“All the pieces fit” in final Game of Thrones season, promises Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

10 705 - King's Landing - Jaime, Cersei 1

With the eighth season of Game of Thrones slowly approaching (probably just… about half a year left, folks!), a few actors have begun to tease the final part of this story more explicitly. In a new interview, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is the latest to do so, promising that the “massive jigsaw puzzle” that is Game of Thrones will make sense in the end. Phew!

“I read it, and I wrote [showrunners] Dan and David and said I don’t think they could have done a better job,” Coster-Waldau reveals to The Wrap, concerning season eight. “I’ve spent so many years working on this and been guessing and trying to figure out how this will end, and when I read it, some of the parts of it I’d get, and other parts of it were just completely shocking and surprising. And it wasn’t [like] those horrible [shows] where it’s a murder mystery and at the very last minute you find out it doesn’t make sense,” the actor clarifies. “Here all the pieces fit into this massive jigsaw puzzle.”

Of course, he doesn’t put any of these spoilery pieces together for us, but he does talk about what went on behind the scenes: “It’s been wonderful to do this last season. Almost all of it was shot in Belfast, so that means even though you haven’t been in the same scenes with [the entire cast], you’ve seen a lot more people,” so there were “a lot of parties and get-togethers”, some of which we reported on throughout this summer.

As for Jaime and his—to say the least—tumultous relationship with his sister Cersei, Nikolaj gives us a rundown of where we left his character: “He thought he finally had her complete trust, and the fact that she revealed she’d made quite different plans with Greyjoy, that Qyburn is now her closest ally — I think it shocked him … They have a future, potentially another shot at having a child, and she’s willing to risk everything for something that just doesn’t make sense to him. And on top of that, they just gave their word to the world, to everyone … And I think he sees her for a second the way the rest of the world sees her. And it shocked him. [There’s] also the fact that for a second she seemed as if she was ready to have the Mountain kill him — I think it broke his heart.”

Jaime Lannister spear The Spoils of War

script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js">

90 Comments

  1. Probably just half a year away? Are we looking at a potential mid February premiere? Superbowl is February the 3rd so anytime after that.

    The cast have been very vague when asked anything about Season 8, which is ok because I want to avoid spoilers. It’s going to be very dry until we get a trailer or hopefully a couple shots in HBO’s year end video they put out every December.

  2. Jack Bauer 24,

    Well, I meant “half a year” as in “about half a year”, not exactly “six months”. I’d expect the show to return to its traditional March-April slot, or very early in the Summer. February seems to soon, but who knows!

  3. So, some things were surprising to him and some not so much, but at the same time everything makes sense and all the pieces fit in the puzzle. Hmm… I suppose that’s good to know. It would suck pretty hard if the ending is nonsensical and/or leaves pieces out (unfinished storylines). I reckon that means Daenerys and Jon don’t transform into dragons and fly away at the end. 😛

  4. Loved that sentence

    “And I think he sees her for a second the way the rest of the world sees her”

    Everything Olenna told him in 703 makes sense to him in that final moment.

  5. It will be EPIC to see what happens with Jamie, Queen Cercie and Queen Daenerys… The War of the Two Queens

    I predict Queen Cercie will pay Bronn more gold that Tyrion will.
    And Bronn loves Gold! Season 2 foreshadowing

    I’d like to see a season 8 teaser clip showing Jon, Cersei and Daenerys all sitting on their thrones with the Doors song “The End”

  6. firstone:
    It will be EPIC to see what happens with Jamie, Queen Cercie and Queen Daenerys… The War of the Two Queens

    I predict Queen Cercie will pay Bronn more gold that Tyrion will.
    And Bronn loves Gold! Season 2 foreshadowing

    I’d like to see a season 8 teaser clip showing Jon, Cersei and Daenerys all sitting on their thrones with the Doors song “The End”

    I don’t know about that, though of course you never know. Bronn and Cersei never share scenes due to their personal history and I don’t think Cersei cares if Bronn is with her or not. I think she’s much more invested in the Golden Company at this point.
    Bronn always goes for the money, but Tyrion did tell him in season 7 episode 7 that his offer is still on the table to pay double whatever he’s currently being paid. If foreshadowing comes into play with Bronn, then I would think it means Bronn will switch to Tyrion’s side.

    I do wonder if there’s possibility that, in the end, Bronn will actually say “fuck the money” and do what’s right for the greater good for a change instead of what’s right for him. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that, but it would be an interesting evolution for Bronn.

  7. i’m thinking that it’ll premiere on April 14, 8 years after the premiere of season 1, April 17 2011.

  8. My theory: GOT will air in February-March in order to 1) hype the “Winter” theme and 2) act as a lead in (audience-wise) for True Detective 3 which just just recently wrapped filming. GOT doesn’t need the promotion but TD needs to get back into viewers’ consciousness again. Promos right before or after every GOT final season episode would do just that.

  9. Season 8 will air when the sun rises in the West and sets in the East, when the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves…then GoT will return…and not before.

  10. I’m gonna miss him a lot, to be honest. Jaime is the character that has changed my mind the most throughout the series.

  11. Mr Derp,

    Didn’t you mean….

    “TWOW will be published when the sun rises in the West and sets in the East, when the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves…then ASOIAF will return…and not before.” …?

    As far as GOT Season 8:

    F*ck it. I’m ready.
    – Sandor Clegane.

    Alright then. Get on with it.”
    – Arya Stark

  12. Pigeon:
    I’m gonna miss him a lot, to be honest. Jaime is the character that has changed my mind the most throughout the series.

    Really? Based on when we met them and when we left them, the characters who’ve evolved the most, in my mind, are:

    1. Sandor
    2. Hot Pie
    3. Jaime
    4. Jon Snow

  13. Erin:
    I don’t think it will premiere until after the Oscars, February 24.

    They’ve been moved up to February 10th.

  14. Ten Bears: Really? Based on when we met them and when we left them, the characters who’ve evolved the most, in my mind, are:

    1. Sandor
    2. Hot Pie
    3. Jaime
    4. Jon Snow

    Yup, really. I didn’t say evolved the most, I said changed my mind the most. 🙂

  15. I feel like the characters who have changed the most are by far are Jaime, Theon and Sansa. Nobody even comes close to those characters. Next you have people like Sandor, Sam and Jon, but they still hold big parts of themselves from S1 imo.

    You go from Sansa screaming at the sight of blood, to smiling at Ramsay having his jaw ripped off, Theon going from mean spirited and egoistical to humble as hell and very shy, Jaime going from tossing children from towers to leaving everything behind to serve the greater good.

  16. I just hope one of the pieces they fit into the big final puzzle is Jojen’s burning hand. That’s all I ask!

  17. Mr Derp: I don’t know about that, though of course you never know.Bronn and Cersei never share scenes due to their personal history and I don’t think Cersei cares if Bronn is with her or not.I think she’s much more invested in the Golden Company at this point.Bronn always goes for the money, but Tyrion did tell him in season 7 episode 7 that his offer is still on the table to pay double whatever he’s currently being paid.If foreshadowing comes into play with Bronn, then I would think it means Bronn will switch to Tyrion’s side.

    I do wonder if there’s possibility that, in the end, Bronn will actually say “fuck the money” and do what’s right for the greater good for a change instead of what’s right for him.I wouldn’t hold my breath on that, but it would be an interesting evolution for Bronn.

    There is already hints that Bronn is talking to Cercie… who else would have told Cercei about the meeting between Jamie and Tyrion? Bronn might also been working with Cercie and Tywin to bring Shae to Tywin in season 4 too.

    In Season 2 Tyrion sends City Watch Commander Janos Slynt to the wall for killing Kings Robert’s bastard boy…
    Tyrion asked Bronn in season 2 “if I told you to murder an infant girl even if she was suckling on her mother’s breast… would you do it? without question? Bronn answers “Without question? nooo I’d ask how much?” I think this is a foreshadow that Daenerys will give birth to a daughter. and there is at least two other scenes that I think foreshadows that too.

  18. The fact they broke viewership records with last years summer start makes me think they’ll go for that time with the final season too. They certainly won’t want to compete against Super Bowl in February or March Madness.

  19. And Bronn isn’t foolish enough to side with Cersei. She’s likely to have the Mountain take his head for the slightest misstep. Bronn is no fool and he doesn’t bring enough to the table to be invaluable enough to Cersei. He’ll go back to team Tyrion & thus Dany before going team Cersei.

    And Cersei found out about Tyrion & Jamie meeting because Qyburn is running Varys’ little birds. I doubt anything goes on in KL without Qyburn hearing about it. Question for you guys and gals, is Qyburn the best supporting character left?

    He brings a helluva lot to the table. I’d say he’s more valuable than Tyrion, Davos, Brienne, Bronn, or Tormund. And the actor portraying him is excellent. He doesn’t get much credit but he’s never had a bad scene since his first appearance.

  20. BeardedOnion:
    I feel like the characters who have changed the most are by far are Jaime, Theon and Sansa. Nobody even comes close to those characters. Next you have people like Sandor, Sam and Jon, but they still hold big parts of themselves from S1 imo.

    You go from Sansa screaming at the sight of blood, to smiling at Ramsay having his jaw ripped off, Theon going from mean spirited and egoistical to humble as hell and very shy, Jaime going from tossing children from towers to leaving everything behind to serve the greater good.

    Daenerys looked like a real conqueror when Viserys was feeling her up 🙂

  21. Aegon the Icedragon:
    And Bronn isn’t foolish enough to side with Cersei. She’s likely to have the Mountain take his head for the slightest misstep. Bronn is no fool and he doesn’t bring enough to the table to be invaluable enough to Cersei. He’ll go back to team Tyrion & thus Dany before going team Cersei.

    And Cersei found out about Tyrion & Jamie meeting because Qyburn is running Varys’ little birds. I doubt anything goes on in KL without Qyburn hearing about it. Question for you guys and gals, is Qyburn the best supporting character left?

    He brings a helluva lot to the table. I’d say he’s more valuable than Tyrion, Davos, Brienne, Bronn, or Tormund. And the actor portraying him is excellent.He doesn’t get much credit but he’s never had a bad scene since his first appearance.

    I guess “Bronn is a fool” Bronn tells Tyrion that is working with Cersie as they talk while walking to the Dragonpoit in King’s Landing S7 E7 The Dragon and the wolf… Bronn says the Queen is offering a bag a gold for your head… Tyrion’s head. And Bronn says he is looking out for himself just like when he was looking out for himself when Bronn refused to be Tyrion’s Champion in season 4…. Season 8 will be “shocking and surprising.” NWC

  22. Ten Bears: the characters who’ve evolved the most, in my mind, are:

    1. Sandor
    2. Hot Pie
    3. Jaime
    4. Jon Snow

    Hot Pie is my #1 for sure. That second wolf-bread said it all. HP for King or President! =D

    Mr Derp:
    I do wonder if there’s possibility that, in the end, Bronn will actually say “fuck the money” and do what’s right for the greater good for a change instead of what’s right for him.I wouldn’t hold my breath on that, but it would be an interesting evolution for Bronn.

    Yeah, I too wonder whether that might be possible; it would be quite impressive!

    Aegon the Icedragon:

    He brings a helluva lot to the table. I’d say he’s more valuable than Tyrion, Davos, Brienne, Bronn, or Tormund. And the actor portraying him is excellent.He doesn’t get much credit but he’s never had a bad scene since his first appearance.

    True. ‘Course I don’t like Qyburn, but he’s interesting, and the actor (who’s actually quite kindly-looking) is very good.
    I also expect big things from Melisandre.
    And really, almost everybody who’s still around, I sure hope will have at least one relatively significant moment and/or death scene that brings his/her arc to a satisfying place by the end. So nobody just stands there all “durrr” throughout S8 or drops off like, “So what happened to ____?”

    I couldn’t (and wouldn’t want to) imagine them holding off ’til summer when it’s such a ridiculous wait already. x_x I’ve seen more casual viewers saying they’d forgotten what had happened or even that the show was continuing–which sounds impossible to me, but then again I re-watch and obsess and read news daily and have a good memory and keep records of my reactions to each episode. ;p Season 7 still feels fresh in my mind, so the fact that it HAS been over a year since it premiered kinda blows my mind. The whole “winter is here” theme fits with a February or March start, but if it’s April as usual I guess I won’t complain too much.

  23. Aegon the Icedragon:
    Question for you guys and gals, is Qyburn the best supporting character left?

    He brings a helluva lot to the table. I’d say he’s more valuable than Tyrion, Davos, Brienne, Bronn, or Tormund. And the actor portraying him is excellent.He doesn’t get much credit but he’s never had a bad scene since his first appearance.

    I absolutely love Anton Lesser, he’s ace in Endeavour (along with Roger Allam/Illyrio Mopatis, another huge favourite of mine). Qyburn is one of my favourite characters, I am sure it will end badly for him, but the shot of him looking quizzically at the wight’s arm in S7 was just fantastic.

  24. firstone: I’d like to see a season 8 teaser clip showing Jon, Cersei and Daenerys all sitting on their thrones with the Doors song “The End”

    They put out quite a similar promo last year, all three walking to their “thrones” while sit down was playing. My wish for the new promo is this time every main character who’s alive gets to sit on the iron throne like what they did with the very first GoT promo, you should look it up on their YouTube channel. Jon was sitting on the throne with Ghost, Dany was holding a dragon egg while also sitting on the throne. It’d be cool to see Arya on the iron throne, needle in hand or the Hound, eating chicken, Tyrion while drinking wine haha

  25. Jay Targ: Yes, I was a quite perplexed that she wasn’t listed amongst the most changed/evolved.

    I really like this art, and I think it captures Dany’s transformation from where we first see her, to when we’ve last seen her.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf1vBt2B2VT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1r3bct2ggp5si

    If present day Dany met S1 Dany, she’d barely recognize her. Same goes with Arya, Sansa, definitely Jaime, Sandor as well. But I’d have to say that Bran Stark had the most significant transformation yet. He is not Bran at all, not anymore.

  26. lucy:
    My theory: GOT will air in February-March in order to 1) hype the “Winter” theme and 2) act as a lead in (audience-wise) for True Detective 3 which just just recently wrapped filming. GOT doesn’t need the promotion but TD needs to get back into viewers’ consciousness again.Promos right before or after every GOT final season episode would do just that.

    Unfortunately I really doubt we will see it until April at the earliest. With the longest filming of any season and the massive CGI needed, I think post production is just going to take more time. If it drops in April, I will be giddy. I can handle waiting until April. But if it falls back closer to June, I’m going to have a tough time those last couple months.

  27. firstone:
    River,

    The 1st season teaser is best season teaser I’ve seen !!!!
    I hope the season 8 teaser is as good or better

    I agree, it still is. They managed to present ASOIAF to the uninitiated very well, whoever came up with that promo idea captured what made this series so, so special. Here’s hoping they’d do it again!

  28. I hope they give this series the ending it deserves,
    and I believe they will.

    This is what they’ve been working towards for a decade now.

  29. Tron79,
    I also doubt we’ll see it in February, but not because they can’t be ready by then. They’d have roughly seven months of post production time if it were mid-February. They only had about four months for season six even with all of those huge cgi elements. With the length of filming this time I wouldn’t doubt it if they got an ealy start on scenes, especially those filmed way back in Oct/Nov.

    I have to lean hard on my pessimistic side to think it won’t air until June. There are enough reasons for me to almost rule that out entirely. That would be almost a year from film wrap alone and nearly two between seasons. HBO would also miss yet another Emmy season deadline, and this time I think it will be important to them to get it in. Their drama programming also appears to be heavier in the second half of the next year – while light early with few returning shows ready that soon.

    If I had to place a bet on the premiere date I’d put it on April 21st. I’m like 99% positive that is THE LATEST date. It not only puts them back in their usual airing window, that HBO originally chose and liked, but also allows for Emmy qualification. That is still a long nine months for post-production but does allow for a lot of marketing hype building for the meat of the television season. If any ealier than the 21st I’d still say April on the 7th or 14th. February just feels early and wrong for GoT. It’s not the typical slot now for HBO’s flagship drama. That along with starting in March itself also gets into NCAA March Madness when a lot of stations go into rerun mode.

  30. Shelle,

    Here are a few scenes to illustrate Hot Pie’s character evolution.

    • S1e10, Arya meets Hot Pie the bully

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQTlrcMY1cI

    Same scene, with subtitles:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg72pgARKQ8

    • Arya says goodbye to Hot Pie S3e3
    Wolf Bread #1
    2:35 – end (“Hey Hot Pie! It’s really good!”)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTX10SdPGKA

    • Hot Pie meets Brienne S4e7 (Wolf Bread #2)
    0:55: “You cannot give up on the gravy!”
    2:45 – end: Hot Pie sticks his neck out to give intel to Brienne about Arya
    3:51: “If you find her, could you give her this?” [Wolf Bread 2.0]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sHwU0cEzxo

    • S7e2, Arya reunites with Hot Pie
    1:17: “What happened to you Arry?”
    2:35: “Friends don’t pay.”
    2:37: “Can’t believe I thought you were a boy. You’re pretty!”

  31. House Monty,

    I agree! That’s so insightful to hear that from Nikolaj’s perspective of what is going on in Jaime’s head during that scene. To the audience it’s a bit more obvious that well, Cersei is threatening to have him killed, but I thought that was a very interesting addition to what he’s revealed in previous interviews.

  32. Mr Derp,

    I agree, no matter what we might predict story-wise, Jerome Flynn and Lena Headey don’t talk (they used to date, right?!) and I think I heard Lena asked for them to not to have to interact on GoT or even be in the same room. So I doubt Bronn will be swearing any loyalty on Cersei on screen at least… 😉

  33. Aegon the Icedragon,

    I agree wholeheartedly. Anton Lesser’s performance has been one of my favorites for both its subtlety and its mystery.

    Incidentally, he played Romeo in the 1980 production of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet.

  34. House Monty: Daenerys looked like a real conqueror when Viserys was feeling her up

    Dany’s changed since that scene no doubt, but she changed pretty much in the 2nd half of S1, a very fast change. The characters I talked about had their progression take place over the course of the entire show.

    Like Dany at the end of S1 isn’t too much different to S7. Apart from being less naive perhaps.

  35. Shelle,

    I assembled Hot Pie 👨🏼‍🍳 highlights tracing his evolution starting with the nasty bully in S1e10 who taunts and threatens Arya; to his first farewell to his friend Arya in S3e3 (i.e., Wolf Bread 1.0 “Hey Hot Pie! It’s really good!”); to his passing intel about Arya and a gift for her to Brienne in S4e7 (Wolf Bread 2.0); to his S7e2 reunion (“Friends don’t pay… I can’t believe I thought you were a boy. You’re pretty!”.

    Likely because I included 4 or 5 links to video clips, my prior post with the highlights are stuck in Moderation Purgatory.

    I know Hot Pie’s thought of as a slow-witted goofball who’s provided comic relief. He also illustrates (to me) the transformative effect of Arya’s character – She’s not a class conscious snob, and it seems like antagonists can’t help coming to like her. (Except for those on her list; their interactions with her are pretty much limited to Arya announcing her name, telling them why they’re about to die, and then executing them. 👸🏻)

  36. Aw, I’d have liked to see the Hot Pie vid. 😀 He’s been a fave for a long time, even though he doesn’t get remembered or included often enough. :3

    April definitely seems to make the most sense…Feb or March would be awesome and I’m not ruling that possibility out until they confirm…
    Is March Madness basketball? :\ It goes all month, I suppose? I have no idea whether it would ever conflict with GoT on Sunday nights and would hope not…

    Haa, yes…of course I’ve no idea what went down to make it so that Lena & Jerome can’t even be around each other, but that bodes well for Bronn ending up on the “light side” for one reason or another. 😉

    Wish I could remember which movie I recently caught Lesser in and immediately recognized him…

  37. Ryan Richards:
    mau,

    It can’t be released past mid April, otherwise it will not be eligible for the 2019 Emmy’s. It will be out between the middle of March and mid april.

    I think it will be the “traditional” GOT release, mid April and it will end at the end of May, just in time to qualify for the Emmys.

    I think a we can expect a teaser at the end of November, with trailer# 1 maybe in the last week of December or first week of January and trailer #2 in late March.

    I think that in front of episode 8,01 HBO will put in a teaser for Game of Thrones: The Age of Heros.

  38. Chilli:
    lucy,

    And they can end in the beginning of spring with ‘a dream of spring’. Would very well match the weather.

    My feeling also, and I’m sticking with it, Just after Super Bowl ending a week before or week of Spring.

  39. Ten Bears: Really? Based on when we met them and when we left them, the characters who’ve evolved the most, in my mind, are:

    1. Sandor
    2. Hot Pie
    3. Jaime
    4. Jon Snow

    Sansa, Sandor, Jaime and Gilly.

  40. Wolfish,

    [Part 1 of 2-Part Comment]

    Ah yes! Feel the ‘burn! I’ve really enjoyed Anton Lesser as Qyburn. I know Qyburn is sort of a medieval Dr. Mengele, and yet, he comes off as such an easygoing gentleman.

    I suppose I’m biased, because:

    • The very first GoT scene I ever saw – though for only a few seconds because it looked boring (two guys in tattered clothes sitting in a field next to some rocks, talking….💤) was Qyburn talking with Jaime about how many people they’ve killed vs. people they’ve saved, in “The Bear and the Maiden Fair.” I finally saw the episode many months later when I binge-watched S1 – S3 during an HBO marathon.

    • Qyburn reminds me of “Q”, 007’s gadget-maker and weapons-inventor in the James Bond movies. Designing Jaime’s golden hand prosthetic; animating GregorBot 2000: locating and arraying the wildfire caches for the Septapalooza; and inventing the anti-dragon Scorpion are all things “Q” would do if inserted into a medieval fantasy world.

    • Qyburn is the inspiration for several of my far-fetched, industrial strength tinfoil speculations.

    [To he continued]

    #FeelTheBurn 👨🏼‍🔬☄️

  41. George: I think it will be the “traditional” GOT release, mid April and it will end at the end of May, just in time to qualify for the Emmys.

    I think a we can expect a teaser at the end of November, with trailer# 1 maybe in the last week of December or first week of January and trailer #2 in late March.

    I think that in front of episode 8,01 HBO will put in a teaser for Game of Thrones: The Age of Heros.

    I don’t think we’ll see anything this year besides maybe a snippet in HBO’s year end video. Remember, with the traditional April premiere for Season 6 we didn’t get the first teaser (Hall of Faces) until February and then the first trailer wasn’t until March.

  42. Wolfish,

    [Part 2 of 2]
    Re: Qyburn

    • After Tyrion informed Jon that 1,000,000 people are packed into KL, and Jon reiterated that in his dragonpit presentation, I thought Qyburn might politely suggest to Cersei that he could use his FrankenMountain technology and “recruit” some of the KL residents to make Cersei her own zombie army to defend against NK’s AotD.

    • I think on more than one occasion, Jaime has seen Qyburn treating or ministering to Cersei, but she has not disclosed the reasons for Qyburn’s house calls. Is he a fertility doctor? If so, might his necromancy or forbidden techniques produce some unanticipated outcome of her supposed pregnancy?

    • For a while, I thought there might be parallels between Qyburn and Sam: Both chafed against the Citadel’s restrictions; both conducted forbidden experimental treatments; both abandoned the maestership career path: Sam left in his freshman year after pilfering rare books from the library. and Qyburn got expelled for his medical research using subjects that were not quite dead yet.
    Plus, I’m always up for a wizard vs. wizard grudge match – or alliance. Samwell Tarly vs. Qyburn, or Samwell Tarly working with Qyburn. Either would be fine. I want to see brainpower rather than just brute force or dragonglass weapons save the day.

    • Having said all that, Qyburn will probably wind up being an early casualty – to further isolate the Mother of Madness.

  43. Ten Bears,

    An enthusiastic “yes” to all your excellent points, especially the parallels between Qyburn and Sam and how differently each character has chosen to deal with his “outcast” state.

    I’ll be quite peeved if we never find out what Qyburn’s motivations are. Is he really a completely amoral character who’s simply doing it all in the name of science, immediate consequences be damned?

  44. Long time lurker and seldom (twice?) poster, I want to thank all of you for getting me through this long and endless night. Though I can’t wait to see S8, I also dread watching it since once it is over it’s, well, over. Bittersw***, indeed.

    My take on who has changed the most? Sansa and Jaime. Sansa dreamed of being a princess and then queen, but one horrific nightmare after another, and some really conniving people (read: Cersei and LF) have forged her into the Lady of Winterfell. Not the wife of the Lord, but a ruler in her own right. She’s managing the household and preparing the soldiers for the coming war and trying to ensure the people of the north will have enough food and protection to survive. Sansa in S7 was not the Sansa we met back in the pilot. Killing Ramsay and ordering the death of LF were the final tests–she’s her own woman and a very strong one.

    Jaime came to us as an arrogant ass who was cold-blooded enough to try and kill Bran. He killed Jory and stabbed Ned, and while captive killed his cousin. Jaime was not honorable no matter how you define the word, but he changed. The three events that spurred that change, iMO, were Tywin’s death, the loss of his hand, and meeting Brienne. Brienne, above all, is honorable and loyal and Jaime seems to have envied those qualities. Can you imagine if Jaime had been a Stark? He would have been glorious. As it is, I’m hoping his inevitable demise is glorious. Maybe taking out Cersei?

    As for everyone else, I’m not sure how much they’ve changed.

    Arya? From the pilot she made it clear that she wanted to be a fighter and now she is a fighter. Arya is still Arya, but with mad killing skills.

    Bran? As Meera said, he died in that cave. He didn’t change; he transformed.

    Sandor? Has he really changed that much? Did he really enjoy running down the butcher’s boy? He did as he was told until he ran from the wildfire and began a new life. Even when he robbed the farmer he left the man and his daughter alive and he kept Arya safe not just for the ransom, but because he came to care for her. He nearly died “defending” her from Brienne. Sandor was never his brother. Never evil.

    Did Theon really change? Maybe when Jon told him that he was both a Greyjoy and a Stark, but it was not so much growth as it was recovery. Ramsay destroyed him and he has been fighting his way back. I actually hope he dies fighting, because I don’t see a happy ending for the character.

    Did any one else change dramatically from their introduction until the end of last season?

  45. Oh, goody, I see The Hot Pie Chronicles now! =D

    And I agree with all those ideas re: Qyburn; it sure would be interesting to learn more about his motives and maybe see him forced to work with Sam (or pit the two against each other.)

    And Ice Hunter, I quite agree with you–especially about Jaime & the rest. Arya really didn’t need to change so much as just grow and develop like anyone…and acquire some useful new skills. The Hound I don’t think was truly evil, despite claiming to take pleasure in killing. And I think the best ending for Theon would be a noble death trying to rescue his sister or something.

  46. Yes, I find Qyburn interesting too, and the actor is excellent.

    I hope the dragon pit scene with the undead hand was foreshadowing Qyburn will use his version of necromancy in season 8 against the NK’s army.

    Does Arya have necromancy skills as a Faceless Man? If so I would like to see Qyburn and Arya pool their knowledge but I doubt that will happen.

  47. Shelle,

    “And I think the best ending for Theon would be a noble death trying to rescue his sister or something.”
    ——–
    The only problem I have with that is rescuing Yara would have nothing to do with Theon expiating his sins against the Stark family and assuaging his guilt for killing or causing the deaths of so many deaths of their followers, eg, Roderick, Maester Luwin, the old “North Remembers” lady, and the two crisped farm boys – not to mention turning Bran, Hodor and Rickon into homeless refugees.

    I think the best ending for Theon, whether he dies or not… [*hang on; lemme find my tinfoil hat…Ah! Here it is*]…. would be if he shows up with the Iron Fleet to rescue Starks trapped on shore, or to reinforce their depleted forces.

    Otherwise, who cares if he rescues Yara? Any “redemption arc” – I hate that term – would have to conclude with Theon somehow making amends for transgressions so egregious even he thinks they are beyond forgiveness.

  48. Ice Hunter,

    Problem is D&D have done a terrible job of showing Sansa’s growth. It all felt unearned to me. She’s a Stark. She suffered. We want her to succeed. It just felt like they forced her “growth” at the expense of her siblings. Jon had to play an idiot and Arya a psycho. They could have handled it much better.

  49. Yeah, that’s a good point, TB. He certainly owes Yara but ideally would have an opportunity to save some Starks–not that he can ever make up for all that he did, but it’d be good if he could go some ways toward that…

  50. Ten Bears,

    I agree with you, TB, and really do see this happening next season. GRRM, and therefore D&D to an extent, have a way of making history repeat itself throughout this story, but not to a T. They usually have history… sort of repeat itself, but throw a wrench in it so it differs in a big way and the readers/viewers can see the contrast. I totally see this happening to contrast the way Theon was supposed to aid Robb with the Iron Fleet, but instead betrayed him. This time, once he defeats Euron and saves Yara, he will take the Iron Fleet and actually come to Jon’s aid, and fulfill the promise he made Jon’s brother/cousin all those years ago.

    And then most likely die a heroic death.

  51. Jaehaerys,

    I agree with this. Theon can’t erase or change the past, but the scenario you mentioned is the best possible chance for him to regain any measure of redemption at this point.

    This scenario kind of reminds me of LOTR when the Ghost Army comes to help save the day at the Pelennor Fields of Minis Tirith.

  52. Mr Derp,

    Gwidhiel,

    Yeah, I see a sort-of-good enough ending for Theon after all he’s been through. I honestly think in his mind, saving his sister is the only thing he knows he needs to do, and then he would be fine with dying himself. I imagine he’d probably be happy with dying, as long as he can redeem himself. I hope he does redeem himself in all of the Starks’ eyes as well, though.

    Unfortunately, I don’t know if I see a happy ending for Yara. If I had to guess, Euron has probably already fucked her up royally (my guess is at the very least, he cut her tongue out to give readers a little call back to the Silence), and when Theon finds her it’ll be very reminiscent to the scene of Yara trying to save Theon from Ramsay. Here’s to hoping he can still save her life and she can make a comeback eventually like Theon did.

  53. Jaehaerys: If I had to guess, Euron has probably already fucked her up royally (my guess is at the very least, he cut her tongue out to give readers a little call back to the Silence), and when Theon finds her it’ll be very reminiscent to the scene of Yara trying to save Theon from Ramsay.

    I think this sounds very plausible. Weirdly what I think makes Theon such a good character, in both the books and the show, is that he forces the audience to examine their assumptions about what he deserves.

  54. Gwidhiel: forces the audience to examine their assumptions about what he deserves

    To be honest, I really don’t care one way or another what happens to Theon. Well, even that’s not entirely true because I’ve been wanting book!Theon to be ‘gone’ since TGoT. While I felt sorry for him while watching his torture on the show it still wouldn’t upset me if he gets taken out. I guess you could say I’m not a fan

  55. Clob,

    I’m not, either. But when I watched him in S6 and S7 I was uncomfortably torn between sympathy and disgust, and I think that’s a decent storytelling achievement. I’d be fine with doing away with all Ironborn, including Theon, in both the books and the show. I preferred Asha to her show version, Yara, but I wouldn’t miss either. And I’d happily do without Euron.

  56. I’ve never been an *overly* big fan either. The pity you can’t help feeling for Reek nearly had me forgetting how loathsome Theon had been before Ramsay got to him, until my recent re-watch. (My brother and me to Sansa: “The reason he killed two random boys instead of your brothers is just that he couldn’t find them, so y’know, I wouldn’t go forgiving the guy too quickly or anything…” xD) How ironic that someone so evil would turn another horrid person into a better one. I’d also forgotten that Ramsay had seemed to genuinely care for at least one person (Myranda), which felt a bit weird. But I guess two ultra-crazies were made for and could appreciate each other. x-p Maybe Theon would be satisfied to save Yara (or whatever is left of her to save…), even though it would be more poetic and satisfying to the audience if he were able to do something major for the Starks as well.

  57. Shelle,

    I’d also forgotten that Ramsay had seemed to genuinely care for at least one person (Myranda), which felt a bit weird. But I guess two ultra-crazies were made for and could appreciate each other.”

    ————
    That’s one of the reasons I love Myranda.
    (Splat! jokes incoming in 5, 4, 3, ….)

  58. Yea, that relationship really ended with a thud.

    I never got the impression Ramsey ever really cared about Myranda at all. Didn’t he feed her to the dogs after she died?

  59. Mr Derp: Yea, that relationship really ended with a thud.

    I know, right? It might have worked out but she ended up falling too hard for him. 🙂

  60. Clob: I know, right?It might have worked out but she ended up falling too hard for him.🙂

    “What happened to Myranda?”
    “She fell from the veranda.”

  61. Mr Derp:
    Yea, that relationship really ended with a thud.

    I never got the impression Ramsey ever really cared about Myranda at all.Didn’t he feed her to the dogs after she died?

    Well, he did give her a beautiful eulogy…before telling his guard to feed her to the dogs because there was no sense wasting good meat. ☹️

  62. Mr Derp,

    S6e1, Ramsay’s final words about my beloved Myranda:

    Ramsay: “She was 11 the first time I saw her. The kennelmaster’s daughter. She smelled of dog. I wasn’t much older, but everybody was already afraid of me. You certainly were. Myranda wasn’t, though. What could I do to her that those hounds couldn’t? She was fearless. There was nothing she wouldn’t do.”
    (To her corpse) “Your pain will be paid for a thousand times over. I wish you could be here to watch.”

    Maester: “Shall I have a grave dug for her, my lord? Or would you rather the men build a pyre?”

    Ramsay: “Buried? Burned? This is good meat. Feed it to the hounds.”

    ————-
    She was fearless. There was nothing she wouldn’t do.

    RIP Myranda 😢

  63. Lol, yep. That’s Ramsay’s twisted (yet eminently practical) version of love. He admires a kindred spirit. xD

  64. Interesting interview and I am sensing a theme that the show will wrap everything in a way that will give us closure but pull a big surprise for many of us too. At this point a big twist I can only logically think Dany will break bad in some way. It’s the only thing with some level of foreshadowing as for the ending to make sense there must be some bread crumbs in there, even the Shireen burning is there in the books and show if you look for it.

  65. firstone:
    River,

    The 1st season teaser is best season teaser I’ve seen !!!!
    I hope the season 8 teaser is as good or better

    Thanks Firstone, first time I’ve ever seen that! Surely can’t be long now until we get a S8 teaser like this as I doubt we will get a full trailer much before November this year.

  66. All the posts here about which character changed the most since season 1 and I didn’t see Sam among them. The change from a fat, timid, uncoordinated, craven to a courageous step-father, healer, rebel and man should be taken into consideration as well. Not discounting all the others who had been mentioned, but felt Sam deserved to make the list as well.

    Maybe a better list would be which characters have the retained more of their season one personas…… give it some thought.

Comments are closed.