Turns Out This Game of Thrones Character Was Originally Supposed to Survive Season 8

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8.

The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones killed off more major characters — including Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei and Jaime Lannister, and Theon Greyjoy — than any of the other seven preceding it. But there was apparently one character who bit the dust who was originally supposed to survive the series.

As we know, Jorah Mormont died protecting Daenerys from the army of the dead during the Battle of Winterfell, a fitting end for the man who had been by the Dragon Queen’s side basically from the very beginning. However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Game of Thrones writer Dave Hill revealed that the writers were initially intent on having Jorah Mormont be one of the people waiting for Jon at the Wall in the show’s closing minutes.

“For a long time we wanted Ser Jorah to be there at the Wall in the end,” he said. “The three coming out of the tunnel would be Jon and Jorah and Tormund. But the amount of logic we’d have to bend to get Jorah up to the Wall and get him to leave Dany’s side right before [the events of the finale]…there’s no way to do that blithely. And Jorah should have the noble death he craves defending the woman he loves.”

As for how the actor who played Jorah felt about his character’s end, Iain Glen told EW that he felt Jorah was better off not knowing about Daenerys’ Mad Queen turn.

“There’s a sweetness in that because Jorah will never know what she did,” Glen said. “That’s probably best. It’s a blessing for him that he never found out what happened to her. And from a pragmatic story point of view, his death served a greater purpose. Where could we have taken Jorah from there? F— if I know.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Ser Jorah.