Game of Thrones: Lady Stoneheart, the series biggest missing character, explained – Vox

warning: major spoilers follow the books on which game of thrones is based, and thus such once game of thrones same.

Fans began whispering almost immediately after the red wedding capped off the third season of Game of Thrones. when is lady stoneheart coming?

When the character didn’t appear in the season three finale, it seemed safe to assume he would appear in the season four finale.

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after all, a storm of swords, the third book by george r.r. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels was adapted into two television seasons. it would only make sense that the last event of that book, stoneheart’s arrival, would be the last event of season four. instead, the season ended with arya heading to braavos, and fans’ hopes were dashed.

Some faithful kept hoping for season five, but she didn’t show up then either. And yet now, as season six draws to a close, she’s throwing out so many little tips and hints that could be coming soon, tips and hints that fans of the books are finding it harder and harder to ignore. /p>

Is it possible that game of thrones has reserved one of the few major book plots that it hasn’t yet adapted for use in the first season that has very little to do with the books? Join me, won’t you, as I examine the strange story of Lady Stoneheart.

lady stoneheart is a beloved character who has come back from the dead

Game of Thrones

Not that Jaime is too happy about it.
HBO

For someone whom fans have spent lots of time speculating about and fretting over, Lady Stoneheart doesn’t actually take up that much real estate in the books.

towards the end of astorm of swords, arya’s missing direwolf nymeria drags the body of catelyn stark, mother of all those stark children, played by Michelle Fairley. in the show, she killed at the red wedding by having her throat slashed, out of the river. she’s been dead three days and is pretty much in the condition you’d expect a three-day-old corpse to be in.

The cat’s body is discovered by the Brotherhood Without Banners, the group led by Beric Dondarrion. (He is the first character to be raised from the dead in both the books and the show, but he is such a small figure that he seems merely a curiosity.) touched by his condition, beric kisses the cat and she comes back to life. presumably thanks to the lord of light. His wounds don’t quite heal and he can’t speak, but he remembers how screwed up his family was. everyone starts calling her lady stoneheart, because of course they do.

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In A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in the series, Lady Stoneheart is more of a whispered presence than an actual character on the page. There are vague rumors of a mysterious cloaked woman who now leads the sisterhood, who is ambushing and executing members of the frey family in revenge for the red wedding.

the only major event in the book that introduces the character – a cliffhanger that’s been open since 2005, mind you! — Occurs when he catches up with Brienne and demands that his former sworn knight prove his loyalty by killing Jaime Lannister. When Brienne refuses, Stoneheart prepares to execute her and poor Podrick, but Brienne screams a single word that we don’t hear. that scream closes a chapter, and we still haven’t figured out what it was.

Brienne then appears safe and sound, albeit briefly, in the next book, A Dance with Dragons. She shows up to tell Jaime that she found Sansa Stark and that she must come alone to rescue her from her. and since brienne hasn’t actually encountered sansa in the books, it looks like she’s trying to lure jaime into a trap set up by stoneheart. The story ends there, but later, the characters in King’s Landing are ominously told that Jaime has left with Brienne and hasn’t been seen in weeks.

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what word did brienne yell? what’s up brienne is jaime heading to his own execution? does lady stoneheart have some kind of soul? we don’t know martin’s fourth and fifth books are divided mainly by geographical locations, which is why stoneheart did not appear in a dance with dragons (book five).

and book six, quite famous, has not yet been published. It’s possible that despite fans’ obsession with the character, Lady Stoneheart is a minor figure who ultimately serves as a harbinger of future resurrections.

the case of lady stoneheart that appears in the sixth season

Game of Thrones

What if Michelle Fairley had a few days open in her schedule? What then?
HBO

For starters, you can make a plausible argument that showruners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss didn’t want to overwhelm the TV series with resurrections before Jon Snow came back from the dead. (Remember: In the books, Jon is still presumed dead.)

that would add to the surprise of his return from the grave, especially since the only two characters that preceded him were beric and the mountain, both of whom are fairly minor figures. having lady stoneheart before this could have been seen as a spoiler for jon’s eventual return, until the lord of light was somehow involved. (In hindsight, it’s not like Jon’s resurrection was a surprise to anyone, so maybe this was all unnecessary.)

But season six has also included plenty of little hints here and there that suggest game of thrones could be heading in lady stoneheart’s direction. Jon’s injuries after her resurrection could best be described as “healed”, and the Brotherhood Without Banners appeared for the first time since Season 3 to punish Brother Ray’s peaceful followers (a group that included the possibly dead). . sandor clegane: i told you there are resurrections everywhere).

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but the really important clue is the way the show seems to be maneuvering a group of players towards riverrun, which is in the riverlands where lady stoneheart wields her terrible powers of vengeance in the books. And the most interesting element of this convergence is that Brienne and Jaime are on their way to Riverrun (which is, let’s not forget, Cat’s childhood home) on separate quests.

in the books, stoneheart decides to kill brienne because he believes that brienne is now loyal to jaime, instead of the resurrected shell of catelyn stark. (In truth, Brienne is looking for Sansa at Jaime’s urging, which the show would have to change, since Brienne knows where Sansa is.)

jaime is not present in the book—stoneheart sniffs out brienne and jaime’s proximity thanks to brienne’s sword—but he is nearby (in riverrun) and appears to be headed for stoneheart’s claws. plus, having him around for stoneheart’s first television appearance could make for a potentially more dramatic moment.

Finally, there are some thematic clues, like the way this season seems to be about women going to great lengths to get what they want, or the way Arya recently gave a little monologue about how a mother who lost your son could have his heart hardened. her (she was providing dramaturgical analysis to a theater company, but I prefer to read that as a foreshadowing).

There’s also this, which involves some tweets from an actor that could spark this twist. The stage has never been more set for Stoneheart’s arrival.

but you could also argue that it’s too late to introduce the character

Game of Thrones

The Red Wedding is still a Game of Thrones highpoint. Maybe the series doesn’t want to blunt its power in any way?
HBO

At this stage of its life, Game of Thrones is winnowing its list of players, rather than expanding it. The show’s inept spin on the Dorne subplot turned up in the season six premiere, mostly so it could be wrapped up, and Benioff and Weiss areeither writing out or bringing together as many characters as they possibly can.

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so while it would be great to see lady stoneheart, having her around would also create an additional story that needs attention, at a time when the days of game of thrones are presumably numbered. if stoneheart shows up in one of the last three episodes of season six, does anyone really think she’ll get her due in the 13 total episodes rumored to be left in the series run?

To some extent, this complication also exists in the books. There, it seems that Martin isn’t quite sure how to incorporate Stoneheart into the larger narrative, which may be why he appears so sparingly.

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my best guess is that he’ll play a vital role in saving the life of one of his sons (or maybe the life of jon snow, who doesn’t like him very much because he thinks he’s her husband’s bastard), the quest of revenge nullified by the pursuit of sacrifice. it’s also possible that she ends up killing one of her own for not being “pure” enough, as part of a symbolic story about how revenge always ends up consuming, which is something that the fourth and fifth books are more thematic about. more interested than the TV show they have inspired.

but then again, that’s all book stuff that would be hard to set up in game of thrones at this late date. And in interviews over the years, essentially every major player involved in these decisions has said that there are no plans to bring Lady Stoneheart onto the television show.

here’s director alex graves after the season four finale:

but bring back michelle fairley, one of the best actresses, to be a zombie for a while, and just kill people? it’s really kind of, what are we doing with that? how does it tie into the whole story in a way that we’re really going to like? it just didn’t end up being a part of what would happen this season.

(Later in that interview, he also says he doesn’t think the hound survived. Fuel for your stone-hearted truthfulness!)

here’s fairley herself:

yes, the character is dead. she is dead. …she knew the bow, and that was it. they cannot stick to books 100 percent. It’s impossible, they only have 10 hours per season. they have to keep it dramatic and exciting, and weird things get lost along the way to keep the quality of the show brilliant.

benioff and weiss also weighed in, albeit in an enigmatic way.

The point is that all of the public discussion of this particular twist has been on the side of lady stoneheart not being part of the series, and since it’s too late in the game to add such a major twist, it still seems safe to assume won’t happen.

of course, the cast and creators of game of thrones have lied recently by insisting that jon snow was really dead, and if they were able to keep this secret under wraps for multiple seasons… trick book fans into not seeing it coming, that would be quite a coup.

Also, there has to be a reason why the show is apparently adapting everything from the lady stoneheart arc except lady stoneheart herself. you just have to.

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