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red_b_rackhamThis post will contain show spoilers and book spoilers. I need to flail. If you have not read book 3 (A Storm of Swords) and/or have not seen all of season 3, or you do care about being spoiled, DO NOT CLICK INTO THIS POST.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. (That being said, I will separate show and book spoilers, so if you HAVE seen the show, but NOT read the books, you can still read some of the post!)
The SHOW spoilers start NOW.
So, the Red Wedding. Let me just discuss that for a second, because holy crap, I feel like I'm still freaking recovering from it. Dang show. Here's the problem with Red Wedding, aside from the horrific slaughter of um, everything. It felt like the utter destruction of hope. Because all along, it's like, this huge war, and the Lannisters are kind of managing to win, but here's Robb, coming down from the North, and he's never lost a battle. It's not like I was sitting there naively assuming Robb was going to win, I figured he had to lose or make a mistake at some point, but he is good, noble, just - he's like his father - and he's winning, and trying, and there's HOPE that effing Joffrey and Tywin won't win. That when Robb gets down there and finally meets the Lannisters in battle, that he could win and the "world" of Westeros will be a better place. The victory will be so much better because it started as essentially, justice and payback for them cruelly executing Ned.
If Robb were to die in battle, it would be sad, but I felt like someone could then take up the reigns of command - maybe even Catelyn, despite the trouble caused in Robb's ranks by letting Jamie go - and his cause theoretically go on somehow. And it would make sense, to have Robb die in battle, right? It'd feel all part of it, and it'd be said, but not necessarily unexpected, and you know, crap happens. But to murder Robb... to murder him, to murder his wife, and his army, and his mother - to be betrayed by a bannerman and a disgruntled former ally...
It wasn't just the death of Robb. It was the death of his cause, of his entire bloody army, of his wife - that means no possible heir, no legacy, no child of Robb Stark to be born and live on and be Lord of Winterfell etc - and of his mother too, of home and hope and heroes and good guys. Up until this point, the core of the show has felt like good vs. evil, Starks vs. Lannisters. Killing Robb and Catelyn was the killing of hope, the murder of the notion that the good guys could win. I mean, if they're both dead, who the crap is left? Bran, Rickon, Arya and Sansa. Rickon is too young to do anything, and really so are Bran and Arya - and all three of them are assumed dead. They can't reveal who they are lest someone try to kill them. And poor Sansa is still utterly powerless and trapped in King's Landing, practically anticipating death every day. Robb was hope. Robb was escape and triumph, and Robb was betrayed and murdered.
I don't want to hear "but it's more real this way" or "but life isn't fair" or "but the good guys don't always win" etc. I know that. It doesn't mean I can't feel utterly shattered and hopeless about it all. At this point, the only hope left feels like Dany and her dragons, but now I'm afraid to get too attached her, lest she be killed off as well. UGH.
NOTE: I am going to discuss major BOOK events now. DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOOK 3. TRUST ME ON THIS.
That all being said. Having read and now finished book 3. Thank you Martin for some hope again. Sort of. In a weird way. More in a "where in the crap can things possibly go from here?" kind of way, but it's better than the "ohmygosh I can't stop crying because it's all so exceptionally bleak and horrific gaaaaaaaaaah" that I was feeling after watching the Red Wedding. And trust me when I say that the watching was worse than the reading - or maybe that was because by the time I read it, I'd already seen it, and therefore knew it was coming?
But in the book. First I'd like to talk about how the last half of the book is like an actual blood bath. The Red Wedding, and then all the smaller characters that die, like Ygritte (NOOOO). The more I read book 3, though, the more frantic and frequently I was reading it, because OS MUCH was happening, and I could not even believe parts of it, like um, Joffrey. Holy crap on a cracker, I could not believe that was really happening. I had been laying down reading, and I literally shot bolt upright and was like, "THIS IS HAPPENING. NO IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? DON'T GET EXCITED WHAT IF HE'S OKAY HOLY CRAP HE'S NOT - IS HE ACTUALLY DYING. I CAN'T HANDLE THIS." And then it took like three chapters for it to sink in that effing Joffrey was actually dead. I THINK I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE WHEN I SAY I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT MOMENT TO HAPPEN ON THE SHOW, HOLY.
I won't get into everyone else that died (because there was a lot) nor the roller coaster of reading that last half of the book (expecting, every single page, that someone else major - like Sansa or Arya or Jon or Sam or Dany - would die as well; or how for every good thing that happened, about ten more bad things seemed to happen - like Joffrey dying but then Tyrion being blamed and imprisoned, or Sansa managing to escape, but then getting stuck at the Eeyrie with her absolutely bat-(youknowwhat) crazy Aunt Lysa). But holy crap Tywin. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING EVEN KIND OF. Like who the crap is supposed to run the kingdom now?
But two last things in the book I HAVE talk about because I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open for like ten minutes straight, eyes wide open, just holding the book, at 3 AM, mind exploding and reeling... Catelyn is alive? Or not? Kind of? Is she a zombie? Is she like Beric? I mean, we have to assume so, at this point, seeing as how she was with Lem and the archer dude and some of Lord Beric's men at the end, right? So did Thoros bring her back? How? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THAT?!?! I CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND IT.
And secondly, can we talk about HOLY CRAP Petyr Baelish. How he essentially started EVERY. FLIPPING. THING. He started the war, and he conspired with Gramma Tyrell to kill of Joff. Which is insane and WTF by itself. BUT THE WAR. LIKE. During Lysa's completely insane ramblings at the end there (where I was actually sweating, convinced Sansa was about to die), when she said that Petyr had had her send the letter to Cat, claiming she believed the Lannisters had killed Jon Arynn (sp?), WHICH WAS THE LETTER THAT STARTED THE BALL ROLLING WITH NED, THAT GOT HIM TO KING'S LANDING, WHICH TANGLED HIM IN THE LANNISTER'S SECRETS AND ROBERT'S CRAP, WHICH LED TO HIS EXECUTION WHICH LED TO THE WAR. LIKE. CAN WE JUST ABSORB THE FACT THAT BAELISH GOT LYSA TO SEND A LETTER THAT ESSENTIALLY STARTED THE ENTIRE. WAR. THE ENTIRE. SERIES. Like I cannot even process. Also, something about Baelish (on the show) makes me want to like him, and I feel like Ned in season 1, when Baelish is smirking and says "I told you not to trust me." HE KEEPS DO DASTARDLY THINGS AND I KEEP WANTING TO LIKE HIM AND TRUST HIM AND I DON'T KNOW WHY. And I feel like when the show comes back on, I'm just going to see him and be like THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. But then somehow still want to like him. I don't know.
END OF SPOILERS, BOOK AND SHOW AND OTHERWISE.
Anyways, so that's some flailing. I'm very interested to see how the heck next season is handled on screen, and I feel both excited about the things to come and dreading it. And I have several books that need reading before I delve into book 4, but dang, I hope I get some answers in that one.
~Red
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. (That being said, I will separate show and book spoilers, so if you HAVE seen the show, but NOT read the books, you can still read some of the post!)
The SHOW spoilers start NOW.
So, the Red Wedding. Let me just discuss that for a second, because holy crap, I feel like I'm still freaking recovering from it. Dang show. Here's the problem with Red Wedding, aside from the horrific slaughter of um, everything. It felt like the utter destruction of hope. Because all along, it's like, this huge war, and the Lannisters are kind of managing to win, but here's Robb, coming down from the North, and he's never lost a battle. It's not like I was sitting there naively assuming Robb was going to win, I figured he had to lose or make a mistake at some point, but he is good, noble, just - he's like his father - and he's winning, and trying, and there's HOPE that effing Joffrey and Tywin won't win. That when Robb gets down there and finally meets the Lannisters in battle, that he could win and the "world" of Westeros will be a better place. The victory will be so much better because it started as essentially, justice and payback for them cruelly executing Ned.
If Robb were to die in battle, it would be sad, but I felt like someone could then take up the reigns of command - maybe even Catelyn, despite the trouble caused in Robb's ranks by letting Jamie go - and his cause theoretically go on somehow. And it would make sense, to have Robb die in battle, right? It'd feel all part of it, and it'd be said, but not necessarily unexpected, and you know, crap happens. But to murder Robb... to murder him, to murder his wife, and his army, and his mother - to be betrayed by a bannerman and a disgruntled former ally...
It wasn't just the death of Robb. It was the death of his cause, of his entire bloody army, of his wife - that means no possible heir, no legacy, no child of Robb Stark to be born and live on and be Lord of Winterfell etc - and of his mother too, of home and hope and heroes and good guys. Up until this point, the core of the show has felt like good vs. evil, Starks vs. Lannisters. Killing Robb and Catelyn was the killing of hope, the murder of the notion that the good guys could win. I mean, if they're both dead, who the crap is left? Bran, Rickon, Arya and Sansa. Rickon is too young to do anything, and really so are Bran and Arya - and all three of them are assumed dead. They can't reveal who they are lest someone try to kill them. And poor Sansa is still utterly powerless and trapped in King's Landing, practically anticipating death every day. Robb was hope. Robb was escape and triumph, and Robb was betrayed and murdered.
I don't want to hear "but it's more real this way" or "but life isn't fair" or "but the good guys don't always win" etc. I know that. It doesn't mean I can't feel utterly shattered and hopeless about it all. At this point, the only hope left feels like Dany and her dragons, but now I'm afraid to get too attached her, lest she be killed off as well. UGH.
NOTE: I am going to discuss major BOOK events now. DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOOK 3. TRUST ME ON THIS.
That all being said. Having read and now finished book 3. Thank you Martin for some hope again. Sort of. In a weird way. More in a "where in the crap can things possibly go from here?" kind of way, but it's better than the "ohmygosh I can't stop crying because it's all so exceptionally bleak and horrific gaaaaaaaaaah" that I was feeling after watching the Red Wedding. And trust me when I say that the watching was worse than the reading - or maybe that was because by the time I read it, I'd already seen it, and therefore knew it was coming?
But in the book. First I'd like to talk about how the last half of the book is like an actual blood bath. The Red Wedding, and then all the smaller characters that die, like Ygritte (NOOOO). The more I read book 3, though, the more frantic and frequently I was reading it, because OS MUCH was happening, and I could not even believe parts of it, like um, Joffrey. Holy crap on a cracker, I could not believe that was really happening. I had been laying down reading, and I literally shot bolt upright and was like, "THIS IS HAPPENING. NO IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? DON'T GET EXCITED WHAT IF HE'S OKAY HOLY CRAP HE'S NOT - IS HE ACTUALLY DYING. I CAN'T HANDLE THIS." And then it took like three chapters for it to sink in that effing Joffrey was actually dead. I THINK I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE WHEN I SAY I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT MOMENT TO HAPPEN ON THE SHOW, HOLY.
I won't get into everyone else that died (because there was a lot) nor the roller coaster of reading that last half of the book (expecting, every single page, that someone else major - like Sansa or Arya or Jon or Sam or Dany - would die as well; or how for every good thing that happened, about ten more bad things seemed to happen - like Joffrey dying but then Tyrion being blamed and imprisoned, or Sansa managing to escape, but then getting stuck at the Eeyrie with her absolutely bat-(youknowwhat) crazy Aunt Lysa). But holy crap Tywin. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING EVEN KIND OF. Like who the crap is supposed to run the kingdom now?
But two last things in the book I HAVE talk about because I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open for like ten minutes straight, eyes wide open, just holding the book, at 3 AM, mind exploding and reeling... Catelyn is alive? Or not? Kind of? Is she a zombie? Is she like Beric? I mean, we have to assume so, at this point, seeing as how she was with Lem and the archer dude and some of Lord Beric's men at the end, right? So did Thoros bring her back? How? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THAT?!?! I CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND IT.
And secondly, can we talk about HOLY CRAP Petyr Baelish. How he essentially started EVERY. FLIPPING. THING. He started the war, and he conspired with Gramma Tyrell to kill of Joff. Which is insane and WTF by itself. BUT THE WAR. LIKE. During Lysa's completely insane ramblings at the end there (where I was actually sweating, convinced Sansa was about to die), when she said that Petyr had had her send the letter to Cat, claiming she believed the Lannisters had killed Jon Arynn (sp?), WHICH WAS THE LETTER THAT STARTED THE BALL ROLLING WITH NED, THAT GOT HIM TO KING'S LANDING, WHICH TANGLED HIM IN THE LANNISTER'S SECRETS AND ROBERT'S CRAP, WHICH LED TO HIS EXECUTION WHICH LED TO THE WAR. LIKE. CAN WE JUST ABSORB THE FACT THAT BAELISH GOT LYSA TO SEND A LETTER THAT ESSENTIALLY STARTED THE ENTIRE. WAR. THE ENTIRE. SERIES. Like I cannot even process. Also, something about Baelish (on the show) makes me want to like him, and I feel like Ned in season 1, when Baelish is smirking and says "I told you not to trust me." HE KEEPS DO DASTARDLY THINGS AND I KEEP WANTING TO LIKE HIM AND TRUST HIM AND I DON'T KNOW WHY. And I feel like when the show comes back on, I'm just going to see him and be like THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. But then somehow still want to like him. I don't know.
END OF SPOILERS, BOOK AND SHOW AND OTHERWISE.
Anyways, so that's some flailing. I'm very interested to see how the heck next season is handled on screen, and I feel both excited about the things to come and dreading it. And I have several books that need reading before I delve into book 4, but dang, I hope I get some answers in that one.
~Red
