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Who Killed Joffrey Baratheon? Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 2 Leaves Viewers With a Puzzling Whodunit

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When the credits rolled on the second episode of the fourth season of Game of Thrones, at first I shared the same thought as anyone else, "who killed King Joffrey?"

Though, I had a second thought immediately afterward: "who is getting married next?" George R.R. Martin, author of the "Game of Thrones" book series has made it clear that no one is safe at any point, especially not at a wedding.

The Red Wedding (you know, the brutal murder of Robb and Catelyn Stark) and the Purple Wedding (named after the color of Joffrey's face) are actually in the same book, but are separated into different season because of the TV show's structuring. Martin recently told Entertainment Weekly he wanted Joffrey's death to be a mystery, so let's have at it.

Tyrion Lannister has made it perfectly clear how much he hated his King nephew. The slap heard round King's Landing, the threats and the fact that his family despises him for his birth killing his mother do not help Tyrion's case. Martin said the murderer(s) intended to make Joffrey's death seem like an accident, but Cersei (Joffrey's mother) immediately accused Tyrion of poisoning the King. Joffrey did just make Tyrion his cupbearer to humiliate his uncle the imp and the King apparently drank poisoned wine.

However, Tyrion does not have much to gain from Joffrey's death, making him an unlikely murderer. Whoever the murderer was either intended to frame someone like Tryion or simply could not have accounted for him to handling Joffrey's cup.

Sansa Stark had more reason than anyone to want to watch Joffrey die a painful death. He murdered her father, mother and brother, bragged about it, put her through physical and emotional torture and threatened her repeatedly. When Joffrey dropped his cup and kicked it under the table to make Tyrion crawl and embarrass him further, Sansa picked up the chalice. Was she trying to spare her new husband, the one Lannister who has not tried to maker her life miserable? Or was she seizing an opportunity to drop untraceable poison into the King's cup?

While Sansa transfers the cup from one hand to another, she can be seen passing a hand over the top of the cup, then Tyrion peers into the cup when he takes it from her. This could also be intended misdirection on the parts of the filmmakers, but she had asked Tyrion if they could leave shortly before Joffrey's death and the fool can be seen urging Sansa to leave once the King began convulsing.

The Tyrells would not want Margery to marry a little monster like Joffrey, but they wanted Margery on the Throne nonetheless. Since the two had not consummated their relationship, the marriage can easily be voided. The Lannisters could easily throw Margery out of the capital and give the throne to one of their own until Joffrey's little brother comes of age. Still, I would not put it past that crafty old grandmother to have some agenda of her own.

Appearing in no more than a small handful of scenes in the first two episodes, Prince Oberyn has done nothing but stab, openly threaten and disrespect the Lannisters. He was nowhere near the table when Joffrey died. The King was drinking wine, everyone was drinking wine and no one else was poisoned, so as of now, it is apparent Joffrey's cup was tampered with in between drinks. It is possible that Oberyn paid someone to slip poison into Joffrey's cup because the Dornish prince would not care who stood accused, as long as no one suspected him. Still, how does someone go near the King's table without being questioned, seen or hear? You would also think that Oberyn would relish the opportunity to claim the death of a Lannister.

If it were anyone else (I've heard Tywin himself is not even outside the realm of possible murderers), they would have needed someone to execute it for them. Since so many characters hated Joffrey and his family, the whodunit is extremely unclear.

It is worth noting that everyone from castmates to the showrunners to Martin have praised Jack Gleeson for his portrayal of the series' best villain while remaining one of the kindest actors on set. His absence will be missed.

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