Say what you will about House Lannister of Casterly Rock, but those prosperous (and pompous!) bastards always pay their debts. They’ve also made it to the very end of HBO’s Game of Thrones saga, which took Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) by surprise.
While discussing the show’s impending finale with The Huffington Post (h/t ComicBook.com), the Thrones stalwart admitted that any time he began work on a new season, he was convinced that House Lannister was on the brink of collapse. But somehow – almost inexplicably – they cheated death, and managed to worm their way back into power.
All of this tees up a frankly unmissable finale involving the Lannisters, the Starks, the Targaryens, and the undead army marching on Westeros. And if Coster-Waldau is to be believed, it seems as if that first party will still be standing by the time the show wraps up.
“It was a surprise” said the actor. “God, every time we got a new script I thought, ‘OK, this is probably going to be the one.’ But no. The Lannister kids made it to the end.”
On a more general note, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is quietly confident that the eighth and final season will deliver a satisfying conclusion to what is undoubtedly the crown jewel on HBO’s roster. It’s a finale that’s been described as both heartbreaking and epic – such is the Game of Thrones way – but Coster-Waldau also hinted at the surprises still to come.
I wrote the writers when I finished reading and just said, ‘I don’t think you could’ve done a better job at finishing this story.’ To me, it was very satisfying but also very surprising and all the things that I was hoping for. It still made sense. It wasn’t like one of those where the killer is suddenly revealed in the last act and you go, ‘Oh! I didn’t see that coming.’ Here, they’ve done a really, really good job.
Game of Thrones, HBO’s undisputed fantasy flagship, is currently on course for a 2019 premiere. And while April was initially floated as a potential ETA, it’s looking increasingly likely that the network will save its six-part finale until early summer – think June or July.
