The Magic of Drowning, Revisited.
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),
Tyrion Drowning in the Green Fork
Before I get into the "breathing through a reed" stuff, I want to note some parallels between Tyrion at the Green Fork (AGoT, Chap. 62, Tyrion XIII) and Jon Snow at the Fist (Clash, Chap. 34, Jon IV), as described in the previous post. I think Tyrion may be "the boy who is spared/drowned" in this battle scene, as Jon Snow may have been ritually drowned/spared in the scene at the Fist.
One moment Jon was striding beneath the trees whistling and shouting