Game of Thrones became GAME OF THRONES on June 12, 2011, the night “Baelor” aired and Ned Stark died. The episode was shocking, violent, and the first of many times book readers were torn between looking at the TV and watching the reactions of the show-only viewers around them. The decapitation is also the catalyst for everything that’s happened on Thrones since, but there’s still one lingering question about the scene: What was Ned Stark whispering?
It’s Game of Thrones‘ Lost In Translation moment — showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have remained mum on Ned’s final words, as has director Alan Taylor. But in an interview with The Huffington Post, actor Sean Bean finally spilled the beans like Ilyn Payne spilled Ned’s… well, you know.
“[He was] just saying a prayer,” he said. “I couldn’t be too specific, because I don’t know if religion [like that] was around in those days, whatever they were. I just thought, ‘What would you do if this were really gonna happen?’ You probably would pray. You probably would murmur some words and you’d keep it quiet. You’d keep it to yourself.” Bean continued, “It was an interesting thing to do for me at that point. There’s not much you can do really, you’ve got your head on a block. That’s about the only thing you can do is murmur.”
It was either a prayer, or “you know nothing, Jon Snow.” But Game of Thrones would get around to that one later (not that it isn’t forever applicable).
(Via The Huffington Post)