HBO(LOS ANGELES) — WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
Fans who read and did not read the books were both surprised Sunday night on Game of Thrones when Ser Barristan the Bold was killed off. Barristan — who is the advisor to the mother of dragons, Daenerys Targaryen — is still alive in all the books, so everyone was caught off guard.
The actor who played the character, Ian McElhinney, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his demise.
“The totality of it didn’t really hit me until once it was over, and then I was surprised how emotional I felt. The guys were lovely; they gave me a really nice gift. I got a little bit tearful. It’s been great fun,” he told the magazine.
In fact, McElhinney admitted he read the books, too.
“So I thought this season I was going to have more to do, and I was really looking forward to that,” he added.
“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 that I should be in for that number of weeks. It seemed to me they must be writing me out. So I had a word with the line producer and said, ‘Can you corroborate that they’re writing me out?’ Then the [showrunners] rang me and told me, ‘Your time is up in this series.’ So perhaps I took them by surprise that I knew,” he said.
McElhinney was happy that he went out fighting.
“He had to be seen fighting. He’s been talked about as the greatest knight that ever was, so he’s got to fight. So it’s great that he does,” he added.
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