Game Of Thrones: Gendry Has A Big Part In Season 8 - Is He Going To Die?
Rowing to his doom?
After a four year absence, during which time he was 'still rowing' Gendry made a big return to Game of Thrones last year.
The bastard of Robert Baratheon reunited with his old friend Davos, bashed in the heads of a couple of Gold Cloaks, met Jon Snow and joined the fight against the White Walkers, and proved himself to be the fastest runner in Westeros.
Although his comeback didn't quite amount to as much narratively as fans hoped, it was still great to see him back and, after he disappeared at the end of the season, Joe Dempsie has revealed he has an even bigger role next year. The actor told Digital Spy:
"I've done well out of it this year, for sure," adding that he's been in it a "fair bit."
"As with all these things, we never shoot in chronological order – so you might have people coming in at the beginning and at the end, but it doesn't necessarily mean they make it all the way through! For me personally, the only real hope I had for the character was just that he would be there when the reckoning came. You got the sense – even back in season 3 – that this was a show that was building towards some incredible climax, so you just wanted to be there when it all happened.
"Not even necessarily just from a character point-of-view, [but] from a personal point of view – to be stood there on the set when they're making that ending... that end game. So yeah, I'm very happy to be involved and be on set for season 8."
Dempsie is being reasonably vague there, and in the interview he does later talk about the amount of secrets he now has to keep, but the idea of Gendry having an increased role is both a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, he's an excellent character who deserves more screentime. On the other, there's no time to waste, so if he's got a big part it could be to set up his death, with so many characters set to die this year. TV shows have a habit of given characters more prominence before offing them, and hardly anyone can be considered 'safe' in Season 8. Hopefully, though, Gendry does survive, since it's harder to see the point in bringing him back after all that time just to have him die.
Do you think Gendry will die in Season 8? Share your thoughts down in the comments.