It is almost April but Winter is coming!!! The second season of HBO’s GAME OF THRONES debuts on April 1st and I am more excited than a little kid on Christmas Eve. I love this dense, morally gray series and have been jonesing for new episodes since two seconds after the first season ended. With that in mind I thought I’d put together a list of characters that went to the Other Side during Season One. So hurry up and click on through….Winter’s coming and you don’t want to be left out in the cold!

5. Robert Baratheon

King Robert was a boorish, hulking lout of a man but he also was one of the characters I took an instant liking to in the pilot episode of GoT. His friendship with Ned was one that I looked forward to exploring more (including finding out more about his doomed love for Ned’s sister) and I also liked that he really didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about much in life besides keeping his throne, drinking booze and banging chicks. So it was a shock when Robert was gored by a boar during a hunt (scenes that we were not even shown) and then died soon after from his injuries.

4. Syrio Forel

Syrio was Aria Stark’s “dancing” teacher (actually he was her sword fighting instructor but girl’s are not supposed to be taught the ways of battle) and he was a great teacher. He was also a pretty spiffy character. I really liked the “Yoda/Luke” relationship that was developing between him and Aria. Sadly, Syrio fell while defending Aria against Queen Cercei’s men. He was able to take out a bunch of them (with a wooden sword no less!) but the “The First Sword of Braavos” was finally taken out by Ser Meryn of the Kingsguard.

3. Viserys Targaryen

Viserys was a gigantic douche. He treated everyone like shit including his own sister (the only living relative that he had) and was singleminded in his hunger to claim the Iron Throne that his father once sat upon. As big a dick as Viserys was, and he was a major one, he also was one of the best characters on the show. Elitist, dismissive and manipulative….I was looking forward to seeing just how far he was willing to go to reclaim his birthright. I am also a big fan of his portrayer, Harry Lloyd. Lloyd excels at playing slightly twisted gits and he seemed to be having blast with the role of Viserys. So imagine my disappointment when Khal Drogo, fed up with Viserys’ unique brand of douchebaggery, decided to give him the crown he so desperately wanted by pouring molten gold on his head.

2. Eddard “Ned” Stark

Ned’s death was probably the biggest shock of the entire season. I bet even those who read the book beforehand were not expecting the show to go through with the beheading of what was not only the primary character of the show but also the biggest named actor (LORD OF THE RING’s Sean Bean) in the cast. I was expecting a last minute reprieve for the character right up until the moment The Hound the executioner chopped his head off at the command of newly crowned King Joffrey. Ned was an awesome character but was probably a little bit too honorable and if there is one thing that can get you killed with the quickness in GoT it’s being too honorable.

1.Khal Drogo

Khal Drogo was my second favorite character in the whole series (coming in behind Tyrion Lannister) and the growth that his character went through over the course of the 10 episode first season was pretty cool to watch. It was also a bit of a shock since Drogo was a bit of an asshole at the beginning. he treated his new bride, Daenerys, like crap and seemed to exist solely for beefcake shots. But as his relationship with Dany grew so did the character. Added bonus: Drogo was a major asskicker. His death at the hands of a magically ramped up infection was a total drag. I really was looking forward to the Khal and his Khaleesi riding into King’s Landing and ripping the Iron Throne right out from under whichever character would have had the misfortune of sitting on it at the time.