What is Dead May Never Die. But it Can Get You Drunk on a Monday.

Danaerys, you won't abandon me, will you?
Photo Credit

"What is dead may never die."  These are the words of the Greyjoy family on Game of Thrones, as well as all Iron Islanders who worship the Drowned God.  They are not my favorite lineage, but it is a reassuring sentiment for a show in which beloved and despised characters alike tend to perish both violently and suddenly.  Although in fairness, none of us should have been surprised by this facet of the series when Sean Bean was cast to play Lord Eddard (MANY spoilers in that link for other movies).  Like any self-respecting human being, I route for the Starks (including Jon Snow, who may or may not know nothing).  But since the Red Wedding last year, there just aren't that many left.  My resolve to never again be caught with mouth agape, my own (manly) yelps still echoing in my mind, and staring wordlessly at my TV screen throughout the silent credits drove me to read all of the books last summer.  Sure, I had to get even more attached to characters I knew were going to die, but it was rewarding at the same time.  Even more than in the show, deceased characters remain a big part of the story, as they are avenged, idolized, villified, and nostalgically reflected upon by the survivors.  Reading these great, though time-consuming, books has exponentially increased my enjoyment of the show this season.  Looking at the episode names on IMDB and trying to guess exactly what is in store is really fun, especially this past week.

Foreground: Mary, Emmett, Jason, Marina, Chris.
Background: Jojen Reed

Hold on.  Let me back up.  I should have begun this post with "Nerd Alert".  In fact, let this just be a standing warning that at any moment, I may delve into the intricacies of any number of things you don't care about.  So also, sorry.  Okay, bases covered.  What I really want to talk about is an enjoyable weekly tradition that has developed among some of my friends in Quito.  Every Sunday, we download the most recent episode.  Then, on Monday, we go over to someone's house, bring food and plenty of beer and wine, and watch together.  The crowd varies a little depending on the week, but usually there are 5 - 9 of us.  So naturally, we began discussing how to turn the show into a drinking game.  Some of the ideas discussed are:

1) Drink when someone gets naked.  This alone is probably enough, but I will continue anyway.  

2) Drink when a family or religious motto is stated or referred to.  (Winter is Coming, The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors, etc.)

3) Drink when a character with a name dies.  This should really be a shot, but we are old.

That's actually it.  As alluded to, it's an incredibly captivating show, so our discussion has not really had time to bloom.  We have so far only engaged in mostly unstructured drinking.  While this has its place(s), I feel we could be on the verge of greatness here.  And so I pose it now, and offer up the comment section below as a brainstorming forum. What do you think???

Until I find a flagon, a mason jar will have to do.