Richard Dormer on what it’s like to swing a flaming sword, and more

Richard Dormer, who portrays Beric Dondarrion on Game of Thrones, spoke with HBO’s Making Game of Thrones blog about his character’s role in the show, and how it feels to fight with the equivalent of a medieval lightsaber.

Beric and his awesome sword recently went foraging for wights in “Beyond the Wall.” Dormer reflected on Beric’s motivations. “When he hears about the armies that are gathering in the north, of the dead, he realizes that’s where he’s got to go. He knows what death is and he’s one of the men to hold it back, to try to defeat it.”

Helen Sloan – HBO

Beric spend a good deal of the trip talking to Jon Snow, another person brought back to life by the Lord of Light. According to Dormer, Beric “realizes Jon has a special purpose,” and that he needs to “look out for this guy because he has a big role to play in this war.'” He also hinted that while Beric owes no allegiance to any particular House, if push came to shove, he would probably fight for Jon:

"Certainly to Jon, because the Lord of Light connection, but also because Beric sees how brave and selfless Jon is. He sees in Jon a great king — and I think he believes the Lord of Light sees that as well."

The King in the North wasn’t the only major character to make the journey past the Wall, and Dormer had some great quotes regarding a couple of the others:

• The Hound: “[Beric] actually, begrudgingly, is very fond of the Hound. They have a respect for one another. The Hound knows Beric can handle himself with a sword…but now, he’s become humbled and prematurely old, and so has the Hound.” Richard says that Beric can see the good bubbling underneath the Hound’s gruff exterior. “He can see a broken man who wants to redeem himself.”
• Thoros of Myr: “It was heartbreaking to lose his last, oldest friend he had. Thoros connected him to his past life, before he formed the Brotherhood Without Banners, so losing him really touches Beric very deeply; it leaves him very empty.”

Although sad at losing Thoros, Dormer says that Beric feels a sense of relief as well, since there’s no longer anyone around who can bring him back to life should he fall again. “He knows now that he’s mortal, and that this last life has to count for something. He’s relieved it’ll finally be over.”

Turning to the action-heavy parts of the episode, Dormer described filming the undead polar bear scene as “very cold, wet and physical.” Although it was hot as well, given the amount of fire involved. “It’s pretty weird, but it was fun.”

It wasn’t all physical labor and imagining zombie polar bears. When not shooting their scenes, the guys formed a little band and jammed-out together, calling themselves “The Brotherhood Without Banjos.”

"There was about five of us out the seven who played an instrument, so we also formed a little band with ukulele and guitars…we’re ready to go on world tour."

Oh, how I wish we knew which cast member played what instrument.

Dormer did all of his own stunts during that epic frozen lake battle, except for when the group fell back to the edge of the cliff, as he was wearing that eye-patch and was swinging around a very real flaming sword.

"Yes, the flaming sword is real. It only burns for two minutes at a time, and you can’t swing it too quickly, so you have to slow down your moves, which is actually quite tiring. It weighs about three times as much as a normal sword. It’s a pretty impressive weapon."

Even though it causes depth perception issues, Dormer says he likes the fact that Beric wears the eye-patch. “[H]e’s lost so much, but even when he’s ragged, broken and covered in scars, he still has some dignity that he wants to cover up his horrible wound to his eye. I think it says a lot about him that he still has that self-respect.”

Finally, when asked who Beric would like to be reunited with, Dormer drops this little nugget for fans to obsess over:

"The Mountain. Because even after all these years, he’s still carrying Ned Stark’s command to find and bring the Mountain to justice; so I think he would like to have a go at the Mountain and fulfill his promise."

Forget CLEGANEBOWL; I now want to see Beric Dondarrion and his fiery sword go toe to toe with FrankenGregor.

Next: We break down the trailer for the season 7 finale, shot by shot

Other members of the Jon Snow’s suicide squad have been sounding off as well. For example, Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) talked to The Hollywood Reporter about how he felt when he started reading the script for “Beyond the Wall.” “I was like, ‘This is it,'” he recalled. “I was sure that this was my time to go. But then when the Hound pulled him out? I was like, ‘Hallelujah!’ And it’s all because they both know Brienne! (Laughs.) If it hadn’t been for that conversation, he would have never saved me!”

"It was a relationship and a meeting of characters that I didn’t expect. It’s a funny thing. They’re both warriors. They’ve both been through a winter storm or two. The Hound is such a deadpan, non-talking kind of guy, and Tormund, he lets out pressure by talking. And he’s back home. He finds out that the Hound knows the love of his life. It’s so many great things for Tormund. He’s just curious about the guy. He doesn’t say anything. He becomes a bit childish. That was all there, and a new side of Tormund that I loved. Those two guys could become good friends."

For the record, Hivju thinks that Tormund is “[a] hundred percent” in love with Brienne of Tarth. “In his mind, in his dreams, they are already married.” He even describes a scene cut from the season 7 premiere that pounded this aspect home further. “it was a scene where [Tormund] was talking about someone who was dear to him, and when [Brienne] understands he’s talking about Sheila, the bear he has fucked … she didn’t like the pick-up line. (Laughs.)”

As for the battle of the frozen lake, Hivju described it as chaotic, something that’s hard to fake onscreen. “We had hundreds of stuntmen, and so many extras, and people kept running, and I just screamed for mama.” There were so many people involved in the battle, and so many kills, that they couldn’t plan them all ahead of time. Instead, stunt coordinator Rowley Irlam gave the performers an “alphabet” of kills — the stuntmen would watch how the actors were fighting and die accordingly. “It was like, they sent people on us and they just kept coming, and we just had to follow the alphabet and keep a clear head. It felt like real fighting. It felt like we were fighting for our lives.”

So now that he made it back to the other side of the Wall, does Hivju feel that Tormund is safe?

"Who knows?! It’s one more episode [this season], bro. Nobody knows. A lot of things could happen. I really don’t know. I don’t think anybody is safe, especially with the threat that’s upon them. No, I don’t feel safe at all."

Tune in to “The Dragon and the Wolf” this Sunday to see what else is in store for our favorite wildling.

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