Ed Sheeran dishes on his season 7 cameo

sheeran

Ed Sheeran has offered a few more details about his cameo on Game of Thrones next season and revealed a memorable – albeit odd – moment with another actor.

According to Sheeran’s interview on The Hits Radio, it turns out the singer-songwriter will be cameoing as – wait for it – a musician in Westeros. And, as we’ve previously reported, he’ll be sharing his screen time with Maisie Williams.

“I just do a scene with Maisie,” he said. “I sing a song and then she goes, ‘Oh, that’s a nice song.'”

Really, it makes sense that Sheeran would be cast in a musical cameo much the same way that Noah Syndergaard’s small role will correlate, somewhat, to his profession as an athlete. Still, it will be interesting to watch an increasingly dark character like Arya share a presumably light-hearted moment with a singer.

Sheeran offered no hints as to what his character will be singing but it’s fun to speculate. Much as I would love to hear Sheeran sing The Rains of Castamere, it’s unlikely that Arya would compliment any rendition of that ballad. Martin’s books are filled with songs that have yet to make it into the television adaptation.  It would be fun to finally hear the Rat Cook and, in light of Arya’s recent actions, it’s a likely song to win her favor. Then again, Sheeran’s character could be singing any number of songs that would appeal to Arya in one way or another: “Wolf in the Night” about Robb’s victory at the Battle of Oxcross (though that wouldn’t be the savviest song to be singing in public) or maybe “Brave Danny Flint” about a girl who disguised herself as a boy, albeit with tragic consequences. Or perhaps we’ll be getting an original composition. We’ll have to wait and see.

Sheeran also told of a memorable experience on set: “Taking a pee next to Kit Harington before I knew him, obviously being a big Game of Thrones fan,” he said.

35 Comments

  1. The singing cameos are some of my favorite moments ^^
    The drummer from the red redding
    The group singing the rains of castamere at the purple wedding
    Also the Bear and the maiden fair bolton singer XD
    I would love to hear more songs from the book 🙂

  2. Awwww. How cute. He gets to serenade Maisie.

    Maybe the recent promo photo does depict Arya listening to a minstrel performing, as many have speculated.
    —–
    Interesting (?) account of his bonding moment with the King in the North.

  3. Ten Bears:

    Maybe the recent promo photo does depict Arya listening to a minstrel performing, as many have speculated.

    Yep. I think so too. Oh, how D&D and the HBO marketing department love to troll us…they knew the super fans would blow up that eye reflection. 🙂

  4. I wonder if those Pics are all we’re getting this Month.
    If so Next month would be a good time to release a trailer, i wouldn’t mind today though XD

  5. I really hope whatever he sings is included on the Season 7 soundtrack as a full song.

    Previously they’ve done this with songs featured on the show:
    Season 2
    -“The Rains of Castamere” performed by The National – played over the end credits of “Blackwater”
    Season 3
    -“The Bear and the Maiden Fair” performed by The Hold Steady – played over the end credits of “Walk of Punishment”
    -“It’a Always Summer Under the Sea (Shireen’s Song)” performed by Kelly Ingram – briefly performed in and played over the end credits of “Kissed by Fire”
    Season 4
    -“The Rains of Castamere” performed by Sigur Rós – briefly performed in and played over the end credits of “The Lion and the Rose”

  6. Ashara D: Yep. I think so too. Oh, how D&D and the HBO marketing department love to troll us…they knew the super fans would blow up that eye reflection.

    heh, that would have been very misleading! If they were showing people, say, watching a troupe on stage, then they almost never would have the troupe on stage behind the camera. Even if they did, the cameras and lighting between the actors watching the show and the troupe on the stage would be what was reflected in the eyes. Often times, the different parts of such scenes are shot days or even weeks apart, anyway. (It’s always a little depressing when you read how it’s done: the actors in no way “live” the story.)

    Still, that shot is consistent with something like this. After all, the men behind Arya also are watching. So, whatever it is that catches their attention, it’s not something meaningful only to Arya (e.g., Jaquen or Hot Pie or Gendry walking into an inn). Given that performers also carried news (say, a song about King Jon Snow’s stunning victories or somesuch), it could be a small plot point.

  7. I’m still waiting for The Last of the Giants! would have been perfect last season, but hey, you never know!

  8. Wimsey: Still, that shot is consistent with something like this. After all, the men behind Arya also are watching. So, whatever it is that catches their attention, it’s not something meaningful only to Arya (e.g., Jaquen or Hot Pie or Gendry walking into an inn). Given that performers also carried news (say, a song about King Jon Snow’s stunning victories or somesuch), it could be a small plot point.

    Wimsey,

    Yea, this is mostly what I’m thinking as well. To me, the most logical explanation for Ed Sheeran’s cameo and Arya’s photo is that he’s singing some song in a tavern about the Starks taking back Winterhell. Arya did say already that she was heading home, but hearing the song could bring her a bit more up to date on recent events in the North and give her a little extra motivation to get home quickly. It fits nicely, but who fookin’ knows.

  9. Ed Sheehan is awesome. Not the first cameo he’s done….check out Bridget Jones Baby.

    Look forward to seeing this ?

  10. I’ll just throw out a guess that the cameo scene with Ed Sheeran will be in episode 2 of season 7

  11. alon,

    That’s my take on that too! It just makes sense, Arya’s look can be anything but I bet it’s with Ed, honestly, she looks to be sitting and eating while enjoying a piece of entertainment.

  12. Even though it’s just a cameo, i’m surprised he was allowed to say what it was.
    The expression on Arya’s face in the promo picture makes more sense now, I imagine the song he sings is moves her and it is a small enjoyable moment for her.

  13. Jenny,

    I hope he sings of the white wolf and the battle of the bastards.Arya would love that.”

    I would love that too. Especially if it’s all news to Arya.

    Alternatively – since news travels fast – the minstrel might even be singing a cover of the old Rat Cook song with updated lyrics, to commemorate the decimation of House Frey by a mysterious emissary sent by the gods.

    If the singer is relating current events, what I’m curious about (as we’ve discussed in various posts) is whether and to what extent the historical facts are “tweaked” and embellished for dramatic purposes.

    Will the song about the Battle for Winterfell portray Jon as a superhuman, legendary hero who overcame incredible odds, aided at the last minute by a pack of stampeding direwolves?
    Or, will the Ballad of Walder Frey tell how he ate the entire corpse of each of his sons before the ghost of Catelyn Stark sliced his neck open, nearly severing his head so he looked like a human Pez dispenser?

    Sheeran said Arya will comment that it’s a nice song. We know she’s not a fan of fluff like “Jonquil” and stories that appeal to idiot girls. I’m hoping for something really smart that propels the story.

  14. Ten Bears: ,

    I hope he sings of the white wolf and the battle of the bastards.Arya would love that.”

    I would love that too. Especially if it’s all news to Arya.

    Alternatively – since news travels fast – the minstrel might even be singing a cover of the old Rat Cook song with updated lyrics, to commemorate the decimation of House Frey by a mysterious emissary sent by the gods.

    If the singer is relating current events, what I’m curious about (as we’ve discussed in various posts) is whether and to what extent the historical facts are “tweaked” and embellished for dramatic purposes.

    Will the song about the Battle for Winterfell portray Jon as a superhuman, legendary hero who overcame incredible odds, aided at the last minute by a pack of stampeding direwolves? Or, will the Ballad of Walder Frey tell how he ate the entire corpse of each of his sons before the ghost of Catelyn Stark sliced his neck open, nearly severing his head so he looked like a human Pez dispenser?

    Sheeran said Arya will comment that it’s a nice song. We know she’s not a fan of fluff like “Jonquil” and stories that appeal to idiot girls. I’m hoping for something really smart that propels the story.

    Agree – am hopeful we will get one of the following:

    1 – The Rat Cook song
    2 – A new song referencing Arya’s murder of Walder Frey
    3 – A new song referencing the retaking of Winterfell by House Stark

    I think the third option would maybe be best to propel the story forward. Perhaps Arya has left the Twins and is unsure whether to go north or south, and hears a song about how the “White Wolf” stood down a cavalry charge or led an army of wildlings or whatever, and decides to go north? She told the Waif in episode 603 she was unsure which family members (besides Cat, Robb and Ned, obviously!) were alive or dead. Given that, finding out the outcome of the Battle of the Bastards could be important in deciding her next move.

    I do also like the idea of the Rat Cook song, but am unsure how much a NW song would be sung now outside the North – given how forgotten the NW has been by the rest of Westeros.

  15. Speaking of cameos… Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and fellow strongman just made an appearance from Iceland to kick off the MN Vikings 4th round selection. 🙂

  16. Alba Stark,

    For some reason I’m not optimistic that we’ll see a Jon-Arya reunion this season. I wasn’t that thrilled with the Jon-Sansa reunion last season, mainly because they were not particularly close. (As Sansa herself admitted, she was kind of a bitch to him growing up – in stark [pun intended] contrast to Arya.)

    But it would still be emotional – and propel the story – for Arya to hear a song about her beloved brother’s exploits AND his coronation as King. She might be one of the only ones genuinely happy for him, untainted by envy. (*cough Sansa cough*).

    [My obsessive, wishful thinking fanfic: Northerners insist on calling Arya “Princess Arya of House Stark”, or “Lady Arya”, eliciting exasperated responses from her like “Do NOT call me Princess!” and “I don’t WANT to be a lady!”]. ???

  17. Ten Bears:

    For some reason I’m not optimistic that we’ll see a Jon-Arya reunion this season. I wasn’t that thrilled with the Jon-Sansa reunion last season, mainly because they were not particularly close. (As Sansa herself admitted, she was kind of a bitch to him growing up – in stark [pun intended] contrast to Arya.)

    But it would still be emotional – and propel the story – for Arya to hear a song about her beloved brother’s exploits AND his coronation as King. She might be one of the only ones genuinely happy for him, untainted by envy. (*cough Sansa cough*).

    [My obsessive, wishful thinking fanfic: Northerners insist on calling Arya“Princess Arya of House Stark”, or “Lady Arya”, eliciting exasperated responses from her like “Do NOT call me Princess!” and “I don’t WANT to be a lady!”].

    Given how close they were shown to be in 102, I do agree that maybe Arya/Jon is the reunion they will draw out? Bizarrely, if you’d asked me before season 6, I would have told you Arya/Jon was the Stark reunion I most wanted to see – now, however, I see how drama-wise Sansa/Jon was more interesting and created more tension, and I want Bran/Jon so that Bran can pass on the Very Important Information he discovered in season 6. Urgh!

    Sansa and Jon reuniting gave us a bit of “two Starks – in the same shot – and they are both aware the other one is there and are hugging!!!!!” – something we hadn’t experienced since season 3, given that although Bran and Jon cross paths in season 4 there is no interaction between them and Jon has no idea Bran is just there. In a way, the snarkiness is a bit dramatically satisfying; although both are FINALLY around another Stark again, there is room for so much mis-communication between them given that they were not close growing up. And I do think mis-communication/mis-understanding between Jon and Sansa is one of the main issues in season 6 – they don’t understand each other intuitively, as perhaps Robb and Jon or Arya and Jon would.

    That said, I want Starks who get on better than Sansa/Jon to meet up in season seven. I feel that seasons 1 though 4/5 were about sending people off on separate paths and season 6 really pushed through the process of bringing them back together again.

    Even if Arya and Jon do not reunite this season, it wouldn’t diminish the power of her hearing a song about Jon’s victory at Winterfell. Until the Waif – bad Waif! – hit her, Arya asserted that Jon was her brother as much as Robb, Bran and Rickon. They have always been close, and I think that hearing that he has been the one to regain them their ancestral home would be satisfying to Arya (even if that is an incredibly simplistic version of what happened – obvs they wouldn’t have won without the Vale knights, gifted to them by Sansa).

    Definitely agree there would be no envy on Arya’s part over Jon getting recognition for his achievements and named KiTN. She has never wanted that life, unlike Sansa, and so would have no qualms about being excited for Jon over it. I think she would see that, for Jon, it proves that Jon was as much Ned’s child as she was – and that he is worthy of being named as such. Arya would rather be Jon’s Master-at-Arms than his rival.

    I too don’t see Arya ever being comfortable with being called a lady or a princess; whenever I think of it, the image that comes to mind is of her shoving Gendry over when he is stupid enough to call her “M’lady”.

    I feel like I had more salient points to make – and that they were more concise than what I have written – but sadly the wine I’ve been drinking has blurred them somewhat.

    EDIT: Puns, intentional or otherwise, are cool – and as I said in my previous post, I think that hearing a song about Jon’s heroics (how accurate the song is in terms of the sequence of events in the BotB isn’t really an issue) would, should she hear it, significantly influence Arya in terms of choosing between going north and going south.

  18. He’ll probably get his head bashe’d in by the mountain real quick. 5sec screen time max I’m calling

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