The sky was dark, for all the stars were out
The wait is nearly over. Oh yes, Game of Thrones returns in the early hours of 15 April and JOE had the chance to attend the European premiere in Belfast.
As always, we’re not going to spoil anything but with only six episodes left, the cast were in reflective mood as they looked back at their time on the show.
A few days ago, we caught up with Isaac Hempstead-Wright and the Three-Eyed Raven provided us with a few more details about what to expect in the final season.
“He’s an incredibly important character,” said the actor.
“The Three-Eyed Raven is there for a reason, he’s not just one weird person in the corner.
“He’s going to have some kind of important role. Exactly what that is, I can’t say yet.”
Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry, may have spent quite a few years rowing but the last Baratheon is extremely happy with the arc of his character.
“I think it has been a fairly perfect arc for Gendry because his story has been a constant voyage of discovery,” said Dempsie.
“Imagine not knowing anything about your parents, where you’re from, or your place in the world?
“That’s basically what he has been striving for. He has been looking for purpose and learning about his parentage.
“He found his calling in this impending reckoning. It doesn’t mean that he’s not terrified, but he found his calling.”
As the leader of The Unsullied, Grey Worm is a man without fear but after his relationship with Missandei has moved onto another level, Dany’s most ferocious soldier now has a real reason to fight.
“Grey Worm is like a Pinocchio story. He starts off as a robot and he slowly becomes a real boy as time goes by because he has fallen in love. He’s got purpose, loyalty and a reason to fight now,” said Jacob Anderson.
As for his favourite scene, expect to see some fireworks in season eight.
“My favourite scene is in this season, so can’t say specifically what it is but i’d describe it as ‘terrifying’.”
Over the course of the show, Ser Davos has been a key player alongside some of the show’s most important characters.
For example, he has met Daenerys, Jon Snow, Melisandre, Gendry, Sansa, Brienne, Lyanna Mormont, Varys, and Tyrion, but there’s one actor that Liam Cunningham loved working with.
“Stephen Dillane (Stannis) is such a wonderful actor and I’ve been a fan of his for years. A fantastic theatre actor and his reputation proceeds him.
“Also, he just doesn’t play the game. On set, he just questions everything to get the scenes right.”
Ben Crompton (Dolorous Edd) has said that fans of the show shouldn’t worry about the ending not matching their expectations.
“Yeah, the thing is our job is kind of done for us,” he said.
“The writing is all there and there’s a unique style to Thrones. Of course we want to do the show justice, we’d hate to end on a downer but I definitely don’t think we did.”
Things could have been very different in Game of Thrones if Ser Davos hadn’t saved Gendry from Stannis and Melisandre.
It may seem like an eternity ago but the priestess did want to kill Robert Baratheon’s bastard in an effort to harvest his royal blood.
Well, it appears that Dempsie absolutely loved his time working with the Irish actor.
“My favourite Gendry scene is the one with Liam Cunningham at the end of season three.
“It’s when Gendry was being held captive by Stannis in the dungeons and Davos comes in and has a chat with him. They bond over their shared backgrounds and the fact they’re from the same place.
“It was the first time that we really got under the skin of Gendry and found out where he’s from and what makes him tick. Liam made a career out of playing these stoic men of principle and when you meet him, it’s even more impressive because he’s just like that”.
Dolorous Edd has been beside Jon Snow during every massive fight and when we asked Ben Crompton to pick his favourite scenes, two stood out from the rest.
“There’s a few. I did love doing Hardhome, that was intense. During that moment when the undead fell over the cliff, it’s just a load of stunt guys in some green leotards in zombie makeup,” he said.
“The director is going ‘look frightened’ and I’m like, ‘I am!’ I also loved Craster’s Keep, when they set fire to that at half four in the morning.
“You could see all of this money going up into flames!
“We hadn’t seen each other for a few years but we caught up for a chat last night. That relationship on screen was exactly the same off-screen.
“We had that father-daughter relationship and it was really, really lovely. He was amazing to work with and he’s one of my favourite ever people that I ever met.”
If you’re looking for even more Game of Thrones content before the return of the latest and final season, check out our predictions on how everyone will die, as well as our deep dive into the Night King’s intentions.
Game of Thrones returns to Sky Atlantic at 2am and 9pm on Monday 15 April.
Now TV customers can also watch the show.
