After watching Game of Thrones for the 6th year (time surely flies), I should have been immune to the writer's habit to kill off characters. After all, Valar Morghulis, right?

But the latest episode really brings a serious impact because they killed Hodor, the loyal innocent man who serves the house of Stark since childhood. RIP, Hodor. 

Hmm, wait. In the first place, they are not even real. And yet, I'm so affected when Hodor get killed. Why do we care so much about TV characters, after all?

1. A mean to get out of real world

The fiction world seems like a good escape from the reality of life which kinda pressure our brain to keep on thinking rationally. Zombies, monsters, heroic characters, they make the "other world" seems so real and transport us, the viewers, to the same dimension. While we are enjoying the exploration of these "other world" via the characters' interaction, before we know it, we start to care from them. 

2. Getting caught up in the narrative

Everyone loves a good story. The reason I grow up playing an Role-Playing-Game (RPG) is because I love the game storyline especially the one with the setting that you-are-ordinary-at-the-beginning-but-you-eventually-can-save-the-world (by levelling up, I guess) or you-just-try-to-survive-actually. The narrative at some TV series (e.g. Game of Thrones, Walking Dead) works pretty similar to these games and if in the game, you do all things to level up your favourite character, in the TV, you do all things to research on the background story of your favourite character and get emotional when the character got killed. Yes, all of these irrational actions despite our logic. I do that too, I admit. 

3. Against the moral

Why do some people pursue the matter further until they lodge a protest when their favourite character receives unfavorable treatment or even ending? A strong reaction is expected, even in real life, when something does seem to be injustice. We demand a fair outcome even though we know that in reality, life's never fair. I guess that's a good thing? At least, our moral is still intact in this crazy world.