A week has gone by since that emotionally overladed finale of Game of Thrones season 6, and in that time we've been able to hear from the actors about their character deaths, the big moves that were made, and shocks that took everyone by surprise. For me, though, the finale left a major hole in my heart. Like many other Thrones fans out there, I was a fan of Margery Tyrell. I've been behind her all the way, since her very first appearance. I would have been fine with every other character dying, except for her... and okay, maybe Sansa too, because I've been a huge Sansa supporter since season 1... WHICH IS RARE. I don't know HOW many times I've heard, "I hated Sansa in season 1." She was just a kid, and in a bad situation, okay!
But back to Margaery. I actually haven't read the novels. I have the first set of four novels, and will be starting them soon. They've been on my list for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to picking them up. But I know that Margaery Tyrell isn't as fleshed out in the novels as she is was in the show. She doesn't appear as a POV character in the novels, and all the interaction we get from her is through other characters, mostly, Cersei. But I love what they did with her character in the TV show.
From the very beginning she was a strong, independent, female character with enough wits and manipulative tactics to rival Cersei, and for years we watched the two of them go head to head. Sometimes Cersei would come out ahead, and sometimes it was Margaery, but it was always an interesting pairing. The one aspect that I thought was really well done in terms of Margaery's character and her development was that, she really wasn't much better than Cersei. She still manipulated others to climb her way up to the throne, but Margaery did with a smile and by forging alliances and friendships that could work for her, while Cersei did it by knocking down her enemies. And I do believe that, had Margaery lived, had Daenerys not decided to come to Westeros, had Cersei faded into the position of Queen Mother, Margaery wouldn't be much different a character to Cersei. Margaery was the "warm" Cersei, and in many ways, a better player. She knew how to cater to the people while still controlling end results to get things her way.
Her biggest mistake, and this is something that Natalie Dormer, the actress who played Margaery Tyrell, has stated, was that she gave her game over to the High Sparrow. Cersei endured her punishment, and by performing her walk of atonement, took back (at least a little bit) of her power. Margaery handed all of her cards over to the High Sparrow and let him go head to head Cersei instead.
In a quote from her interview with Harper's Bazaar, Natalie Dormer says:
"Margaery's been battling Cersei for the last however many years and she ends up dying on the show not because she didn't beat Cersei, but because she trusted that someone else—the Sparrow—was handling her. She had the reins taken away from her, from being in control of the situation; the High Sparrow took the reins and it proves that he underestimated Cersei in a way that Margaery never would have. There's a moment before Margaery and the High Sparrow die when they look at each other and Margaery realizes that Cersei has outplayed him and she's gonna die because of that. There's this moment that Jonathan Pryce gives as well; this look on his face when he realizes he's been outplayed by Cersei. Margaery is a fatality of the High Sparrow underestimating Cersei."
And that's why her death is so hard to accept. Had she kept control of her own game, she would have been safe, but she trusted another to battle against Cersei, and that gamble cost her her life.
Death is an inevitability in Game of Thrones. We've seen many deaths of the years of favourite characters, from most of the Starks, to Tywin Lannister's unfitting death, to poor Viserys Targaryen's and his golden crown, and my former favourite Renly Baratheon, who I still believe would've been the BEST king, because everyone loved him, except for Stannis, but like... Stannis. But everyone had their Game of Thrones deaths, and for me Margaery's death will always be one of the most shocking. I knew the High Sparrow was going to die, I knew Kevan Lannister was, from the books, but I never expected Margaery and Loras to go, and not in such a brutal way. They had their lives taken from them by, not only Cersei, but the High Sparrow, and it just shows how brutal and shocking this show can be.
I'll still watch the new seasons, I'll remain a fan to the end, but for me, it'll never be the same again knowing how horribly Margaery Tyrell died.