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The 20 Most Shocking Game Of Thrones Moments

Perhaps more than any other show this decade, Game of Thrones has reveled in its ability to wrongfoot an audience. Shocks come with each new season. It's a series that's constantly trying to catch its viewers off guard, butchering and beating up its key characters mercilessly in a constant, concentrated effort to surprise.

4) The Mountain Breaks The Viper

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Oberyn Martell, we hardly knew ye. If there’s a prize for most overkill death scene on Game of Thrones, Pedro Pascal’s Dornish prince wins hands-down. His end is doubly shocking, however, for the fact that Oberyn – by the end of season four – was just beginning to look like the show’s new hero, determined to avenge his sister’s death.

Not if The Mountain has anything to do with it. Ser Gregor Clegane is almost beaten by Oberyn, but the young prince’s cockiness gets the better of him, as Ser Gregor trips him, smashes out his teeth and puts his thumbs through Oberyn’s eyes. And then his head is smashed like a watermelon – and the Viper is no more.

Season four’s best new addition, snuffed out in a moment, just as his revenge story had begun.