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You Win Or You Die: Is There A Pattern To How Characters Die On 'Game Of Thrones'?

There are two things you can count on in HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books: sex and slaughter.

By Tom ChapmanPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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'Game of Thrones' [Credit: HBO]

There are two things you can count on in HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books: sex and slaughter. While literally anyone is fair game to pop their clogs out in Westeros, the past seven seasons of Game of Thrones have seen some major players shuffle off to an early grave. Whether you're a hardened hero or a cowardly c*nt, the old gods and the new are likely coming to get you before Season 8 winds to a close. However, is there more truth in the saying "you die the way you lived" than we first thought?

Life, Uh, Finds A Way

Redditor razobak09 put in their tinfoil hat to theorize about the trend of #GameofThrones characters dying in similar circumstances to way they lived. Admittedly, some of these jumps are a little thin to say the least, but others are right on the money. Given how the books and the show leave literally nothing to chance — and no stone is left unturned — has #GeorgeRRMartin to been weaving an epic tale of morality since day one?

Heading to the start of the fantasy epic, the very first episode saw Ned Stark decapitate a fleeing Night's Watchman with his sword, Ice. Flash forward nine episodes, and it was Ned himself who was on the receiving end of Ice's blade to lose his melon. Roose Bolton stuck a knife to Robb Stark's heart and got the same treatment from his own son. Other ones are a little more obvious, such as Lysa Arryn being fond of the Moon Door, then finding herself tumbling out of it. Also, Ramsay's penchant for feeding his victims to those hungry hounds led to him becoming Pedigree Chum himself.

Most recently, the serpentine Petyr Baelish had his throat spectacularly cut by lil Kill Bill Arya Stark. While this may be Arya's preferred method of dispatch, Littlefinger bleeding out echoes the moment in Season 1 where he betrayed Ned Stark with a knife to the throat. Even the maligned Sand Snakes got a dutiful send off: Nymeria strangled with her whip, Obara impaled with her spear, and Tyene killed by her favorite poison.

The rather flimsy excuse of Joffrey giving the order to kill Ned, then being poisoned so he couldn't talk isn't quite so strong, but Lady Olenna sipping poison after offing that Baratheon brat with the same method certainly works. And here's one of my own: Ros the prostitute loved getting porked with a man's pointy end, then found herself impaled on the end of the crossbow.

Since starting the thread, various other contributors have added their own interpretations and the list is continuing to grow. Tywin Lannister was a sh*t to Tyrion and even made him man the sewers of Casterly Rock, so it is only just that he breathed his last while sitting on the sh*tter. Someone also jokes that Randyll Tarly used to "roast" his son Sam at every given turn, then found himself "roasted" like a suckling pig in Season 7's "The Spoils of War."

It is a similar theory to the one about the Starks and their direwolves, which paints a pretty grim end for a certain Lady of Winterfell, but the big question is, who's next? Will Daenerys be flambéed by one of her dragons, will Melisandre be killed by some sort of smoke demon, or will Cersei be finger-blasted to death with a golden hand? Let's wait and see in 2019.

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About the Creator

Tom Chapman

Tom is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park, this ’90s boy has VHS flowing in his blood. No topic is too big for this freelancer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night.

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