Daenerys Targaryen will be reunited with Khal Drogo “when the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,” which should happen a few Long Nights before I get over the death of Ned Stark. While it will never get easier to watch Ser Ilyn Payne carry out Joffrey’s fateful order to end the life of the greatest man who ever lived, Sean Bean has finally put to rest one of the great mysteries about the Lord of Winterfell’s final moments on Game of Thrones. He revealed what it was he muttered under his breath before Ned was executed.
While there have been plenty of theories over the years about Ned’s final words (the one I’ve always heard was “I kept my promise,” in reference to keeping his sister Lyanna’s secret about Jon Snow), Bean had never actually addressed it until recently when he spoke to The Huffington Post. Don’t expect to be blown away or learn some unknown secret about the Seven Kingdoms, because it turns out he was merely saying some vague, non-Westerosi prayer.
“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.”
Seven years of anticipation and countless attempts at trying to read his lips like I was Bart Simpson in Shelbyville (I wish I were exaggerating) all for that. I have no one to blame but myself.
At least Bean put to rest one of the silliest fan theories of them all, by saying he is not coming back to the show. Theories like the one that says the “Ned Stark” we saw killed was really a Faceless Man who took his spot.
“And yeah, I’ve heard rumors, but not from very good sources that I might be back. But I think I’ve done my time there, and I created a good character. It’d be rather strange to see him resurrected.”
The only thing stranger than that would be seeing the sun rise in the west–or me getting over Ned’s death.
Are you disappointed by what Ned muttered to himself? Or is this always what you thought he said? Speak up with your thoughts in our comments below.
Images: HBO
