Are Fake Deaths Becoming Too Popular Of A Trend?

Warning: The following article is loaded with death and fake death spoilers from pretty much [...]

Fake Deaths

Warning: The following article is loaded with death and fake death spoilers from pretty much everything.

"Dead is dead," said Benjamin Linus in a 2009 episode of LOST - a show which brought more than one of its fan-favorite characters back to life after being presumably dead - following a trend which is still very much alive.

A couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves comparing cliffhangers between Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead's most recent season finales.

Game of Thrones saw the deceitful, heartbreaking, and infuriating death of Jon Snow in the cold snow at Castle Black and The Walking Dead didn't see a death but confirmed it was there.. For months, we were asking, "is Jon Snow really dead?" Then the question turned to, "Who did Negan kill?"

Well, we have one of those answers, but with it is coming a bit of fatigue.

In Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow was resurrected. Sorry, if that was a spoiler, but if you're on the internet, you must know that by now (and there was a warning up top). With one big gasp, one of the most heartbreaking, frustrating deaths in Game of Thrones' history was undone.

By comparison, people are far less frustrated with Jon Snow's temporary death than Glenn Rhee's from The Walking Dead's sixth season. In its first half Glenn took a dumpster dive with the cowardly Nicholas on top of him. All signs and evidence concluded that Glenn was devoured by zombies with none of Alexandria ever to know his exact fate. However, after weeks of trickery (removing Steven Yeun's name from the credits, for one) from The Walking Dead's production team and silence from its cast, it was revealed that Glenn climbed under the dumpster and escaped one of the most massive zombie hordes the show had ever seen.

With the the fake death trend, one emphasized by Marvel's Agent Coulson following his Avengers transition to S.H.I.E.L.D. (and his good buddy Nick Fury in The Winter Soldier), comes a lot of frustration from fans. By the time both Jon Snow and Glenn Rhee were revealed to have pulses, many fans predicted exactly how we would see them again. In Game of Thrones case, the response seems like one of relief. For The Walking Dead, it sounds like fatigue.

As the shows which are heavily built on character deaths get deeper into their dramatic runs, fans become more and more attached to the few characters who remain from their early seasons. Neither have very many to choose from and Thrones' few options aren't particularly enticing aside from Snow (seriously, are the Stark girls your favorite characters?).

So, with Jon Snow and Glenn Rhee both surviving their apparent deaths, are you feeling a little bit cheated by the showrunners of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead? It seems as if both methods worked in the showrunners' favors despite the common comment section where a fan claims to be boycotting. You could have walked up to a stranger at a Starbucks and asked them if they thought Jon Snow was dead and had instant conversation materials and today you can probably ask, "Who do you think Negan killed?" and at the very least you'll get a response like, "Is that the guy on The Walking Dead? I don't watch that show but my friends do."

Other shows, ones which pull in smaller audiences than The Walking Dead and Thrones have pulled similar stunts. Ask Arrow fans about fakeout deaths and they'll school you compared the aforementioned moments. Lots of fans largely expect Quicksilver to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe despite getting lit up like a Christmas Tree in Age of Ultron. Whether they're real or not, fake deaths stir up the conversation and get the viewership to rise.

Are you starting to feel a bit of fatigue with fake deaths in so many movies and TV shows?

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