Art Parkinson looks back on playing Rickon Stark, explains why he didn’t run serpentine

This past Sunday, the largest full-scale battle of the series took place outside the walls of Winterfell, and Game of Thrones fans’ worst fears came true as yet another member of House Stark met their demise. We are, of course, talking about Rickon Stark, shot through the back by Ramsay Bolton as Jon Snow attempted in vain to rescue his little brother. We looked back on Art Parkinson’ portrayal of Rickon in our Curtain Call, and Parkinson recently made some interesting comments to IGN about his time on the show.

Rickon had been absent from the show since Season 3, and when Parkinson received scripts for Season 6, producers were blunt about their intentions for the character.

"Whenever I was told that I was coming back for Season 6, before they sent me through the scripts and stuff, they sent me through a ring just to say, “Listen, so that you don’t get a shock whenever you read the scripts, just know that you die this season.” It was sad at first, but once I realized how I was going to die in it, then it was cool. It was a cool death, and it was always going to be a good death, so at the same time, I was pretty happy."

It’s interesting that the producers gave Parkinson the bad news right off the bat, as opposed to allowing the actor to read the scripts. But then again, if read them, there’s no guarantee he would have found out what happened to him, since he had no lines in all of Season 6.

Moving on to the battle itself, what does Parkinson make of Rickon’s choice to run in a straight line from Ramsay’s arrow as opposed to running in some sort of serpentine pattern? Would it have made a difference?

"I think that’s a question for the writers. As for my role, I need to stick to the script."

Okay, Parkinson, but we know what you really think.

Perhaps we can give Rickon a pass considering that he was only 11 at the time of his death. Perhaps the most interesting part of the interview comes near the end, when Parkinson reveals that he has just now been allowed to watch the show.

"I wasn’t allowed to watch it for years. A lot of people were saying a year-and-a-half ago that I refused to watch it, and that was made up. I don’t, it was just because, you know, I’m young. Around this year mom said to further my knowledge about the show and be able to have a real conversation about it that I was allowed to watch it."

Most would agree that Parkinson’s parents had the right idea by not letting a ten-year-old watch the show, considering the levels of sex and violence can be enough to turn off grown adults. But now that Parkinson is making his way through the series, who is he rooting for?

"So far in Season 3, I want Khaleesi to be queen of Westeros. I’ve seen how she deals with the slaves and stuff like that. To the point that I’m at, I definitely want her to be king. I haven’t gotten to the Red Wedding yet, so Robb also wants her. He doesn’t want to be king at this point in the story, so I definitely want her to take it."

Sorry to spoil it for you, Art, but things aren’t exactly going to end well for Robb.