Game of Thrones contains multiple shocking plot twists, many of which book readers knew of in advance, but there were also some huge moments those who'd read the novels weren't prepared for. Game of Thrones season 1, episode 1 cemented it as a show that was prepared to do just about anything, with Bran Stark being pushed from a high window by Jaime Lannister. By season 1, episode 9 there was no doubt that no one was safe, with Ned Stark's death among the most shocking moments in TV history... except, of course, to those who had first been stunned by it back in 1996 with George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.
By the time of Jon Snow killing Daenerys and Bran becoming King were moments few predicted, there were also some major twists when Game of Thrones was still ostensibly following the books.
12 Barristan Selmy Is Killed Off
When George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books left off, Barristan Selmy was not only alive, but arguably thriving. With Daenerys Targaryen AWOL, he was helping to run the show in Meereen, and is even confirmed to be a point-of-view character in The Winds of Winter. That’s how important Barristan the Bold is to Daenerys’ story, but Game of Thrones went in a very different direction with the character. While the former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard had a similar set up for his role in Meereen, his actual part was literally, brutally cut short in a fight against the Sons of the Harpy.
Game of Thrones changed this story significantly, with Dany’s husband - Hizdahr zo Loraq, more innocent bystander than the grand schemer of the books - which reduced Barristan’s importance. So, too, did the expedited arrival of Tyrion Lannister, who serves a similar function to Barristan, but has not yet made it to Meereen or met Dany in the books. Those things combined to mean an early end for Barristan that few expected and even fewer liked.
11 Stannis’ Baratheon’s Death
Another character still alive heading into The Winds of Winter is Stannis Baratheon, but again Game of Thrones delivered a shocking twist in order to surprise viewers as it started to move through the remaining source material. In the books, Stannis’ fate remains up in the air with the Battle of Ice against Ramsay Bolton still on the horizon. Not only that, but there are a lot of signs he might actually win, too, which would make the show’s change even bigger.
Stannis will die eventually, because his entire arc is to be doomed by destiny, but it happened much sooner in Game of Thrones to allow the show to swiftly move into the set up for (and execution of) the Battle of the Bastards. Not only that, but it happened at the sword of Brienne of Tarth, whose own story has taken her away from Winterfell and likely won't be the one to deliver that killing blow in the book.
10 Jorah Mormont Gets Greyscale
Jorah Mormont's travels with Tyrion Lannister took a few deviations from the books, albeit still working towards the same end goal of taking him to Daenerys Targaryen, hoping to earn her forgiveness in the process. None were more significant for Jorah, though, than what happens when he and Tyrion sail past Old Valyria, and are ambushed by the stone men. Though Jorah initially attempts to hide it, he contracts the disease greyscale, a cruel twist of fate that seemingly dooms the character (though he is later cured by Samwell Tarly).
It's a shock to all, not least book readers because Jorah doesn't get greyscale there. Instead it's Jon Connington, a character who doesn't appear in the show at all, who gets the disease. It's a double-whammy of a twist, not only giving Jorah a cruel disease, but a major clue that Game of Thrones had cut Aegon Targaryen, making a far greater change to the books than just giving Jorah greyscale.
9 Brienne Fights (& Almost Kills) The Hound
Brienne of Tarth spends much of A Feast For Crows searching the Riverlands for Sandor Clegane, aka the Hound, in order to bring him to justice. Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - she never finds him, instead only learning that the Hound has died when she visits a monastery. It seems likely that the Hound’s story in the books after this point will play out similarly to Game of Thrones, at least insofar as him being revealed to be alive.
But the big twist comes with how he gets to that point of near-death. Whereas in the books it happened thanks to Polliver and the Tickler, in the show it’s Brienne herself. The fight between Brienne and the Hound in the Game of Thrones season 4 finale is one of the show’s most shocking, visceral, and raw fight sequences. It’s a pure no holds barred slugfest that almost comes out of nowhere, erupts, and leaves the Hound completely broken, but just about alive.
8 Cersei & Robert Had A Son Who Died In The Cradle
In both Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, it’s clear that Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister have a loveless marriage, with the former disinterested in his wife and resentful of the fact she isn’t Leanna Stark, and the latter loathing her husband and in love with her brother, Jaime Lannister. However, Game of Thrones season 1 makes a subtle twist to their marriage, with a show-only conversation that sees them talking about how the marriage fell apart.
Added into their backstory is that they did have a baby together, Cersei’s firstborn child who died in the cradle. In the books, Cersei did fall pregnant to Robert once, but had the pregnancy terminated. That they had a son, lost him, and could never repair their marriage is not as drastic a twist as many, but it is low-key one of its most poignant and one of the show’s best changes to the books.
7 Ellaria Sand Murders Doran Martell
The Dorne plot was one Game of Thrones changed (and cut down) massively in Game of Thrones seasons 5 and 6, with various characters either changed or missing altogether. Few were impacted quite like Doran Martell, who in the books is often perceived as weak but is actually a great strategist, playing a long game for revenge against those who have wronged his family. In the show, however, perception of Doran becomes reality, and he's killed off by Ellaria Sand because of his actions (or lack thereof) surrounding Elia and Oberyn.
The death is arguably even more shocking to A Song of Ice and Fire readers than it is Game of Thrones viewers. To those who've only watched the show, Doran isn't that important and the failures of the Dorne storyline made him more likely to die. But to book readers, Doran is someone who has multiple plans in the works and is developing grand schemes that point towards his own daughter, Arianne Martell (cut from Game of Thrones), becoming Queen if Aegon Targaryen (as mentioned, also cut) takes the Iron Throne.
6 Olly Delivers The Killing Blow To Jon Snow
Jon Snow's death happens differently in Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons - including that it's before he's even gone to Hardhome, and after he's received a letter from Ramsay Bolton daring him to come to Winterfell. Still, the event broadly plays out similarly enough, insofar as Jon is stabbed by a number of his so-called brothers, who line up to stab him to death "for the Watch." Killing off the main character (the real one this time, despite Ned and Robb seemingly holding the honor before their own deaths) was of course a shocking twist in both the book and the show.
Still, one change made it much darker in Game of Thrones: the presence of Olly. The character does not exist in the books, and the young man Jon takes as his steward - Satin - is not among those who turn against him. To have Olly deliver the final, fatal blow to Jon Snow is a twist-within-the-twist, making it more shocking not only by having a child involved in the mutiny, but because it meant the same character had killed both Ygritte and Jon. No the wonder "f**k Olly" became a common refrain among Game of Thrones fans.
5 Sansa Stark Marries Ramsay Bolton
As things stand in A Song of Ice and Fire, Sansa Stark is still at the Vale, where she and Petyr Baelish are looking to marry her to Harrold Hardyng, current heir to the Vale. The plan is to unite the North and the Vale and retake Winterfell from Ramsay Bolton, something Game of Thrones completely (and shockingly) flipped on its head by marrying Sansa to Ramsay instead. By this point, viewers had already seen Sansa ed from cruel fate to cruel fate, but this was the darkest yet as she was married off to a monster even worse than Joffrey.
The wedding night, which saw Ramsay sexually assault Sansa, is one of the show's lowest moments. The books do things differently, but are also incredibly harrowing: there, Ramsay instead marries Sansa's old friend Jeyne Poole, who they're pretending is actually Arya Stark in a bid to control the North. Ramsay commits a number of unspeakably terrible acts to Jeyne, which would've been equally vile to portray on screen, but the added twist of Sansa being the one it happened to made it as shocking to book readers as it was show-only watchers.
4 Benjen Stark Saves Bran Beyond The Wall
What happened to Benjen Stark in A Song of Ice and Fire remains a major mystery, but it's one Game of Thrones provided its own remarkable answer to. After going missing early in Game of Thrones season 1, Benjen returned in season 6 to save Bran Stark as he continued his journey beyond the Wall. The return of Benjen when so many believed him dead was shocking enough, but even more so was his appearance and status: not quite alive nor dead, Benjen was almost killed by the White Walkers but saved by the Children of the Forest's magic, leaving him somewhere between wight, White Walker, and human.
This effectively gave Benjen the role of a character named Coldhands from the books, who is similarly neither dead nor alive and aids Bran beyond the Wall (albeit a little earlier in the story). Indeed, Benjen taking the Coldhands role may not have been shocking to book readers - it was long a major theory that they were the same characters - if not for the fact Martin himself had said they weren't the same in his original manuscript notes for A Dance with Dragons (via u/_honeybird on Reddit). Instead, both Benjen and Coldhands remain questions that Martin has yet to answer.
3 The Massacre At Hardhome & Night King Raising The Dead
Game of Thrones season 5, episode 8, “Hardhome,” is one of the show’s best battle episodes, but even labeling it as such doesn’t quite feel right: it’s not a battle, it’s a massacre. This is Game of Thrones as full horror, with White Walkers and wights emerging and bringing death with them. In the book, however, what’s happening at Hardhome is kept off-page: there are reports of Wildlings being stuck there and sightings of wights, but Jon himself doesn’t go on the rescue mission.
That is instead intended to be led by Tormund Giantsbane, and before it can happen Jon Snow is killed by the Night’s Watch. Adding another shock is the full emergence of the Night King at the end of Hardhome, where he stares down Jon and then raises the dead. The Night King doesn’t exist in the books, and while he’d briefly appeared in Game of Thrones season 4, the full display of his power was truly shocking.