Summary

• Joffrey's sadism evolved over Game of Thrones, culminating in Ros' brutal death.
• Ros' death by Joffrey was horrific, serving as a glimpse into the unrestrained cruelty he could have become.
• Actor Jack Gleeson received death threats for playing Joffrey so well, highlighting the impact of his performance.

Ros' Game of Thrones death may have occured early on in the show, but it's still widely discussed since few GoT deaths are as brutal as when Joffrey killed Ros. Joffrey emerged as a villain during season 1 of the HBO series, but the lingering influence of his parents suppressed his underlying sadism. Following Robert Baratheon's death, Joffrey's rise to power emboldened him, and during subsequent seasons, his cruelty went unchecked. Joffrey's focus became lashing out at the oppressed and undeserving, with Ros's death one of the most harrowing in the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones.

While Game of Thrones' King Joffrey story is echoed through Rhaenyra Targaryen's illegitimate children in House of the Dragon, no one in the prequel — not even Matt Smith's Daemon — has exhibited the level of cruelty shown as when Joffrey kills Ros. This thirst for cruel violence didn't develop overnight, and there are actually many factors that contributed to King Joffrey's atrocious actions. Here's why King Joffrey killed Ros in Game of Thrones, from his motivations to why the brutality of Ros' GoT death still resonates with audiences years later.

Joffrey Killed Ros For No Real Reason - Showing How Sadistic He Truly Is

The Murder Was Shocking Partly Because It Had No Motive

Joffrey killed Ros for the pure pleasure of it, making this death particularly disturbing, even in a series with so many disturbing deaths. He did not particularly hate Ros — they had very little personal connection, nor did he see killing her as a benefit to his overall political goals. He killed her simply to satisfy his own sadistic desires. Littlefinger hints that Joffrey approached him as the brothel owner in hopes that he would allow him to live out his fantasy of killing someone, and Ros just happened to be the unlucky victim that Littlefinger willingly handed over.

Despite his boasting and acting otherwise, Joffrey was not a leader who was cut out for battle as he ran to hide during the Battle of Blackwater, and cowers from any real confrontation. However, he still had a lust for blood and wanted to see what it was like to kill someone himself, rather than simply ordering someone else to do it. But the only way his cowardice would allow him to do this was to shoot a poor woman with a crossbow as she was tied up defenseless.

How Joffrey's Sadism Evolved Throughout Game Of Thrones

The Death Of Ros Was Part Of Joffrey's Wider Villain Arc

Joffrey killed Ros in Game of Thrones season 3, but it wasn't a moment of sudden insanity — it was a crime Game of Thrones built up to across the first few seasons. During Game of Thrones season 2, as the War of the Five Kings waged on, Joffrey remained safely tucked away in the castle in King's Landing. The Small Council headed by Tyrion Lannister, who quickly realized Joffrey's temperament and youth made him a liability, handled the real governing.

After Tyrion saved Sansa Stark from a very public display of abuse orchestrated by his nephew, he and Bronn decided that puberty could be the driving force behind Joffrey's behavior. Tyrion arranged a belated birthday gift for the new king — a night with Ros and another whore from Littlefinger's brothel. The only pleasure Joffrey derived was ordering Ros to beat her companion and make sure Tyrion saw the result. This was Joffrey's retaliation for his uncle coming to Sansa's defense and chastising him in front of the court. Little did Tyrion know that he would be indirectly responsible for an even worse display of cruelty — Ros' Game of Thrones death.

In Game of Thrones season 3, it became clear Joffrey was a sadist. His sexual desires were satisfied by inflicting pain, and he was using the Ros Game of Thrones arc to fulfill this proclivity, which is what differentiates Joffrey from Westeros' previous kings and queens. It's unclear if Joffrey was aroused enough to engage in any actual sex or if he prioritized violence over any intimate gratification. When burgeoning Westerosi Queen-in-waiting Margaery Tyrell showed an interest in Joffrey's crossbow and questioned if he'd like to see her kill something with it, he itted he would.

However, it wasn't Margaery that Joffrey found alluring, but the possibility that she could understand his deviant cruelty. The weapon had become an extension of Joffrey himself at the start of season 3. Joffrey was at his most dangerous when he felt emasculated, and since he possessed no physical strength or prowess, he had to rely on the submissiveness of his victims. In the final moments of season 3's "The Climb," Ros' lifeless body hangs from a bed pierced by several arrows. It could be considered the result of Joffrey climaxing after all those months of merely torturing Ros.

Joffrey Is Misogyny Personified

There Are Deeper Thematic Undertones To Joffrey Murdered Ros

There are several thematic reasons why Joffrey killed Ros that feed into the wider Game of Thrones narrative, specifically that the act embodied his position as a metaphorical embodiment of misogyny. Even Cersei Lannister, one of the series' strongest female characters, found herself at the receiving end of Joffrey's cruelty. She endured it not only because he was the king, but she actually blamed herself for his brutality.

She confided in Tyrion that Joffrey's behavior could be a punishment for her relationship with her brother Jaime. On Game of Thrones, after all, incestuous relations went hand in hand with madness. Whatever the reason(s) for Joffrey turning out to be a bad seed, the Ros Game of Thrones conclusion was ultimately the tragic outcome of a power struggle between Littlefinger and Varys.

Varys enlisted Ros to assist him in executing his plan to help the Tyrells consolidate power, promising her a partnership and protection in exchange for spying on Littlefinger. Naturally, Varys' actions conflicted with Littlefinger's agenda to use Sansa for his gain and a bid for Westeros' Iron Throne. Realizing Ros had betrayed him, Littlefinger handed her over to Joffrey, who wanted to try "something new," "something daring."

In one fell swoop, Littlefinger disposed of an enemy and gained favor with Joffrey, who knew nothing of the politics of the situation. The series even foreshadowed Ros' grim fate during season 2. Ros' failure to perform her duties led to a conversation with Littlefinger about a previous girl who disappointed him. It transpired that he had sold her to a man who appeared to share Joffrey's predilection for torturing helpless women.

Joffrey Was So Despicable The Actor Playing Him Received Death Threats

Actor Jack Gleeson Did A Good Job - Perhaps Too Good

Outside perhaps Ramsay Bolton or the Mad King himself, Joffrey Baratheon was the worst Game of Thrones villain — and Jack Gleeson played the character so well that he got death threats in real life. Since his stint on GoT, Jack Gleeson quit acting for about 6 years, only to return to the stage for To Be a Machine and the TV show Out of Her Mind. He had many reasons behind taking a brief hiatus from his career, and the threats he received for playing Joffrey Baratheon were probably a catalyst for his break.

Actions like Ros' Game of Thrones execution and his constant abuse of Sansa Stark were played out so well that the actor bore the brunt of these grievous overreactions for years. The role was hard on Gleeson, and his performance as Joffrey ended up overshadowing his work in theater and in other projects.

Inspired by history's real evil kings, Joffrey Baratheon is one of the most hateable characters on Game of Thrones, it doesn't warrant the reactions that actor Jack Gleeson received for his outstanding performance, and he may well have been glad about the Purple Wedding that ended Joffrey's hateful reign. It's likely that no one hates Joffrey more than the actor who portrayed him.

The Ros Actress Praises The Surge In Intimacy Coordinators

Esme Bianco Found The Scene Incredibly Difficult To Shoot

The way Joffrey killed Ros in Game of Thrones is forever burned into the audience's brains as one of the series' most viscerally cruel scenes, but it also contributed towards the improvements in how studios handle actors' mental health when filming sexual content, especially scenes depicting sexual violence. Esme Bianco, who played Ros in Game of Thrones, has been quite open about the need for intimacy coordinators, especially during the Game of Thrones Ros death scene and others like it. As Bianco explains (via Page Six):

“I think its very important for them to have somebody who’s looking out specifically for the actors and their safety and their dignity and their sense of comfort with what they’re doing and sometimes it’s hard, like the directors have so much to think about on the day of the shoot, you need somebody who’s specifically looking out for that.”

Though HBO only hired intimacy coordinators in the wake of the #MeToo movement — five years after Ros' onscreen death — this bodes well for future Game of Thrones projects, which are bound to feature more intimate scenes. Indeed, these scenes can be just as traumatic for the actors involved as they are for those watching, so the surge in intimacy coordinators who can prevent this trauma is definitely a silver lining.

Was Joffrey Or Ramsay More Sadistic?

The Debate Continues To Rage On In The Game Of Throne Fandom

Game of Thrones may have ended several years ago, but there are still some intense debates that rage within the fandom. One of the key ones involves Joffrey. Despite killing Ros, Joffrey wasn't responsible for the most shocking deaths in GoT by the season 8 finale, with many attributing the title of most sadistic character to Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon). However, this isn't universally agreed, with many others still claiming that Joffrey was the crueler of the Game of Thrones villains — and the murder of Ros is often one of the key pieces of evidence used to make their argument.

Whether Joffrey or Ramsay is the most sadistic Game of Thrones character is an interesting question that warrants further examination beyond their individual acts of cruelty. If judged purely on what they did during the show, then Ramsay is arguably the most sadistic. Joffrey killing Ros was shocking, but Ramsay castrated and tortured Theon Greyjoy until he lost all sense of identity, regularly let his hunting dogs eat his servants alive, and killed young Rickon Stark just to get a rise out of Jon Snow. All in all, Joffrey's list of sins pales in comparison to Ramsay Bolton's.

However, there are other factors at play beyond what viewers saw of their respective sadism. Joffrey killing Ros was a glimpse of the man the young king could have become were he not killed. What's more, for most of Joffrey's life, he was kept in check by Cersei, who knew that her plans to get him on the Iron Throne would be scuppered if he were allowed to act on his basest impulses. Ramsay Bolton, on the other hand, had nobody holding him back, and was allowed to act on his malevolent urges unchecked.

It's also important to that Ramsay Bolton was part of a house whose sigil was literally a man being flayed alive. Cruelty and sadism aren't just synonymous with the Bolton's in Westeros — they're qualities the house actively encourages so as to use fear as a psychological weapon. This means Ramsay was raised among those who saw acts of sadism and cruelty not even as the norm, but as things to be celebrated. Had Joffrey grown up in a similar environment there's every chance he would have carried out acts just as cruel and twisted as Ramsay.

The final key factor to consider is that Ramsay's cruelty was, in part, a product of his anger at the world around him. Being a bastard, Ramsay spent most of his life as a Snow rather than a Bolton, meaning he was treated in many situations as almost a second-class citizen. This allowed his hatred for those around him to fester and grow, which partly explains (but doesn't excuse) his sadism. Joffrey, on the other hand, had everything handed to him on a golden platter, since he was the son of the king. This makes his own cruelty far more difficult to comprehend in many ways.

Ultimately, the real question may not actually be who was more sadistic out of Ramsay Bolton and Joffrey Baratheon. A more appropriate one could be how long it would take Joffrey to become as unrestrained as Ramsay if he hadn't been poisoned. Ramsay may have carried out the most sadistic acts in Game of Thrones, but there's every chance Joffrey would have done far worse had he been allowed to live — and, unlike Ramsay, there's no psychological foundations that help viewers at least understand where the malevolence comes from.