‘Game Of Thrones’ actors recall which scenes shocked them most

There have been more than a few outstanding moments throughout the seven seasons of Game Of Thrones.

Ahead of the premiere of the epic fantasy show’s final season, we met with some of the actors from the HBO series in London. We asked them for a particular moment that happened in the series that they found most shocking or the most memorable.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister): Baelor (S1, Ep9)

“The execution of Ned Stark. That was make or break of the show, I thought.”

Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm): Baelor (S1, Ep9)

“I’m still mad about Ned Stark. It came out of left field. Maybe that’s not a particularly flattering way to put that actually. But that particular death kind of sets the tone for the rest of the show and you just know ‘OK, I can’t trust these people. Can’t trust anyone.’”

John Bradley (Samwell Tully): Baelor (S1, Ep9)

“It’s still the Ned Stark’s beheading. Just because, at that moment, all of the rules just crumble to dust. The rule where you say that this is your essential character, the one who’s going to guide you through (the show) no matter how weird it gets. He was our Tony Soprano (The Sopranos), Jimmy McNulty (The Wire) and all of these characters you’ve seen before. He was the one. And then, suddenly he’s gone and you think, ‘Well that’s the man I assume who’s going to be safe and now he’s gone. They killed him.’ And you know that no one is safe.”

Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy): The Rains Of Castamere (S3, Ep9)

“The Red Wedding scene. Even though I knew it was going to happen as I’ve read the script, the way it was executed was extraordinary. And The Battle Of The Bastards (S6, Ep9). I felt suffocated when I was watching that; I was breathing and not breathing. It was brilliantly done. I suppose they sort of blew the budget filming those big scenes, but they were very exciting.”

Iain Glen (Ser Jorah Mormont): Winter Is Coming (S1, Ep1)

“Bran Stark’s fall. It was just such a shocking moment. It’s also one of those hook moments and you realise this is a different sort of show. This is not a show where you see things coming. This is a show where you can’t take anything for granted.”

Joe Dempsie (Gendry): The Dance Of Dragons (S5, Ep9)

“The moment that really stayed with me was Shireen Baratheon’s death. I think shows like Game of Thrones contribute to this, but I think we are all guilty of getting a bit desensitised to violence on television. We know it’s all make-believe and I’ve been there, I’ve stood on that set while that kind of thing is being put together, so I know the mechanics of it. But I watched that scene and I could not quite get it out of my head. There was something quite incredibly jarring about that, for me.”

Jerome Flynn (Bronn): The Mountain And The Viper (S4, Ep8)

“The death of Oberyn Martell. I was just falling in love with the character, and the actor (Pedro Pascal) was doing such an incredible job. The way it was done … because, if you remember, that’s what Tyrion wanted Bronn to do, to face Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, in a fight. And Oberyn stepped up. So I was super interested to see what happens. You thought with Oberyn being a hero (he’d win). So that got me.”

The final season of Game Of Thrones premieres April 15, at 9am and repeats at 10pm, on HBO (Astro Ch 411). Catch up on all the episodes of Game Of Thrones via Astro On Demand. For more information, go to astro.com.my/hbogameofthrones