Clive Russell on the Blackfish’s Red Wedding survivor’s guilt, and his coming conflict

Last night, Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully became the latest Game of Thrones character to return to the show after seasons offscreen, following the lead of characters like Walder Frey, Edmure Tully, and Benjen Stark. Clive Russell, who plays the Blackfish, talked to IGN about what it was like to come back, and where the character might be going. “I’d hoped that he’d come back because he comes back in the books again,” he said. “But they’re not doing the books — there is no book to do it from. I’d hoped that would happen. I don’t think I was surprised it would happen because they bring back all kinds of people at all kinds of times.”

He’s right about that—Season 6 has been all about old characters returning. As for what the Blackfish is doing now, occupying Riverrun, Russell says it partly stems from the character’s guilt about not dying at the Red Wedding. If you’ll recall, he took a very well-timed bathroom break just before the killing started.

"One of the other elements is that sense of survivor’s guilt, and I think Blackfish regretted running. He mentions, “I’m not going to run again.” He’s a soldier. Normally you stand and fight. Even though you look like you’re going to die, you stand and fight, and he didn’t.On the other hand, somebody had to survive. He had to go to survive to bring the family back into the center of things again, but I think there was an element of survivor’s guilt with poor old Blackfish."

Now that he’s back in his ancestral home, the Blackfish will soon be facing a moral conundrum. He wants to hold the castle for the Tullys, his family, but as you’ll recall, Brienne is on her way to Riverrun to ask him to come north and help Sansa and Jon fight the Boltons. Sansa is his niece, and the Blackfish will surely want to help her. How will that conflict be resolved?

"I think the truth of it is he’s fantastically conflicted about it. He obviously wants to defend his home, but he obviously feels a responsibility to what’s left of the family. And that’s definitely played out, that conflict within him."

I’m sure we’ll find out how he resolves this conflict soon enough. Generally, Russell is just happy to be back on board so he can “finish the story” of his character. “That’s pretty satisfying, rather than the mystery of him going for a pee in the Red Wedding,” he said. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I’m just going to find a tree to pee on” is a funny line, but it’s not the way you want to end your involvement in the series.” And now it doesn’t have to be.