“Season 6 is good man. It’s really good.”
Thus spoke Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell) when grilled by Matt Geary of GeekPrideTV about what his character will be up to next year on Game of Thrones. Jones and Kristian Nairn (Hodor) both sat for a free-wheeling, low-key interview at the most recent London Film and Comic Con, and while they were understandably cagey about specifics, Jones dropped enough hints to at least inspire a few brainstorms.
To start, Jones had some nice things to say about the much-ballyhooed changes the show made to George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels during Season 5. It’s clear that Jones has read the books, since he makes direct reference to Loras heading off to Dragonstone on the page. (Nairn’s answer when asked if he’d read the books before being cast: “F*** no.”) As far as Jones is concerned, “no one would care” if Loras went to Dragonstone, and “it makes it more interesting to tie in with all the stuff that’s going on in King’s Landing.”
Jones praised the books (it’s pretty obvious he’s passionate about this story), but said that “the TV series needs to stay punchy…it needs to stay relevant to the plot and what’s going on.” That’s an argument that been made before when defending Season 5 from its critics, and one likely to continue as we head into uncharted territory next year.
CAUTION: SPOILERS AND RAMPANT SPECULATION AHEAD
Speaking of next year, Jones also dropped some vague hints about what Loras will be doing in Season 6, intimating that he’s “happy with where Loras is being taken at the moment.”
"There’s a full arc going on…From an actor’s perspective, it’s really good. I got some good stuff to do. There’s a dramatic change, which is great."
Loras was used fairly sparsely in Season 5, and didn’t appear after the sixth episode. It’s interesting to speculate as to what Jones could mean when talks about “a full arc” and “a dramatic change.”
When we last left Loras, he’d been thrown in jail on the orders of the High Sparrow for the crime of buggery, so the first part of his arc will probably deal with him getting out of prison. There are a couple of ways this might happen. In the books, the Tyrells enlist the help of Randyll Tarly, an experienced military commander from the Reach, to lean on the Faith to release Margaery. According to the Season 6 casting calls floating around, Randyll Tarly will very likely appear in Season 6, so we may see him act on behalf of Loras as well, even though Loras isn’t imprisoned alongside his sister on the page.
There’s also the matter of Loras’ upcoming trial. Being a capable warrior, Loras will probably choose a trial by combat, which could open up all kinds of possibilities. Who would the Faith choose as their champion in this scenario, for example? A Song of Ice and Fire conspiracy theorists surely have their guesses.
Jones also makes reference to “a dramatic change” for Loras. That’s pretty vague, but could reference something that happens to the character in A Feast for Crows. In that book, Loras storms the castle of Dragonstone and routes the men Stannis left to defend it, but is gravely injured in the process. When last we hear of him in A Dance with Dragons, he’s dying of his wounds. Jones seems pretty dismissive of sending Loras to Dragonstone, but a life-threatening injury isn’t out of the question, especially if a trial by combat is involved.
All in all, Jones gives us plenty to chew on between now and the debut of Season 6. The interview is pretty fun by itself, too, as the actors are relaxed and just talking off-hand. Some of the highlights:
- Nairn has done drag, apparently. Someone needs to find footage of his performance.
- It’s pretty adorable when Nairn talks about how in awe he was the first time he walked onto the Thrones set (12:30).
- Nairn’s favorite character on the show (other than his own) is Varys. Jones’ is the Hound.
- Jones is “filming Thrones until December this year, so that’s pretty much my year taken up.” A full arc indeed.
- Jones couldn’t help but troll the interviewer a bit when the subject of Jon Snow came up. “He’s dead. He’s dead. Dude, I know he’s dead. I’ve seen Season 6. He’s dead.” But I think he’s just joking. Probably.