A scene was particularly difficult for the author of Game of Thrones. Fans hated it – and yet it clearly defined the story.
There is still debate about the ending of Game of Thrones years after it aired. But even if the ending was not well received, it could not ruin the global success of the series. This was also due to the strong source material by George R. R. Martin, the “A Song of Ice and Fire” books. One scene that shocked fans in both the series and the books still haunts him years later. Many hated it, but at the same time, it makes the story one of the best of all time.
Which scene is it? We are talking about the famous Red Wedding, the “Red Wedding”. In the third season of the series, this scene is depicted in episode 9, “The Rains of Castamere”.
The scene is so famous because it is quite brutal and kills several main characters of the series. Both Catelyn Stark and her son Robb Stark are killed during what seems to be a peaceful celebration – along with other characters, such as Talisa Maegyr, Robb’s pregnant wife.
The scene is a pure massacre of the Starks, the former “heroes” of the story, and their followers.
The episode caused an uproar on social media at the time, the “internet was on fire”. Many could not believe that the author simply made two of his main characters disappear from the story in such a brutal manner.
How fans reacted to the book scene: As early as 2000, when the book with the relevant scene was released, George R. R. Martin received a lot of feedback from readers – and it was not always positive. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he explained that one letter, in particular, stuck in his mind:
I received a letter from a woman, a waitress. She wrote to me: ‘I work hard every day, I’m divorced, I have several children. My life is very tough and my only pleasure is coming home, reading fantasy, and escaping into other worlds. Then I read your book, and oh God, it was absolutely terrible. That’s not why I read. Why did you do this to me?’
I wrote back and basically said: ‘I’m sorry, I understand why you see it that way.’
Why did George R. R. Martin do this? It has long been clear that Game of Thrones was also successful because many characters do not possess “plot armor” and death can appear unexpectedly and everywhere. There are no immune characters who can simply defy every danger. This unpredictability has also been one of Martin’s motivations:
I like my stories when they are unpredictable. I like it when there is a lot of tension. I killed Ned in the first book and that surprised a lot of people. I killed Ned because everyone thought he was the hero and, of course, he goes. He gets into trouble and everyone thinks he will somehow get out of it. The next predictable thing is that his eldest son will rise up [to become the hero] to avenge his father. Everyone expects that. So killing Robb became the next thing I had to do.
Although Martin knew exactly what he had to do, writing the scene was not easy for him. In fact, the whole book was already fully written; he just had to write the Red Wedding later – he had omitted it until the end:
It was the hardest scene I have ever had to write. It is around two-thirds of the way through the book, but I skipped it when I got to that part. The entire book was finished, but this chapter was still missing. Then I wrote it. It was like murdering two of your own children.
How did you like the scene at the time – whether in the book or in the series? Did you like it or did it hit you as hard as many others? Many are currently waiting for the final books of the series, but George R. R. Martin is also focusing on other projects. For example, he has worked on Elden Ring.
