I don’t normally write about pop-culture or TV or movies, and that’s mainly because I’m terrible at following trends. But Game of Thrones (or more accurately A Song of Ice and Fire) tickles my love for medieval fantasy, warfare, swords, and magic in all the right spots. I read the books in a post-injury literary-fever several years ago, and George R. R. Martin’s Westeros lore has been a stowaway on the ship of my brain ever since.
Spoiler Alert: The below has some spoilers, but it’s not exactly running for mayor of Spoilertown. If you haven’t read through at least A Storm of Swords or seen last Sunday’s episode of the HBO show, go read/watch, then come back. I don’t want to be that guy.
I think everyone who flipped/is flipping out about The Red Wedding missed the point. Yes, it was shocking. Yes, favorite characters died in horrible, sort of disgusting ways. Yes, it was all very unfair and how dare a major TV network and a famous author do this to poor, unsuspecting viewers. All that.
But why did we all react so viscerally? Why did a single scene – a minute or two out of an entire season – cause a social media explosion and such anguished outcry from fans?
Because we’ve been trained to expect immortality in our protagonists.
Think about it. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas kill what, nine thousand orcs each? And hardly even get a scratch? Aragorn falls off a massive cliff and then basically leads the battle of Helms Deep about 8 hours later. I don’t even think he took a nap in between. The trio fight in some of the largest, deadliest conflicts of the entire series where countless non-character humans and orcs and horses and trolls die, waltzing around all invincible, like they’ve been dipped in the River Styx. Frodo has a few too many dates with blades and giant spider stingers, but ultimately, we know he’s not going to die when things are at their most dire, because he’s still got a ring to destroy.
It’s not just a fantasy trope either. Luke and Han stroll casually through volley after volley of woefully badly stormtrooper aim, countless red-shirts are sacrificed to the Shatnerian gods so that Kirk and Spock can escaped uninjured, and James Bond always manages to roll free from that meticulously designed death-trap just before the laser burns off his crotch. Writers use this near-death tension to further the plot, and our mind fills in the details of the story, letting us pretend the hero is in life threatening peril, even when we know it’s just a surface level conflict. But we know, from all our collective viewing and reading experience, that the hero will get out of the perilous situation, somehow emerge from the underworld, unscathed.
We’ve been taught that if our heroes die, the story will die. It’s hardwired into our brains that we need the protagonists to live. When such an inborn rule is violated, and violated so dramatically, we react badly, because it shakes out entire view of the world.
Traditionally, death in literature is a major plot mover. Major characters are killed with significant purpose, to show the pain of true personal sacrifice or to provide a martyr for other characters to avenge. The placement of death is crucial to the narrative structure, either serving as the vehicle for the story (like The Lovely Bones) or a major turning point/start of a final quest for the protagonist (Obi-wan’s death/Dumbledore’s death). Authors traditionally respect the power of death, the weight and solemnity and gravity it brings to the page.
But not George R. R. Martin. He writes with a bladed pen, killing who you least expect, when you least expect it. His deaths are random, senseless, and often don’t support any blatantly obvious plot point. They are brutal and cruel and make you question everything you know about how stories are told. He doesn’t kill the people who seem to deserve death, and has no problem killing characters his readers are rooting for.
Martin understands non-romanticized death. Understands that death has no morality, no ethical base. It doesn’t choose to kill bad people because they are bad, and spare good people because they are good. Death is the natural end of life, the unplanned yang to our daily yin, and as a result, completely random. How many great people have died young from cancer or car accidents or at the hands of some psychopath with a gun, while evil, cruel people lurch around the Earth until they are old, causing pain and suffering for years and years?
The Red Wedding wasn’t written to simply to shock readers, and HBO didn’t make it so horrendously violent just because they’re into that kind of gore. It was done to support an existential theme, to show what life is like during wartime in a country where even a king, his mother, and his retinue aren’t safe. It was done to show that the main GoT characters are all still human, and can die just as easily and pointlessly as anyone else. Martin slams tradition in the face with a warhammer, forcing the speed and finality of death onto readers without any pomp or flashy shows of mourning. His scenes are so painful because they’re so real.
And that’s why everyone lost their collective shit when Robb hugged some crossbow bolts and Catelyn sang the Rains of Castamere with throat-blood accompaniment. Because the scene was so unsentimental, so honest. Because, extrapolated, it reminds us that all the money and fame and power in the world can’t save you from the grave. Because it was a perfect microcosm of what life – and death – really are.
Remember what Valar Morghulis translates to:
“All men must die.”
Tagged: a song of ice and fire, death, death in literature, essay, game of thrones, george rr martin, hbo, literary critique, literature, martin, red wedding, robb stark, stark, the red wedding, Valar Morghulis, winter is coming but it doesn't matter because everyone will already be dead
I think it’s easier for book readers to understand a little more of why George does what he does—but excellent explanation, nonetheless. I was actually really excited for this episode (sick and morbid, I know, I know) but it was such a well-written crucial point in the book that I couldn’t help it. Great post.
Yea, the themes come through a lot more in the books I think. I also think the TV fans have a hard time, because they get attached to not just the characters, but the actors too.
I’ll admit that I too was curious to see what the reaction would be.
I agree, especially characters like Robb who didn’t have “point of view” chapters in the books, we were able to see more of them. I actually watched the show a day late this week so I need to go watch reaction videos/read posts!
I was just saying over at 3Ls, I co-admin a GoT Facebook page that does live chat during the shows. Some of us (myself included) have not read the books and we don’t allow spoilers from the books to be posted. This week I could hear the collective snickers of those in the know as if to say, “wait until the TV people see THIS!”
While initially stunned (I wasn’t mad until the wolf – that’s two that need avenging) I think it’s actually a pretty refreshing way to tell a story. I mean, it would have been very easy for most writers to make the father of the jilted bride all “understanding and accepting” that his daughter was tossed aside from being queen of the realm, but you know that in this type of hardened world, that’s probably not going to be the case. Although in the back of my mind I just think Fitch was doing what he always wanted to do to those kids at Hogwarts.
I remember when Joel Rosenburg killed off the main character second or third book into his Guardians of the Flame series When repeatedly asked if Karl was actually dead he replied, “Yes. Get over it. Move on”. So will GoT.
Hahaha, Filch finally got his revenge. Was Grey Wind’s death orchestrated by Mrs. Norris?
You’re right though, people will get over it. This series does not lack twists and surprises. They’ll be a new outrage sooner than later.
I’ll have to send this to my roommate. He was so angry.
So many amazing people in history, especially war periods, didn’t die in battle. It was a sickness, they got thrown off a boat, there was a mishap with some gear. Martin, in an interview yesterday, said the reason he killed Robb was everyone expected the vengeance story. Everyone expected him to get revenge for his father’s death. Martin couldn’t allow the story to be that predictable. As I cried during the scene, as a writer, I totally understood why he had to do it. Very awesome blog!
Yea, I’m with you. The revenge plot would have been pretty boring, too. Robb just keeps marching down towards Casterly Rock? And what, the Tyrell’s oppose him? Yawn.
This was necessarily harsh, and took the story where it needed to go. I applaud Martin for not pulling punches.
So true Oliver. I haven’t seen any of the GoT show, but I have read the first 3 books, and from the get-go you know these characters are all mortal.
Which is quite a “stark” contrast between the Wheel of Time, which is what I am reading now. I’ve just started book 10 (for the 3rd time) and I’m actually trying to finish the series this time. But except for minor characters and perhaps Moirane (who I still believe will come back), the main characters are seemingly immortal!
Not very realistic, yet still makes for good reading!
There’s nothing wrong with the traditional; I’m a ridiculously massive fan of LOTR, Star Wars, and other classics. They’re amazingly well done and I’m glad those characters didn’t all die horribly.
That said, Martin’s style is just a lot more human. It’s refreshingly different, not worse or better 🙂
I fell off a massive cliff once, then climbed back up to the top and fell off again. Then I went to work the next day.
Screen shots or it didn’t happen.
The best plot points are always the ones we don’t expect.
I have enjoyed reading ASOIAF a lot and have learned much from him as a writer. Is brilliant how he uses his characters and breaks them down taking from them everything, dreams and hope, life it self. Thanks for the post, enjoyed it.
Reblogged this on Alexandra Román's Mink and commented:
An article on Valar Morghulis, death in Game of Thrones.
I agree with you entirely. I was absolutely devastated after the last ep (I’m reading too, but am a book behind the series) but I understand why he did it… it’s war time, no one is safe, and those characters we love are
as mortal as the rest… still devasted though!
I love SOIAF, almost worship it. I literally sobbed after the Red Wedding in the book & approached the scene Sunday night feeling sick, heart racing. GRRM made you love the Starks & I actually feel a kind of grief thinking about what happened to them. Fictional they may be, but his writing is so realistic that you forget that.
I am not even remotely interested to watch the Red Wedding scene but I think those who got the shock from the TV episode are luckier than those who read it. I read the chapter on my way to work. I felt physically sick and wanted to go home. I agree, George Martin makes me feel like I am a masochist since I still went ahead and finished his books.
Same situation for me. I remember reading these books many many years ago and have often thought of them… The show is excellent and I can’t wait until Sunday nights.
i am one rooting for the Starks’ and expecting that vengeance will be theirs in the end. but that is so predictable, as G. Martin said. that is what you love about this author. there is always, always something to drive you more to finish the book and crave for more.
Very nice review. 🙂