Here’s What Inspired ‘Game of Thrones’ Famous ‘Red Wedding’ Massacre

08/31/2017 03:41 pm EDT

HBO's critically acclaimed series, Game of Thrones is no stranger to death and as the seasons progress, they have been getting bloodier and more gruesome by the second.

But in the show's third season, audiences did not expect to witness one of the more shocking deaths in the episode, "The Rains of Castamere," more popularly known as "The Red Wedding."

Audiences will recall it was a scene that would curdle even the strongest of stomachs as Catelyn Stark was forced to watch her son, Robb Stark, his wife and hundreds of Northmen die by the hands of Walder Frey and the Lannisters before Black Walder slit her throat.

But while it seems like a brutal slaughter concocted by the mind of author, George R.R. Martin, the bloodbath was actually inspired by historical events in Scotland during the 1400s.

While fans accused Martin of going too far with the scene, the author told Entertainment Weekly that the "Red Wedding" was based on a real dinner that took place called the "Black Dinner" during the reign of King James II, just 10 years old at the time.

In 1440, 16-year-old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother were invited to dine with the ten-year-old King James II of Scotland. With the event organized by Lord Chancellor, Sir William Crichton, Martin says it was a deceitful dining experience to overthrow the Douglases, who became powerful by the early 15th century.

"The king of Scotland was fighting the Black Douglas clan. He reached out to make peace. He offered the young Earl of Douglas safe passage [and] he came to Edinburgh Castle [for] a great feast," Martin told Entertainment Weekly. "Then at the end of the feast, [the king's men] started pounding on a single drum. They brought out a covered plate and put it in front of the Earl and revealed it was the head of a black boar — the symbol of death."

He goes on to share that as soon as the king saw it, he knew what it meant. Following the incident, King James' men dragged the Earl and his followers out of the castle and put them to death in the courtyard after a mock trial, with the verdict announced by King James II. The Lord Chancellor was said to be behind the attempt, along with two others.

However, Martin adds that while the "Black Dinner" inspired the "Red Wedding," one of the more larger instances was the Glencoe Massacre.

"Clan MacDonald stayed with the Campbell clan overnight and the laws of hospitality supposedly applied. But the Campbells arose and started butchering every MacDonald they could get their hands on," he said.

Martin adds, "No matter how much I make up, there's stuff in history that's just as bad, or worse."

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