9. Joffrey uses Ros for target practice (GOT Season 3, Ep 6)
We knew Joffrey was truly sick in the head, but Ros’ murder by the young king is arresting for its sheer brutality. We only catch a glimpse of the poor woman, strung up and limp, her body riddled with arrows, but it’s clear this is torture quite unlike any other. Joffrey takes a sadistic pleasure in her execution by crossbow, his new toy. GOT is, among other things, a paean to the depravity of men, but Ros’ murder highlights the terrifying extent of our cruelty. That horror is amplified by the fact that Ros is a relatively innocent character, playing a lethal game she never had a chance of winning. As Cersei once told Lord Baelish, the man who turned Ros over to Joffrey, “power is power.” Those without any are ultimately vulnerable playthings in the brutal world of Westeros.
