"And so he spoke, and so he spoke, / That lord of Castamere. / But now the rains weep o'er his hall / With no one there to hear." There was plenty of weeping to be had after The Rains of Castamere originally aired, and unless you lack friends or an internet connection, you most definitely heard it. (Ill get this out of the way now and acknowledge the presence of things in this episode that arent the Red Wedding. Jon turns on the wildlings. Bran uses his warg powers to save Jon. Dany gains control over a slave city. Cool moments, but theyre not what sticks with you when the credits roll.) Okay, back to the Red Wedding. Its the scene that book fans had been dying to see for years. And its one of the most shocking, disturbing, devastating scenes in television history. But as surprising as it was, it was a twist that was set in motion way back in the first season. This wasnt some cheap stunt to get publicity. This was a legitimately necessary part of the twisted plot. The late Walder Frey was never going to let Robb Stark get away with blowing off his engagement, but did anyone expect this? To have Robb and Catelyn both taken from us in the same episode? Sure, we readers knew that was coming, but what we didnt see coming was Robbs pregnant wife getting stabbed multiple times in the stomach. What makes this scene so painful to watch is its matter-of-factness. Unlike Neds death, theres no beauty to it, no grace or tranquility. Its brutal, bloody, and completely unfair. Its also the reason people will be talking about this show for a very long time.
J.D. Laney is an aspiring novelist and screenwriter from Cleveland, Ohio. When he isn't trying to write his own material, he is constantly consuming the work of others for analysis and, occasionally, for fun. He has a particular interest in film, literature, and video games.
