--- ---  # A Facebook Employee Gets to Die in _Game of Thrones_ by [Stephanie Burnett](https://time.com/author/stephanie-burnett/) ## Stephanie Burnett Jun 12, 2014 10:10 AM UTC  Writer George R.R. Martin speaks onstage during the "Game Of Thrones" panel during Comic-Con International 2013 at the San Diego Convention Center. Writer George R.R. Martin speaks onstage during the "Game Of Thrones" panel during Comic-Con International 2013 at the San Diego Convention Center.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Stephanie Burnett](https://time.com/author/stephanie-burnett/) ## Stephanie Burnett Jun 12, 2014 10:10 AM UTC Facebook just has to win at everything. A Facebook employee was awarded the honor of being killed off in George R.R. Martin’s next novel in the _A Song of Ice and Fire_ book series. Dave Goldblatt, a 30-year-old from San Francisco, was awarded martyr rights as the winner of the _Game of Thrones_ author’s $20,000 charity auction prize. The [Prizeo](http://www.prizeo.com/prizes/georgerrmartin/a-wolf-sanctuary-tour-and-helicopter-ride) campaign was part of Martin’s efforts to raise money for both the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Goldblatt chose to be a Valryian, a race commonly known for its purple eyes and platinum white hair. When asked by [ABC](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/game-thrones-character-named-dave-goldblatt/story?id=24093699) why he chose Valyria, he replied, “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. I’m hoping in future books we get to see more of them.” Besides Goldblatt, another winner — a woman — was chosen to meet a fictional gruesome end, but the woman decided to remain anonymous. Game of Thrones: Facebook Employee Gets to Die ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2863232/a-facebook-employee-gets-to-die-in-game-of-thrones/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2863232/a-facebook-employee-gets-to-die-in-game-of-thrones/"},"headline":"A Facebook Employee Gets to Die in Game of Thrones","datePublished":"2014-06-12T10:10:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:22:33.868Z","description":"The character Dave Goldblatt will be introduced — and then killed off — in the next Game of Thrones novel","url":"https://time.com/2863232/a-facebook-employee-gets-to-die-in-game-of-thrones/","keywords":["Books","game of thrones","George R.R. Martin","Culture","A Song of Ice and Fire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a09ed53a504d0b8/6986973e36176019f390c937/george-rr-marin_12-jun.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Burnett","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-burnett/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a09ed53a504d0b8/6986973e36176019f390c937/george-rr-marin_12-jun.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Game Of Thrones\" Panel - Comic-Con International 2013","caption":"\"Game Of Thrones\" Panel - Comic-Con International 2013","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2863232/a-facebook-employee-gets-to-die-in-game-of-thrones/","name":"A Facebook Employee Gets to Die in Game of Thrones"}}]}] ```