--- title: Ed Sheeran Doesn't See Himself Surviving 'Game of Thrones' description: The "Shape of You" singer explains how he got that 'Game of Thrones' cameo — and what's in store for his character. canonical: https://time.com/4929173/ed-sheeran-on-game-of-thrones/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-06T16:10:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:01.751Z og:title: Ed Sheeran Doesn't See Himself Surviving 'Game of Thrones' og:description: It was a short-lived role og:url: https://time.com/4929173/ed-sheeran-on-game-of-thrones/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb29e91d830a4a3e5/6988d601656a3f9b1abd0dc2/game-of-thrones-dragonstone-ed-sheeren.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: game-of-thrones-dragonstone-ed-sheeren og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ed Sheeran Doesn't See Himself Surviving 'Game of Thrones' twitter:description: It was a short-lived role twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb29e91d830a4a3e5/6988d601656a3f9b1abd0dc2/game-of-thrones-dragonstone-ed-sheeren.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ed Sheeran Got Extremely Dark About His Future as a _Game of Thrones_ Character  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 6, 2017 4:10 PM UTC  Ed Sheeran in Game of Thrones Ed Sheeran in Game of ThronesHelen Sloan—HBO  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 6, 2017 4:10 PM UTC **Warning:** This post contains spoilers for [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/). One of the most talked about moments on season seven of _Game of Thrones_ was a cameo from [Ed Sheeran. ](http://time.com/4860369/game-of-thrones-ed-sheeran-surprise-cameo-reactions/)As it turns out, Sheeran — who’s better known for his [musical chops](http://time.com/4653758/shape-of-you-ed-sheeran-video/) than acting ability — had a little insider help in getting the role. “It was Maisie \[Williams\], who plays [Arya \[Stark\]](http://time.com/4901172/maisie-williams-arya-stark-sisters-fighting-game-of-thrones/),” the “Shape of You” singer [explained to MTV News](http://www.mtv.com/news/3034372/ed-sheeran-game-of-thrones-survived-season-7/) about his connection to the show. “She’s come to gigs for years. They basically put me in a scene with her to be like ‘Hey, thanks for doing the show for so many years. Ed’s gonna be in it.’ I think, anyway. That’s what I was told.” (Sheeran popped up as a friendly singing Lannister soldier in a low-key scene with Williams.) As for his shot at survival in the hard-knock world of Westeros? “We were all quite young, those soldiers,” Sheeran said. “I doubt I’m going to survive for that long, to be honest, when there are [dragons](http://time.com/4905542/game-of-thrones-ice-dragon-viserion/) in the world.” Indeed, Sheeran’s kind-hearted, music-loving character may not be a match for the fiery conditions at hand. And besides, he’s not interested in making a repeat appearance. “My whole thing was like, I didn’t want to be in it for that long. because I’m not an actor. I wanted to be in it for like 30 seconds or whatever, which I kinda was, so happy days,” he added. “No one [wants to see me](http://time.com/4863901/game-of-thrones-director-ed-sheeran-cameo/) come back.” Sheeran’s cameo inspired a [torrent of responses](http://time.com/4864929/ed-sheeran-game-of-thrones-twitter-deleted-cameo/) online, although the star has shrugged off the buzz. He’s currently on the U.S. leg of his world tour for his latest album, [_Divide._](http://time.com/4785875/best-albums-2017-so-far/item/ed-sheeran-divide/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4929173/ed-sheeran-on-game-of-thrones/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4929173/ed-sheeran-on-game-of-thrones/"},"headline":"Ed Sheeran Got Extremely Dark About His Future as a Game of Thrones Character","datePublished":"2017-09-06T16:10:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:01.751Z","description":"The \"Shape of You\" singer explains how he got that 'Game of Thrones' cameo — and what's in store for his character.","url":"https://time.com/4929173/ed-sheeran-on-game-of-thrones/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","game of thrones","ed sheeran"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb29e91d830a4a3e5/6988d601656a3f9b1abd0dc2/game-of-thrones-dragonstone-ed-sheeren.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb29e91d830a4a3e5/6988d601656a3f9b1abd0dc2/game-of-thrones-dragonstone-ed-sheeren.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"game-of-thrones-dragonstone-ed-sheeren","caption":"Ed Sheeran in Game of Thrones","creditText":"Helen Sloan—HBO","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/4929173/ed-sheeran-on-game-of-thrones/","name":"Ed Sheeran Got Extremely Dark About His Future as a Game of Thrones Character"}}]}] ```