‘Game of Thrones’ season 6, episode 10: Is Natalie Dormer’s Margaery Tyrell really gone?

Tonight, “Game of Thrones” of course delivered a wide array of surprises (after all, it was the finale), but maybe the biggest one had to be the death of a longtime favorite character, one that we never saw coming given that we always thought she was a step ahead.

Of course, we are speaking here about Margaery Tyrell, who, alongside her brother Loras, was in King’s Landing when Cersei’s plan to unleash wildfire proved to be a success. This was fairly heartbreaking to many, especially since we had almost assumed she could rule at the end of this.

Yet, is it really the end of her character? For the time being we are assuming so, but we do have to comment on the fact that we never saw a body here. Then again, you could say the same for Loras or anyone else. The real reason to think that we saw the end of Margaery is just because it would be hard to explain her surviving if everyone else is dead, unless somehow Melisandre wanders in here and feels like reviving someone else … and she doesn’t have much connection to House Tyrell.

If this is the end, major kudos to Natalie Dormer on what was a remarkable performance tonight from start to finish, and one packed with humility, emotion, and strategy. One of the reasons the character was so well-liked is because she was so cerebral, and didn’t resort to brutality much in the way that a variety of other people did over the course of the series’ run.

Time will tell here if there is a chance she’s back; just don’t count on it.

Update: Based on an interview Dormer gave to Entertainment Weekly, it does seem like Margaery is gone. Then again, Kit Harington said the same thing. (Kidding. We think she’s gone.)

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