As members of a feudal society with a fixation on martial prowess, most Game of Thrones characters aren’t exactly bookish. With the exception of maesters and Tyrion Lannister, not many people in Westeros are plopping down on their divans with slim volumes of Valyrian poetry. But there are still a few books of importance in the pages of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, like The Conquest of Dorne by Daeron I Targaryen or The Red Book, which chronicles the storied history of the fighting pits of Meereen. And then there’s two of the most important books guiding major civic institutions of Westeros, The Book of the Brothers and The Seven-Pointed Star . But do either have anything to do with the newly revealed title of Game of Thrones Season 6 episode 4, “Book of The Stranger”?
The Seven-Pointed Star is the main text of Westeros’ dominant religion, the Faith of the Seven. It is divided into sections, one for each of the seven aspects of god. So while there is no Book of the Stranger bound as a single text, there is a portion of The Seven-Pointed Star that could be considered the Book of the Stranger.
The Stranger is the god of death and the unknown. While other facets of the Seven, such as the Mother, the Father and the Maiden, are often appealed to by worshippers, it is rare to pray to the Stranger. To do so is dangerous, a desperate flirtation with death. “ Any god in a storm,” Cersei thinks to herself as she prays to the Stranger during her imprisonment by the Sparrows.
The title for the upcoming Game of Thrones episode likely signals the end to the High Sparrow’s reign at the top of the religious hierarchy of Westeros. The Stranger comes for even the gods’ most pious servants. And whether the High Sparrow dies at the hands of Jaime, Ser Robert Strong, or Tommen’s troops, the outcome is the same.
The episode title is also evocative of The Book of the Brothers, in which the Kingsguard records the deeds of all its members (both good and ill). It seems likely that Game of Thrones Season 6 episode 4 will see the High Sparrow reflecting on his life and the legacy of his religious reign of terror in King’s Landing, perhaps with the full knowledge that his death is imminent.
