collapse but also breaks the gate.

* "I made my choice long ago": Snakes weave around and through the eye sockets of a skull that has the pointy end of a spear coming out its mouth.

* "Long may she reign": Cersei clasps a green crown in her hands with points shaped like burning wildfire, presiding over a pile of skulls lit by an eerie green glow. One of them has a seven-pointed star cut in its forehead, representing Loras.

* We learn exactly what the Mad King meant by "[[FamousLastWords burn them all]]": Aerys had prepared wildfire caches all over King's Landing, and had given the order to his pyromancer to set them off and [[TakingYouWithMe kill everyone]] rather than [[EvilIsPetty suffer defeat on his enemies' terms]]. Jaime also speculates that in his insanity, Aerys didn't believe he would die in the blaze; instead, he believed [[OneWingedAngel he would be reincarnated by the fire]] [[DragonsAreDemonic as a dragon]], able to destroy all his enemies in one fell swoop. Jaime killed the pyromancer, but Aerys still kept shouting it even as he was killed, too. Even worse is that, due to Ned Stark's HonorBeforeReason mentality, Jaime's side of the story was never publicly known -- to Stark, seeing a Lannister's sword buried into the King was enough to call him a traitor.

* An extremely subtle one, but for those who have followed the third season through the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130603074859/https://www.direct.tv/thekingsroadmap/ King's Roadmap]], soon after this episode was broadcast, the app disappeared and in its place was a page just saying '[[https://web.archive.org/web/20130628024946/http://www.direct.tv/thekingsroadmap/ Gone]]'.

* The box that is sent to the Greyjoys, containing Theon's "favorite toy", looks like it's made from a Greyjoy breastplate, most likely Theon's own. The message that accompanies the box threatens to wipe all the Ironborn out if they don't leave the North, and promises to send more pieces of Theon if they don't withdraw immediately.

* Arya once again demonstrating further slippage into CuteAndPsycho territory, in the sheer cold and calculated manner with which she plays an innocent girl before brutally murdering the Frey Soldier who claimed responsibility for desecrating Robb's body. As well as the reveal that the knife she used was one she stole from the Hound, without him even knowing it. Suffice to say, even the Hound looks scared of her at this point. For extra creepiness points, the music that plays while Arya contemplates both her first adult kill and the Braavosi coin she used to distract her victim with is none other than Jaqen H'ghar's theme.

* The Small Council meeting, where Joffrey gleefully tells Grand Maester Pycelle to send for Robb Stark's head, as he's planning to serve it to Sansa on his wedding feast. Everone present -- Varys, Tyrion, Pycelle, even Cersei and Tywin, are alarmed (each in their own way) that their twisted little "king" is getting completely out of hand. And when the master schemers are scared, guess what that means for the general populace.
* The sight of the Freys massacring the Stark forces is horrific. The entire camp is in flames. Men are being butchered all around. We see a man with his legs cut off, a man being lynched, and a man being stabbed over and over by at least 5 people. And then we see those Frey bastards parading around [[http://dorkshelf.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2013/06/Game-of-Thrones-Season-3-The-King-in-the-North.jpg the decapitated body of Robb with Grey Wind's severed head impaled on it]] while mockingly chanting "The King in the North." It really hammers home how twisted and evil the Freys really are. And unlike when Ned was executed, Arya has a front-row seat to witness the profaning of her brother's corpse. Even the Hound, himself no stranger to brutality and war, has this "Holy ''shit'', this is fucked up" look on his face as this is all going down. Contrast this to how the Lannister soldiers dispatched Ned Stark's household in Season 1. They were merciless and quite brutal, yes, but there was a sense of efficiency and professionalism. With the Freys, they ''rejoice'' at their cruelty and seem to take pleasure in killing the Stark forces in the most painful ways possible.

* An extremely subtle one, but for those who have followed the third season through the King's Roadmap, soon after this episode was broadcast, the app disappeared and in its place was a page just saying 'Gone'.

''Beautiful Death'' is a series of official artworks, one for each episode of the show, that portray one or more characters' deaths from that episode in a symbolic manner. They're certainly beautiful, but ye gods, are they terrifying. Some of the highlights:

* "Kill the Masters": Several bloodied swords are impaled into the ground, each one's shadow taking the form of a crucified Meereenese noble.

* "Your name will disappear": Sansa stands in the cell with her face shadowed and two halves of a broken arrow in her hands, the hunting dogs looming at her sides and Ramsay's bones piled at her feet.

* The riot at King's Landing turns into this when the starving townspeople start dismembering and devouring members of the royal entourage and Sansa is chased down and almost raped by a group of men. Sansa screaming and pleading as she's held down is really hard to watch. Thank god the Hound had a BigDamnHeroes moment, [[JustInTime though it was really close.]]
** What really drives it home is Tyrion's utterly horrified reaction as he witnesses a man being literally torn to pieces.

* Bran's story about a Night's Watch cook who killed his king's son and served him in a pie. The king liked it so much he asked for more.

* The sight of the Freys massacring the Stark forces is horrific. The entire camp is in flames. Men are being butchered all around. We see a man with his legs cut off, a man being lynched, and a man being stabbed over and over by at least 5 people. And then we see those Frey bastards parading around [[http://dorkshelf.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2013/06/Game-of-Thrones-Season-3-The-King-in-the-North.jpg the decapitated body of Robb with Grey Wind's severed head impaled on it]] while mockingly chanting "The King in the North." It really hammers home how twisted and evil the Freys really are. And unlike when Ned was executed, Arya has a front-row seat to witness the profaning of her brother's corpse. Even the Hound has this "Holy ''shit'', this is fucked up" look on his face as this is all going down. Contrast this to how the Lannister soldiers dispatched Ned Stark's household in Season 1. They were merciless and quite brutal, yes, but there was a sense of efficiency and professionalism. With the Freys, they ''rejoice'' at their cruelty and seem to take pleasure in killing the Stark forces in the most painful ways possible.