“Gold will be their crowns, gold their shrouds.”
Sunday night’s episode, “The Winds of Winter,” brought the prophesied death of Cersei Lannister’s final child: King Tommen of House Baratheon, First of His Name. Though we knew it was inevitable, it was shocking nonetheless to see the young king leap to his death.
Dean-Charles Chapman was first cast on Game of Thrones back in season 3 as the Lannister cousin Martyn. The son of Kevan Lannister and younger brother of Lancel was murdered by Lord Rickard Karstark while in Robb Stark’s custody. Even in a minor role, Chapman shined as a casualty in the Lannister/Stark war.
Fast-forward to season 4 and Chapman is now playing the king of Westeros after his late brother Joffrey: talk about a promotion! His talents would bring the tender king to life and with his reign, a new innocence to Westeros.
Sadly, Tommen got the short end of the stick in terms of advisors. After a quick coronation, his grandfather Tywin cast a truly terrifying shadow over the young king as acting Hand. Just a few episode later, the position of Hand of the King is vacant again. Now he must rely on his uncle Kevan, distraught mother Cersei, and manipulative wife Margaery. The kid never had a chance; he was doomed even without a prophecy looming over him. Luckily, he still had Ser Pounce to keep him company.
Aside from Game of Thrones, Chapman has appeared in an assortment of TV series including The Revolting World of Stanley Brown (2012), The White Queen (2013), and Fungus the Bogeyman (2015). He starred in the 2014 thriller Before I Go to Sleep with Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. Chapman will also be playing Billy Cooper in the highly anticipated TV series Will based on William Shakespeare’s early years debuting in 2017 on TNT. If you haven’t heard of the series or seen the trailer, I highly recommend it. It seems he has already landed a role in another hit TV series!
Chapman was an outstanding casting choice for Tommen as he encompassed the gentle nature and naïvety of the young king expertly. Though it was a tragic ending for his character, he said himself that his peaceful nature allowed him to meet a peaceful end.
The most memorable of Chapman’s performances that comes to mind is after Margaery is imprisoned and the king realizes how little power he has. The strong way he delivered the line “I am the king! The queen is in prison and there is nothing I can do!” finally emits all the frustrations he’s held in. The truthful moment for Tommen also conveys how much Margaery means to him and is crucial in understanding his suicide.
We will miss Chapman’s presence on the show! He was a charming addition to the Game of Thrones ensemble.
King’s Landing. 😉
I always felt kinda sorry for Tommen. Dean-Charles did such a solid job playing that poor marshmallow. His end was sad but really well done. My heart went out to him. Great job Mr. Chapman! Good luck in everything you do!
Poor Tommen 🙁
Dean-Charles made me very fond of young Tommen. He did a great job. Best of luck to him in the future.
Dean was truly amazing as Martyn Lannister!!
Someone had to make this, I admit, bad joke…
I remember noticing how good he was in that small role as Martyn. He came a long way from that point! He’s an amazingly talented actor (go watch the youtube videos of him onstage as Billy Elliot sometime) and he’s going to keep going far, after this.
Dean is awesome. I wish him the best. He also has the gif of the year hands down 😀
Boy I loved that kid. Such a sweet kid. Unfit for that world of horrors. Really wished he could like abdicate and go live a quiet life in Casterly Rock or something. No luck for him.
And young Mr. Chapman was adorable. Really nailed that role. Good luck, Dean.
A great actor! I found his death really tragic. He didn’t hesitate for a second… Poor Tommen. Anyway, I wish Dean all the best.
Dean-Charles Chapman. You really were too good for Westeros and deserved better playing the doomed from jump, Tommen. I haven’t seen Billy Elliot on stage, but the movie was great, so I am going to YouTube it straight away.
As all the others we wish you great fortune in your future endeavors, I doubt you really need it. Go forth and continue making us proud of you.
Tommen Baratheon, one of the most tragic characters. With a good Hand, he could have been next Jaehaerys I. the Concilliator or Daeron II. the Good but at the end, his reign more resembled Aegon III. the Broken King. Sadly, Cersei managed to screw everything up. Really great performance by Dean Charles Chapman, playing a character who was young and naive, even though the actor himself is older than the character. I will never believe GoT Wikia, which not long ago described Tommen as being 19 years old.
The king is dead! Long live the king!
I imagine you’ve got a lot of these to go through…
So it goes.
He did a good job in a fairly thankless role. He was able to pull off the naivette, the excitement (when he was visited in his room by Margary), the helplessness and confusion of being buffeted by so many strong contrary personalities and finally the sadness and despair of realizing his mom had killed his wife. He even pulled off a picture perfect swan dive (unless that was a stunt performer).
He did get some nice scenes with Ser Pounce and of course he got to get a little snuggle time with Natalie Dormer. So I guess it wasn’t that much of a thankless role after all.
Well Done Dean-Charles! I remember a lot of people were apprehensive when he was cast as Tommen as this fandom doesn’t seem to like recasts, but he immediately showed how foolish those people were. Dean-Charles shone in the role, and really made me believe in the character. When I found out he had a Cockney accent in real life I almost couldn’t believe it, because his accent as Tommen seemed completely natural. I’m sure he’ll go onto many fascinating and diverse roles, and I wish him the best of luck.
I hope he has a great career 🙂
RBloodworth,
Lena should have to write those up: http://beautifuldeath.com
Nice work, Dean. Being King isn’t always great.
Good night, sweet Prince. Ser Pounce will avenge you….
Congrats, Dean-Charles, I’m glad to hear the offers are lining up. You were great. 🙂
Definitely agree he did a great job with this role. It would have been very easy to mess this up and play Tommen as very one-dimensional, but he did a great job with a fairly small number of lines of showing a boy in way over his head looking for guidance everywhere he turns and being manipulated by everyone. I never cared at all about this character in the books, but Dean made Tommen a true tragic character I could sympathize with and care to see him die.
Dean was great in the role.I found Tommen a really tragic character.People were annoyed by him for being weak but to me he was just a kid neglected by his parents caught up in something way bigger than him trying to do the right thing.It had been a long time since a death had shook me up this much on game of thrones.In any case Dean was great at expressing all of this and I wish him all the best
“his uncle Tywin”
I think you meant grandfather. Otherwise, good article.
He was a great actor. He embodied the fear, the insecurity and the pressure that comes with being king at a young age.
Am I the only one who thought his death was filmed to look comical? The long wait until he jumps, the way in which he doesn’t doubt when going out the window, the voice of Walder Frey saying “For House Lannister” while we still see the open window…
But how old was he supposed to be? ?
I was always impressed by what he brought to the role.
I found him all the more convincing when I saw the actor interviewed on Thronecast and he came across as a (likeable) cocky geezer – quite the departure from his portrayal of King Tomm!
I think his best scene was his last. Very tragic end for one of the story’s true innocents.
Tywin of the Hill,
Well, I found it tragic, not comical.
Tycho Nestoris,
Funny that the 3 last posters are kills by women.
That Beautiful Death poster is stunning. O_O
Number of episodes as King of the Iron Throne….
Robert Baratheon – 7 Episodes (S1E1 to S1E7)
Joffrey Baratheon – 26 Episodes (S1E7 to S4E2)
Tommen Baratheon – 26 Episodes (S4E5 to S6E10)
Cersei Lannister – 1 Episode (S6E10)
There is only 13 episodes left, so it looks like we will have a tie by the end of the series.
I thought Tommen, Margery, & The High Sparrow were wonderfully acted. But I’m glad they are dead. Gives us more time to see Jon & Dany. Because as this series as progressed, King’s Landing & The Iron Throne has sort of become a side story.
Aryamad,
Prob my favorite of the season (I liked the Ellaria one a lot too).
Good night, sweet Prince, may angels sing thee to thy rest
Tommen doesn’t have much to do in the books; the show, and Chapman, gave him complexity and character. He was so idealistic, as any teenager would be. He was shown as someone willing to listen and ready to learn but he wasn’t able to, given who his advisors were. His comments about being a king and not being able to do a think about it (Margary’s capture) expressed his frustration, and his final act expressed his realization that he could not carry on in this world. Excellent work Dean.
I didn’t know you were Billy Elliot – I saw the production when it was in town, just a splendid perforrmance. I look forward to seeing more of you on stage on screen and on shows. Good luck in your future career!
I will pet my kitties and outlaw beets in my home in his honor.
Tommen was one of the only truly innocent characters in all of Westeros. I think maybe Hodor and Lollys Stokeworth are the only other 2 I can think of. Dean Charles Chapman was adorable in the role. I am almost never a fan of recasts but this one actually made sense.
It’s too bad no one around him had his best interests at heart and he had to die to further Cersei’s chances of winning the game. God, his story is so damn heartbreaking when you think about it. Hope you’re playing with all the kitties and royal seals you can get your hands on in the afterlife Tommo!
He was so sweet and innocent – and so worried about becoming Joffrey that he went to the opposite extreme. If he had just forced his way up those stairs of the Sept when Margaery was first arrested, the whole thing would have turned out differently. Dean Charles was perfect for the role.
His cockney accent has been mentioned. Oddly enough, during the off-time last year I took the advice of some of the posters on here who said the series “Ripper Street” was a great watch. It was, and during one of the episodes I sat straight up and said to the TV, Is that Tommen? It was … Dean Charles was playing a 19th century cockney thug/would-be pimp. A smart-mouthed little beast. And he was really great at it, so great I wanted to smack him, where with Tommen, you want to give him a hug and a kiss on the head. So yeah, the kid has talent; he can play totally different character types and have you believing each one. Good luck kid, stay away from open windows.
In spite of the ageing up of the character, Tommen retained an innocence and naivety that was both beautiful and heart-wrenching to watch. And a huge part of making that a success was Dean-Charles Chapman. He conveyed Tommen’s sense of hope until the last, and his death was as much a result of the loss of hope and innocence as it was the loss of Margaery. Tommen was one of the few GoT characters it was impossible to hate. While, as a viewer, I was often exasperated by what seemed to be a lack of action, there was no malice in him and ultimately he was never meant for the Game.
Farewell Tommen of House Baratheon (Lannister), First of His Name. We shall miss you, your kittens, and the only symbol of innocence that seemed to be left in King’s Landing.
I wonder who the next actor to have a character die a second time will be? Richard Dormer? Ian Whyte? Kit?
It did frustrate me to see Tommen-hate scattered around different forums. Clearly they never understood his circumstances. They assumed everyone who is king must have power and the know-how to achieve it. Tommen was deprived of that know-how by his lack of trustworthy advisors. And those who he dis trust, including his own mother, used him for their own gain. He was punished for it. And yet some are quick to say it was his own fault. So unjust.
Not to mention is always so tragic to witness a teen suicide on tv. Especially from such an innocent soul.
DC will be missed.
Poor Tommen, RIP :(… looking back now, Ser Pounce is a neat foreshadowing of Tommen’s end.
I must say that Dean-Charles Chapman had done a wonderful job, portraying young, good and innocent king, that in the end has fallen as victim of those whom he loved best.
Aww…poor, sweet Tommen. Too sweet and naive for that world. Wonderful portrayal, Dean! Thank you! 🙂 You will be missed on GoT but I am truly looking forward to seeing Wil next year!
Tywin of the Hill,
Not comical, no. But I did have a small laugh when he jumped because of how absurd it was, completely unceremonious and off the left field. Very similiar to the scene with Jaime losing his hand.
Loved Dean as a bad kid on Ripper Street last year. His full cockney accent was on display! Best of luck to him
Dean-Charles was wonderful in the role. I loved the casting from the moment it was announced.
Hope there’s excellent work in store for him.
Good point. I stared at the open window after he walked away with his hands on his crown, the hole where the Sept had been smoking in the distance, and muttered, He’s going to go out that window, isn’t he? Sure enough – it wasn’t so much a “jump” or dive, it was more of a straight, fearless fall.
The karmic connection to Bran going out a window didn’t even occur to me until somebody on the recap thread brought it up. That’s why I changed my opinion that Jaime was going to go crazy on Cersei for his death. Just as she believed the prophecy was coming true, he may believe that Tommen going out a window, rather than burning at the Sept, was a message to him from the gods about Bran.
Anyway, Dean Charles, nicely done.
Poor Tommen. His death – and his manner of death – was heartbreaking.
Dean-Charles Chapman was perfect as the kind-hearted, innocent king. It is not easy for a young actor to hold his own on screen when playing against the likes of Lena and Natalie and Jonathan and yet, he did in every scene. He was wonderful on Ripper Street in a role that was 180 degrees different from Tommen.
Best of luck, Dean-Charles!
(And good luck to the staff at WOTW; there are lots of Curtain Calls to crank out.)
Poor Tommen. He was just a kid, who was in way over his head. He never wanted to be King…
He tried to do what was right, but was too young and nice to understand what that meant, and as a result he let everyone use him.
DC played Tommen’s youthful naivete, as well as the stress that he felt in his position (and ultimately pushed him to make his most decisive independent decision), to perfection. This kid has a great career ahead of him.
Tywin of the Hill,
Yeah, no. It wasn’t meant to be comical, and it wasn’t. A heartbreaking end.
If Tywin was around none of that sparrow crap would have happened. Tommen was doomed from the moment that Tyrion pulled the trigger on that crossbow.
Fine job by the young Mr. Chapman, nonetheless.
Sept of Baelor should get a curtain call imo. Best set on a show with some of the most amazing sets ever.
As many have said, in so far as Tommen, I felt and feel sorry for the boy, he was in an impossible position, in circumstances beyond his control and surrounded by figures who always towered over him…in a sad, tragic way…how he ended up was really his only out! Almost the definition of a tragic character…
A big thank you to Dean-Charles Chapman for his work on the show and for what he brought to the role! As fans we should count ourselves lucky for having had him be part of the cast!
Another sad but inevitable loss, Tommen was definitely a good soul if rather naïve young man who was put in an impossible position with his dysfunctional family and those who manipulated him during his reign.
Dean-Charles Chapman will be missed!
Tywin of the Hill,
It sure was, I laughed so hard when he jumped
I’m one of the people who felt sorry for Tommen. I suppose I ought to feel sorry for Cersei as her last child has gone and she tried to protect him by have the Mountain make him stay at the Keep but I can’t. Well done to DC on conveying the hapless, confused child king.
Dame of Mercia,
Any pity we might have had for Cersei goes away the moment she says “Burn him and bury his ashes where the sept once stood.”
Ser Pounce was my favorite scene, too, Dean. You’ve been the perfect Tommen! Thank you.
He was perfect in the role. The very picture of a medieval boy king.
The things we do for love.
Poor, sweet Tommen… Well done!
Not sure why it has to be his curtain call! He died once in the show as the Lannister cousin… then came back as Tommen! I say cast him as Tyrek Lannister returned from Valyria! 😀
Dolorous Methuselah,
“Snuggle time with Natalie Dormer”, yeah, I’d have been like: “I’m getting paid for this!?!?
NoOneAtAll,
Agree completely, Tyrion may not have killed Joffrey, but he pretty much killed Tommen when he killed Tywin. I am glad neither Dany, Jon, or anyone was faced with the choice of killing Tommen.
Drogon666,
Glee over the death of generally decent people. An element of GoT fandom that makes me a little embarrassed to be a part of it.
If you laugh at Tommen’s death, you should see a counselor.
Dean Chapman did a great job with Tommen. I feel so sorry for Tommen.
He acted the part well. I liked his scene this season where he was apologising to Cersei for not stopping her walk of atonement.
I have to admit though, I found the voice he chose for Tommen absolutely excruciating. I think I remember hearing that he deliberately made Tommen sound more whiny and soppy to reflect Tommen’s naivety and weakness as a king.
It certainly worked, because Tommen came across as a complete wet blanket.
Going back to that scene between him and Cersei this season, I thought it was interesting that Tommen says “You raised me to be strong. And I wasn’t. But I want to be. Help me” and Cersei responds “Always”.
But as we saw in the finale, when he desperately needed her help to be strong she was nowhere to be seen.
I may be just misinterpreting what was written, but isn’t Tywin his Grandfather?
During his time on Game of Thrones, Dean-Charles Chapman was consistently called upon to act opposite some of the absolute best actors that the show has on its incredibly deep roster. He shared most of his scenes with Lena Headey, Charles Dance, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Natalie Dormer, and Jonathan Pryce … just to name a few! Never once did it feel like he was overmatched or out of place. He held his own, and on occasion took command of the screen from his more experienced co-star. For such a young performer, that’s an incredible achievement, and a tribute to Chapman’s talent.
In terms of both narrative and acting, I thought that Season 6 was Chapman’s strongest season. It was painfully evident that the young monarch was desperately trying his best to be that which his grandfather had assured him that he would be – a good King. From the scene in “Home” where he recognizes his own shortcomings and pleads for help from his mother, to the moment in “Oathbreaker” when he boldly confronts the High Sparrow, it was clear that he was doing everything he could to be the leader that the Seven Kingdoms needed him to be. It was never enough. When Margaery disingenuously persuaded him to convert to the Faith and he addressed the cheering crowd on the steps of Baelor, it seemed like he had at last found a way. But alas, he was yet again being used as an unwitting pawn in someone else’s game.
After Tommen outlaws trial by combat in “No One”, I remember being stricken as I watched him proceed down the length of the throne room, avoiding his mother’s wounded gaze. He looked thin, haggard, and haunted. The burden of the crown was wearing terribly upon him. Over the course of the seasons, I’d heard all the jokes about Tommen’s beets and Ser Pounce. But those jokes, funny though they were, seemed strange and trite in that moment, as though they pertained to another character entirely. This young man had no time for such childish cares. He was suffering, and Chapman’s performance reflected that reality perfectly.
That’s why out of the many deaths that we saw in this finale, Tommen’s suicide was the most tragic and haunting of them all. Dean’s performance was critical to that, even barely spoke in the episode. The look of shock and silent devastation on Tommen’s face as he beheld the smoking ruin of the Sept and knew that his wife and many others had been killed by his mother said more than words ever could. In such a state, I completely understood why Tommen would become one of the few characters on the show to take their own life – though that didn’t make it any less painful when he set down his crown and stepped into the open sky.
As many other commenters have already noted, Tommen was one of the few truly innocent characters on the show. His tragedy was that he became King, a title that he never expected to hold and wasn’t ready for. I think back to the scene in “First of His Name” when Tommen was crowned. Cersei and Margaery look over at him and remark upon the possibility that he could be the first decent King in half a century, someone who actually deserved the Throne. But as we know from six seasons of Game of Thrones, what someone deserves has very little to do with the fate that ultimately befalls them. Tommen might have been a good King, if he had gotten the proper help. But no one was interested in giving it to him – they were only interested in playing the game. And so the Throne destroyed him, as it had so many others. Only such a skilled actor could have made the inevitability of Maggy the Frog’s prophecy seem as painful as it turned out to be, and Dean-Charles Chapman was there to show us every moment of that tragic fall.
Fortunately, Chapman has a long career ahead of him. I look forward to seeing what he does next, and I’m glad that we got to watch him come into his own on Game of Thrones for four seasons (lest I forget his brief turn as Martyn Lannister in Season 3)! I wish him all the best.
Jared,
Nicely written, Jared. I thought that the complete silence and the still camera focused only on the window was haunting.
For that moment, he had control over his life, sadly it was control of his own death.
Too nice for the game, rest easy sweet prince. Looking forward to “Young Will”
Hopefully Ser Pounce makes a break for it because I have no doubt Cersei will strangle him if given the chance.
ArgonathofBraavos,
Just because I laughed doesn’t mean I was happy he died. His was a tragic character, but the way he went through the window without pause and taking a dive like he’s in assassins creed made it funny.
Them choosing not to show his decision to jump, and leaving it all from behind in a very long take was a bad editorial decision for that scene, choosing yet again shock value over character development.
I read somewhere that they shot it in different ways and Dean said that for him the moment he took off the crown was the moment he decided to jump, would have preferred to see his reaction and not just his horror of what his mom did to his wife and hundreds of people.
Well done to Dean-Charles Chapman. He brought great humanity and sympathy to the role of Tommen. I recall a lot of people being angry at Tommen’s inaction during various incidents since he became king, but personally I suspect that many of us would be just like him: wanting the best, trying to do good, but surrounded by forces trying to pull us one way or another.
Drogon666,
We didn’t need to see that. It was reflected from the moment the door opens and he hears ‘Im sorry m’lord’. There was no reason for more. We knew why, and he knew it was the only way – he could not live this life. (interesting, someone was mad that we didn’t see Olenna receive the news about her family and her reaction. Why? Not only does it not move the plot, but we know as experienced audiences how she would react. If the writers did that, I would have been angry that they are spoon feeding us.
Jared, as always, excellent comment. I agree he was the only innocent in KL, and while he wanted so badly to be a good king, no one told him how to do that when he is surrounded by coniving players in this cruel gam
I agree completely about Olenna, but after reading that interview with Dean it kinda bummed me out that I didn’t get to see his most important beat. And the way the scene was shot, it took me out of it, from depressed and feeling bad it made me LOL. The only silver lining for me after watching him fall is now that the prophecy about her children came to pass, Cercei is finally next.
Fear not. For Ser Pounce is the volanqar – his furry paws will close around Cersei’s pale throat, and in that moment she will know true justice.
Ser JJ Watt,
Ah, you’re right. Missed in the editing process; thanks for the heads up!
Pigeon,
Hahahaha! 😀
Drogon666,
I’m sorry his acting wasn’t good enough for you to undertand and needed it spelled out for you. This show hits us over the heqs enough.
And I was about to come here and say how awesome he was that he was able to convey so much without saying a word. I guess you disagree.
Lisa,
Drogon666,
C’mon people. Keep it respectful in a curtain call. Those are the rules.
His acting was superb and conveyed everything. I don’t know where you got the impression that I was critiquing his acting skills or that I didn’t understand.
After reading an interview with him, it made me want to see his other takes with his facial expressions, because of the things he said and because he’s such a great actor.
I only disagreed with the editorial decision, that made it look funny, to me and others I know.