Like many local news portals, blogs and websites our thoughts have of late been dominated by a truly shocking and unexpected development. A turn of events so dark and twisted it brought many of us together in shared outrage. Some of us chose to go offline for a day in solidarity. Others gathered publicly to express their anger. Together, we vowed never to let our guard down again.

Amidst the talk of false assurances, of bonds that might be forfeit, of swords being dangled perilously over heads, it was the sheer suddenness with which our hopes were shattered that hit us hardest. None of us saw this coming. All of us thought we’d seen enough positive developments of late to stoke happier expectations for the future. And yet in one fell swoop—with one brutal, bloody, tyrannical flourish of the pen— the powers that be have dashed those dreams, leaving us ever-fearful for what comes next, reluctant to trust, devoid of hope.

We refer, of course, to the recent “Red Wedding” scene in popular HBO drama Game of Thrones. What—by the old gods and the new, and the balls of George R.R. Martin—WTF kind of madness was this? We haven’t seen so much blood spilled since the early days of E.R. Haven’t been so blindsided by a plot development since Carlton rocked out to Tom Jones on the Fresh Prince.

We won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it yet—but if you really want to know what happens you can, of course, just go look it up on the internet. They’re talking about it right now on all the blogs and all the websites—all those platforms of free speech and spirited dissent; places where everyone is at liberty to express what they want without fear of reprisal or suppression or a volley of arrows from a Frey bannerman. Go read about it now! For truly, the night is dark and full of terrors.