The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones featured fire, brimstone, and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
On Sunday night, before the episode aired, the football star confirmed his appearance in an Instagram post that he captioned, “It was just for a few seconds, but I’ll always be thankful to have been on the penultimate episode of @gameofthrones”. The Green Bay Packers tweeted out a message to fans, too.
The football star’s cameo in the show’s final season had become what ESPN called “one of the worst kept secrets in television.” The quarterback is a long-time fan of the show who filmed a promo for the series, where he introduced himself as “Lord Aaron of House Rodgers of Greenwater Bay, the true King in the North.” tweeted about the “24-hour rule,” the standard of TV etiquette that prevents fans from discussing spoilers about Game of Thrones for at least a day for anyone watching on delay. He also added in a hashtag that “Episode 5 should be good.”
To that end, he was careful to avoid spoilers about the fifth episode of the show’s final season. “I have a bit of inside information about who is alive in one of the episodes, but I’ll share that down the line,” Rodgers told reporters on April 23, according to ESPN.
The cameo had been a longtime dream of the athlete, who hinted at a possible appearance on the Dan Patrick Show last year, but would neither “confirm nor deny” the cameo at the time. However, when Patrick asked him what role he would like to play on the show, Rodgers said he wanted “to be killed or in one of the steamy scenes for sure.” Last night, he got his wish with fans spotting him in the lineup of archers in King’s Landing.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com