Monday, September 12, 2011

A shocking demise

These books are full of surprising deaths. Whose untimely end has shocked you the most thus far?
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4 comments:

Erin said...

There are so many surprising deaths! I'm starting to think it's kind of a signature of this series to kill off main characters so casually. Probably Ned's death was the most surprising to me (although I first saw it on the show, not the book), because he seemed to be the hero, and because his was the first of the unexpected deaths. But I was also really surprised by Rob and Catelyn, and also Joffery. And Lysa, as I mentioned, though I think I was more surprised at how she died than the fact that she died, if that makes sense.

4:19 PM, September 13, 2011
kc said...

Ned's death was the most surprising to me as well. The others were shocking, but already knowing that the author was willing to kill off major characters, they were not as shocking.

Lysa's death was remarkable to me for being (apparently) so spontaneous. Surely Petyr was planning to dispose of her all along, but the impromptu shove was really something, especially since that door was a killing/terror method that she herself was quite partial to, and also because Petyr — her beloved! — himself did it rather than assigning the vile deed to an underling. It's always satisfying to see one loathsome person bump off an even more loathsome person. She made my skin crawl, especially her obscene doting on her wretched son and her unseemly (and obnoxious) sexual hunger/jealousy for Petyr. Horrid woman.

Joffrey's death was pretty satisfying, too: "choking" to death at his own pompous wedding feast. I felt so relieved that the world was rid of him, even though another wicked cretin will rush to fill the void. Also relieved that his betrothed didn't have to enter into any conjugal relations with him. Did you get the feeling that she knew it wasn't going to come to fruition? She seemed suspiciously calm and resigned to the whole sordid match.

Catelyn's death upset me. Rob I didn't really have much feeling for — he seemed underdeveloped somehow — but her death was quite shocking, even though I suspected something was fishy about that wedding scene. And then — wait! — she's not really gone?! creepy. Where will that development lead?

And Tywin! Slain on his toilet! Also quite surprising and satisfying.

3:50 PM, September 14, 2011
Erin said...

Yes, I'm certainly intrigued by the ghost Catelyn, or whatever is going on there. Why is she a ghost? Does she just stay on that particular hill? Will be interesting to see, for sure. Not sure how Martin comes up with this stuff.

7:29 PM, September 15, 2011
kc said...

Yeah, I'm eager to find out the explanation behind the various magical elements in the book: the red priestess, the skin-changing, the dead coming back to life, etc. Will there be a unifying thread that ties all this supernatural stuff together? Or is it more random magic than that?

1:06 PM, September 16, 2011

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