10 TV Characters Who Just Disappeared
7. Ser Ilyn Payne - Game Of Thrones
Ser Ilyn Payne was a knight who had his tongue removed by the mad king Aerys II Targaryen before being appointed as the royal executioner. Despite being the man who killed Ned Stark, he played a surprisingly small role on Game of Thrones.
After executing Ned, he then made sporadic appearances in Season 2 before disappearing completely.
He played a larger role in the books, joining Jaime Lannister at the siege of Riverrun, but the show seems to have cut him out. He was last heard of in Season 4, when Tywin briefly mentioned his name.
Ilyn Payne was played by musician Wilko Johnson, who left the show after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Thankfully, it proved not to be fatal and he went into remission after surgery.
In theory the door is still open for Ilyn to return. However, in Season 5 the character was missing from Arya Stark's list of people she intends to kill. This suggests that the show has decided to let him slip away into the background.
What (Probably) Happened To Him: Given the abysmal life expectancy in Westeros, the most likely explanation is that he was horribly murdered at some point.