Michelle Fairley gives an apparently-final word on an apparently-final Game of Thrones death. Book spoilers ahead!
The season finale of of Game of Thrones season 4 left a residue of dismay for many readers of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Though replete with skeletal zombies and bloody vengeance, the episode notably omitted the zombified and vengeful Lady Stoneheart.
As Lady Stoneheart is the ghastly reincarnation of Catelyn Stark, Entertainment Weekly took the opportunity to get actress Michelle Fairley’s thoughts on the absent reincarnation. Fairley’s words on the matter are not especially heartening for fans who retain the hope of seeing Un-Cat’s reign of Riverlands terror.
“The character’s dead,” Fairley tells EW in no uncertain terms. “She’s dead.”
Though Fairley was presumably aware of Catelyn’s grim second life in the books, she seems unfazed at this change.
“You respect the writers’ decision,” she says. “I knew the arc, and that was it. They can’t stick to the books 100 percent. It’s impossible — they only have 10 hours per season.”
But though many fans may be crushed by this decision, Fairley opines that omitting Mother Merciless is for the best. “[The writers] have got to keep it dramatic and exciting,” she says. “Extraneous stuff along the way gets lost in order to maintain the quality of a brilliant show.”
Though the showrunners of Game of Thrones have remained silent on the issue, Alex Graves – who directed the season finale – recently expressed doubt that Lady Stoneheart would ever appear on the epic fantasy series.
“To bring back Michelle Fairley, one of the greatest actresses around, to be a zombie for a little while — and just kill people?” Graves mused. “What are we doing with that?”
The possibility remains that Michelle Fairley has a Martin-esque sense of humor and enjoys torturing teasing Game of Thrones fans with her character’s absence. Still, it’s certainly starting to seem like the story of Stoneheart may remain untold as far as HBO is concerned.