And the Best Supporting Actor from Game of Thrones Season 6 is…

…Robert Aramayo as Young Ned Stark! Behold the full poll results:

Honestly, I was a little surprised by the results. To be sure, Aramayo gave a competent performance as Young Ned—his skills with a sword were especially appreciated—but I didn’t expect him to come out on top when actors like Clive Russell (the Blackfish) and Owen Teale (Alliser Thorne) in the mix.

But then again, this wasn’t like the Best Supporting Actress poll, where Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont) dominated the proceedings. As several commenters pointed out, there were a lot of great supporting actors to choose from here, and voters spread the love around. Aramayo received the most votes, but Russell was right on his heels, while actors like Teale, Max von Sydow (the Three-Eyed Raven), Ian McShane (Septon Ray), Sam Coleman (Young Hodor), and others got their fair share.

The wide selection inspired a lot great comments, too. Here’s DarkStark lauding David’s Bradley’s memorable performance as Lord Walder Frey:

"David Bradley. What a character he etched! Five years from now, when all those other characters are forgotten or vague memories, I will still be able to see his grizzled face, hear his sneering, snide and bullying voice, and remember him sitting in his candlelit banquet hall presiding over meals, massacres, and Meat pie."

Indeed, Bradley’s Walder Frey isn’t a character easily forgotten. Meanwhile, Winter’s Dragon heaped praise on Tobias Menzies for his turn as Edmure Tully.

"He had a difficult, defiant yet broken-man scene with Jaime Lannister, and he nailed it. Then he had to turn his character around and behave like the Lord of Riverrun while betraying House Tully. No, we’re not cheering him like we cheer the Blackfish, but I thought Menzies had probably the most difficult set of scenes in that episode, and was terrific in them."

If I had to nominate one scene from Season 6 that best exemplified the cast members’ acting abilities, it would be the one between Jaime and Edmure in “No One.” Menzies, like Bradley, only had a few scenes this year, but he made the absolute most of them.

Heading further north, Firannion sang the praises of Ben Crompton (Dolorous Edd).

"I loved that Edd got more to do this season than just be comic relief. He handled his new responsibilities very well! I am going to cry when he gets massacred, for sure."

Do we think Edd is doomed? As the default Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, he is in a precarious position. Still, that would be a huge shame. I don’t think the show ever quite captured the dour temperament Dolorous Edd has in the books, but it’s quietly moved him further into the foreground over the past couple of seasons, and I’d hate to lose him now.

So yeah, that probably means he’s toast.

Heading down to King’s Landing, Monz paid tribute to Finn Jones’ final year as Loras Tyrell…

"He was so broken and Finn really made me feel so sad for him. You could see he was just going through the motions and comparing him to what he used to be like (the complete opposite) showed Finn’s broad acting skills."

…while Melisandre’s Boy Toy gave an impassioned stump speech on behalf of Anton Lesser’s Qyburn.

"If there’s any justice in this world, Anton Lesser as Qyburn should receive some recognition. Anton Lesser consistently does phenomenal work without ever coming off like he’s stealing the spotlight. He’s a brilliant actor, go and look up some of his Shakespeare credits. I seriously love the man.I really LOVE his Qyburn, the way he manages to create this likable hybrid of Dr. Frankenstein and Adolf Eichmann. A pleasant type of man who finds a high place in the worst of regimes. I know it was last season, but I loved the scene with him and Cersei in her cell. When she calls all the (true) charges against her a pack of lies, his delivery of “Of course your Grace” makes me giggle every time."

“[T]his likable hybrid of Dr. Frankenstein and Adolf Eichmann”—that’s definitely the best description I’ve ever heard of Qyburn, and possibly of anybody.

Qyburn is a fascinating, underplayed sort of character, isn’t he? He’s been around since Season 3, but has never made a fuss of it. Now that Cersei’s killed off most of the named characters in King’s Landing, hopefully he’ll have a bigger role.

Let’s have one more quote before signing off. Here’s Greenseeing on James Faulkner’s performance as the withering Randyll Tarly:

"Faulkner was almost too good, too sinister in his role. He was so austere and critical of Sam, it was hard for me to watch."

In conclusion, Game of Thrones Season 6 was an embarrassment of acting riches. Feel free to keep talking about them here—I’d be especially interested in hearing those who voted for Robert Aramayo. What made him stand out?