Meet Dave Goldblatt, New ‘Game of Thrones’ Character

By Anne Cohen June 11, 2014

How do you say Goldblatt in Dothraki?

When author George R.R. Martin, creator of the “Game of Thrones” series which led to the hit HBO show by the same name, announced that he would introduce a new character in one of his books thanks to a $20,000 charity auction prize, the Internet went wild.

Now, we know who the lucky winner is. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Dave Goldblatt. He’s a 30-year-old Jewish Facebook employee, and he’ll almost definitely die a truly gruesome and horrifying death.

“I’m just lucky enough to be in a position to do this,” Goldblatt said of the $20,000 prize. “Obviously, the money is going to charity, so it’s an added bonus. I didn’t immediately seek to help wolf sanctuaries, but the more I read about the charities, I learned it was a worthwhile cause.”

Martin’s project is raising money for Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with his wife, Parris. There were only two top-level “martyr” prizes available — one male, one female. The other winner has yet to be announced. The two winners will choose their “character’s station in the world (lordling, knight, peasant, whore, lady, maester, septon, anything) and you will certainly meet a grisly death!” the Prizeo website states.

Goldblatt will be a “Valyrian,” known for their almost-indestructible steel and crafstmanship. “You read some piece of fiction and for whatever reason you think one particular character or race is cool – and for whatever reason, I thought the Valyrians were cool,” Goldblatt said. “I’m hoping in future books we get to see more of them.”

Now, for the real question: What will his Westeros name be?

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

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