Game of Thrones actor discusses his big return in “Eastwatch”

Game of Thrones season 7 marches on. Last night, we saw the return of a long-lost character. Spoilers from “Eastwatch” follow.

Looking none the worse for wear after rowing for the better part of four seasons, Gendry (Joe Dempsie) showed up in King’s Landing last night. As it turns out, Gendry had been hiding out in the city since Davos released him his prison on Dragonstone back in season 3. Dempsie spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his character’s return, something he knew would happen one day. “After season 3, [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] told me Gendry is going to go off a little bit,” he said. “It was always in their minds that he’d come back.”

The wait didn’t seem to bother Dempise. “If you’re part of it, great. If not, you just get over it.” Dempsie got used to people asking him daily about Gendry’s whereabouts (many fans made jokes that he was still rowing a boat from Dragonstone to King’s Landing), to the point where the showrunners worked it into the episode. “Thought you might still be rowing,” Davos says when he finds Gendry. Laughs all around. According to Dempsie, that’s one of several “crowd-pleasing moments” this season.

Gendry readily agreed to join Davos on a return trip to Dragonstone, even though he didn’t fully know what he was getting into. Dempsie thinks Gendry was “itching to get involved” during his time away from the action. “He’s got his father’s blood in him and he’s a natural born fighter.” It sounds like Dempsie is equally enthusiastic, particularly now that Gendry is going north of the Wall alongside Jon Snow and company.

"That’s the main thing, the selfish actor part of you reads that and goes, “That’s going to be great! I’m going to look cool doing that!” Part of this feels like Avengers Assemble coming together, this ill-advised mission North of the Wall. When you imagine wanting to be an actor, these are the sort of pinch-yourself moments."

But it wasn’t all about the action sequences. Dempsie also talked about working with Liam Cunningham (Davos), saying that Gendry is kind of the man’s “surrogate son,” as they were both born in the same King’s Landing slum. “Davos kind of knows what Gendry has been through. And Gendry has never had a father figure in his life.” Then there’s the fact that they both have strong feelings about Melisandre.

"They’re both still slightly scared and slightly fancy her, almost like they both have the same [evil] ex-girlfriend. His return and his role have been an interesting addition to the gang. You do find out a little more about how potentially scarred by the Melisandre experience he is. He’s not over it yet."

As for what’s next for Gendry, things are looking dire in the trailer for Episode 706, but at least he’ll be with fellow bastard Jon Snow. “I feel like him and Jon Snow are forming a bond over the bastards thing,” Dempsie said. “They’re also two of the inherently good characters in the series. Not that that protects you, but I think they’re quite a formidable force — if they can carry on cooperating…”

Beyond that, there’s potential for Gendry to affect things in the political realm. He is, after all, the bastard son of the last uncontested king of Westeros. “Yeah, I feel like there’s stuff to explore,” Dempsie said. “Gendry’s position in this war has to have some kind of constitutional value. What part he plays in the politics has still to be seen, if anything.”

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Dempsie has been making the rounds in the wake of his return. He also talked to HBO’s Making Game of Thrones blog, where he filled in some of the gaps of what Gendry’s been up to since we saw him last:

"Gendry’s been a man biding his time. He’s cut off as much of his hair as he can, so he looks less like his father. He’s in hiding, but he’s allowed himself to be a little proud of his lineage. He’s someone who has struggled to know where he fits into society, and has been on the bottom wrung of it. This has almost made him hopeful; His world has been a very small one, and suddenly, it’s opened up. It’s completely life-changing.Certainly, there’s a level of resentment at the fate of his father, even though he never knew him personally. Every day he has to go back to the forgery and pour blood and sweat into armory for a family he despises. It’s allowing the anger in him to build. He also craves something bigger. He experienced a wider world and now he’s back where he started, just waiting. He doesn’t know what’s coming, just some kind of some kind of reckoning, and he wants to be a part of it."

That explains why he was so eager to bound off with Davos when the offer came, even if he may be headed somewhere very dangerous. According to Dempsie, Gendry has taken the knowledge that he’s the son of Robert Baratheon to heart — he did seem to have more of a spring in his step than before.

Dempsie also addressed Gendry’s feelings about Arya. Has he been thinking of her during this period?

"Over the course of the first three seasons, and probably in his life leading up to it, Gendry found himself to be very trusting of people — and sometimes the wrong people. The events of Season 3 have hardened him a little bit; made him a little less naïve. I think with that in mind, he’d love to see Arya again. He senses she’s a good soul. I wouldn’t say he’s pining, because you have to toughen up and accept there are people who are going to drift in and out of your life. I’m sure he thinks of her every now and again and wonders how she’s getting on, and whether she’s crossed more names off that list."

There’s time yet for those crazy kids to meet up again, as Dempsie discussed with The Hollywood Reporter. “I would love to see Gendry and Arya meet again. They seemed to get on. It was a nice banter between the two of them. It would be great to revisit that.”

Dempsie was a little more coy about whether there’s a romantic element to Arya and Gendry’s relationship. “As a result of the difference in age, I think one of the roles Gendry played in Arya’s story was as him being an older guy who sort of awakens certain feelings in Arya for the first time as she’s becoming a young woman,” he said.

"There’s that scene in season two where I’m forging a sword — fairly inexplicably without a shirt on — and I think the idea was to convey the idea of Arya experiencing feelings she’s never felt before. Everyone’s had that at some point. Whether that means Gendry has a place in Arya’s heart or vice versa, I have no idea. I think there’s almost a sibling element, too. At that point in the story, Gendry really reminded her of her brothers and of home. That was the comfort with him. But it could go a number of ways."

Finally, Dempsie talked to Harper’s Bazaar, where he confirmed that Gendry had shaved his hair short to hide his dark locks, which was of the main giveaways that he was Robert’s Baratheon’s bastard son. that’s quite a battery for him.

We’ll find out what’s next for Gendry when Episode 706 airs next Sunday at 9:00 p.m.

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