2. Death Is A Fluid Concept, And No One Is Safe
"I got that when they beheaded Sean Bean!" you scream. No, but seriously --
no one is safe. Don't get attached to anyone. Don't root too hard for anyone. Beware of the infamous Episode 9 or chapter endings. Winter is coming, and with it comes casualties. As demonstrated by the much-abused Beric Dondarrion, death in the Game of Thrones universe is not always final. But before you rejoice at the possibility of hunky Richard Madden returning to lead the Northmen to victory, consider the fact that Beric did not rise from the dead in a neat manner. His fatal wounds are still visible, and aren't magically healed so much as patched up in the same way my town patches potholes that are just going to get worse over time. Plus, the jury's still out on reattaching heads. Sorry, Robb. Even if your favorites don't die, George R. R. Martin is going to make you wish they
were dead. What it comes down to is which characters are the best at surviving. Theoretically, they're easy to pick out of the line-up until you consider that POV characters are added with every book. To recap: you may be led to believe that certain characters are dead when they actually aren't. Some may have always been alive. Some may have been resurrected. And as far as I can tell, at least one God's-honest dead character will return next year, but you won't be happy about it.