Question about Catelyn's fate in "A Song of Ice and Fire"

Question

I was reading this answer to a question What is Petyr Baelish's Endgame with Sansa?

Now in it they mention

"With Catelyn dead (or undead, as it turns out)"

Now I don't recollect any where from the books that it mentions

she is undead

Can someone please clarify this for me?

(I have read all the books and watch the TV series, but please put spoiler tags in for other people)

So you don't remember how Ser Beric Dondarrion died ? How he gave up his regenerating powers to revive Catelyn that was washed up by the river, because he felt guilty letting Arya slip away ? — yondaime008, Jan 22 '15 at 08:48
By the way, you won't be seeing much of this in the series. They decided to drop this arc all together. Such a bad decision if you ask me. — yondaime008, Jan 22 '15 at 08:51
@curiousdannii if it is in that part of the series then that explains my fuzzy memory it was 14 years ago — Dreamwalker, Jan 22 '15 at 08:55
@yondaime008 no I don't remember that part, hence the question — Dreamwalker, Jan 22 '15 at 08:55
@yondaime008 They dropped it altogether? I remember reading they dropped from last season, not necessarily from the show. Though maybe I'm wrong. It should be noted in the books this arc hasn't panned out yet; maybe it's a subtle hint GRRM didn't intend it to lead to anything (like it has happened to other subplots already!). — Andres F., Jan 22 '15 at 16:29
@Dreamwalker I've changed the title so that it refers to Cat's fate. This way, people who don't want to read spoilers will avoid clicking this question. — Andres F., Jan 22 '15 at 16:33
Michelle Fairley spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her character's demise on "24: Live Another Day," and she confirmed that Catelyn's Red Wedding death is her final one.
"The character's dead," Fairley says. "She's dead."

Source: http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/game_of_thrones_no_lady_stoneheart_michelle_fairley-2014-06 — yondaime008, Jan 22 '15 at 16:35
@AndresF. apparently there was issues with the actress. And after all, the arc even in the books doesn't have major effects on how things are going. GRRM changes the books according to the series it is known. — yondaime008, Jan 22 '15 at 16:37
@yondaime008 Agreed: Cat's ultimate fate seems to be irrelevant in the books. Possibly her only influence is on Brienne's fate, but that can be easily rewritten for another character. I'm all for cutting cruft from the TV show; if you want dead-end characters, you can always read the books :) — Andres F., Jan 22 '15 at 16:38
@yondaime008 Yup. Ok, Brienne and Jaime. I forgot about Jaime :P I still think Cat's character can be re-written to be someone else, acting out of different motives. Maybe not "easily" as I said, but it can be done :) — Andres F., Jan 22 '15 at 17:16
@AndresF. Yes it can, apparently Benioff and Weiss saw otherwise and decided to not do it entirely, because they have trouble fitting one chapter per season anyway, they're way behind now. — yondaime008, Jan 22 '15 at 18:22

Misha R · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-22T13:31:33.067

13

In A Feast for Crows, almost at the end, chapter titled Brienne (page 897, if you have one of the small paperbacks):

She captures Brienne and hangs her after the Red Wedding. It is, so far, the last we know of what happens to Catelyn.

Whether that qualifies Catelyn as undead or not depends on what one means by "undead." If "undead" means she is a mindless zombie similar to those raised by the White Walkers, then probably not. If, however, it is something more akin to Beric Dondarrion, then yes.

That said, as Beric puts it, you lose something every time you are brought back. Dying and coming back as a lesser version of oneself could fairly safely be described as being undead.

Check out the very last chapter in A Storm of Swords as well.

edited Jan 22 '15 at 13:31

answered Jan 22 '15 at 08:52

Misha R

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Just add some spoiler tags all over the answer, there are major spoilers here ! – yondaime008 Jan 22 '15 at 09:04
Spoilers?? For a book series that is old (started back in the '90es)?? why would you open this question if you didn't know the answer? and if you were just curious then you aren't a SPOILERALERT freak. – Cherubel Jan 22 '15 at 11:22
@Cherubel there will be people who haven't read the series like for instance I haven't read a lot of older (pre 70's) sci-fi so I avoid any questions related to them is I can. – Dreamwalker Jan 22 '15 at 11:52
Thanks Misha I obviously could do with a re-read I am starting to forget things! – Dreamwalker Jan 22 '15 at 11:53
We see Brienne in ADWD when she visits Jaime in his camp and she says he has to follow her to rescue Sansa, or else the Hound will kill her. Later we learn that he has "disappeared". Also, Brienne was hanged in AFFC, not ASOS. – TLP Jan 22 '15 at 12:27
@TLP Hey you're right! Merett is the one in this chapter. I didn't even remember this part, but there he is. Let's see if I can find the right chapter. Oi, wish my books were digital :) – Misha R Jan 22 '15 at 13:15
@Dreamwalker don't feel too bad, it looks like I could use a re-reading too. I changed the answer a little - it wasn't entirely correct before. – Misha R Jan 22 '15 at 13:26
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@yondaime008 I changed the title of the question to help people avoid spoilers. I think that spoilers in the question's body, as well as the answers, are more or less unavoidable. – Andres F. Jan 22 '15 at 16:34
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She may not be like the Walker zombies, but she didn't come fully back like Beric, either. There was something about her being in the water too long or being drained of all blood (don't remember). She basically had one foot in the world, one in the grave. – Omegacron Jan 22 '15 at 18:07
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@Omegacron True. She wasn't mindless, but I don't think she could speak. Probably some other stuff too. Vocal cords cut, or yeah, water damage or something. I was mainly talking about whether the way she came back makes her undead. The damage to her body wasn't because of the way she returned. – Misha R Jan 22 '15 at 18:24
Lol, "one of those small paperbacks" <-- I'd hardly call them small :p – Möoz Feb 11 '16 at 23:45

TheLethalCarrot · Answer 2 · 2018-03-06T14:30:34.197

She was "resurrected" by Lord Beric Dondarrion after the Brotherhood without Banners found her in a river when she was dead for three days. She rose again as Lady Stoneheart.

Her face, Brienne thought. Her face was so strong and handsome, her skin so smooth and soft. "Lady Catelyn?" Tears filled her eyes. "They said... they said that you were dead."
"She is," said Thoros of Myr. "The Freys slashed her throat from ear to ear. When we found her by the river she was three days dead. Harwin begged me to give her the kiss of life, but it had been too long. I would not do it, so Lord Beric put his lips to hers instead, and the flame of life passed from him to her. And... she rose. May the Lord of Light protect us. She rose."
_{A Feast for Crows, Brienne VIII}

As for whether she is undead the answer would appear to be yes as George R. R. Martin explains in an interview.

In my version of the story, Catelyn Stark is re-imbued with a kind of life and becomes this vengeful wight who galvanizes a group of people around her and is trying to exact her revenge on the riverlands.
...
Right. And poor Beric Dondarrion, who was set up as the foreshadowing of all this, every time he’s a little less Beric. His memories are fading, he’s got all these scars, he’s becoming more and more physically hideous, because he’s not a living human being anymore. His heart isn’t beating, his blood isn’t flowing in his veins, he’s a wight, but a wight animated by fire instead of by ice, now we’re getting back to the whole fire and ice thing.
_{Time, George R. R. Martin on the One Game of Thrones Change He 'Argued Against}

Question about Catelyn's fate in "A Song of Ice and Fire"

2 Answers2