It always takes me a little while to process things, so in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s “Game of Thrones,” unlike most people I know, I did not immediately take to Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr to announce strong feelings about the events that transpired. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, first, I’m impressed that you’ve avoided spoilers for so long, and, second, stop reading.
Many were simply upset after watching the episode, but others were completely outraged. A lot of that outrage toward book series author George R. R. Martin for killing two — but if you count Talisa, which I wouldn’t, three — of his main characters stemmed from the fact that people liked and even adored them. Catelyn and Robb, in spite of their flaws, were “good guys,” and after the season one death of Ned Stark, it seemed that while the surviving members of the family would be tested, they would make it through. Not so in Martin’s world. Madeleine Davies, a writer for the website Jezebel, explained how she refused to be invested in any of the characters anymore (minus Brienne, Jaime and Arya) because “Punish us and call us stupid for caring enough and we’re bound to stop caring entirely.”
This is where I fundamentally disagree. Writers are obsessed with almost killing their characters, but not going through with it. Joss Whedon almost killed Iron Man in The Avengers. Christopher Nolan almost killed Batman in The Dark Knight Rises. J.J. Abrams pulls a similar trick in Star Trek Into Darkness, J.K. Rowling kills Harry only to bring him back, Woody and friends are almost incinerated inToy Story 3, Jack Sparrow returns from the dead in Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End — the list goes on. No one dares to actually kill their characters off, even when, like in Nolan’s case, there are no plans for further films. Instead, I’m crying over a chapter of a book or behind my 3D glasses like an idiot, both knowing that the death won’t be permanent but still mourning for this character.
And that’s what I find so refreshing about Martin: He will kill his characters. The world of “Game of Thrones” is cruel; the good guys, i.e., anyone in possession of something that resembles a moral compass, will get kicked repeatedly. And sometimes that means they die. Martin isn’t emotionally manipulating us when he kills Ned or Robb or Catelyn. He doesn’t take us to the edge only to pull us back, like so many before him. The axe strikes. It’s part of the bigger picture.
This isn’t to say that Sunday’s episode and its display of violence weren’t problem free; Talisa’s death in particular was excessively gory. But I love that Martin kills the characters I care about. Maybe I’ll change my tune when he kills my beloved Jaime Lannister (no, this isn’t a book spoiler — I just think Jaime’s become too likable to make it out of this alive), but, for now, I appreciate that when I shed tears over “Game of Thrones,” it’s not because Ned should have died in a nuclear explosion but miraculously didn’t or because Robb is Tywin Lannister’s last “Horcrux” so he gets to live. Martin doesn’t care if people stop reading or watching when he kills their favorite characters — this is the story he’s telling and it involves a world where happy endings are definitely not guaranteed.
And I’m glad I get to go along for the ride.
