Iain Glen on Jorah’s time running out

Before we dive into this interview, let’s just get the Ser Friendzone jokes out of the way. Actually, nevermind, let’s just say we made them, since I find the term “friendzone” to be the sort of phrase that men who mistake themselves to be “nice guys” tend to use. And personally, I find Iain Glen to be one of the hottest actors on television in the BBC stable, so there you go.

As we all know from last season, Ser Jorah’s days are badly numbered. Like Ser Jon Connington in A Dance with Dragons, Jorah has caught greyscale from the Stonemen, and is trying to hide it from his companions. It’s only a question of how long until Jorah’s condition gets out of hand and he dies, either by his own hand or via a noble death in battle.

Those who thought Jorah wouldn’t make it to see Dany again are probably disappointed, as the Daario and Jorah Bro Show made it to her side with time to spare, only to be relegated to a single assist of barring the door from the outside, while Dany did all the hard work of burning her enemies alive. Glen seems to know that his time is coming, and soon, as he spoke to The Daily Beast this week about Jorah’s journey so far.

All I can say is it’s been a dream job from beginning to end. It’s been nothing but a ball doing it. If you can count on one hand at the end of a long career things that have come close to resonating in the way Game of Thrones has, then I think you should be a pretty happy bunny. It’s been pretty transformative for most people on the show, certainly the actors, the principles of the show. It’s sort of changed all our lives for the good. I’m hugely grateful, really. The show is bigger than any single person within it. It just fills me with excitement every year at the prospect of reading those scripts and going back to work and getting into that costume again and hanging out with the same people.

Glen has actually had two such gigs—he also starred as Lady Mary’s new money fiance on Downton Abbey, before she chucked him for someone who got their title the old fashion way—inheritance—instead of one who bought his way into high society. But that ill-fated romance was not nearly as long lived as the one in Essos.

My job is just to make [Jorah] as deep or as believable as possible without being saccharine in the wrong way. He’s just a profoundly loyal man. But I also wanted him in some ways to be an ordinary man, because I think she is extraordinary. And that’s what fuels his huge passion for her.

It’s something that Daario, who respects Jorah, does not really understand until the end of the last episode, when he finally sees Dany as Jorah has seen her the whole time: someone who earned the title “The Unburnt.” But those who think that Jorah has made it to see Dany in order to profess his love might be disappointed. As he points out, they’ve been there and done that.

He told her, even as she sent him away [in Season 4] that he loves her. He said it, she knows. You almost needed that breath away from our story, between Daenerys and Ser Jorah, to see the separation and sort of again understand his need and, perhaps, her need. But maybe it’ll be said again in a different context,” he concludes cryptically. “We’ll see.”

Whatever it is, we’ll probably see it soon, as the pictures for next week suggest that Daario won’t be the only one who knows about Jorah’s condition for long.

Meanwhile, over at TV Guide, director Daniel Sackheim is still answering questions about the surprise viral hit from “Book of the Stranger”: the sexual attraction between Tormund Giantsbane and Brienne of Tarth…well, Tormund’s attraction to Brienne, at any rate. “I wasn’t even sure that when I delivered the episode it was really clear,” Sackheim said. “It was like a fun little bit, but I wasn’t sure it was really clear that he had these amorous feelings for Brienne. I’m always amazed what fans pick up.”

Oh, they picked it up, all right.

Is there hope for the couple? That’s less certain. “I think it was fairly one-sided, but that’s OK,” Sackheim said. “There’s nothing like a challenge. Men love a challenge.”

With Brienne going “on a mission” in the next episode, it’s anyone’s guess as to when, or whether, she’ll see Tormund again, but we can keep hope alive.