'Games of Thrones' Will Scar You For Life

In the words of Ryan Gosling, "It's not over, it still isn't over..." That's right, your lingering nightmares and cold sweats resulting from Game of Thrones' season three episode, "The Rains of Castamere" aka the "Red Wedding", aren't going ANYWHERE anytime soon, and neither is the show's penchant for brutal, unapologetic violence. In a recent interview with Flicks And The City, the director of season four's penultimate episode, Neil Marshall, said Season 4 of Game of Thrones will be very violent. He also said his particular episode might cause as much long-term trauma as the "Red Wedding" did last season. So basically, just when you thought it was safe to let your excitement overpower your fear of GoT's upcoming season four, you're reminded that long lifespans aren't in the cards for anyone on HBO's award-winning show.

When asked if could create an equally dramatic story in season four's ninth episode, Marshall told the site:

I think that’s one of the key things of Game of Thrones, which is to take characters that you loved for three of four years and then butcher them brutally. Yeah, there’s a bit of drama and tragedy in my episode so I’m sure there is for the rest of the season as well.

There's truly no rest for the emotionally weary in Westeros.

This isn't the first time that eminent massacres were mentioned by someone close to Game of Thrones production. Back in late Sept. 2013, Kit Harington, also known and swooned over as Ned Stark's illegitimate child Jon Snow, told AccessHollywood.com that the people responsible for GoT have discovered the successful element of the show: death. Harington let slip that season four will have more deaths than any of the show's first three seasons under the explanation that, "They’ve realized that’s a successful option, so they’re just killing more people than they’ve ever killed." Cue the anticipatory nightmares.

George R.R. Martin fueled the fires of emotional distress when he also opened up in Sept. 2013 to TV Guide about season four's "Purple Wedding", which is the fan-name for the nuptials between King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). Martin told the publication, "It's going to be the wedding of the year, and as memorable in its own way as our wedding last season." The wedding, which was not officially named in Martin's book (unlike the "Red Wedding") got its name from fans based on the color of the wine served at the reception. We all know what this means though, someone's going to die and we're going to be talking about it for months to come. Much like we're still trying to talk through our recovery from last year's "wedding of the year."

Is Marshall's "dramatic" episode the one that will feature the Baratheon/Tyrell union? As someone that has yet to devote the necessary months to Martin's series, I can only speculate as to what's yet to come based on the assurances from the show's creator and cast and crew members that season four's violence will surpass that of its predecessors. So for those of us that aren't in the know, we're forced to wonder (or maybe "fear" would be a better word) who will be the next to go?

If you're as repulsed by Joffrey as I am, you're probably hoping it's him because let's face it, he totally deserves it. But there's also Sansa. Though it would be a terrible injustice if she gets killed off, she is in the line of fire so it's a likely. There's also the possibility that Bran gets captured and brutally killed because he's a Stark and that's just what happens to Starks (he's already been pushed out a window). Even though I take very seriously the assertions that many people will die, I'm secretly hoping that Joffrey will be enough of a blood sacrifice to account for hundreds of men (and women). He's so damn evil and despicable that I think I hate him more than Viserys Targaryen... and we all know what happened to him.

Unfortunately for Joffrey, he doesn't have a badass, feminist sister to "crown" him like Daenerys and put him in his place, but I wouldn't mind seeing this scenario in all its gory glory again.

Images: HBO