--- title: Sean Bean on Ned Stark's Game of Thrones Beheading Death description: The Ned Stark actor has revealed what he whispered in that climactic Game of Thrones scene. canonical: https://time.com/5203015/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying/ author: Lena Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-16T15:35:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:27.049Z og:title: We Now Know What Ned Stark Whispered on Game of Thrones og:description: No, it wasn't 'I want some Oreos' og:url: https://time.com/5203015/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77ff9c137005e62d/69892b0722fb85b11ce2515f/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3749 og:image:height: 2109 og:image:alt: BAFTA Television Awards 2017 In London og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: We Now Know What Ned Stark Whispered on Game of Thrones twitter:description: No, it wasn't 'I want some Oreos' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77ff9c137005e62d/69892b0722fb85b11ce2515f/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Finally Know What Ned Stark Whispered on _Game of Thrones_ and It Wasn't About Cookies > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4cef766c-7c5f-42b2-998c-600d27ee706f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Mar 16, 2018 3:35 PM UTC  Sean Bean attends the Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall on May 14, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Sean Bean attends the Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall on May 14, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Wiktor Szymanowic—Barcroft Media/Getty Images by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Mar 16, 2018 3:35 PM UTC **Warning**: This post contains spoilers for _Game of Thrones_. _Game of Thrones_ fans finally have their answer to one of their most pressing questions. Sean Bean, the actor who played Ned Stark on [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/), has revealed the truth to _Huff Post_ on [what he muttered](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ned-stark-whispered-during-his-game-of-thrones-death-sean-bean%5Fus%5F5aa6d99fe4b009b705d522e3) during the [season 1, episode 9 “Baelor”](https://www.buzzfeed.com/crystalro/sean-bean-just-put-your-fan-theories-to-rest-about-what-ned?utm%5Fterm=.taLM1WnR1#.waygNyYON) moment before his beheading. It is indeed a show known for its [gruesome deaths](http://time.com/4892186/game-of-thrones-gruesome-deaths/). Per typical _Game of Thrones_ style, Stark’s mysterious musings launched a stampede of [theories](https://www.buzzfeed.com/andyneuenschwander/ned-starks-last-words-might-confirm-a-game-of-thrones-theory?utm%5Fterm=.fa7lXrodX#.lfBl16NY1). Some fans believe he said, “I kept my promise” in terms of the [R+L=J Jon Snow theory](http://time.com/4401097/game-of-thrones-aemon-targaryen-rlj/). Others think he may have whispered that popular _Game of Thrones_ line “Valar Morghulis,” which means “all men must die.” According to Bean, however, it was none of the above. Before the sword came down and the camera cut away, Bean revealed that he was “just saying a prayer.” He told _Huff Post_, “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.” Bean noted that his whispering and praying was subtle and “many people wouldn’t pick it up.” So although, no, he didn’t say “I want some Oreos” as [some speculate](https://www.ablogofthrones.com/what-were-ned-starks-last-words/), he merely remained in tune with where his character was at that moment: “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.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5203015/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5203015/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying/"},"headline":"We Finally Know What Ned Stark Whispered on Game of Thrones and It Wasn't About Cookies","datePublished":"2018-03-16T15:35:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:27.049Z","description":"No, it wasn't \"I want some Oreos\"","url":"https://time.com/5203015/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying/","keywords":["Newsfeed","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77ff9c137005e62d/69892b0722fb85b11ce2515f/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lena Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77ff9c137005e62d/69892b0722fb85b11ce2515f/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BAFTA Television Awards 2017 In London","caption":"BAFTA Television Awards 2017 In London","creditText":"Wiktor Szymanowic—Barcroft Media/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5203015/sean-bean-ned-stark-beheading-praying/","name":"We Finally Know What Ned Stark Whispered on Game of Thrones and It Wasn't About Cookies"}}]}] ```