Game of Thrones and said "Horrific Twist"

Can you hear the people... chant "half man"?

I know it's been more than an hour since I said I was going to watch Game of Thrones, but I had to lie in shock for a little while and then re-watch the ending a few times. If you haven't been watching Game of Thrones on HBO, you officially don't know what you're missing. Needless to say, there are some SERIOUS SPOILERS to follow, so I'm gonna go ahead and put them after a cut.

The Dragon Queen

Once again this is a SPOILER ALERT. Even if you're a spoilers-y person, I would urge you to turn around now and come back when you've seen the episode.
1. The first truth is that when I saw that "horrific twist" headline, I knew there would be a death. I spent the whole episode trying to imagine a scenario where each of the important characters would die. I was just praying it wouldn't be Tyrion. Peter Dinklage's character is without question my favorite on the show. He has been since day one. Without him... well I would still watch but I might make a negatively toned .gif or something.

2. The second truth is that I LOVE major character deaths. It raises the stakes for the series. It raises the stakes for the writers, who need to write the hell out of what comes next. And it makes the fans all crazed, fighting over if it was the right choice. I don't know when this 'killing off characters' obsession began but I think it solidified around the time I saw The Departed. And then came Season 4 of Dexter, which SPOILER ALERT- rocked my world by killing of Dexter's wife and the mother of his children, Rita. People were pissed and continued to be all through Season 5, which for the record, I thought was brilliant. But we won't get into Dexter right now because I'm not getting to the point fast enough.

3. The third truth is that Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell just had his head chopped off.

Honestly I don't really care about Sean Bean. Not having the actor present anymore means very little to me. I sort of understand why people are really pissed that he's not in the show anymore. But to those people I say: Really, though? I mean it's not like he was killed off in the first episode and you therefore have no reason to come back! You've been watching for 9 world-rocking episodes already. Nothing other than Sean Bean keeps you coming back every Sunday? Then good riddance.

I for one need to know what is going to happen to Daenerys Targaryen and her child. What did the magic do to Khal Drogo? Will Jon leave the wall and head south for the sake of his brother? Will Robb step up? What will happen with Jamie? Will someone smother Joffrey in his sleep?
And perhaps the ones I most care about now: What will happen to Sansa and, more importantly, Arya?

Tyrion is my favorite by a mile, but slowly inching forward has been Arya, and the look on her face at the close of tonight's episodes, only made me care about her more.

I'm sure most people don't share my point of view of the genius of killing off a main character. But I can't talk about this episode without mentioning the mastermind behind it all, George R.R. Martin. Martin authored the books upon which the TV series is based. In fact, loyal fans of the book series (not me) knew this was coming for some time. They've learned to accept it haven't they?

And I'm willing to bet that people will hear about this and it will peak their interests. Hell, I almost started going through three seasons of Castle after I heard about the Season 3 finale. I still haven't completely ruled it out, actually. Not that HBO necessarily needs ratings help. One thing's for sure though: I can't wait to see what next week's episode has in store for us.


Screencaps courtesy of HBO.