Liam Cunningham discusses Game of Thrones secrets and Easter Eggs
By Corey Smith
On a show as dense as Game of Thrones, there are Easter Eggs are all over the place. In an interview with HuffPost regarding his latest project, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) discussed one of the latest examples.
In Game of Thrones season 7, we learned that Jon Snow’s real name is Aegon Targaryen. Is it a coincidence that, back in season 3, “Aegon” happened to be the first word Davos was taught to read by Shireen Baratheon?
“Yeah, they’re very good at that sort of thing,” Cunningham said. “David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] plant little Easter eggs there if you want to see them.” If we want to see them? We live for them.
Keep in mind, though, that Cunningham couldn’t have made any such connection at the time:
"No, are you kidding me? I don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen from one episode to the next. That’s testament to how good the writing is on that, too. After seven seasons, people are still asking the same question they asked in Season 1. ‘Who do you think is gonna end up on the throne?’"
That also ties into why Cunningham was attracted to the part in the first place:
"I got involved in “Game of Thrones” because I thought it was a ridiculously wonderful story and beautiful storytelling. Nobody knew it was gonna turn into a cultural phenomenon. But we try and improve, keep the quality as high as it possibly can [go] without patronizing an audience or [being] condescending to them, thinking we know more about it than they do. Nobody knows more about it than they do. And we just try to deliver it with a bit of honor and a bit of respect."
Cunningham gave this interview before heading to Belfast to read season 8 for the first time along with the rest of the cast. That table read has now happened, with filming to start very soon. After joking that everyone will likely come to the read drunk, Cunningham talked about what this final meeting meant, and where he and the rest of the cast will go from here.
"I did get an email from David and Dan talking about, “This is the last table read,” and that was a really sweet email. Yeah, it’s gonna be really odd. It’s gonna be very odd. We’ve kind of been trying to prepare ourselves for the end of this from the beginning of last season. That’s when we kind of said we have to start thinking about this. This is gonna end. They’re gonna take this baby off us. We’ll be out in the wilderness again with nobody even remembering who we are. Back to obscurity."
Considering how passionate Game of Thrones fans are, we somehow doubt the cast will fade into obscurity. But it’s good to stay humble.
Finally, Huffpost asked Cunningham about the oft-repeated rumor that George R.R. Martin once told him “a secret” about the plot. While Cunningham didn’t spill any beans, he did prepare fans for “a real letdown” when and if he lets slip what it is:
"Everybody thinks he told me who’s on the throne because that’s what they’re projecting. “He must’ve told him something.” You’re bigging it up. It ain’t that big. It was just something he told me. It’s not monumental."
This is Game of Thrones, Ser Davos. Everything is big.
You can read more about Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams at HuffPost. That show will debut on Amazon sometime in 2018.
Next: Kit Harington is ready to move on from Game of Thrones
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