![]() But later on, the most popular characters – Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister – tended to make it through unscathed. Part of the thrill of a big character death is the risk of usurping a status quo – that flighty moment of where can they possibly go from here? Thrones nailed it with the death of Sean Bean back in season one. A more cynical mind might suggest there’s a commercial incentive to keeping the show’s roster of established stars safe from the claws of the Demogorgon. Stranger Things has indeed fallen victim to this, but to put it down to “sensitivity” is surely an over-simplification. The Stranger Things kids were right about one thing, though – a reluctance to pull the trigger is just as damaging to a series’ integrity as being over-eager. But in Thrones, this was seldom the case. They can feel cathartic, infuriating or devastating even more so than with films, TV gives us the ability to warm to characters over time, come to really know and feel them. The most potent character deaths leave die-hard fans grieving as they would for a loved one (probably more akin to a third cousin than a treasured parent, admittedly). Of course, deployed well, a shock character death can tip a series from adequacy to greatness, from greatness to immortality. The strain on credulity may be less severe with shows like Breaking Bad or Thrones, but it’s still there. Throw in his late-season bout of prostate cancer and you have to wonder what sort of witch he must have wronged in a past life. Consider the seminal US police procedural NYPD Blue – by the end of the series, Dennis Franz’s character had separately lost a wife, a son, and two partners to violent and sudden ends. ![]() If a series runs for long enough, the piles of cadaverous ex-cast members starts to seem ridiculous. Now, with the roundly disliked final season still lingering on everyone’s tastebuds, the hype around Thrones has all but fizzled out. As the series went on, it found itself unable to recapture the thrills of earlier surprise deaths. But while a shock massacre may make for a good headline or two – and gave Thrones a lasting bad-boy reputation for murderousness, as Brown’s comments prove – it wasn’t always the right way to go about telling a story. To this day, the words “Red Wedding” are enough to send chills down the spine of many a Westeros fan. ![]() Thrones was renowned for its willingness to scythe down characters in their prime. “We need to be Game of Thrones.” While the comment, and the Duffers’ response, was more lighthearted than some of the reportage has made out, it is nonetheless an idea worth discussing. “The Duffer brothers are two sensitive Sallies,” she said. Brown called on the Duffer brothers to adopt a Game of Thrones-style remorselessness when it comes to killing off characters. The season four finale – spoiler alert, I suppose – killed off just one secondary character, who had been introduced as cannon fodder at the start of the season. Stranger Things, one of the biggest series of the past decade, has always proved unwilling to slaughter its darlings, despite its horror pretensions. It was this complaint that was levelled at Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer recently, by members of the show’s own cast ( Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp). Prove too reluctant to kill off your faves and people will start saying you’ve become predictable. Get too trigger-happy, and you’ll sour the very ingredients that made your show work. The decision to kill – or benevolently spare – beloved characters is never taken lightly. How much bloodlust is too much bloodlust? When you work in genre television, this is not such an easy question to answer. You'll be like "Follow me to the Underworld" and then they'll be like "Nah, I'm good.Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Nell Tiger Free in the ever-bloody fantasy series ‘Game of Thrones' (HBO) Without a scythe, you might find that it's hard to complete your job as a reaper. It comes in three separate pieces that snap together to form the completed scythe! SCYTHE You have the long black robe, and now you'll have your tool of death! This scythe is 5 feet long when assembled and has a 22-inch blade on it. This scythe is the perfect way to finish out your reaper costume. A banana split isn't complete without bananas, just as a reaper costume isn't complete without a scythe! FUN DETAILS It's like having a PB and J without jelly. One without the other simply isn't right. If you are going to be a reaper, you need to have a scythe. But, when it comes to a reaper and his scythe, this is simply not the case. Accessory implies that it's not essential, that it is simply a bonus or an improvement, but one that isn't necessary. We hate to call this scythe an accessory.
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