The article dates to December of 2015, so the Game of Thrones comparison may be out of date: at that time, there were only 50 episodes of Game of Thrones. Now with 73 episodes and some more yet to come, I would guess Game of Thrones is way out in front of the Bard.
Meanwhile, if you are looking for a way to have some character in one of your stories "shuffle off this mortal coil," perhaps you will get some ideas here: