Throwback Thursday: ‘Game of Thrones’ Special- The Red Wedding
The Lannisters send their regards…
The ninth episode of Game of Thrones Season 3 ‘The Rains of Castamere’ will more than likely forever be called it by its other name: ‘The Red Wedding Episode’.
The Red Wedding was a massacre that took place at the Twins in 299 AC during the War of the Five Kings, in which the King in the North Robb Stark , his wife, Queen Talisa, his mother, Lady Catelyn, and most of his banner-men and men-at-arms are murdered following the marriage feast of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey.
The true ‘mastermind’ of the Red Wedding was the diabolical Tywin Lannister, who conspired with Frey and Lord Roose Bolton to betray the Northern army in return for titles, betrothals and rewards.
Moments after this episode aired, social media, Twitter in particular, began blowing up like crazy:
I need a hug. I have never been so traumatized by a television show. #gameofthrones
— Bonstrosity Attacks! (@karma_thief) June 3, 2013
Game of Thrones just made me cry. I’m pretty sure a little part of me just died..I can’t comprehend what I just saw. I feel sick.
— Austin Chesshire (@AustinChesshire) June 3, 2013
If anyone needs me i’ll be humming “rains of castamere” rocking back & forth in the fetal position for the foreseeable future #gameofthrones
— Katie Lucas (@KtLuWho) June 3, 2013
Somewhere, there’s a couple all of a sudden reconsidering their Game of Thrones-themed wedding.
— Caitlin Kelly (@caitlin__kelly) June 3, 2013
And let’s not forget George R.R Martin’s response to all of the fan reaction videos that were posted on Youtube, FaceBook and Twitter that next day.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azr99OfKLxk[/embedyt]
While this episode was probably one of the most shocking episodes to date, it is not purely a work of fiction. It was actually modeled after two separate real life events in Scotland.
George R. R. Martin admitted that his idea for the ‘Red Wedding’ was inspired by two events from Scottish history. He discussed the history in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, shortly after the episode, saying:
“One was a case called The Black Dinner. The king of Scotland was fighting the Black Douglas clan. He reached out to make peace. He offered the young Earl of Douglas safe passage. He came to Edinburgh Castle and had a great feast. Then at the end of the feast, [the king’s men] started pounding on a single drum. They brought out a covered plate and put it in front of the Earl and revealed it was the head of a black boar — the symbol of death. And as soon as he saw it, he knew what it meant. They dragged them out and put them to death in the courtyard,”
“The larger instance was the Glencoe Massacre. Clan MacDonald stayed with the Campbell clan overnight and the laws of hospitality supposedly applied. But the Campbells arose and started butchering every MacDonald they could get their hands on. No matter how much I make up, there’s stuff in history that’s just as bad, or worse.”
Martin pointed out that: “Hospitality laws were real in Dark Ages society. A host and guest were not allowed to harm each other even if they were enemies. By violating that law, the phrase is, they ‘condemn themselves for all time.’ The Glencoe massacre was considered especially awful because it was ruled a slaughter under trust. Interestingly enough, to this day, the door at Clachaig Inn in Glen Coe has a sign on the door denying entry to Campbells.
I love you, George, and all of your literary works… but there will always be that scar on my heart as a result from ‘The Red Wedding’.
Julia recently published her first novel, titled; Anomic. She is currently co-authoring a novel called ‘Snow Falls’. She has a B.A in Communications with concentrations in Professional Writing and Public Relations. She is also in the United States Army Reserves as a Military Police Officer, and is currently in the process of going back to school for her Masters Degree in Business. When she isn’t writing, she is co-owner of a film production studio called ‘Valentine Productions LLC’ and she frequently spends her weekends acting in films, or being a stuntwoman.
