Liam Cunningham talks Season 7, and wanting Davos to live forever

Liam Cunningham’s portrayal of Ser Davos Seaworth, the everyman smuggler-turned-knight-turned-Hand of the King-turned-defender of the corpse of Jon Snow-turned-trusted adviser, has won the hearts of Game of Thrones fans everywhere. Davos’ honest and unambitious council is refreshing and genuine in the selfish world of Westeros. Cunningham has been rightly lauded for his depiction of the character, and in a recent interview with Wired, remarked that he would simply like to make it through the series.

"It’s always a relief for my bank manager. And to my family—they don’t want me dead. And I don’t want me dead. I’d love to be in the last episode [of the series], but you just don’t know."

Indeed Mr. Cunnigham, no one knows for certain at this point of the series who will live, especially considering that it’s officially passed its own source material, A Song of Ice and Fire. Season 6 was a busy one for the Onion Knight (he was literally the first living person we saw), as Davos first protected the body of Jon Snow, and eventually became one of the newly risen Snow’s closest advisers.

"It wasn’t as difficult to keep it as quiet as I thought it would be. Because if I didn’t keep it quiet, people would kill me."

And what about that long awaited moment when Davos confronted long time nemesis and part time ally Melisandre over the burning of his surrogate daughter, princess Shireen Baratheon during Season 5?

"I wanted to burn her. But [Davos is] not that kind of guy. He’s the kind of guy we’d all like to be under pressure—a man with a bit of grace and decency and loyalty. He’s not out for himself, and not consumed by ambition and power, which gives him a certain objectivity."

The reason fans love Ser Davos is that he is one of a handful of characters on the show that people can truly look up to, an everyman who finds himself embroiled in the politics of great houses and yet somehow manages to keep his dignity and honor intact. Think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. “Getting to the top of the pile is not a disease he has to suffer, the way a lot of politicians do,” Cunningham said.

And what about that news that Season 7 will be delayed until next summer so that producers have the opportunity to take advantage of filming during the winter? Cunningham lends credence to my personal theory that in addition to the filmmakers wanting to film in the winter, they will use the time to polish the Season 7 scripts to their highest shine, something I think we can all agree is a good thing.

"It’s not because they’re keeping it a secret, it’s because they’re working on them until the very end, to make this as bulletproof as possible."

We hope, as always, that you are right, Ser Davos.