‘Game of Thrones’ Star Says Your Favorite Character Could Become a White Walker in Season 8

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister, hinted at the chilling possibility in a new interview.

The Night King
HBO

Image via HBO

The Night King

Sunday nights are a little more empty now that Game of Thrones season 7 is finished. We once again embark on the long and bitter journey to next season, but this time it’s marked by the knowledge that season 8 will also be the show’s last.

For a series that has been so eager to kill of its main characters, season 7 was uncharacteristic in that it left the majority of the show’s most beloved characters unscathed. But common sense would dictate that the final season will not follow that trend, and in a new Esquire interview, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister, makes an interesting suggestion as to the icy fate of some of the show’s main characters.

In the final scenes of season 7's last episode, Jaime finally betrays his Queen and leaves Cersei’s side, and we see him going North. We don’t know exactly what his plans are, but we do know that the Night King is, at that very moment, finally penetrating the Wall and starting to lead his White Walker army into Westeros.

“The fear is that I would be turned into one of those undead. That would suck,” Coster-Waldau said.

"You know some of the main characters are going to get turned. There are going to be some blue-eyed main characters running around," he continued. "And, god, I hope it's not me. That's three hours of make-up in the morning. I know that if David Benioff and Dan Weiss [Game of Thrones showrunners] read this, they'll go, 'Oh, yes we will.'"

The suggestion that some of the show’s main characters will turn into wights is a frightening one, because it could literally be anyone. Of course, those currently at Winterfell—Sansa or Arya, primarily—are the ones at most risk initially, but the White Walker army will certainly make it more South than Winterfell, and every single person is at risk.

We can theorize and speculate every hour until the show returns (and hardcore fans certainly will) but the real question is when that will be. Coster-Waldau confirmed that shooting will begin this year, but that it will take quite some time. Nothing has been announcement yet, but season 8 of Game of Thrones is rumored to be premiering sometime in late 2018 or early 2019.

“Well, we go back [to shoot] in October… that's when the fun starts,” Coster-Waldau confirms. “I think this season is going to take about 4,000 years to shoot. I'll probably retire when it's done. [Laughs] No, I have a few things I'll be getting into. I will be busy. I hope I don't die in Episode One of Season Eight, but who knows?”

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