George R.R. Martin Recalls Fans Burning His Books After the Red Wedding—Then Buying Another Copy!

The Game of Thrones episode “The Rains of Castamere” is widely regarded as one of the most shocking and influential moments in television history. Airing in 2013, the Red Wedding, as it came to be known, set a new standard for narrative boldness, leaving audiences stunned by its brutal and unexpected twists. But for A Song of Ice and Fire book fans, the tragic event was no surprise—they had already experienced the heartbreak when it was first written in George R.R. Martin’s 2000 novel A Storm of Swords.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Martin opened up about the intense reactions he received from readers when the Red Wedding was first revealed in the books. “In 2000, when the book came out, I got tons of letters from people: ‘I’m so angry with you – I’m never going to read your work again. I threw the book into the fire, then a week later I had to know what happens, so I went out and bought another copy,’” Martin shared. The raw emotions from fans of the Stark family were palpable, with many expressing their shock and anger at the deaths of Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark, and Talisa Stark.

“I understand that,” Martin continued, acknowledging the emotional weight of the scene. “Some people were so horrified that they said they will not read any more of my work.” Despite the initial outrage, Martin’s work continued to grow in popularity, with the Red Wedding becoming a defining moment in the A Song of Ice and Fire saga—and a defining moment for Game of Thrones as well.

While book fans were familiar with the tragedy, the television adaptation brought an even more devastating edge to the scene. The show added a harrowing detail not present in the books: the sight of Talisa, pregnant with Robb’s child, being brutally stabbed in the belly. Martin noted, “The TV Red Wedding is even worse than the book, of course, because [GoT creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] turned it up to 11 by bringing in Talisa, pregnant with Robb’s child, none of which happened in the book. So we get a pregnant woman stabbed repeatedly in the belly.” The added layer of violence against a mother-to-be turned an already agonizing scene into a nightmare that fans would never forget.

For Martin, however, the Red Wedding was not just difficult to read or watch—it was agonizing to write. “The more I write about a character, the more affection I feel…even for the worst of them,” Martin explained. “Which doesn’t mean I won’t kill them. Whoever it was who said ‘Kill your darlings’ was referring to his favorite lines in a story, but it’s just as true for characters.” Writing the Red Wedding was a challenge for Martin, one he admitted was especially hard because he had grown so attached to the characters he was about to kill off. “The moment the reader begins to believe that a character is protected by the magical cloak of authorial immunity, tension goes out the window. The Red Wedding was tremendously hard to write.”

In fact, Martin revealed that he delayed writing the pivotal chapter until the rest of A Storm of Swords was finished. “I skipped over it until I finished the entirety of A Storm of Swords, then I went back and forced myself to write that chapter,” he confessed. “I loved those characters too much. But I knew it had to be done.”

The Red Wedding remains one of the most powerful moments in both A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, representing the brutal reality of Martin’s world where no character is safe, no matter how beloved. For the author, it marked a painful but necessary moment in the saga’s larger narrative, as difficult as it was to write and experience.

While the shockwaves of the Red Wedding still reverberate with fans, it’s clear that its emotional intensity was felt not only by the audience but also by the man who created it. In the end, the Red Wedding became a defining moment for both the books and the television series, a testament to George R.R. Martin’s willingness to subvert expectations and deliver a gut-wrenching story that would forever change the landscape of fantasy television.