DEEP CUT: Catelyn Starke (Michelle Fairley) meets her end in the final moments on Sunday’s “Game of Thrones.” (
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Sunday night’s explosive “Game of Thrones” massacre has left unsuspecting fans reeling — and the show’s rabid base reacting with both shock and delight to the series’ unheralded (even for them) bloodletting.
In the episode, entitled “The Rains of Castamere,” major “Thrones” characters Robb Starke (Richard Madden), his mother, Catelyn Starke (Michelle Fairley) and Robb’s pregnant wife, Talisa (Oona Chaplin) were butchered in what’s known to diehard “Thrones” fans as “The Red Wedding” — which was a chapter in George RR Martin’s fantasy book series upon which “Thrones” is based.
Talisa was stabbed in the stomach, repeatedly, while Robb took a dagger through his heart and Catelyn’s throat was slit — all in Lord Frey’s murderous retaliation for Robb reneging on a promise to marry one of his daughters.
“Obviously it’s a very memorable episode and was very effectively done,” says Elio Garcia Jr., who runs westeros.org, a Web site devoted to all things “Thrones.”
“I can’t say I personally loved it in terms of how they did it,” says Garcia. “It was effective, had good shock value and was a momentous event. It was hard for them to botch it.
“But it feels to me like, having read the original [book] version, which was one chapter filled with extreme undertones of dread and tension . . . the [show’s] producers buried the lead, then hit viewers with shock. I would have preferred if it would have been pushed out more to capture the atmosphere and tone.”
Immediately after Sunday’s episode, “Thrones” fans took to Twitter and message boards — and even posted videos on YouTube — to share their feelings.
“I was so horrified, I loved these characters,” read a post from “brownik” on cbsnews.com. “I will continue to watch because the writing is excellent.”
“This show is called ‘Game of Thrones’ not ‘The Starks take a Holiday’ . . . make no mistake, THIS is what the story and the books are like,” wrote “penigma82” on cbsnews.com.
“Game of Thrones keeps taking away characters to root for and keeps creating characters to root against,” tweeted @JBlock49.
“Convinced the writers of game of thrones never want anyone to have a happy ending,” tweeted @xolleana.
Garcia said that, overall, he thinks fans were pleased with the episode.
“I think most people in our [Web site] forum would say it’s not quite the best episode in the series but is definitely in the top three,” he says.
“For most people it really worked. The violence was pretty much spot-on — it’s an orgy of violence in the book — and it was interesting from an adaptation angle. The shock value was there
“Talisa in that way was a strong and interesting choice — and I have to praise the writers for not giving her any dying words.”