Shocking deaths were part and parcel of Game of Thrones. After the passing of Ned Stark in the first season, fans of the HBO series knew no protagonist was off limits. Still, because audiences are so trained in following story convention, it made sense for them to invest in Ned's eldest son Robb as the great hope of Westeros. When Robb successfully stormed into battle, along with his direwolf Grey Wind, he was off to a promising start.

The shocking Red Wedding brought that success to a bloody end. Robb Stark's death was at the centerpiece of one of Game of Thrones' most infamous moments. But fans of the show might even be more stunned to discover Robb's fate was even worse in George R.R. Martin's books -- because the character actually died twice.

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A Game of Thrones Theory Suggests Robb Stark's Death Wasn't a One-Time Instance

Robb Stark (played by Richard Madden) and Talisa at the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones.

The Red Wedding was a bloody massacre that ended the North's efforts in the War of the Five Kings. It also came during a crucial moment during Robb Stark's journey southward. His campaign was forced to pass through the Twins of the Riverlands -- a well-guarded and invaluable passageway in the continent. To secure safe passage, Robb negotiated with the Lord of the Twins, Walder Frey, and let down his guard since the custom of guest rights made it an unforgivable sin to betray those welcomed into one's home. It is for that reason that Robb acquiesced to the Freys' request to kennel his greatest protector, Grey Wind, outside as he and his mother went inside for the wedding. But that should have been his first red flag.

The Stark children each had an animal companion in the direwolves they had raised from pups, and throughout both the books and the television series, their connection to the animals was outright mystical. This is known as warging, and is far more detailed in the novels. Unbeknownst to most of the Stark children they could even enter their animals' minds and inhabit their bodies. That led to one of the most tragic details from the Red Wedding in the Game of Thrones books that was changed for the HBO series. On screen, Robb's final words before his death were to call out to his mother Catelyn -- but in the novels, his final words were for Grey Wind. Grey Wind died in both versions, but that final call for Grey Wind hinted that in the books Robb was forced to suffer a second death because he inhabited his companion's body.

There are parallels with Jon Snow's grim pre-spinoff fate which underline the tragedy. Jon similarly called out to his own direwolf Ghost in the final moments before his death and it is a popular theory that he currently inhabits Ghost's body in the Game of Thrones books. But Grey Wind was not as lucky as Ghost. At the Red Wedding, the direwolf was slain in his kennel without much of an opportunity to fight back. To add insult to injury, Robb's body was fit with Grey Wind's severed head and paraded around the castle grounds while his enemies mocked him after his death.

Even without the knowledge of warging, Robb's death would be tragic, but the second death that warging implies makes it even more so. It offers one final opportunity Robb had to survive his end -- but that chance was immediately cut down and spat upon by his foes. The irreverence for the show's primary heroic figure was characteristic of HBO's version of Game of Thrones, which refused at almost every opportunity to translate such reverence into the plot armor that rewards protagonists in most stories.

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Robb's Potential Warging Abilities Cast the Red Wedding in a New Light

Richard Madden as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones.

The HBO series never went as explicitly into detail on the Stark children warging as George R.R. Martin's books did, so there remained a mysticism about their connection to the unique animals after Robb's death. In the final season, when Arya Stark briefly met with Nymeria, it was clear that they still shared their affinity despite Nymeria's years in the wild. It would not be out of left field to apply the tragic circumstances which led to Robb's repeated death in the books to the television show.

As if the Red Wedding's massacre was not sad enough, Game of Thrones fans unfamiliar with the books can now rewatch the show with the double death in mind. The HBO series was upfront with its viewers that those who played the titular game of thrones either win or they died. What it neglected to mention was that sometimes players could even die twice.