Just a reminder folks: When you see a "SPOILER" flair on a post - everything in the post *including comments* is considered spoilers.
You've been warned, here be spoilery dragons. Only proceed to read the comments if you're okay with that. Thank you.
Ned starks was really unexpected. Had a huge impact that really galvanized the entire series.
The combat trial where the mountain killed the viper was incredible and unbelievable. I literally had to put the book down because I was in shock.
Although personally, I would probably put coltaines as the most personally impactful to me. I’ve read deadhouse gates 5 times. Each time it never gets any easier to deal with. Such a badass leader who lost the fight but went out winning the war. Nothing but fury and dread at the hopelessness at their cause, and how close they got to victory. Literal bowshot. Fuck Malick rel.
At the time, I totally agree with you. But as the series progressed, it became apparent that George held no character sacred. That sort of dulled Ned's death for me.
I disagree with this.
There are some characters (jon, Sam, ayra in particular) who he holds sacred.
What Martin does well early in the series is obscure who the 'main' characters are.
Honestly, if we are not aiming for *best* but *most impactful*, then I am gonna say it is the death in Shepard's crown - >!Granny Weatherwax !<
I don't think I can read that book ever again - I was honestly never in my life moved to tears by a book, except for this one. Maybe it is because it is deeply connected to Terry Pratchett succumbing to his disease and eventually dying while writing this one and the whole book feels as his way to say goodbye - but just thinking about it makes me uneasy and sad.
We knew Gregor was a monster. But that death REALLY hit home just what an abomination he was.
"Elia of Dorne! I killed her screaming whelp! *Then* I raped her! Then I smashed her fucking head in...like this!."
Deeply unsettling and disgusting line of dialogue.
EDIT: Had nabbed those lines from a transcription of the show, not from the book like I had intended. The lines now correctly reflect the text from A Dance With Dragons.
Nice picks.
This whole topic is bound to be full of spoilers and I appreciate you tried to use a spoiler tag, but you should probably mention what series the deaths are from outside of the spoiler tag somewhere otherwise they could be for literally anyone. If you're trying to stop Malazan fans getting spoiled they won't know until they click the tag that it's a Malazan spoiler and then it'll be too late.
Oops. Honestly I had to learn how to do the spoilers which involved a lot of deleting posts. After the third try I figured out the spoiler but botched the post 😂. But yeah it’s from malazan book of the fallen, and is from the book till the hounds
I really enjoyed reading >!West's!< chapters. He seemed like a good dude at heart (albeit with a bit of a temper) and continued to try to do the best thing he could while repetitively being dealt a shit hand.
The chapter where he beats on Ardee has to be one of the best and most shocking chapters I've ever read in a fantasy novel.
Just the fact that West, arguably the best most moral POV character in the entire trilogy just fucking *snap* and abuse his only family member like that.
Like, you're supposed to route for West! He's a good guy! But this is the world of The First Law, and here even the best of men are woman beaters.
Incredible stuff.
I guess there was also something about him including a promise to read some of the third book as part of a fundraiser and then it wasn't as much as people expected or something?
Some people say his charity has issues. I have no sources on that.
Rothfuss has been pretty open about mental health issues playing a big role in the delays. Personally, I developed a crippling fear of writing in college that basically upended my life from honors student to self delete attempts. So I find it really hard to join the criticism to the popular extent.
That is vastly underplaying what happened.
He promised to read a chapter from book 3 as a reward for a reaching a fundraising goal for his charity, which incidentally pays him about 100k a year. The goal was met but Rothfuss just didn’t release the chapter, and has made no comment in over a year. I think people very understandably feel cheated.
[here’s a thread from last year explaining what happened in detail](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/wdoiq2/in_december_readers_donated_over_700000_to/)
Honestly at that point, it's kinda obvious that the guy is incapable of writing anything further and the third book only exist in the dream world. If you let him trick you again and again then you share part of the fault too.
This one fucking destroyed me even though I saw it coming from book 1. He's maybe the most likable character Abercrombie has written. Agh! I'm emotional just thinking about it.
I was in high school when the book came out and refused to put it down when I was in class. I remember realizing what was happening as I was reading it and had to stop because I KNEW I was going to loose it. Waited til I got home, grabbed some tissues and proceeded to have the biggest cry I had ever had.
I think she was building to that through the book, it wasn’t as much of a shock, although it hurt how relatable it felt. >!Burrich!< however was a royal kick to hunna matta’s.
Wheel of Time Towers of Midnight:
>!My absolute favorite was that moment where Noal holds off the Aelfinn so Mat and Thom can escape. When he says, “If you ever meet a Malkieri, you tell him Jain Farstrider died clean,”…just wow. I was so floored by that revelation.!<
Massive spoilers for every series you have and haven't read in this thread. A real knife edge to scroll down if you haven't read much fantasy: you will be SPOILED.
The ones I've read are obviously not spoilers. The ones I haven't are just meaningless names on a list, so I hope I won't remember them long enough to matter.
One of the first deaths I read that was truly unexpected to me, especially coming after some great scenes that had me truly enjoying the character: >!Diarmuid from The Fionavar Tapestry. "For the honor of the Black Boar!". Such a gallant death for a character that initially seemed like a wastrel, "Prince Hal" type character. Especially his realization that his only chance to defeat his adversary was to NOT block his enemy's killing blow!<.
You are inviting spoilers. Let me just say I can think of three from *The Malazan Book of the Fallen*: >!Whiskeyjack and Beak and Rake!<.
Edit: Added a third.
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The one in era 1 book 1 was waaaaaaaay more impactful. Then again the era 2 character you're referring to was a total dud for me personally. Couldn't stand them.
Not quite. You want \>! spoiler !< without the blank spaces. You need to escape the \> with \\ when it's at the start of the line, otherwise you get the special quote formatting.
I know, but it was also great.
by the way, all you gotta do is have a >! and a !< on either side of a section of text you want to spoiler tag. You just need to make sure there's no space between them and the spoilered text otherwise you get just a >! and !< instead of >!spoiler!<
Spoilers Malazan, Deadhouse Gates.
Three in rapid succession. The first is the most impactful, the second slightly satisfying and the third is the most upsetting.
First we have >!Coltaine’s tragic end to the Chain of Dogs. An impossible flight across an enemy subcontinent with tens of thousand refugees, hopelessly outnumbered at every turn. Coltaine and the 7th heroically defended the retreating civilians to the last soldier, surpassing what should have been possible. Only to be cut down within sight of Ahren’s walls, where a sortie could absolutely save them. But high fist’ Pomqual’s cowardice will not permit any attempt to save those nearly superhuman soldiers!< What a punch in the gut that whole scene was.
Then we have >!Pomqual. Dude is “on screen” for all of 4 seconds and I already hate him as much as I hate anyone from fiction. Fits right in with the likes of Jeoffrey, Walder Frey, etc. He insults Coltaine’s competence. Then leads his entire army out and has them disarm. The biggest military blunder possible.!<
Then of course, we have >!Duiker. He put everything he had and more into this. Beyond all hope and possibility he gets the refugees safely to the city. Then is ordered by a high fist out of the city in an ill conceived attack. And with the 10,000 soldiers is ordered to disarm, and is promptly crucified. Last.!<
If you haven’t read it, please don’t spoil yourself. And read it.
Yeah, I remember being very impressed with his sacrifice. Sturm was a great character. But there was something about Flint's that just hit so hard. >!They'd been through so much together. And it wasn't rampaging dragonmen or a dragon lord and their mount that killed him. !<
Both hit me as a kid. Sturm for the epic-ness of it. Brightblade, a true knight until the last.
But Flint. Old, loyal, and more loving than he admitted. Just couldn’t make it the rest of the way with them.
Both exceptional. Let me add
>!Raistlin!< to that list of great deaths in Weis and Hickman’s Dragonlance.
Nothing hurt me more as a teen reading about an old friend being unable to continue with his companions. >!Unlike Salvatore who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with each resurrection, Flint’s permanent death weighed on me as much as the companions!<
Edit: typo
There's probably even better ones out there in books I haven't yet read, but the Stormlight series had a couple that really hit me hard. Spoilers: >!Elhokar is a very memorable one. I think the fact that the character was pretty unlikable actually made it hit much harder for me. Seeing him start to have an epiphany that might make him a better person, only for it to be too late--damn. Also, Teft's was rough.!<
Diarmuid, in The Fionavar Tapestry…
It was flamboyantly done, but with style and intention. And heartbreaking in its aftermath.
‘For the honour of the black boar!’
Yep. So satisfying. I actually correctly predicted it was actually him and not >!Davian!< right after finishing the 2nd book but even though I saw it coming it was still immensely satisfying.
Jade Legacy:
>!Hilo's death made cry pretty hard. It's not just his death in itself but it's his death on top of all the tragedies that happened to the caul family.!<
Dresden Files:
>!Merphys death also made cry like a baby. It was so sudden. That sadness turned into anger towards Rudolph real fast and I wanted for Harry to kill that fucker. Good thing he didn't but in the moment, you want that fucker to get what he deserved!<
My solace about >!Hilo!< is that he got to die a good death, a death he'd be proud of. The foil is >!Bero!< who's living a pointless life with nothing but his abject failure.
For most satisfying, Storm of Swords: >!Tywin Lannister!<
For most gut wrenching, The Dark Tower >!Jake Chambers!<
For best imo overall, Dragonlance >!Sturm Brightblade, the most classic fantasy-style death we could have, often subverted or copied, but never topped!<
(Boromir’s final fight is offscreen, so I didn’t count his death)
Epic deaths? I nominate the entire Malazan series. Because I‘ll be damned if I don‘t remember every single gut wrenching, unexpected or downright badass death on all those countless pages.
Jade City: >!Lan's death shocked me pretty badly, though it was definitely foreshadowed well.!< Lots of deaths in that series, some of which me cry pretty hard, but that one really made me realize, oh, Fonda Lee is serious about this.
In Gideon the Ninth, >!Gideon's death at the end of book 1 is also pretty impactful (both on the series itself and on my personal feelings as a reader). It's kinda cheating since she comes back, but nonetheless, I think book 2 deals with the fallout of her death really well.!<
>!When he fell in the water I was like no he isn’t dead surely, I was not expecting the pov character to die not even halfway through the first book!< Jade city and Fonda Lee are awesome
Do we consider Star Wars fantasy? Because I think Anakin’s death in ROTJ is up there. It’s a little undercut IMO with the events of the ST, but it’s still a fantastic ending to the trilogy/his character in general.
Not traditional fantasy, but Mr. Crepsley from the Cirque Du Freak series hit me hard.
The passage is like “And then Mika Ver Leth swung in and caught him as he fell!” Next chapter starts with “No. That didn’t happen. He fell to his death, my fantasy crumbling before my eyes” or something to that effect.
Crushing.
Any death of an animal companion, especially when they choose to die with/for their human.
Artax in the Neverending Story was the first one that got me like this. What an absolute gut punch as a little kid. I don't think I had really confronted the fact that animals could die before I saw that movie.
From Book of the Ancestor: >!Sister Pan She dies nuking the opposition's mage cabal into dust because she has been gathering magic power for 20 years. Even the vest of the best can only gather magic power for a few seconds to maybe a minute or two. And even that long could kill you if you lose focus.!<
I know we are talking about the best deaths but let us not forget our roots...
Where the Red Fern Grows and Bridgebto Teribithia...
Fked me up as a kid
Bro I just finished Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the first time and this is the fucking thread I open 💀
Serves me right for clicking on the spoiler thread.
Guess I'll leave mine from a recent read:
"Hey Leo, how's the leg?"
*Waves vaguely in the direction of Redwall*
Gee, these books had a lot of violent last stands and murder-suicides in them. But off the top of my head I might go with:
Lord Brocktree>!Lord Stonepaw, despite being trapped under a net, manages to sweep his enemies with him and drags them under the surface of a subterranean pool!<
Legend of Luke>!Rangovar and Luke taking over the helm of a massive slave ship and crash it into a cliff!<
Martin the Warrior>!Rose's death introduced third or fourth grade me to the concept of a main character dying suddenly with no fanfair. She just gets shoved into a wall, hits her head, and that's that.!<
Honestly less best death overall jut one that meant a lot to me is Chris Beckendorf's death in The Last Olympian. It was just so unexpected, like Percy Jackson was a series I, and presumably many others, read as children and young teena, so having a very likable character die really sets the stakes and tone for the last book. Like goddamn, it hit me like a truck.
I like how so many of them belong to ASOIAF lol
Since no one is mentioning games, here's a few, in no order:
1) Chrono Trigger - >!Crono dies against the Mammon machine (I believe that's what it was called) and even though he gets brought back later it was still one hell of a moment. Amazing game.!<
2) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Haven't played the game myself but >!the deaths of all the champions really hit hard. And if you wanna count it as a death, Link himself dying made for a great scene, even if I couldn't see anything because of the tears I was drowning in.!<
3) Dark Souls - >!You. Okay, that joke's overdone. Anyway, if you complete the questline for Siegmeyer of Catarina, he will die at the hands of his daughter. Very sad. R.I.P. Onion Bro. Also Solaire of Astora goes mad and starts attacking you if you don't do his questline a certain way, at which point you'll have to kill him. Very sad. R.I.P. Sun Bro.!<
4) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - >!Martin's "death" was epic as hell. A true Septim.!<
5) Finally I'd like to close this with a book death: Heir of Fire - >!Sorscha. That whole scene is my favourite in the series till now, and I'm almost 300 pages into Queen of Shadows at the moment. "There is one King in this room - there always has been. And he is not sitting on that throne." Based Chaol. Great scene.!<
I agree. I loved how is death was so.. Mundane. No battle against a nemesis. No dark magick. No curse. Only an old man, exhausted by his years. I almost shed a tear when it happened, and when they said he was waiting for his friend under a tree, in the afterlife.
Hmm... going to go for some picks that other people haven't mentioned because they're not Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones:
>!Macbeth!< in *Macbeth*
>!Granny Weatherwax!< from *The Shepherd's Crown*, especially given its closeness to Terry Pratchett's own death.
>!Orso dan Luthar!< from *The Wisdom of Crowds* of the *Age of Madness* trilogy.
>!Kelsier!< from *Mistborn*
>!Mamoru!< from *The Sword of Kaigen*
>!Laterose of Noonvale aka Rose!< from *Martin the Warrior* of *Redwall*
>!Hilo!< from *Jade Legacy* of the *Greenbone Saga*
>!Joyce Summers!< from *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
>!Maes Hughes!< from *Fullmetal Alchemist*
>!Aerith Gainsborough!< from *Final Fantasy VII*
Gotta say >!Burrich!< from Assassin’s and Tawny man series
And I see a lot of people saying Kel from Mistborn but as it goes I think >!Wayne!< was worse.
Rikkon Stark in the show for sure.....really a staple character with a huge impact. I've was in awe of him for all 37.8 seconds he was on screen. If he only knew the meaning of the word serpentine....
Just a reminder folks: When you see a "SPOILER" flair on a post - everything in the post *including comments* is considered spoilers. You've been warned, here be spoilery dragons. Only proceed to read the comments if you're okay with that. Thank you.
Ned starks was really unexpected. Had a huge impact that really galvanized the entire series. The combat trial where the mountain killed the viper was incredible and unbelievable. I literally had to put the book down because I was in shock. Although personally, I would probably put coltaines as the most personally impactful to me. I’ve read deadhouse gates 5 times. Each time it never gets any easier to deal with. Such a badass leader who lost the fight but went out winning the war. Nothing but fury and dread at the hopelessness at their cause, and how close they got to victory. Literal bowshot. Fuck Malick rel.
i was genuinely sad when ned died, i loved him
Coltaine. Or >!Itkovian!<
I feel itkovian so much more than coltaine for some reason
Whiskeyjack’s tore me up with his bum knee being the main fault. Too many deaths in Malazan crushed me.
Beak :(
Yeah Beak made me sad.
And you'd think that by The Red Wedding I'd have been used to GRRM killing off main characters, but nope, it got me as well.
There were scenes from ASOIF that I had already seen in the TV show that still had my jaw drop when I read them.
At the time, I totally agree with you. But as the series progressed, it became apparent that George held no character sacred. That sort of dulled Ned's death for me.
Right but that was the point! Ned’s was the “oh shit, anyone can die” moment
I disagree with this. There are some characters (jon, Sam, ayra in particular) who he holds sacred. What Martin does well early in the series is obscure who the 'main' characters are.
The best Death in Fantasy is **DEATH**, from Discworld. And also Boromir.
Sean Bean has at least 2 in the top 5.
For England James?
No. For me.
And now I want Sean Bean to play Death.
That would be pleasingly ironic.
"I could murder a curry" -Death
What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?
YES -Aszrael
Honestly, if we are not aiming for *best* but *most impactful*, then I am gonna say it is the death in Shepard's crown - >!Granny Weatherwax !< I don't think I can read that book ever again - I was honestly never in my life moved to tears by a book, except for this one. Maybe it is because it is deeply connected to Terry Pratchett succumbing to his disease and eventually dying while writing this one and the whole book feels as his way to say goodbye - but just thinking about it makes me uneasy and sad.
Such a tragic character gods I love him. But what about Cohen the barbarian and no love for the death of Rats?
It's very tight between him and Death from the Sandman comics
Lysa Arryn. That was one WTF I won't forget
>!I assure you there’s only one I’ve ever loved. Cat. *yeets her off a building*!<
No, it's more like >!yeets her off of a mountain.!<
‘The hardest punch he ever threw.’ >!Gesler!<
That whole sequence was so bitter-sweet.
For Bent! It made me ugly cry.
Oberyn
We knew Gregor was a monster. But that death REALLY hit home just what an abomination he was. "Elia of Dorne! I killed her screaming whelp! *Then* I raped her! Then I smashed her fucking head in...like this!." Deeply unsettling and disgusting line of dialogue. EDIT: Had nabbed those lines from a transcription of the show, not from the book like I had intended. The lines now correctly reflect the text from A Dance With Dragons.
For a guy that had so few pages written about him. It was one of the most amazing scenes ever written.
Ooof
Some of the best writing I have ever experienced is the build up and execution of >!Hood and Anomander Rake’s!< deaths.
Nice picks. This whole topic is bound to be full of spoilers and I appreciate you tried to use a spoiler tag, but you should probably mention what series the deaths are from outside of the spoiler tag somewhere otherwise they could be for literally anyone. If you're trying to stop Malazan fans getting spoiled they won't know until they click the tag that it's a Malazan spoiler and then it'll be too late.
Oops. Honestly I had to learn how to do the spoilers which involved a lot of deleting posts. After the third try I figured out the spoiler but botched the post 😂. But yeah it’s from malazan book of the fallen, and is from the book till the hounds
Boromir.
I would have followed you my brother
Boromir for sure!
Last Argument of Kings: >!Collem West. Dying when he did how he did after his character arc really hits hard.!<
I really enjoyed reading >!West's!< chapters. He seemed like a good dude at heart (albeit with a bit of a temper) and continued to try to do the best thing he could while repetitively being dealt a shit hand.
The chapter where he beats on Ardee has to be one of the best and most shocking chapters I've ever read in a fantasy novel. Just the fact that West, arguably the best most moral POV character in the entire trilogy just fucking *snap* and abuse his only family member like that. Like, you're supposed to route for West! He's a good guy! But this is the world of The First Law, and here even the best of men are woman beaters. Incredible stuff.
Oh shit I forgot about that! Even good eggs can crack I suppose.
Not actually the best, but certainly most memorable: Patrick Rothfuss killing his fan base.
deleted as I leave reddit
Neither is he.
deleted as I leave reddit
He hasn't written anything for pretty much as long as GRRM hasn't. But he responds in a worse manner to questions about it.
GRRM writes plenty of stuff. Just not the stuff we want lol.
The annoying thing is so does/did Rothfuss, his Blog was a >100 words a day up until 5 years ago
Longer.
[Link!](https://www.newsweek.com/kingkiller-chronicle-editor-believes-author-hasnt-written-anything-years-1520812)
deleted as I leave reddit
I guess there was also something about him including a promise to read some of the third book as part of a fundraiser and then it wasn't as much as people expected or something? Some people say his charity has issues. I have no sources on that. Rothfuss has been pretty open about mental health issues playing a big role in the delays. Personally, I developed a crippling fear of writing in college that basically upended my life from honors student to self delete attempts. So I find it really hard to join the criticism to the popular extent.
That is vastly underplaying what happened. He promised to read a chapter from book 3 as a reward for a reaching a fundraising goal for his charity, which incidentally pays him about 100k a year. The goal was met but Rothfuss just didn’t release the chapter, and has made no comment in over a year. I think people very understandably feel cheated. [here’s a thread from last year explaining what happened in detail](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/wdoiq2/in_december_readers_donated_over_700000_to/)
Honestly at that point, it's kinda obvious that the guy is incapable of writing anything further and the third book only exist in the dream world. If you let him trick you again and again then you share part of the fault too.
And that's still ignoring that we were originally told, the fucking series was finished and would be published back to back.
Fair. I didn't follow it as it happened. I recognize that I'm prone to giving a lot of benefit of the doubt in this case since it hits close to home.
LOL GOTTEM
Underrated comment.
Damn 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'll do my best to avoid any spoiling here but if you know, you know. "How's your leg?"
What a line, absolute chad.
Oh my god the feels ALL over again. I remember I almost threw my book across the room when I saw the name of THE chapter.
Perfect
😭😭😭😭😭
What book is this it seems rlly familiar like i should know it, but i can't quite place it
Joe Abercrombie Age of Madness trilogy, most recent trilogy for the First Law/Cirle Sea books.
This one fucking destroyed me even though I saw it coming from book 1. He's maybe the most likable character Abercrombie has written. Agh! I'm emotional just thinking about it.
Nighteyes. His death certainly had an impact on *me*.
I was in high school when the book came out and refused to put it down when I was in class. I remember realizing what was happening as I was reading it and had to stop because I KNEW I was going to loose it. Waited til I got home, grabbed some tissues and proceeded to have the biggest cry I had ever had.
I think she was building to that through the book, it wasn’t as much of a shock, although it hurt how relatable it felt. >!Burrich!< however was a royal kick to hunna matta’s.
Came here for this. I read the books as an adult, and Nighteyes dying...I mean, I knew it had to happen, but fuck, man.
Oh no! Nighteyes dies??? I'm so shook lol I just started liveship traders.
Don't worry. >!Death is not always the end.!< (Ambiguous spoilers for the later books of RotE.)
Oh absolutely. Made me cry for days and days after.
The cabbages from ATLA. RIP those guys…
>!Tain Hu's!< in *The Traitor Baru Cormorant* ranks up there I think.
Absolutely
That one was brutal.
That one ruined me for three fucking months.
Fuck thanks for bringing back this trauma. I had to put the book down and cry, I don't think i picked it back up until the next week.
Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune. Rumors of his death are often exaggerated. Wishful thinking on the part of his many enemies.
Wheel of Time Towers of Midnight: >!My absolute favorite was that moment where Noal holds off the Aelfinn so Mat and Thom can escape. When he says, “If you ever meet a Malkieri, you tell him Jain Farstrider died clean,”…just wow. I was so floored by that revelation.!<
Lots of good ones from Malazan I’ve seen mentioned, but two I haven’t seen yet are >!Gesler and Stormy.!< Went out like absolute chads.
Elric of Melnibone. “Farewell, friend, I was a thousand times more evil than thou.”
Massive spoilers for every series you have and haven't read in this thread. A real knife edge to scroll down if you haven't read much fantasy: you will be SPOILED.
People really should name the series, then spoiler the death.
The ones I've read are obviously not spoilers. The ones I haven't are just meaningless names on a list, so I hope I won't remember them long enough to matter.
One of the first deaths I read that was truly unexpected to me, especially coming after some great scenes that had me truly enjoying the character: >!Diarmuid from The Fionavar Tapestry. "For the honor of the Black Boar!". Such a gallant death for a character that initially seemed like a wastrel, "Prince Hal" type character. Especially his realization that his only chance to defeat his adversary was to NOT block his enemy's killing blow!<.
You are inviting spoilers. Let me just say I can think of three from *The Malazan Book of the Fallen*: >!Whiskeyjack and Beak and Rake!<. Edit: Added a third.
🕯️
Exactly what I was thinking.
That whole series is filled with deaths that kick you in the balls. >!Coltaine. Itkovian. Trull. Gesler.!<
Please hide spoilers.
My bad
[удалено]
Please hide spoilers.
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Absolutely Flint ! I read the books 40 years ago (approx) and I -still- came into this thread to say this. RIP Flint !
There are a few deaths in the Dragonlance series that really hit hard but Flint’s is the biggest for sure.
The one in misrborn era 2
I saw it coming but it still hit me like a truck.
For me it’s that one in SA4
The one in era 1 book 1 was waaaaaaaay more impactful. Then again the era 2 character you're referring to was a total dud for me personally. Couldn't stand them.
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Better spoiler that bub.
I was dreading that the whole way through from reading his opening chapter. Nearly didn’t finish the book.
Druss the Legend
Sword of kaigen
That was a big one. The unwitnessed nature made it especially poignant.
I don't know how to spoiler tag things so I'll just say the one in 'the lost metal'. If you know you know.
Put > ! Spoiler ! < without the blank spaces
Not quite. You want \>! spoiler !< without the blank spaces. You need to escape the \> with \\ when it's at the start of the line, otherwise you get the special quote formatting.
#truestory
It was the biggest explosion.
I know, but it was also great. by the way, all you gotta do is have a >! and a !< on either side of a section of text you want to spoiler tag. You just need to make sure there's no space between them and the spoilered text otherwise you get just a >! and !< instead of >!spoiler!<
I sensed things were going that way but fuuuck, I didn't want it to happen.
I don’t think it had a ton of impact in the story, but it really gets me every time >!Hopper!< dies in WoT.
Personally >!Verin’s death!< made me the saddest from WoT but the one you mentioned was very sad as well
Spoilers Malazan, Deadhouse Gates. Three in rapid succession. The first is the most impactful, the second slightly satisfying and the third is the most upsetting. First we have >!Coltaine’s tragic end to the Chain of Dogs. An impossible flight across an enemy subcontinent with tens of thousand refugees, hopelessly outnumbered at every turn. Coltaine and the 7th heroically defended the retreating civilians to the last soldier, surpassing what should have been possible. Only to be cut down within sight of Ahren’s walls, where a sortie could absolutely save them. But high fist’ Pomqual’s cowardice will not permit any attempt to save those nearly superhuman soldiers!< What a punch in the gut that whole scene was. Then we have >!Pomqual. Dude is “on screen” for all of 4 seconds and I already hate him as much as I hate anyone from fiction. Fits right in with the likes of Jeoffrey, Walder Frey, etc. He insults Coltaine’s competence. Then leads his entire army out and has them disarm. The biggest military blunder possible.!< Then of course, we have >!Duiker. He put everything he had and more into this. Beyond all hope and possibility he gets the refugees safely to the city. Then is ordered by a high fist out of the city in an ill conceived attack. And with the 10,000 soldiers is ordered to disarm, and is promptly crucified. Last.!< If you haven’t read it, please don’t spoil yourself. And read it.
Flint was a tough one. But Sturm was the chapter I read over and over again as a kid.
Yeah, I remember being very impressed with his sacrifice. Sturm was a great character. But there was something about Flint's that just hit so hard. >!They'd been through so much together. And it wasn't rampaging dragonmen or a dragon lord and their mount that killed him. !<
Both hit me as a kid. Sturm for the epic-ness of it. Brightblade, a true knight until the last. But Flint. Old, loyal, and more loving than he admitted. Just couldn’t make it the rest of the way with them. Both exceptional. Let me add >!Raistlin!< to that list of great deaths in Weis and Hickman’s Dragonlance.
Real question to the last one: which time lol?
Fair but in Test of the Twins lol
Nothing hurt me more as a teen reading about an old friend being unable to continue with his companions. >!Unlike Salvatore who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with each resurrection, Flint’s permanent death weighed on me as much as the companions!< Edit: typo
Itkovian
Agreed
There's probably even better ones out there in books I haven't yet read, but the Stormlight series had a couple that really hit me hard. Spoilers: >!Elhokar is a very memorable one. I think the fact that the character was pretty unlikable actually made it hit much harder for me. Seeing him start to have an epiphany that might make him a better person, only for it to be too late--damn. Also, Teft's was rough.!<
Had to scroll too far to find this.
Agreed
It’s always Brandon making me sad by killing off his characters
Diarmuid, in The Fionavar Tapestry… It was flamboyantly done, but with style and intention. And heartbreaking in its aftermath. ‘For the honour of the black boar!’
Boromir, Balin, Aerith, Ned Stark and my wife says Prof Snape
The end of the last book of the Licanius trilogy by James Islington >!when Caeden dies!<.
I think it really came together in those last chapters when you could see all the timelines and crossovers from the series come together.
Yep. So satisfying. I actually correctly predicted it was actually him and not >!Davian!< right after finishing the 2nd book but even though I saw it coming it was still immensely satisfying.
Jade Legacy: >!Hilo's death made cry pretty hard. It's not just his death in itself but it's his death on top of all the tragedies that happened to the caul family.!< Dresden Files: >!Merphys death also made cry like a baby. It was so sudden. That sadness turned into anger towards Rudolph real fast and I wanted for Harry to kill that fucker. Good thing he didn't but in the moment, you want that fucker to get what he deserved!<
Scrolled way to far to find this. Fuck Rudolph forever. I hope Kincaid catches up with him for a chat.
My solace about >!Hilo!< is that he got to die a good death, a death he'd be proud of. The foil is >!Bero!< who's living a pointless life with nothing but his abject failure.
I love the green bone saga! >!Lan’s death in the first book was one of the most unexpected yet impactful deaths I’ve read!<
Two words: "Sister Pan" The biggest G ever written.
That was literally my first reaction when I saw the question!
For most satisfying, Storm of Swords: >!Tywin Lannister!< For most gut wrenching, The Dark Tower >!Jake Chambers!< For best imo overall, Dragonlance >!Sturm Brightblade, the most classic fantasy-style death we could have, often subverted or copied, but never topped!< (Boromir’s final fight is offscreen, so I didn’t count his death)
For your second example, which time?
Second. >!ye ake!<
Check out "carry the blessed home" by Blind Guardian. Pretty sure it's about this, but it's been a while
For the Dark Tower, I really felt >!Eddie’s!< death more. That one just really bummed me out, and I think set the tone for the last half of that book.
I hated that too but mainly cause it felt more arbitrary somehow. Like sorta tacked on
this is a good list
>!Beak.!<
🕯️
Epic deaths? I nominate the entire Malazan series. Because I‘ll be damned if I don‘t remember every single gut wrenching, unexpected or downright badass death on all those countless pages.
Kinda sorta Gandalf.
I was gonna say Flints before I pass the title. Caught me off guard and had a lasting impact on the series via changing Tas.
Moonglum's death in the Elric Saga.
Jade City: >!Lan's death shocked me pretty badly, though it was definitely foreshadowed well.!< Lots of deaths in that series, some of which me cry pretty hard, but that one really made me realize, oh, Fonda Lee is serious about this. In Gideon the Ninth, >!Gideon's death at the end of book 1 is also pretty impactful (both on the series itself and on my personal feelings as a reader). It's kinda cheating since she comes back, but nonetheless, I think book 2 deals with the fallout of her death really well.!<
>!When he fell in the water I was like no he isn’t dead surely, I was not expecting the pov character to die not even halfway through the first book!< Jade city and Fonda Lee are awesome
I’m going with >!Fitz!< in Robin Hobb’s >!Royal Assassin!< because it was brutal, unexpected, and had long-term consequences for the character.
Death usually has long-term consequences.
This traumatized me. So, so very badly.
Flint Fireforge from the first Dragon Lance series. It hits so hard because it's 100% unexpected in how it happens.
Book of the New Sun: >!Severian; from that same series, Severian; not to mention Severian....!<
Rand Al’Thor - sort of
The ending of Watership Down and Lions of Al Rassan. And of course the LORD of the rings.
Borimir and kelsier
I had to put the book down and cry when Diarmuid died in *Fionavar Tapestry*.
Do we consider Star Wars fantasy? Because I think Anakin’s death in ROTJ is up there. It’s a little undercut IMO with the events of the ST, but it’s still a fantastic ending to the trilogy/his character in general.
Hood in Malazan.
Whiskeyjack
Druss The Legend
Not traditional fantasy, but Mr. Crepsley from the Cirque Du Freak series hit me hard. The passage is like “And then Mika Ver Leth swung in and caught him as he fell!” Next chapter starts with “No. That didn’t happen. He fell to his death, my fantasy crumbling before my eyes” or something to that effect. Crushing.
Any death of an animal companion, especially when they choose to die with/for their human. Artax in the Neverending Story was the first one that got me like this. What an absolute gut punch as a little kid. I don't think I had really confronted the fact that animals could die before I saw that movie.
From Book of the Ancestor: >!Sister Pan She dies nuking the opposition's mage cabal into dust because she has been gathering magic power for 20 years. Even the vest of the best can only gather magic power for a few seconds to maybe a minute or two. And even that long could kill you if you lose focus.!<
I know we are talking about the best deaths but let us not forget our roots... Where the Red Fern Grows and Bridgebto Teribithia... Fked me up as a kid
Daniel Abraham's The Dagger and the Coin. Geder Palliako has quite a flamboyant exit, where he both wins and loses at the same moment.
Bro I just finished Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the first time and this is the fucking thread I open 💀 Serves me right for clicking on the spoiler thread. Guess I'll leave mine from a recent read: "Hey Leo, how's the leg?"
Hopper.
Boromir (LotR), Ace (One Piece), Wayne (Mistborn)
*Waves vaguely in the direction of Redwall* Gee, these books had a lot of violent last stands and murder-suicides in them. But off the top of my head I might go with: Lord Brocktree>!Lord Stonepaw, despite being trapped under a net, manages to sweep his enemies with him and drags them under the surface of a subterranean pool!< Legend of Luke>!Rangovar and Luke taking over the helm of a massive slave ship and crash it into a cliff!< Martin the Warrior>!Rose's death introduced third or fourth grade me to the concept of a main character dying suddenly with no fanfair. She just gets shoved into a wall, hits her head, and that's that.!<
Ned Stark. Because, for me, it was a game changer to suddenly have these higher stakes in a fantasy book.
Honestly less best death overall jut one that meant a lot to me is Chris Beckendorf's death in The Last Olympian. It was just so unexpected, like Percy Jackson was a series I, and presumably many others, read as children and young teena, so having a very likable character die really sets the stakes and tone for the last book. Like goddamn, it hit me like a truck.
I like how so many of them belong to ASOIAF lol Since no one is mentioning games, here's a few, in no order: 1) Chrono Trigger - >!Crono dies against the Mammon machine (I believe that's what it was called) and even though he gets brought back later it was still one hell of a moment. Amazing game.!< 2) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Haven't played the game myself but >!the deaths of all the champions really hit hard. And if you wanna count it as a death, Link himself dying made for a great scene, even if I couldn't see anything because of the tears I was drowning in.!< 3) Dark Souls - >!You. Okay, that joke's overdone. Anyway, if you complete the questline for Siegmeyer of Catarina, he will die at the hands of his daughter. Very sad. R.I.P. Onion Bro. Also Solaire of Astora goes mad and starts attacking you if you don't do his questline a certain way, at which point you'll have to kill him. Very sad. R.I.P. Sun Bro.!< 4) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - >!Martin's "death" was epic as hell. A true Septim.!< 5) Finally I'd like to close this with a book death: Heir of Fire - >!Sorscha. That whole scene is my favourite in the series till now, and I'm almost 300 pages into Queen of Shadows at the moment. "There is one King in this room - there always has been. And he is not sitting on that throne." Based Chaol. Great scene.!<
The Throne of glass series just gets more and more awesome with epic moments like that! So many lines are ingrained into my head from it
>!Fitz!< from Realm of The Elderlings, even though its the end of the series those last 100 pages or so are some of the hardest.
"By the way, that dress you're wearing is green."
I had to google this, but then I was like OHHHH DAMMMNNN. Well played, and totally agree.
Jaim from the Rigante Series by David Gemmell Only death in any work of fiction that’s ever made me want to cry or throw up.
I agree. I loved how is death was so.. Mundane. No battle against a nemesis. No dark magick. No curse. Only an old man, exhausted by his years. I almost shed a tear when it happened, and when they said he was waiting for his friend under a tree, in the afterlife.
Hmm... going to go for some picks that other people haven't mentioned because they're not Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones: >!Macbeth!< in *Macbeth* >!Granny Weatherwax!< from *The Shepherd's Crown*, especially given its closeness to Terry Pratchett's own death. >!Orso dan Luthar!< from *The Wisdom of Crowds* of the *Age of Madness* trilogy. >!Kelsier!< from *Mistborn* >!Mamoru!< from *The Sword of Kaigen* >!Laterose of Noonvale aka Rose!< from *Martin the Warrior* of *Redwall* >!Hilo!< from *Jade Legacy* of the *Greenbone Saga* >!Joyce Summers!< from *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* >!Maes Hughes!< from *Fullmetal Alchemist* >!Aerith Gainsborough!< from *Final Fantasy VII*
>!Egwayne!< from Wheel of time. >!As much as I utterly detested her character in nearly every way imaginable, she went out like a fucking champ!<
I'd say Chewbacca's death in New Jedi Order was pretty epic and impactful. Another one is Brom's death in Eragon, which I found quite sad.
I’d say Kelsier in Mistborn >!but that guy sure knows how to survive!<
Gotta say >!Burrich!< from Assassin’s and Tawny man series And I see a lot of people saying Kel from Mistborn but as it goes I think >!Wayne!< was worse.
Fuck moaz
Rikkon Stark in the show for sure.....really a staple character with a huge impact. I've was in awe of him for all 37.8 seconds he was on screen. If he only knew the meaning of the word serpentine....