We often make comparisons between Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, and the author of the now famous series has just admitted that J R.R Tolkien had a strong influence on him in one aspect of his work: the premature death of main characters.
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As he explained to American TV, George R.R Martin was just 13 when he reached the end of the first Lord of the Rings book and read about the death of Gandalf the Grey, one of the main characters: ‘I can’t explain the impact that had on me at 13! ... Tolkien just broke that rule and I’ll love him forever for it.’
The author goes on to explain: ‘The minute you kill Gandalf, the suspense of everything that follows is a thousand times greater because now, anybody could die’.
It’s just this feeling of permanent suspense that the man behind the death of Ned Stark wanted to create: ‘Of course, that’s had a profound effect on my own willingness to kill characters at the drop of a hat.’
And it’s true that this technique worked rather well. Honestly, who isn’t afraid in every episode that Jon Snow is going to die?
