Rewatching the episode, the season, and its two predecessors, it’s clear thatthe Red Wedding was always meant to be.

However, what’s truly heartbreaking about The Rains of Castamere is its inevitability.

The cast played no small role in bringing this nightmare to life Michelle Fairley, Oona Chaplin, and Richard Madden delivered three of Game of Thrones‘ most powerful portrayals - devastating, deeply affecting performances that instantly entered the annals of television infamy. Witnessing the slaughter was utterly traumatizing, and the episode ranks among the few instances when the adaptation far surpasses the books. I remember sitting in front of my television, mouth agape, hands shaking, and heart racing, and I read the books beforehand! I knew what was coming, yet it didn’t matter. Watching it live was a shocking experience, with many viewers unable to process the carnage. What is it about The Rains of Castamere that was so striking? Was it the savage violence displayed against the Stark army? The shocking betrayal from Walder Frey? The horror of watching a man stabbing a pregnant woman in the belly with gory detail? Or Michelle Fairley’s harrowing, soul-piercing scream that, reader, has not left my mind since I first heard it 10 years ago?

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