Dear 'Game of Thrones': It's Time to Let the Direwolves Fuck Shit Up
There's a very easy solution to the Ramsay problem: Let the dogs out.
Ramsay Bolton is the worst part of Game of Thrones; it is known. He’s evil in a way that is repetitive, and he drags down an otherwise strong story. Luckily, there is a very easy solution. Release the hounds. Literally. Let the Direwolves kick ass and take names for the Starks the way they were born to. Inverse’s resident Game of Thrones maesters size up the situation.
Lauren: Ghost is the only direwolf we see on a regular basis. These days, more often than not, he’s simply sitting by Jon’s side, looking badass but otherwise not doing much. It’s easy to forget their almost mystical significance. When the Starks first discovered the direwolves in Season 1, it was the first direwolf sighting south of The Wall in hundreds of years. It was a big deal! And for a time, the show treated it as such, giving special attention to each Stark’s bond with their wolves.
Remember in Season 1, when Bran’s wolf Summer saved him and Catelyn from the Lannister assassin’s post window-shove?
Or what about that time in Season 1 when Arya’s wolf Nymeria attacks Joffrey to defend her? Arya chased her away to save her from Cersei’s wrath, Sansa’s wolf Lady was executed in her place, and nobody won. It was tears all around. Whether or not they’re with their Stark, Direwolves were — and still are — a huge part of their identities.
Corban: The show has spent more time butchering the wolves than letting them go HAM. We’re worse off for it, as fans of the show and as people. This show has had five Direwolves and three dragons in the mix, and they haven’t really done anything with them. During the Red Wedding scene in the show, a bunch of Frey men shoot Grey Wind when he’s all tethered up in his crate, but in the books — I’ve read the books, guys, and I’m not afraid to bring it up as a a device to make me look hot and smart — he eviscerates a bunch of Frey hounds and even rips a dude’s arm off, all while getting plugged with crossbow arrows. Instead of letting Gray Wind die in a sweet way befitting a sweet mythical beast, they kill him off like the proverbial dog in the street. Ditto the all-black, sweet-looking Shaggy Dog. It’s fucked up.
We’re about to hit the GoT home stretch, and there’s a lot of speculation that they’ll let the iced-out direwolf Ghost go apeshit in the Battle of the Bastards. Here’s hoping Ghost gets his vengeance in a way that’s not overly cute — I’m wary of the whole “Ramsay kills people with dogs, so a dog should kill Ramsay!” because it’s not a clever way to kill off the evil guy who is so evil that his evil has somehow gotten boring. I want my dude to shine and lock up that Ghost spin-off series.
Diggity diggity damn! In conclusion, let the throat-ripping begin!
Lauren: We know Ghost has it in him to do some serious damage. Remember that time in Season 5 when he saved Sam and Gilly from the would-be rapists of the Night’s Watch?
The show hasn’t forgotten about Ghost — he was, after all, the first to realize his master returned from the dead. But it also hasn’t done much with him in far too long. There are signs this will change. After all, the final Song of Ice and Fire book is slotted to be called A Dream of Spring — but its original title was A Time for Wolves. Either Martin changed his mind about involving the wolves more, or he was afraid that title was too on the nose.
Either way, GoT has free reign now that it’s moving beyond the books and getting its shit together faster than Martin. So please, Game of Thrones — you haven’t delivered on making Jon a delightful dick post-death, but for the love of The North, let the direwolves fuck some shit up. Because whether Martin changed his mind or not, it’s time for some fucking ‘wolves.
