Most Heartbreaking Moment

[AIP]

Davos loosing his sons

[Liliedhe]

Bran and Rickon in the crypts, after they both dreamed of their dead father. That choked me up so badly.

Catelyn being given Ned's bones. I had to stop reading there, and cried and cried and couldn't stop. I actually considered quitting the series, because it could hurt me so much.

The Red Wedding strangely didn't make me cry. I cried when Robb decided to execute Karstark "He killed my honour". And I could have killed Sybella Spicer when I learned she was making Jeyne abort without her knowledge. That didn't make me sad, it made me ANGRY. I've never been so shocked and so angry at a fictional character.

The Red Wedding... Well, I was incredibly afraid of reading it, spoiled myself to heck beforehand. Therefore, I made it through rather unscathed.^^ I still don#t reread it, though.

[Pia]

Most of the heartbreaking moments have already been said, I agree with Arya witnessing Ned's death, the killing of Lady, and Sansa making a snow replica of Winterfell at the Eyre, and I will add two more I found quite sad:

Before Ned heads for the godswood to see Cersei:

"Yet last night he had dreamt of Rhaegar's children. Lord Tywin had laid the bodies beneath the Iron Throne, wrapped in the crimson cloaks of his house guard. That was clever of him; the blood did not show so badly against the red cloth. The little princess had been barefoot, still dressed in her bed gown, and the boy... the boy..."

Another moment it made really sad is when the Brave Companions cut Jaime's hand. I remember the first time I read it that chapter ended with something like 'and he screamed', I had to jump to the next 'Jaime' chapter with the hope that it wasn't what I thought it was, just to find out that it actually was.

[chaosapiant]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Robert's death, with Ned at his bedside. You can really tell than in his last few moments, Robert reveals that he is truly a good man who is a victim to his own selfish urges and ego. And Ned having to watch his best friend die, while being named protector of the realm. In fact, that scene is almost a carbon copy of the beginning scene that happened later in the movie "Gladiator."

Also, Arya's line in GOT "...he was my friend" as she was whispering and sobbing into her plate. That was really heartbreaking, and moments like that remind you that despite how bad ass she becomes, she's still just a little girl.

[Spastic Plastic]

Most people will say Ned's death, but it was spoilered for me (I picked up ASOIAF after a friend recommended it, but not before saying "But it's a different sort of book, because the main character dies!")

I was reading AGOT while expecting Ned to die, so I wasn't that depressed. Besides, as awful as this sounds, he had fulfilled his function in the story.

The most heartbreaking moments, in descending order, for me:

3. Dany's visions in the Houses of the Undying, when I'm reading it in retrospect. Especially when Rhaegar sings a song to Elia and the baby, and we then remember what happened to them. And it just sends chills down my spine when I read the part where Dany sees corpses at a wedding feast, and Grey Wind's severed head keeps staring at Dany in mute pleading.

2. Arya after the Red Wedding, when Sandor is taking her around the Riverlands. It's so incredibly sad how Arya refuses to cry but keeps insisting that Robb and Catelyn were taken alive to King's Landing so Joffrey could have them beheaded. And then she has this dream about Catelyn's mutilated corpse in the river. After she wakes up, she becomes an apathetic shell for the rest of the chapter and only says blankly "My mother's dead". And Sandor nods quietly. :(

1. This one was by far the worst for me, because it happened to minor characters I had grown attached to, and because it came so out of the blue. I really wanted the northmen to take Winterfell and kick Theon's ass, when Bolton betrays them and kills Rodrik Cassel. I was even more shocked when Winterfell was burned down. But what made me throw down the book was Maester Luwin's pointless death. While the Stark POVs fought and died, Maester Luwin was always there in the background. And now he fucking died. It was so depressing when he asked Osha to euthanize him. This chapter made me hate, hate, hate Ramsay Bolton.

[PestilencE]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Robert's death, with Ned at his bedside.

This. Undeniably.

Honourable mentions:

Robb's speech about how he wanted to be a good king, and his ultimate decision to execute Karstark.

In fact, a lot of Catelyn's chapters in ASOS have some really heart-wrenching moments.

"Please," Sandor Clegane rasped, cradling his arm. "I'm burned. Help me. Someone. Help me." He was crying. "Please."

[...]

A vein throbbed in Florent's forehead. "He has no choice."

"You are wrong, my lord. He can choose to die a king."

"And us with him? Is that what you desire, Onion Knight?"

"No. But I am the king's man, and I will make no peace without his leave."

Lord Alester stared at him helplessly for a long moment and then began to weep.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

Ned killing Lady! And every time thereafter when she thinks Lady is there for a second, but she isn't. People who still hate Sansa after Lady dies that should be shot in the face.

Dany banishing Jorah. I love Dany, and I love Jorah, and with all Dany has done, that was probably the hardest decision she ever made.

[ice snake]

There are so many sad moments througout the book as mentioned by everyone.

Dany banishing Jorah made me hate her for a long time. Intellectually, I understand why but emotionally it was just wrong, especially after he proved himself by going through the sewers for her.

[shadow catlady]

I agree with many moments already mentioned, especially the Arya scene when she thinks her mother might not want her, and on some re-reads I can't read Lady's execution scene.

I really thought Sansa's first period scene was well-done. How does a male author capture that feeling, the dread of womanhood and all it entails, so poignantly and truthfully?

[moirne]

I honestly cannot remember if I cried while reading... but, I was most upset about Ned's execution. Sansa's and Arya's reactions were just heartbreaking. So if I did cry, it had to be in that chapter.

[Nichole]

The part that always makes me tear up is when Arya is with the BWB and they go to the manor house and the lady puts her in the acorn dress. Arya ends up ripping it messing around with Gendry and later when she is talking to the lady (I forget who she was) she apologizes for ripping the dress. She says it was pretty and the lady replies "it was, and so are you."

Gets me every single time.

[Quanta]

When Ned kills Lady. The whole thing is just so horribly unfair. I don't recall crying when I read that part but I was pissed at about half the characters in the book. I was mad at Sansa for lying and felt dreadful for her at the consequences of her lie. I was mad at Ned for not defying Robert, breaking Sansa's betrothal and heading back North. I was loathed Robert for his impotence. I despised Cersie and Joffery for their selfish cruelty. And I felt sick about Arya having to chase off Nymeria.

The next two most heart wrenching events for me were the Red Wedding, I really liked Robb, and Bran's fall.

[The Usurper]

I hate to be un-original but it has to be the red wedding. I can see how all these other scenes people have mentioned are tragic, but when I read them I knew I was reading a book still and didn't get emotional. But the red wedding definitely made me emotional. Mostly angry. That scene could have been written from an outsider's perspective and still be sad. But because it comes from Catelyn's POV as a mother, it's 100 times more heartbreaking.

[Jaime L]

Got a little dusty in the JL household when Catelyn got word of Bran and Rickon's "death". The way she admits that Robb is the only son she has left. The palpable guilt that she bears thinking she sent Ned to his death,encouraged Sansa and Arya to go to Kings Landing, left Bran before he'd even awoken. And that she dies not knowing. Gets me every time.

Also agree with those mentioning the moment with Arya at Acorn Hall. Such a touching little moment, a momentary reprieve from the oppressive darkness of her world. It's this one moment where this lost, little girl is actually being cared for, mothered.

[ice snake]

The Red Wedding is in a class all of its own. I’m still in shock over it. Robb was the hope of the Stark family and I don’t think any death, even Jon’s, would have the same impact as Robb’s. He was the one Stark, besides, Ned, who was loved by all the Starks, all the Tullys (not counting Lysa), and the northmen. It’s still too hard to process.

I also agree that Lady’s death is quite heartbreaking. She was innocent and so trusting of Ned. She was the most innocent creature in all of the books. And Ned! Of all people is the one who killed her.

[Pinwheel]

All of mine are already mentioned in this thread, except for one -- the innkeeper with the red teeth.

These books are full of common people who are killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a war that has nothing to do with them. Like most of the peasants in the series, she's in the background, but she appears in a few scenes as a nobody until, for no reason, she finally gets strung up for the crows to eat.

I love Martin for being so subtle about what happens to the peasants. It just makes it more poignant.

[stella maris]

A very drunken and frightened Hound finding an equally frightened Sansa huddled in her chambers during the Battle of the Blackwater. Despite his violent appearance, he offers to take her with him. He makes her sing to him when she refused. Sansa realizes he is terrified of the wildfire and feels genuinely sympathetic to the Hound as she realizes that he cares for her in a way they will probably both never understand. Tears run down his scarred face, he discards his white cloak and flees King's Landing.

The Hound asking for mercy from Arya as he lay dying of festering wounds. Instead of killing him, she abandons him...all because she still can't forgive him for killing Micah. Again, the Hound

Basically, a lot of the Hound's scenes made me immensely sad. Such a tragic figure. He's a conflicting character - he is the cause of misery for both the Stark girls, but he is also responsible for keeping them both alive for so long. Even though he can be kind of an a-hole, I still care about him so much.

[Lugez]

1. The Red Wedding shocked me, but it wasn't as powerful for me as for others because I hated Catelyn and I didn't care for Robb much. What REALLY got me was Arya's apparent death in the next chapter. When I read "And his axe took her in the back of head" I just had to put the book down for a couple hours just to process what just happened. I've never done that for any other book. Arya was supposed to have a happy reunion with her family but the worst happened instead. I hope every Frey dies.

2. Ned's execution. Here I am thinking this guy will be the main character for the series and honor will win but nope...Head chopped off in the first book....Well, crap.

Tad off topic: And my sister just read this part. She was SOBBING and calling me an ass for telling her to read this book. She won't talk to me right now. Anyone got advice for what I should say? Hahaha...I did warn her by saying "this author will do things to piss you off."

3. Jaime's confession to Tyrion....I mean damn. Poor imp.

Probably not original moments, but they got to me like no other book did.

[bearisland]

"When she woke up the next morning, she was blind."

Closely followed by the Podrick Payne quote offered earlier, and by Sansa singing a hymn of peace to Sandor. The Red Wedding was shocking but not heartbreaking for me; the worst part I think was Jinglebell, so harmless and bewildered, while everyone else involved was already fairly hardened to war. And I was very sad to lose Dacey from the storyline. I would have liked to keep all those Bear Island ladies throughout the series.

[The SmilingKnight]

No one mentioned Ned memories of Lyanna - which from the start made a tight lump in my throat for some reason. While he and Robert remembered her in the crypts or when Ned remembered his oath to her. The whole Tower of Joy deal.

Lyanna`s death.

Jaime finally revealing the truth about Tysha to Tyrion, and Tyrion wildly, in pain, confessing the murder of Joffrey to Jaime and Jaime just standing there taking it, paying back his debt. Trying to.

Arya, so many times while she looses everything she loved and cared for piece by piece as she is destroyed herself, piece by piece.

Catelyn going through the same. One by one, only to end in the Red Wedding.

Yggrite`s death.

And master Aemon dying before seeing Daenerys.

I think i actually shed a few tears there.