Less so, I'm sure for those who have read the books (I haven't).

That said, I do like the show... In a nutshell, mass murder of several very popular characters in a master betrayal at what should have been a conciliatory wedding and celebration between aggrieved parties.

Thanks very much!

He doesn't serve up the basic good guy vs bad guy and always have the good guy win.

when the book came out too.

It's not common that an author will kill off two (book) or three (series) major characters this late in a series especially characters seen as "good guys" and when the series is only half over.


Martin is the kind of author who lets you become really invested in certain characters and then summarily whacking them. It's similar to the execution of Ned Stark at the end of season one. People who saw only the series thought of him as the series hero and then all of a sudden some guy chops off his head.

We may be facing a trend in killing off likeable characters....remember the shock when Dumbledore was killed?
Martin goes WAY beyond that.

but, it was stunning to read back in 2000... and, even though I've read the book 3 times now, it was still tough to watch.

And no, I haven't read the books, so if there's more spoilers for next week, please hold off.

There's fighting in a divided kingdom, with several "kings" all trying to get control. The protagonist, the good guy, 16-year-old Robb Stark is one of those kings. He needed a favor from a surly old man, Waldor Frey, to pass through his terrirtory, and in exchange Frey demanded that Robb agree to marry one of his many, many, MANY progeny, to which Robb agreed. Then Robb met someone else and promptly married her, dissing the old man and his family.

In an attempt to mend bridges, Robb offered up his uncle to marry one of the Frey girls. Old man agrees and the wedding is set. Bread and salt is eaten, a gesture that means the guests are taken under the protection of the host.

Only this old man doesn't care for protocol or propriety. In the midst of the celebration, he turns his weapons on the (unarmed, unarmoured) Stark clan, massacre ensues. Even the wolf gets it.

There's two families: The Starks and The Lanasters - they're at war with each other. The Lanasters are currently in power. The Stark mother and one of her sons were attending a wedding hosted by the father of of the daughters that the Stark son was supposed to marry (but married a different woman instead). The fact that the Stark son didn't marry one of his daughters angered the guy hosting the wedding, so he allowed the Stark mother and Son to be killed. The Stark's army was slaughtered as well outside the wedding hall.

It's a power battle between four families:

The Starks: The show's moral characters. The most obvious good guys. Started out with the whole family as the focus on the show. The patriarch was the second-in-charge to the king during the first season. By the end of season three, the patriarch is dead, so is his wife and his son. His other son is paralyzed and his three other pre-teen kids are all lost and scrambling around, meanwhile in a place completely removed, another son (this one a bastard) is trying to fight off an attack from ice zombies. and eskimo-warrior people.

The Lannisters: The most politically savvy and smart family. The matriarch married the old king, sired a son with her brother behind the king's back, helped cripple a small child, and basically 90% of the evil stuff done on this show. The current king belongs to this family, which includes the king's grandfather and uncle - major characters for different reasons. The grandfather is an expert at playing the game and has carried the family to power from behind the scenes.

The Baratheons: This was the family in power when the series started. The king came to power during an uprising with the help of the Lannisters and Starks. Not much of a linneage left. The two actual heirs to their throne were the king's oldest brother and his youngest brother. The older one killed the younger one after a witch spirit-birthed a shadow that stabbed the young one. The older one tried attacking the Lannisters, but lost, and is currently regrouping.

The Targaryans: The ruling family for generations in the world of Game of Thrones. This family controlled dragons long ago, and were able to beat every other army because of them. Then the dragons died out and the family went kinda crazy, resulting in the last Targaryan king, who was called "mad." The only descendant of this family is a young girl who keeps three baby dragons as a pet. Her story is almost completely separate from all the other characters in the show, but you know when she gets back in with the rest of them that she's going to be hard to beat.

Read the books, haven't seen the show. This episode occurs fairly early in the series, as it happens -- more fun stuff to come, depending on how much of the books the producers decide to film.

The outrage is amazing. Obviously, none of these people ever read Glen Cook.

-- Mal