Failure to Breathe Death by drowning seems to have special magic. As I start to look at it again, there are indications that drowning, hanging and poisoning by The Strangler may be in the same or similar categories of death: they are all throat- and breath-related. I wonder whether Khal Drogo being suffocated by a pillow also falls into this category? Beheading and throat-cutting are also throat-related. I haven't looked at those in conjunction with drowning (except maybe for Catelyn),