The following article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones. It's no secret that Westeros is a terrifying place to live, where life is cheap, and conflict is plentiful. It's one of the reasons Game of Thrones was such a compelling television show, particularly in its heyday. It was simply about dozens and dozens of characters — some lovable, some hateable, and some who were somewhere in between — all wrapped up in the titular Game of Thrones: a kingdom-wide conflict over which House would ultimately rule over Westeros.
With the huge number of characters involved, it made sense that some couldn't stick around for all eight seasons. Heroes and villains would come and go in unpredictable ways, and sometimes, great characters were only around for a single season's worth of episodes (or less). The following are all examples of this, with each character below being a hugely memorable one on the show, despite being in 10 (or fewer) episodes out of the show's total of 73.
10 Eddard Stark
Eddard "Ned" Stark infamously dies in just the ninth episode of Game of Thrones' first season, after more or less being the protagonist up until that point. It was a shocking moment for anyone not familiar with the book series the show was based on and was a death scene that further cemented Sean Bean's reputation for being an actor who had a weirdly high number of on-screen deaths.
Bean was credited for the 10th and final episode of Season 1, but all viewers "see" of him is a decapitated head with Bean's likeness on a pike. A much younger version of Eddard Stark is seen in Bran's visions during season 6, but the Ned fans are most familiar with — as played by Sean Bean — only truly features in nine episodes of the show in total.
9 Prince Oberyn Martell
One of the few grisly demises on Game of Thrones that's comparable to Ned Stark's is that of Oberyn Martell in the show's fourth season. Expertly played by Pedro Pascal, Oberyn waltzed into the show early in Season 4, stole every scene he was in, and became a fan favorite instantly, but didn't end up making it to Season 5 and beyond.
Oberyn only appeared in seven episodes before his traumatic death, but few fans of Game of Thrones would object to the idea that he's one of the show's best characters. Thankfully, there's no shortage of Pascal these days, thanks to him lasting more than one season on shows like The Mandalorian and The Last of Us.
8 Lyanna Mormont
Like Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey from The Last of Us also got her first big breakout role in Game of Thrones. Ramsey played one of the most popular characters introduced during the show's more divisive final seasons, first showing up in season 6 as Lyanna Mormont, a recurring character until the show's eighth and final season.
Lyanna Mormont was the feisty and charismatic head of House Mormont of Bear Island and allied with the Starks during their attempt to retake Winterfell from the Boltons. She ended up fighting against undead forces during the Battle of Winterfell, dying heroically in combat and inevitably only appearing in nine episodes of the show as a result. Still, despite her small stature and small amount of screentime, Lyanna remains very memorable.
7 Robert Baratheon
Though he's the main reason for much of the conflict that happens throughout Game of Thrones' eight seasons, King Robert Baratheon is ultimately in very few episodes. He was a larger-than-life character who made a huge impression whenever he appeared in a scene, even if he only had seven episodes to do so.
Mark Addy's performance is somewhat underrated, given his character is in the show's first seven episodes before his sudden death begins the conflict, which eventually becomes The War of the Five Kings. He might not be a great king, but at least he's a fun character, and to his credit, the various Houses throughout Westeros didn't seem to be at each other's throats quite so much when he was around...
6 Khal Drogo
Jason Momoa is a big-name actor nowadays, in part thanks to his role as Khal Drogo in the first season of Game of Thrones in 2011. He had starred in a few TV shows before then, but it's fairly clear that he didn't blow up as a movie star until after his role on Game of Thrones.
Khal Drogo is a fierce and terrifying character, and Momoa does a fantastic job of making Drogo physically imposing and menacing when he needs to be. He stays memorable even though he dies at the end of season 1, after appearing in nine episodes, and makes a final, 10th appearance in season 2, in a vision Daenerys has.
5 Renly Baratheon
When there are five kings at war fighting over the throne, one of those contenders must be the first to go. Unfortunately, for Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony), his time came sooner rather than later. He was assassinated by a shadow demon quite abruptly during the show's second season after appearing in just eight episodes.
It was a strange and shocking moment, raising the stakes for the overall War of the Five Kings considerably. Perhaps Renly is most memorable for how he went out. However, he was still a solid and likable enough character for the reasonably brief time he was on the show. Overall, he seemed more stable than his brother and rival during The War of the Five Kings, Stannis.
4 Viserys Targaryen
Viserys Targaryen holds the distinction of being the first main character to die in Game of Thrones, as his demise precedes Robert Baratheon's by one episode. He was unambiguously villainous from the start, given the way he treated his sister, Daenerys, like a chess piece instead of a person, but his demise still felt surprising.
For one, he felt like a major antagonist who'd survive at least one season rather than only about half a season. Also shocking was how he died: having a pot of molten gold poured over his head. It's hard to feel a ton of sympathy for someone as cold and evil as Viserys, but he remains memorable despite only appearing in five episodes because of how sleazy and evil he was and how brutally — and suddenly — he died.
3 Brynden "Blackfish" Tully
Brynden "Blackfish" Tully (Clive Russell) appears in five episodes of the Game of Thrones's third season and then two episodes of the show's sixth season. He was a prominent member of House Tully and was allied with the Starks due to being the uncle of Catelyn Stark.
Much of what "The Blackfish" does is off-screen, but his mystique off-screen and no-nonsense attitude when he was on-screen made him a great minor character. For example, it's not shown how he managed to be one of the few survivors of the infamous Red Wedding, but the fact he survived a deadly event that even the show's main characters couldn't escape makes him pretty cool.
2 Walder Frey
Few characters in Game of Thrones were quite as despicable and twisted as Walder Frey (David Bradley). He was the gross, sleazy, and evil leader of what's arguably the worst House in Westeros — House Frey — and managed to be immensely hateable despite only appearing in six episodes, spread out between the show's first and seventh seasons.
Of course, orchestrating the Red Wedding is the main reason he's so unlikable, as well as the way he takes glee in seeing several beloved characters get murdered. He's eventually assassinated by Arya Stark, with the catharsis of that moment being a testament to how memorably evil he was as a character, despite only being in a handful of episodes.
1 Benjen Stark
Not that there needs to be a series devoted to Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle) — be it a spin-off or prequel — but it's easy to imagine how there could be. He's alive throughout much of the show, appearing early in Season 1 and only dying towards the end of Season 7; much of what he does is entirely off-screen, given he's completely absent in Seasons 2 through 5.
In a way, the mystery around Benjen makes him memorable... that plus the fact he helps fellow Starks out of a jam on more than one occasion. Of course, the brother of Eddard is going to be stoic, heroic, and ultimately not around for very long, but he's a character who's likely to stick with viewers despite only appearing in half-a-dozen episodes.