Facebook employee to face a gruesome demise in George RR Martin's Game of Thrones books

George R.R. Martin, author of the beloved “Song of Ice and Fire” series, auctioned off $20,000 for the chance to be brutally murdered in one of his future books.

Martin is a big supporter of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and The Food Depot in New Mexico. He and his wife, Paris, have especially been donating to the wolf sanctuary for a number of years, and they feel very strongly about giving these precious animals a comfortable, safe home. Martin is looking to improve the habitats of the wolves in the sanctuary even further, and to do so, he asked for some help from his fans on Prizeo.

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Fans can donate everywhere from $10 to $20,000 to the sanctuary and the food depot and receive a range of prizes based on the amount of money they donated, including personalized handwritten thank you notes, a script signed by the Game of Thrones cast, t-shirts, and one of Martin’s hats.

Upon auctioning off the big $20,000, fans were entered into a sweepstakes where they would be given the opportunity to be killed by Martin in a future “Song of Ice and Fire” novel. The winners even get to choose their character station — lord, prostitute, lady, peasant, knight, sexton, meister, anything — in the fantasy world.

One of the two incredibly lucky winners — or, you know, losers, maybe — has already been announced: David Goldblatt, a Facebook employee.

Golblatt’s name may not fit in as well with names like Ygrette or Daenerys, but we’re sure Martin and his creative genius will make it work.

Goldblatt told Hollywood Reporter, “I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to do this cool thing, and it’s going toward a good cause — I don’t think I’m doing anything extraordinary.” Goldblatt insists that he would love to be a “Valyrian if at all possible, but [Martin] figures it out himself. I wouldn’t want to impinge upon his creative process.”

Martin is known for creating some violently memorable Game of Thrones deaths. And while it might seem like he just carelessly kills off our favorite characters without regard and cackles evilly in his writer’s chair after doing so, Martin actually feels pretty sad about it.

“Despite my sinister repute, I actually find it hard to kill off characters that I’ve been writing about for some time. Good guys or bad guys, they’re all my children.”

This time, though, he promises to make these victims’ deaths relatively peaceful. “The slaughter should be easy,” Martin says, “since the victims will be laying down their lives in a good cause.” Only George R. R. Martin could make a connection between donating to charity and getting killed without making it super weird.

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According to Hollywood Reporter, the campaign has already raised over $350,000, well over Martin’s original $200,000 goal. Martin is ecstatic.

“We have already met and exceeded our original goals, and the donations are still pouring in. Every gift, large or small, is much appreciated, and will help feed hungry people and provide shelter, habitats, and care for the wolves and wolf-dogs at Wild Spirit.”

If you’re not one of the two lucky murder victims, don’t fret. Many of these prizes are still available if you make a donation to Martin’s cause, and everybody who enters is eligible for another top prize of a dinner and helicopter ride to the sanctuary with Martin himself. And, when you make a donation, you can delight in the fact that you’re contributing to one of Martin’s ultimate goals: beating One Direction and Justin Bieber as the highest grossing Prizeo campaign ever.

Teeny weeny pop stars versus a man who created an entire elaborate universe based solely off of his imagination? There’s no competition. After all, as Martin said, “It is good to be the king. Of course, no man sits easy on the Iron Throne.”

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