Liam Cunningham on the “carnage” of Season 6, and how the show will “come to an end soon”

Liam Cunningham (Davos) has been front and center in the lead-up to Season 6 (which might not be a good thing—more on that later). He continues the push with an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, where he touches on everything from Davos’ philosophy to the security around spoilers to that moment from the trailer where he draws Longclaw, Jon Snow’s Valyrian steel sword.

Cunningham drops quite a few juicy quotes in this interview, but let’s start with this one, an overview of his reaction as he read the scripts for Season 6.

"I’m the one screaming ‘WTF! OMFG!’ when I read the scripts…If I can put them down, things aren’t going well. But this season, there wasn’t an episode in the bunch where I went, ‘Where is this going?’ It was full of intrigue, full of newness, and filled with wonderful characters. We have quite a few new people on board this year, and as usual, there’s carnage with characters going down. There are parts of it that are business as usual, and I mean that in the very best sense. Then there are parts that are stylistically very new."

First of all, it’s neat that Cunningham actually reads the entire script, rather than just the parts that pertain to his character. (Presumably, that’s how he knew that Arya’s story in Season 6 is “insane.”) Otherwise, his comments back up what showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss said about how “there is not a weak episode” in Season 6, while his comment about new people is borne out by the plentiful casting calls. How many of those new characters will survive the season? That’s harder to say, but with carnage on the way, we can bet that many will be cut down, and that they’ll probably take some principal players with them.

Overall, Cunningham’s enthusiasm is pretty infectious. No wonder HBO is putting him on the interview warpath.

Cunningham also reiterated that the relationship between Davos and Melisandre will change in Season 6 now that they’ve both lost Stannis. “I love this phrase, but they really are very strange bedfellows,” he said. “They hate each other, but they’re in the same position…It’s absolutely interesting from a dramatic point of view to see where these two characters are going to go. Right now, they’re not in a good place.” Let’s keep in mind, however, that Melisandre did burn Stannis’ daughter to death, and that Davos probably won’t be very happy when he finds out. Cunningham only said that the show would “pursue that dramatically.”

The actor is pretty adept at teasing things without spoiling anything, another reason he makes a good frontman for HBO’s marketing efforts. For example, he touched on the scene from the Season 6 trailer where he pulls Longclaw on a couple of Night’s Watchmen. “Why I’m taking it, and what I’m going to do with it, one will have to wait and see, but it’s a very wonderful and clever sequence.” As for the inevitable question about whether Jon Snow is alive or dead, Cunningham wasn’t biting. “He gives good corpse, that boy,” he said.

Finally, Cunningham touched on when the show might end. Technically, there’s no firm end date set, although word from HBO is that the show will run for eight seasons. Cunningham agrees that the end is in sight.

"This year, we pushed the limit even more, because we know it’s going to come to an end soon. It has to. You can’t keep up this level of quality, because of the demands and everything — your personal life, your time, all of that. This show is bigger than the lot of us, the sum of its parts. To do justice to the finish of this story is very important, that we can walk away with our heads held high, that we can do no more, that we did as much as we could."

Fans want more Game of Thrones, but I don’t think anyone would like it if the show overstayed its welcome. I’m glad there seems to be a feeling that we’re barreling towards the end, because Cunningham is right: the production can only maintain a certain level of quality for so long before it gives out—best finish the race while there’s still gas in the tank.

Overall, this is a great interview, and Cunningham seems like a real fan. If you want to read more, including Cunningham’s take on Davos’ position as moral arbiter of the show, head over to The Hollywood Reporter.

One thing I’m a little afraid of: HBO has a tendency of pushing cast members to the press right before their characters die. During the lead up to Season 5, Kit Harington was giving interviews all over the place, and before Season 4, Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) was ubiquitous. It’s very unscientific, I know, but I hope Cunningham’s prominent presence on the interview circuit isn’t setting him up for an early exit.