Some of Game of Thrones‘ cast gathered one final time to discuss Season 8 (and THAT FINALE) at San Diego Comic-Con. Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), John Bradley West (Samwell Tarly), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Raleigh Ritchie (Greyworm), and Conleth Hill (Varys) all appeared, regaling Hall H with spoilers for a panel that closed with no time left for Q&A.
We’ve assembled highlights below—obviously this post is dark and full of spoilers!
The panel began with a reminder to be nice to the panelists, followed by a highlights reel from all eight seasons, ending on a voiceover from Sansa Stark saying, “The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”
With the cast assembled, the moderator starts with Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who says life since the finale has been great and that he asks his family to refer to him as “your grace.” He is worried, however, that Westeros is “now a surveillance state.”
Maisie Williams likens Arya’s continue adventures to Dora the Explorer, and Jacob Anderson thinks he’s founded a kingdom like Wakanda. Asked if Greyworm will find love again, he replies that he doesn’t think so, and Maisie chimes in with “he’ll be miserable forever.”
John Bradley West thinks the Small Council turns into “a slightly more comic space…it basically turns into The Office” while Liam prefers “Better Call Davos.”
Asked about Jamie’s arc, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said, “it made sense” and then spoke of the beauty of Brienne’s final scene.
The cast of #GameofThrones at the Hall H panel!!! The last Hall H panel for #GOT #SDCC2019 #SDCC pic.twitter.com/xshb9x87zL
— Cinemania World (@CinemaniaWorld) July 20, 2019
Conleth Hill emphasized that he “loved all my ten years on Game of Thrones” and that “…the one thing that last season was about was the futility of conflict and the uselessness of war. If you take anything from the show, take that.”
Liam Cunningham added “…it’s not arriving at the end, it’s the journey. The reason you guys are here is you could recognize the amount of love that went into it” and then announced that he should have been on the Iron Throne.
The moderator started asking Nikolaj Coster-Waldau about Jamie and Brienne, but Coster-Waldau cut him off with: “WE SHIP BRAIME.”
Jacob Anderson also feels that after Jon Snow killed Daenarys, he felt the “enough was enough” and that “he wasn’t willing for it to be all about murder any more.”
Conleth Hill felt that Varys got “a cool death” and urged Hempstead-Wright to talk about whether Bran was evil. Hempstead-Wright replied, “[Bran]’s not a fortune teller…his vision of the future is slightly cloudier…I like that it’s more ambiguous. That’s kind of one of the cleverest things of the ending—it doesn’t conclude everything so neatly. It’s left totally open.” He also doesn’t think Bran will have a living successor. “It could be the Night King.”
Maisie Williams asks if Gendry still has a shot at the Throne, but follows up by describing Arya as “a lone wolf”—interesting given Sansa’s opening voiceover. Also she emphasizes that Arya killed the Night King on her own, not because of Jon Snow.
Asked for their favorite lines from the show:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: “Hold the door.”
- Liam Cunningham: “Nothing fucks you harder than time.”
- Jacob Anderson: “Valar Morghulis.”
- Maisie Williams: “Not today.”
- John Bradley West: “I always wanted to be a wizard.”
- Conleth Hill: “I drink and I know things.”
- Isaac Hempstead-Wright: “Chaos is a ladder.”
Asked whether anyone took anything from the set, Conleth Hill replied, “I stole most of the scenes I was in.” And naturally Maisie Williams grabbed silicone blood splotches and “left them all over the bathroom of her trailer.”
Asked if they knew anything about their characters that didn’t make it to the screen, Jacob replied, “They told me dick, no balls.”
Asked what they’d miss most, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau answered, “The truth is…it is the people. I know you’d like me to say something else. But I miss working with these guys!”
John spoke warmly of Samwell’s arc, saying “Charting that progress that [Samwell]’s made. He was a character who has been told he’s completely worthless and over the course of those eight seasons, you see this process of self discovery and realizing how much worth he has. He finishes as arch Maester and he’s valued as who he is.”
Conleth Hill spoke of Northern Ireland: “I couldn’t be prouder that it was made, in large part, a place I was from. But also that it had so many different people who worked together so well and so productively, to the credit of my homeland. Most of all, I want to thank you all for keeping us on TV for 10 years.”
And Isaac Hempstead-Wright followed that up, saying, “What I’ll miss most will be the fans—being part of a show that people love and theorize about.”
And with that the panel, like our watch, is ended. You can find more highlights over at Hypable!
