More than 12 hours after last night's "Game of Thrones," a lot of us are struggling to comprehend precisely what happened. Warning: Spoilers below.
The Red Wedding, in which several main characters of the series meet untimely ends, was a shocking and unforgettable experience. And after the silent credits, one person in particular had a take that everyone should pay attention to:
Not up on "Thrones" but hear George killed more peeps - can he PLEEZ have my rep now so I can stop hearing about it? #gettingold
— Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) June 3, 2013
Let's not forget: Before last year’s "Avengers," Joss Whedon was known as a low-rating/critical-darling showrunner with a propensity to kill off beloved characters. In GoT show-runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, working from the material of George R.R. Martin's five novels, Whedon has met his match.
But there's a stylistic difference between these character-killers that deserves note. More often than not, Whedon killed off characters for emotional poignancy, prompting sobbing and angry emails from heartbroken fans. But the signature deaths of Game of Thrones are more explosive, shock-and-awe affairs that have less lasting impact.
Since the cast is so large, and the world so big, it’s difficult for fans to develop strong ties to particular characters. (Note: I haven't read the books; my boss has, though, and assures me that readers of the novels do develop strong, Whedon-like ties to characters.)
Benioff and Weiss never will be lambasted as hard as Whedon was because it's impossible for one character’s death to truly echo throughout the rest of GoT.
The closest thing to the Red Wedding written by Whedon was the death of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Tara. Tara death’s was accidental, but as equally as fast and bloodspurtty as what we saw last night.
You actually felt for Tara when Whedon killed her. She needed to die for the story, but Whedon opted to yank her out violently so he could give an extra twist to the dagger lodged in the audience’s gut. The audience hated that Joss robbed them of a fan favorite. But does anyone really hate Benioff, Weiss, and Martin for killing their characters?
It’s time to let Joss off the hook. Coronate Benioff, Weiss, and Martin as the new show runners who kill. Don’t get attached to GoT characters; they're just going to kill them anyway.