Sean Bean has finally revealed what Ned Stark whispered before his 'Game of Thrones' death
And it's killed a few fan theories
It’s been one of Game of Thrones’ longest unsolved mysteries ever since Ned Stark stunningly had his head lopped from his shoulders at the end of Season 1, but now, seven years later, Sean Bean has finally revealed his character’s last words.
As Ser Ilyn Payne brings Ned’s own sword down on his neck, we can see Lord Stark mutter something under his breath, and fans have long speculated about what it might be.
Was he finally getting the truth about Jon’s parentage off his chest? Or perhaps sending a final message to his family? Well, no, as it turns out, the truth is almost disappointingly simple.
In an interview with HuffPost, Bean reveals that he was ‘just saying a prayer’. Oh.
“I couldn’t be too specific, because I don’t know if religion [like that] was around in those days, whatever they were. I just thought, ‘What would you do if this were really gonna happen?’ You probably would pray. You probably would murmur some words and you’d keep it quiet. You’d keep it to yourself,” he said.
“It was an interesting thing to do for me at that point. There’s not much you can do really, you’ve got your head on a block. That’s about the only thing you can do is murmur.”
With Jon Snow’s real name and parents finally being revealed at the end of Season 7, and now this, most of Game of Thrones’ earliest mysteries have been cleared up.
Now there’s just the small matter of how Jon, Daenerys and co. are going to defeat the White Walkers, how they’ll react when they find out they’re related, whether Bran is actually the Night King, which of our favourite characters are going to make it through to the bitter end, and who - if anyone - is going to be sat on the Iron Throne come the credit roll.
There are still many mysteries to be revealed in Season 8
HBO have just warned us to prepare for the worst when it comes to losing some of our favourites.
Speaking at the INTV Conference in Israel, Francesca Orsi, HBO SVP of drama, revealed how the cast reacted to reading the script for the show’s closing moments.
“It was a really powerful moment in our lives and our career,” she said. “None of the cast had received the scripts prior, and one by one they started to fall down to their deaths.”
The script was apparently given a 15-minute standing ovation in the reading room, confirming what George R. R. Martin has always said - that it will be bittersweet.
Only another year to wait!
(Images: HBO)
