In tonight's episode of HBO's fantasy series, main character and hero of the story Eddard Stark(Sean Bean) is executed by the bloodthirsty Joffrey Lannister. You win or you die indeed. It's a real kick in the guts for many fans, and was for me while reading the book. But I also know from reading on that it wasn't simply done for shock value, Stark's death sets the real story in motion.
Entertainment Weekly caught up with the show's producers to ask them about it, and they also reveal that we may be seeing another big name or 2 step in to take over from Bean in future seasons..
EW: When reading Game of Thrones, what was your reaction to George(Miller) killing off Ned?
David Benioff: I was in shock. From your training in seeing so many movies and reading books, you know your hero is going to be saved. Is Arya going to pull this off? Does the queen have some trick up her sleeve? Someone has something planned, because they’re not really going to chop off his head — right up until the moment when they chopped off his head. I was shocked, and then admiring of George’s ruthlessness. It’s a tough thing to build up a character and make somebody as memorable and impressive as Ned and then get rid of him. But at the same time it leads to a story that is so much more suspenseful because you truly have no idea what is going to happen and who is going to survive. In stories, you usually have an idea who’s going to make it out. Watching The Town, which was a really excellent movie from last year, you knew who was going to survive and who will die within the first 10 minutes. This was something completely different. And I said, “Wow George, there’s a reason you have such devoted followers because it makes such great reading and panicked reading because you turn the page not knowing who’s going to get what next.”
EW: Since he is the best-known actor and such a central figure, does losing Sean bring about any concern whether viewers will stick around for season two?
D.B Weiss: In addition to his character, you’re setting up other characters that goes forward. The idea is this show gets its hooks into people enough so you’re going to want to know what happens to Tyrion and Arya. So even though we lose key characters, we’re still invested in a lot of characters so you’ll want to know what happens next.
EW: Does Sean leaving the show open up the possibility of hiring another star for characters who are introduced in season two?
Benioff: There are a bunch of names up for discussion, so it’s quite possible. Certainly there hasn’t been any kind of mandate that we need to cast big names, but there are some well known actors who would be great for certain roles.
For the full article and interview click the link below. So, what did you make of these shocking turn of events?
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About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.