A longtime Game of Thrones actor was surprised to be killed off in Season 5

This past week, Entertainment Weekly was taken over by Game of Thrones. Said takeover included four “collectible” covers—for all those who love to amass magazine covers—on-set visits, tons of behind-the-scenes photos, and plenty of interviews. Among the tasty nuggets dropped within the 30-page cover story:

• Sean Bean used to walk around the set freaking people out with his prosthetic head.
• David Benioff and Dan Weiss still want to end the show after seven seasons. HBO executives want it to go on forever.
• There was an on-set argument over whether a shot could include a circumcised naked man, since circumcision probably wasn’t common in the medieval-esque world of Westeros.
• And more!

Something that hasn’t gotten as much attention is an interview with an unidentified actor that has interesting implications for the coming season. Here’s the full quote:

As they say on reality shows, eventually a person’s “journal ends”—like it will this season for one cast member (we’ll just call them “an actor”) who has been with the show for several years. In their trailer, Northern Ireland’s seemingly endless rain patters on the roof as this person puts a good face on their situation. They just shot their final Thrones scene. Their death will be as surprising to fans as it was to them.

“It proves you should probably not read the books,” the actor says. “I thought this season I was going to have more to do, and I was really looking forward to that. And then I got my dates from my agent and I thought, ‘That doesn’t tally.’ Because there was no way if they were sticking to the books I should be in it for that number of weeks. It seemed to me they must be writing me out. The showrunners rang me and told me, ‘Your time is up in the series.’ I’m disappointed but you have to accept that the demands of TV are different. I find myself being quite emotional about it. I’m going to miss it. Never mind being a professional, they’re very nice people.”

Obviously, Entertainment Weekly took pains not to reveal the identity of the actor, but it left clues. The actor’s final scene was filmed in Northern Ireland, the location of the sets for, among other places, Castle Black and Meereen. The actor was important enough to warrant a trailer, took the time to read the books, has been with the show for “several years,” and says things like “That doesn’t tally.” I’m not sure what that last one implies, but speculation over who might be making a premature exit has been rampant.

The list of characters this could apply to is a long one. Who do you think will be getting the axe?

• Published on 03/18/2015 at 11:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT