Game of Thrones – or everything based on Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire universe – is currently a huge franchise that is all the rave. Hardcore fans are dressing up as characters from Game of Thrones, or attempting to learn Dothraki, or at least making some nice artwork and memes inspired from it.

Since the new season’s debut brought on another shocker (but one most people were looking forward to; warning: spoilers ahead), we thought this was a good moment to reminisce about all the previous turning points of the show that managed to shock or outrage us. If you have different opinions about what should make it to this list of 5 somewhat chronological dramatic moments, let us know in the comment section below. Meanwhile, let’s take a look.

1. The Beheading of Ned Stark

Sure, there were things that shocked us before that moment. How about the double shocker in the episode where Bran discovers the golden twins in their incestuous relationship and gets shoved out the window? Many things that shocked us right there, in a 5-minute interval. But it was only with the beheading on Ned Stark that we finally understood that the author and the show’s producers really meant business. We had to unlearn the lesson from every other show – that if you’re made to build up your hopes for a character or if said character is a main, that is some sort of a guarantee that the character will make it. Well, there is no such guarantee here.

2. Chopping Off Jaime’s Hand

By the time we managed to begin liking him, the cruel fate stole from him his one ability that made him strong and somewhat invulnerable. After such a weary and long road and after we were taught to start seeing his humane vulnerabilities, to chop off the hand of knight suddenly more noble than he seemed was just cruel.

3. The Red Wedding

Don’t even get us started on this one. The moment on the show was so shocking and upsetting, that when the episode aired G R R Martin was actually compelled to retreat for a while in order to avoid the throngs of angry fans. Obviously, the ones who had such a strong reaction were the ones who relied on the show to know what was happening in Westeros, as the ones who read the books already knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.

The Red Wedding is yet another example of the perverse law of hope that seems to function in the Game of Thrones universe. After Ned Stark’s sad death, we were expecting the character’s oldest sun to pick up his father’s sword and avenge him. Well, Robb did pick up the sword and… ended up betrayed and killed and mocked up the point where they did that whole thing with his body and the wolf’s head. Simply sad and outrageous.

4. Sansa ending up married to Tyrion

Ok, maybe this one doesn’t really deserve the 5-list feature since it’s more of a sub-plot than an actual turning point. But it’s surely as shocking to you as it was to us. It was the most unlikely combination and because the princess-like character’s expectations get mocked by the author in a strange way. And because, in the Game of Thrones universe, we suddenly realize Sansa could have ended up much, much worse.

5. The Purple Wedding

Joffrey dies, though there wasn’t much sadness for us viewers. Well, maybe a little sadness for Cersei, if you manage to like her, or for Jaime, since there’s a better chance of you liking him. However, not much sadness for Joffrey himself. In the Game of Thrones story, there are few purely black-and-white characters and he was one of the darkies and therefore won’t be missed terribly by fans, but his death still was a shocking event and a major plot turning point.