What was the most unexpected/shocking moment in the series?

[zamieo]

1. The Night's Watch turning on Jon.

2. Varys and his little birds murder of Kevan Lannister and Pycelle.

3. When Littlefinger told Sansa his plans.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

Most shocking moment was when I found out about Jatin :o

How did I not see it.

[Darkstar Coming Yo]

Stannis! Stannis! STANNIS!

I mean, I knew he said he'd go north but the spectacular nature of his victory (1.5k Knights defeating the Giant and Mammoth infused host of the King Beyond the Wall) as well as his behaviour afterwards (letting the Wildlings pass, focusing on the Others, turning the underutilized NW land into actual useful defensive structures etc.) really was rather surprising.

[The Witch King of Braavos]

Ned's execution, its the first real shocker in ASOIAF. The RW also, I was merrily reading through the chapter, then suddenly there's a horrendous massacre, and I thought how the hell did I not see this coming? Finally, Kevan's death blew me away, totally unexpected.

[Humbler_than_anyone]

Finally, Kevan's death blew me away, totally unexpected.

He was in the epilogue after all ;) Pro and Epi guys don't have the best survival chances but how he died surprised me as well.

[przemichal]

I dunno, the first major reveal, really, that Joffrey is Jaime's and Cersei's bastard, I think. It was pretty shocking, I remember thinking: "Oh my God, now that was unexpected, never seen ANYTHING like this in any novel, ever!"

But RW? Nah, nah. I knew it was coming. I knew it the first moment Robb introduced his wife to Catelyn. Then the tension started to escalate and I knew that they are going to kill him, and when Jaime told Bolton to pay Robb some respects from Tywin Lannister, it was pretty much obvious.

I liked it, nevertheless.

Oh, and Tywin's death, that was pretty much unexpected.

[TheAwesomeVargoHoat]

Oberyn easily. One second I was marking out because he had the Mountain beat, the next second he had his face smashed in.

[Drogon'sWrath]

The biggest one was the revelation that LF had orchestrated Jon Arryn's murder. That took me by complete surprise.

Honorable mentions include the reveal of Lady Stoneheart, Ned's death, the manner in which Renly was killed. I wasn't surprised he died, but the shadow assassin caught me off guard. I expected something to go down at the RW, just not at that level. I haven't seen much mention of it on this thread, but the reveal of just what the three-eyed crow is surprised me. Wasn't expecting an old tree man.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

Lysa Arryn's last chapter. And Undead Cat.

[the Sword of the Prevening]

Stannis! Stannis! STANNIS!

I mean, I knew he said he'd go north but the spectacular nature of his victory (1.5k Knights defeating the Giant and Mammoth infused host of the King Beyond the Wall) as well as his behaviour afterwards (letting the Wildlings pass, focusing on the Others, turning the underutilized NW land into actual useful defensive structures etc.) really was rather surprising.

Yeah, this was pretty surprising to me as well. I knew he would go north at some point, but I gotta say I thought his army was still too depleted to attack when he did. I figured he would have to gain more men somehow. While reading Jon's chapter where he is sent to Mance by Janos etc. I did not see that coming at all.

[turinturambar1]

Sam getting laid.

Are you kidding , after Sam killed an Other if think all wildling women would f*** him hard for that

[King Robert's Warhammer]

Sam getting laid.

Nice one :)

Gotta be Neds dead baby for me though.

[Noah Snow]

when we found out about Cersei's and Jamies realtionship. nothing i have ever read has bean that taboo. aslo bran was almost killed.

[Noah Snow]

Sam getting laid.

how can you possibly say that. sam was the only one who was ever nice to gilly. and after that upbiringing, I am sure she is a litttle confused with sex

[jentario]

Stoneheart, for me.

EDIT: And the shadow assassin came out of nowhere (though technically he came out of Mel's vag).

[Nictarion]

Shocking

RW

Jon's assassination

Unexpected

Aegon reveal

[zeppelincheetah]

1) Jon's stabbing at the end of aDWD. Didn't see that coming at all. The only moment that made me put down the book out of shock/horror.

2) Arya going blind. By the 5th book I was so into her character that anything significantly bad happening to her was almost devastating. I was really worried that she'd never get back her sight, having a handicap like her brother for the rest of the series.

3) Ned stark's beheading - I first saw this via the show and couldn't believe it. He seemed like the main character.

4) Littlefinger killing Lysa. That was a big WTF moment. I was convinced he actually had a thing for her and wanted to marry her to inherit the Vale

5) Bran's encounter with the Children of the Forest - being able to use the tree to see any other Weirwood tree in the world. That blew my mind. I was expecting something interesting to happen but not that.

The Red Wedding wasn't as shocking because I accidentally spoiled Robb's death by looking at a Stark family tree online. I knew he was going to die, I just didn't know when or how though I suspected it might be at the hands of the frey's since he married jeyne.

[nillingar]

I was also pretty shocked by Tyrion losing his nose at Blackwater.

[Lady Beyond the Wall]

Ned being killed, after that I realized these books aren't fucking around.

Exactly. Back in 199whatever-it-was I had thought I was reading a really good historical fiction. Then boom, NedDead, Dragons birthed from fire.....and then the wait for book 2, and 3.....etc.

[V Targaryen]

Oberyn losing was the big shocker to me. He had it going, he just had to wring out that confession. Sigh.

Ned's death is a massive shocker to a lot of people, because a lot of people go in thinking he's the main character. I was spoiled while reading the first book, otherwise this would be the biggest shock. My brother was talking to me while reading and said "Yeah, all my favorites, Ned, Robert, and Drogo, die in the first book." So I knew it was coming.