Daily Times

No one is expecting the remaining characters of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ to have a Disney-fied happy ending, or even for the majority of them to survive. However, fans’ hearts are sure to break once the dust settles on the series’ final season, as is to be expected after eight years of following the highs, lows and rock bottoms of these flawed, yet deeply human characters.

Yet until the corpse is cold on the ground (and even then death isn’t guaranteed end in the world of Westeros) we will still hold out hope our favs will be among those left standing.

Unfortunately Peter Dinklage’s recent comments to Vulture appear to suggest Tyrion Lannister, the beloved show stealing, oft drunk and cuttingly brilliant fan favorite, will not survive at the end of Game of Thrones. “I think he was given a very good conclusion,” said Dinklage. “No matter what that is — death can be a great way out.” It is possible to interpret Dinklage’s statement as him leaving open the possibility his character might die, but for him to hint so heavily at such as fate is not a positive sign for fans.

Regardless of however Tyrion’s ultimate fate, the Lannister black sheep has been on quite a journey over the course of eight seasons. “[Tyrion] was a pretty irresponsible character to begin with.” said Dinklage. “The beauty of Tyrion is that he grew out of that mode in a couple of seasons and developed a strong sense of responsibility. Not morality, because he always had that, but what to do with his intelligence.”

Saying goodbye to Tyrion Lannister and the Game of Thrones chapter of his life on set was also emotional. “It’s always anticlimactic for the character’s last day…[but] as anticlimactic as it was, my last day was also beautifully bittersweet.

“A lot of people whom I love were on set that day. Even if they weren’t working, they came to set, which was beautiful” recalls Dinklage. “I tried to do the same thing when other [Game of Thrones] actors were wrapping out. If it was their day, you would go to set to say good-bye.”

Published in Daily Times, October 17^th 2018.