We all knew what was coming on #GOT ...and yet it still killed us.

We should be used to this by now. Aren’t we used to this by now? Some of us should even be prepared (We’ve read the books, after all). If GRR Martin has done anything for our general consciousness as readers, it’s been make us tick-skinned. Strong. Nothing should surprise us. Nothing should crush us. And, of course, nothing, ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY NOTHING should make us go:

HBO / 7seven-hells.tumblr.com

But, of course, we haven’t learned. We never learned. We fell in love with Ned Stark first. Oh, Ned. How we loved you. You were the hero of the story. The good guy among the snakes. And, well, this was fantasy. We knew the rules of fantasy. Things were going to get crappy, but …rules were rules …the good guys always win.

Then this happened.

Image via Screen Junkies

And, we screamed, we cried, we were shocked, amazed, MAD, but …after a while, we got it. This was not the story we thought we were reading/watching. This was a story of rising from the ashes. This was a story of a family who overcomes. This was Rob’s story, not Ned’s.

Yeah, we all know how THAT turned out.

HBO / shammathegreat.com

But, at this point, we thought we were immune. After Ned, after Jory, and Septa Mordane, Lady and all the Baratheons (well, most of them), after Maester Luwin, and, of course, after the Red Wedding, we were immune. We didn’t love the characters with so much passion. We liked the show/books, yes, but we did so in a detached way.

Then came Oberyn Martell.

At first, he was merely funny. He wanted dead Lannisters, we wanted dead Lannisters, so we had  things in common. And Ellaria Sand was pretty and he clearly loved her. Enough to always included her in his orgies, at least. And, well, he wasn’t a hero, but he was charming, and a bit nasty, and, in the end, he was going to save Tyrion, of course he was, and he was going to get his revenge, he was Inigo Montoya and the Mountain better PREPARE TO DIE and …and …

Yes …and.

HBO / Via jamieclements.tumblr.com

So, thank you, GRR Martin. Thank you for crushing our collective souls once again. I wish I could say we’ve learned our lesson.

Until next time.