Other storylines include Bran Stark's group's having to separate, Jon Snow's loyalties being tested, and Daenerys Targaryen's plotting her invasion of the city of Yunkai.

The doors to the hall are then locked and a Lannister song, "The Rains of Castamere", begins to play, and Catelyn realizes that they have been betrayed by Roose Bolton and Walder.

"The Rains of Castamere" was written by executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on George R. R. Martin's original work from his novel A Storm of Swords.

[4] The episode includes one of the most important plot turns of the series: the betrayal and assassination of the Stark forces during a marriage ceremony in what came to be known as "The Red Wedding".

The event culminates in Roose Bolton delivering Jaime Lannister's message from "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", before killing Robb.

This tragic turn of events had a profound impact on Benioff and Weiss in their first read of the novels and it was the scene that convinced them to attempt to obtain the rights for a television series.

One of them was the 15th century historical event known as the "Black Dinner", where the Scottish king invited the chieftains of the powerful Clan Douglas to a feast at Edinburgh Castle.

[6] A black bull's head, the symbol of death, was served as the last course of the dinner while a single drum was playing in the background, and the Douglases were murdered.

Martin also said he killed off Robb because he believed the audience would assume that the story was about Ned Stark's heir avenging his death and wished to keep them guessing.

[6] Richard Madden suggested Talisa — whose counterpart Jeyne Westerling was not killed in the books — died so Robb's heir could not avenge his death.

Olympic Champion swimmer Daniel Wiffen and his twin brother Nathan (then aged 12) appeared in the background of the episode during the wedding and their sister Elizabeth played Neyela Frey.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The most unforgettable episode of Game of Thrones thus far, 'The Rains of Castamere' (or as it shall forever be known, 'The Red Wedding') packs a dramatic wallop that feels as exquisitely shocking as it does ultimately inevitable.

[12] IGN's Matt Fowler gave the episode a perfect 10/10, calling it "an exquisitely awful event that managed to out-do the unpredictable and horrifying death of Ned Stark back in Season 1".

[22] The episode was also notable for the intense and emotional response it received from viewers, many of whom were unaware of what was about to transpire and had reaction videos filmed by people who had read the book on which it was based.

This led to George R. R. Martin giving his personal analysis of the reactions, which he stated were on par with the responses he received from readers of A Storm of Swords.