Why the Red Wedding was Necessary: My Views on A Song of Ice and Fire's War of Five Kings
Warning: Contains Game of Thrones/ A Song of Ice and Fire Spoilers
As a person who read all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books before watching the TV show, the 'surprise' ending of season three of the HBO show, didn't surprise me. For those of you who don't watch Game of Thrones, the third season closed with a massive massacre of the Starks and their bannermen during a wedding hosted by the Frey family. This event, known as the Red Wedding has, needless to say, upset some fans, but I am of the controversial opinion that the Red Wedding was necessary.
Now, I am writing this blog mostly for the watchers of the Game of Thrones TV show because I think that those who have read all of the books have probably already figured this out. Nothing happens randomly in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Trust me, if you are writing a series that's going to number more than 7,000 pages in length, you go into it with a game plan. Like, I know that and the longest thing I've ever written was 400 pages. The characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, have long, complex story arcs and, sometimes, for fans it is difficult to see their end. Obviously, I don't know what George R.R. Martin is planning, but I'm going to take a stab at it.
So, as I've already stated, I'm a big believer in the idea of the Targaryen Restoration, that is, the idea that the whole series is working towards bringing either Dany or Aegon (or possibly Jon Snow depending on his parentage??????) back to Westeros to rule.
Robb's death sort of confirmed this theory for me because, of the Five Kings in the War of the Five Kings, Robb is really the only one who is really likable (although Renly wasn't bad either, just a little self-involved) and he was also doing pretty well in terms of winning battles. If Robb had had the Freys (and possibly the Arryns) on his side, it seems pretty incontestable that he would have won the war. Which, sounds fine in the short term, but, in the long term, what would that mean for the story? For one thing, though Robb would have done just fine as King of the North, I don't think he could have ruled all Seven Kingdoms. For starters, he has absolutely no claim to the throne. Also, he has the Stark problem of being too morally upright to rule (which, as we all remember, is why Sean Bean wasn't asked back for season two). I think that if Robb had won the war, he would have had to strike some sort of deal with Renly (assuming he was alive because Stannis would never go for this) to get him to rule the rest of the kingdom while he was in charge of the North and the Riverlands.
Of course we all know that that would end in disaster. Especially because, as we know, Aegon has already crossed to Westeros and Dany, in my predictions, will follow him shortly with a Dothraki horde and a troop of Unsullied at her back. What happens in that situation? Well, in that case, you get a war with Aegon and Dany on one side and Robb on the other and that is a book that no one wants to read. The problem is that they're all so likable. Of all books I've read in my life, I would say that the A Song of Ice and Fire series has the least clearly defined 'good side' and 'bad side'; but, let's be real here, no one really wants the Lannisters to win in the end. Not least because the Lannisters actually have no legitimate claim to the throne. If there is one thing that counts in A Song of Ice and Fire, it's birth right. Anyway, to get back on topic, no matter who won the war between the Starks and the Targaryens, readers were going to come away dissatisfied. So, Robb had to die because
1) If he lived there would be a war between Targaryens and Starks
2) Robb's death sets him up as a martyr and electrifies the Northerners. While Robb was alive, there was a lot of dissent between Northerners, but, in death, the 'Young Wolf' becomes a symbol to them of Southern Oppression.Which is why the Manderlys are preparing to lead a revolt in A Dance with Dragons. All of this division and tension is going to be really useful when the Targaryens come to town.
3) Robb's death clears the way for Bran to become Lord Stark. From the beginning of the series, Bran was set up as the most important of the three Stark brothers. Now that he's taking lessons from a magic crow, I think he's going to end up doing something super important with the wall and the Others and the Night's Watch and the Wildlings. I don't think it's any coincidence that he shares his name with Brandon the Builder, who built the wall. Bran is destined to do something important and is going to top everything off by becoming the Lord of Winterfell.
4) Robb's death makes Sansa more important. As far as most of the Seven Kingdoms are concerned, Sansa is the last living Stark. This puts her in a position to wield a lot of leverage and power, not to mention that she has Little Finger on her side. Sansa has become increasingly important in the books and I think that's because she's going to have a big role to play, whatever it is.
5) The Red Wedding gives Lady Catelyn the opportunity to turn into the creepy, vengeance seeking zombie that she always wanted to be. Now, she can terrorize the country folk without anyone being all "don't you have a castle to get home to?".
6) Robb needed to die because the Status Quo needs to be restored in the Seven Kingdoms and there's no way he'd be capable of doing that because he's going to carve the realm up into incongruent chunks.
To my mind, Robb's war, the War of the Five Kings is simply a device to bring about the Targaryen Restoration. We already discussed Robb's contributions, but every king is going to be quite helpful in bringing Dragons back to Westeros. Firstly, Renly, by dying, eliminated the possibility of another Stark/Baratheon alliance that could have held the realm together for another twenty years. Renly's death also made Margaery Tyrell marry Joffrey, which is really helpful to poor Sansa Stark. Stannis does his part by killing Renly (though he doesn't know it), saving the Night's Watch, and by being so thoroughly unlikeable. Whatever happens, Stannis will either
1) Never be King.
2) Become king for a brief amount of time with the backing of the Iron Bank only to be disposed by either Aegon or Dany.
3) Be killed in the heroic and necessary battle to retake Winterfell from the Boltons (which would also be very helpful to Sansa Stark, Rickon Stark, and the Manderly rebellion).
4) Go crazy, try to eat fire or something and die.
Balon Greyjoy helpfully died, leaving the Iron Islands in disarray and causing Victarion Greyjoy to set sail to help Dany. My prediction is that Victarion is going to provide the transportation necessary for Dany and her army to cross the Narrow Sea. And, of course, Joffrey Lannister and the rest of his clan are arguably doing the most to further the Targaryen cause by doing the wrong thing, politically, 100% of the time. Especially now that Kevan and Tywin are dead, Cersei, Tommen, and Joffrey (even though he's dead he caused a lot of damage) will positively wreck havoc. Arguably, they did the most important thing to set events in motion by
1) Pushing Bran out that window.
2) Beheading Ned Stark.
So, if you look at what's happened so far, it seems that the Lannisters are doing everything possible to ensure that everything turns up Targaryen. Although, really, if you think about it, it was the Starks who started the war by capturing Tyrion. Though, to be fair, the war wouldn't have started if King Robert hadn't died. And King Robert wouldn't have died if the Lannisters didn't have to kill him. And the Lannisters wouldn't have had to kill him if Cersei and Jaime Lannister didn't have children together. Although, Robert would never have been the king if Mad King Aerys hadn't been so crazy. And he wouldn't have been so crazy if he wasn't ridiculously inbreed. So I think the lesson of A Song of Ice and Fire is that incest is BAD. I think I knew that, but thanks anyway George R.R. Martin.
Just sayin'
As a person who read all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books before watching the TV show, the 'surprise' ending of season three of the HBO show, didn't surprise me. For those of you who don't watch Game of Thrones, the third season closed with a massive massacre of the Starks and their bannermen during a wedding hosted by the Frey family. This event, known as the Red Wedding has, needless to say, upset some fans, but I am of the controversial opinion that the Red Wedding was necessary.
Now, I am writing this blog mostly for the watchers of the Game of Thrones TV show because I think that those who have read all of the books have probably already figured this out. Nothing happens randomly in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Trust me, if you are writing a series that's going to number more than 7,000 pages in length, you go into it with a game plan. Like, I know that and the longest thing I've ever written was 400 pages. The characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, have long, complex story arcs and, sometimes, for fans it is difficult to see their end. Obviously, I don't know what George R.R. Martin is planning, but I'm going to take a stab at it.
So, as I've already stated, I'm a big believer in the idea of the Targaryen Restoration, that is, the idea that the whole series is working towards bringing either Dany or Aegon (or possibly Jon Snow depending on his parentage??????) back to Westeros to rule.
Robb's death sort of confirmed this theory for me because, of the Five Kings in the War of the Five Kings, Robb is really the only one who is really likable (although Renly wasn't bad either, just a little self-involved) and he was also doing pretty well in terms of winning battles. If Robb had had the Freys (and possibly the Arryns) on his side, it seems pretty incontestable that he would have won the war. Which, sounds fine in the short term, but, in the long term, what would that mean for the story? For one thing, though Robb would have done just fine as King of the North, I don't think he could have ruled all Seven Kingdoms. For starters, he has absolutely no claim to the throne. Also, he has the Stark problem of being too morally upright to rule (which, as we all remember, is why Sean Bean wasn't asked back for season two). I think that if Robb had won the war, he would have had to strike some sort of deal with Renly (assuming he was alive because Stannis would never go for this) to get him to rule the rest of the kingdom while he was in charge of the North and the Riverlands.
Of course we all know that that would end in disaster. Especially because, as we know, Aegon has already crossed to Westeros and Dany, in my predictions, will follow him shortly with a Dothraki horde and a troop of Unsullied at her back. What happens in that situation? Well, in that case, you get a war with Aegon and Dany on one side and Robb on the other and that is a book that no one wants to read. The problem is that they're all so likable. Of all books I've read in my life, I would say that the A Song of Ice and Fire series has the least clearly defined 'good side' and 'bad side'; but, let's be real here, no one really wants the Lannisters to win in the end. Not least because the Lannisters actually have no legitimate claim to the throne. If there is one thing that counts in A Song of Ice and Fire, it's birth right. Anyway, to get back on topic, no matter who won the war between the Starks and the Targaryens, readers were going to come away dissatisfied. So, Robb had to die because
1) If he lived there would be a war between Targaryens and Starks
2) Robb's death sets him up as a martyr and electrifies the Northerners. While Robb was alive, there was a lot of dissent between Northerners, but, in death, the 'Young Wolf' becomes a symbol to them of Southern Oppression.Which is why the Manderlys are preparing to lead a revolt in A Dance with Dragons. All of this division and tension is going to be really useful when the Targaryens come to town.
3) Robb's death clears the way for Bran to become Lord Stark. From the beginning of the series, Bran was set up as the most important of the three Stark brothers. Now that he's taking lessons from a magic crow, I think he's going to end up doing something super important with the wall and the Others and the Night's Watch and the Wildlings. I don't think it's any coincidence that he shares his name with Brandon the Builder, who built the wall. Bran is destined to do something important and is going to top everything off by becoming the Lord of Winterfell.
4) Robb's death makes Sansa more important. As far as most of the Seven Kingdoms are concerned, Sansa is the last living Stark. This puts her in a position to wield a lot of leverage and power, not to mention that she has Little Finger on her side. Sansa has become increasingly important in the books and I think that's because she's going to have a big role to play, whatever it is.
5) The Red Wedding gives Lady Catelyn the opportunity to turn into the creepy, vengeance seeking zombie that she always wanted to be. Now, she can terrorize the country folk without anyone being all "don't you have a castle to get home to?".
6) Robb needed to die because the Status Quo needs to be restored in the Seven Kingdoms and there's no way he'd be capable of doing that because he's going to carve the realm up into incongruent chunks.
To my mind, Robb's war, the War of the Five Kings is simply a device to bring about the Targaryen Restoration. We already discussed Robb's contributions, but every king is going to be quite helpful in bringing Dragons back to Westeros. Firstly, Renly, by dying, eliminated the possibility of another Stark/Baratheon alliance that could have held the realm together for another twenty years. Renly's death also made Margaery Tyrell marry Joffrey, which is really helpful to poor Sansa Stark. Stannis does his part by killing Renly (though he doesn't know it), saving the Night's Watch, and by being so thoroughly unlikeable. Whatever happens, Stannis will either
1) Never be King.
2) Become king for a brief amount of time with the backing of the Iron Bank only to be disposed by either Aegon or Dany.
3) Be killed in the heroic and necessary battle to retake Winterfell from the Boltons (which would also be very helpful to Sansa Stark, Rickon Stark, and the Manderly rebellion).
4) Go crazy, try to eat fire or something and die.
Balon Greyjoy helpfully died, leaving the Iron Islands in disarray and causing Victarion Greyjoy to set sail to help Dany. My prediction is that Victarion is going to provide the transportation necessary for Dany and her army to cross the Narrow Sea. And, of course, Joffrey Lannister and the rest of his clan are arguably doing the most to further the Targaryen cause by doing the wrong thing, politically, 100% of the time. Especially now that Kevan and Tywin are dead, Cersei, Tommen, and Joffrey (even though he's dead he caused a lot of damage) will positively wreck havoc. Arguably, they did the most important thing to set events in motion by
1) Pushing Bran out that window.
2) Beheading Ned Stark.
So, if you look at what's happened so far, it seems that the Lannisters are doing everything possible to ensure that everything turns up Targaryen. Although, really, if you think about it, it was the Starks who started the war by capturing Tyrion. Though, to be fair, the war wouldn't have started if King Robert hadn't died. And King Robert wouldn't have died if the Lannisters didn't have to kill him. And the Lannisters wouldn't have had to kill him if Cersei and Jaime Lannister didn't have children together. Although, Robert would never have been the king if Mad King Aerys hadn't been so crazy. And he wouldn't have been so crazy if he wasn't ridiculously inbreed. So I think the lesson of A Song of Ice and Fire is that incest is BAD. I think I knew that, but thanks anyway George R.R. Martin.
Just sayin'
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