Warning: Spoilers ahead for the last episode of Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones' finale had a lot of moments fans weren't expecting, but chief among them was Bran Stark winning the Iron Throne, a real left-field choice. It was so unexpected that even the actor who plays him, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, literally could not believe what was happening when he received that final script.
He told Entertainment Weekly that he thought he was being pranked. 'When I got to the [Dragonpit scene] in the last episode and they’re like, ‘What about Bran?’ I had to get up and pace around the room,' he said.
'I genuinely thought it was a joke script and that [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] sent to everyone a script with their own character ends up on the Iron Throne. 'Yeah, good one guys. Oh sh*t, it’s actually real?’'
Hempstead-Wright is satisfied with the ending, though part of him would have preferred Bran die a cool death in the last episode. 'I’m happy,' he told EW. 'Though I kind of did want to die and get in one good death scene with an exploding head or something.'
For what it's worth, Hempstead-Wright believes Bran 'Three-Eyed Raven' Stark will be a good ruler because of the Three-Eyed Raven's knowing-everything-past-and-future thing.
'I think he’ll be a really good king, actually,' the actor said. 'Perhaps there will be something missing in having real emotive leader, which is a useful quality in a king or queen as well. At the same time, you can’t really argue with Bran. He’s like, ‘No, I know everything.’'
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
