While most fans thought that the Battle of Winterfell would feature the majority of the major deaths in the final season of Game of Thrones, it was actually Sunday night’s installment, “The Bells,” that delivered all of the big goodbyes. Several notable characters met their fate during the new episode, some of which have been around since the start of the series. Now that the secrets of these deaths have finally been revealed, the performers behind them can now talk openly about their reactions to these endings. Some of them had a much harder time coming to grips with their fates than others.
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WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from the latest episode of Game of Thrones! Continue reading at your own risk…
The first big death of the night belonged to Varys, who has long been one of the only people in Westeros who genuinely wants what’s best for the Seven Kingdoms, no matter whether or not he stands to gain anything. That drive ultimately cost him, as he betrayed the trust of Daenerys, and she had him executed.
It was a devastating ending to a beloved character, and actor Conleth Hill had a hard time coming to terms with it when he first wrapped filming.
“I took it very personally,” Hill told EW when asked about learning his character’s fate. “I took it as a person, not as an actor or an artist. I understood the reactions of previous actors who had been in the same position a lot more than I did at the time. You can’t help feeling that you failed in some way, that you haven’t lived up to some expectation that you didn’t know about. The only thing that consoles you is people who worked a lot harder than you are in the same boat. So that helps. I don’t think anybody who hasn’t been through it can identify with it. They think, ‘What’s all the fuss about? You’re all finishing anyway.’ But you take it personally, you can’t help it.”
Later in the conversation, Hill was asked about the specific way in which Varys went out, and he said that the death was as noble as he could ask for. But that didn’t exactly make it hurt any less.
“All brilliant. All noble. He was absolutely true to his word the whole way through,” he added. “All he wanted was the right person on the throne and a fair person on the throne. He said it so many times in the scripts. I don’t have the distraction of love or desire or any of those things. And the people he needed to see clearly were both in love. So that makes perfect sense. And now with hindsight, I’m okay, but I really was inconsolable.”
What did you think of Varys’ final moments on Game of Thrones? Let us know in the comments!
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