Curtain Call: Dominic Carter

“I’m afraid. I have always been afraid.” – Janos Slynt

Whoever said “in vino veritas” never had their head on a chopping block in the bitter cold with a Valyrian steel blade about to slice through their neck. Those circumstances finally dragged the truth out of Janos Slynt, a moment of pathos granted to one of the most banally evil characters in the series. What could have inspired all of Ser Janos’ self-serving choices, other than fear?

Dominic Carter was first cast as Slynt back in 2010 following a length TV career that included recurring roles on British series like Coronation Street and Drop Dead Gorgeous. On Thrones, he appeared in every season but the third. When we first met him, Carter was portraying the commander of the City Watch (the Gold Cloaks), a jumped-up butcher’s boy, loyal to anyone and everyone who would grant him any measure of power to get away from that life. Everyone knew he was corrupt, but few cared. Carter played that blustering self-made man with red-faced aplomb, able to pledge loyalty to a person one second (“We’re with you, Lord Stark!”) and then kill that person the next.

In Season 2, Tyrion banished Slynt to the Wall, somewhere he wouldn’t make trouble, the irony being that Slynt made plenty of trouble once he arrived. Carter expertly played a man who had once been a pawn in the Lannister’s game, determined to use all that “knowledge” to keep himself high and mighty at the Wall. He had all the outward swagger of the insecure school yard bully, insisting that by claiming the title “Lord Janos,” he should go right to the top of the pecking order. And though most of his time was spent sitting next to Ser Alliser—a man who came from a noble House and had actually earned his title—Carter’s twitching side-eyes and glances always spoke of a man who was nervously waiting to be called out, and ready to accuse someone else before he could be accused.

Of course, Carter’s best moment came last year, when Slynt was thrown into command of the Wall during the Battle for Castle Black, only to fail, hard, and give in to total terror. He had to comically be relived of duty so he could go hide in a storage room. Although all those scenes were played for levity in a serious battle episode, Carter made sure to run them through with the truth of the situation: he was afraid.

Like all his choices, including the one to defy Snow and lose his head, Slynt had always been afraid. And Carter always made us feel the underlying fear that drives the evil in men. It was almost enough to wish that Jon would show mercy. But of course, he’d closed that door.

• Published on 04/28/2015 at 12:30 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT