Death is the Enemy

"Game of Thrones" has long been my favorite show on TV. It's daring, it's built a fascinating world, and I've come to be deeply invested in the characters. But I readily acknowledge it doesn't align with my worldview.

Sometimes, as in Sundays episode, it keeps me thinking about exchanges and interactions for long periods after they're over. One such circumstance was Sunday, as Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) and Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), had a conversation about the real enemy.

For the past two seasons, we've seen Jon struggle. Some have suggested that Jon is depressed. Maybe that's true. But I also feel like Jon is lost. He doesn't understand. He did what he thought was good and what he thought was right. And he was killed for it. Then he was brought back by something he doesn't understand, and seemingly forced to keep fighting.

In some ways, it was beautifully beneficial for Jon to run across Beric, a man who'd also been brought back — six times. And their exchange was similarly fascinating.

Beric Dondarrion: I'm not fighting so some man or woman I barely know can sit on a throne made of swords.

Jon Snow: So, what are you fighting for?

Beric Dondarrion: Life. Death is the enemy. The first enemy and the last.

Jon Snow: But we all die.

Beric Dondarrion: The enemy always wins. And we still need to fight him. That's all I know.

Death is the enemy, both in the world of "Game of Thrones" and in our lives, but our perspectives are different. More on that in a minute. The other fascinating part of the exchange is Jon fretting that he's stuck always fighting and it brings him no joy or no peace. The exhortation is that he's fighting for others, and that the joy and peace that eludes him is something he may furnish for others. He's helping create a better world, but one he doesn't feel a part of.

One of my favorite movies is "Serenity," which was a spin-off of the show "Firefly." One of the most fascinating characters is the Operative, who brutally hunts our heroes for the Government. At one point Captain Malcolm Reynolds asks him why, which leads to this exchange:

The Operative: It's not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?

The Operative: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there... any more than there is for you. Malcolm... I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.

Sometimes I feel like that's a good summation of Jon. He's seen so many friends and allies fall, men and women he called friends and allies. Yet he's remained, and he's remained committed to his cause. He wants to safeguard the future for everyone, and he wears that responsibility like a millstone around his neck. But he doesn't seem to have great hope that it's a world he'll get to enjoy. In fact, he's quick to self-sacrifice for the cause.

And that brings me back to Jon's exchange with Beric. Death is the enemy, and one that must be fought. But when Beric notes that the enemy always wins, while it sounds good and might be enough to keep Jon going, it's not exactly hope giving or life affirming. The take away is that evil wins in the end, no matter how hard we fight. That, naturally, is quite depressing.

In "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Frodo (Elijah Wood) feels a similar deflation at the prospect of his task to safeguard the world from evil. But Gandolf (Ian McKellen) gives him some wisdom on the fight that sounds similar to Beric, but with a key difference.

Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.

There are forces at work beside the will of evil, and in fact they are stronger. That is the difference, in some ways, between George R.R. Martin, who penned "Game of Thrones," and J.R.R. Tolkien, who penned "Lord of the Rings." Tolkien, a Christian, knew that death is our enemy, but would not get the upper hand.

Jesus told us as much.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33

Death is the enemy. We must fight him. But the enemy will not win.