Every Game of Thrones fan remembers where they were when season 7 of the hit fantasy show aired on HBO. After years of excitement, audiences finally got to check back in with the likes of Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and more, fully immersing themselves into the world of Westeros once again.
However, before long, that immersion was completely shattered, as an infamous cameo sucked viewers right out of the episode. Pop singer Ed Sheeran appears as a Westerosi version of himself, a Lannister soldier who sings in Sheeran's signature style before chatting with Arya Stark.
Most fans were unhappy with Sheeran's appearance, saying it felt gratuitous and distracting amid the already busy episode. The Game of Thrones creative team responded by including a quick line in the next season indicating that a red-haired Lannister soldier named Eddie was badly burned in the Battle of the Goldroad, giving Sheeran's character a gruesome fate.
However, Sheeran's cameo is more than a simple celebrity appearance. Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series by George R.R. Martin that serves as the source material for Game of Thrones, might have picked up on a subtle reference to a plot point that never made it to screen in Sheeran's song.
For hands of gold are always cold but a woman's hands are warm
Sheeran's song is never given a proper name, so many fans refer to it by its refrain, "For hands of gold are always cold, but a woman's hands are warm," or simply "Hands of Gold." This song has a rich history in A Song of Ice and Fire, first appearing in the third book in the series, A Storm of Swords, which was published back in 2000.
In universe, the song was written by Symon Silver Tongue, a character who was omitted from Game of Thrones. Symon is a singer and harp player who entertains Shae, Tyrion's secret prostitute mistress in King's Landing, on days when the acting Hand of the King cannot visit her. This makes Symon one of the few people to learn about Tyrion's affair with Shae.
Symon later blackmails Tyrion by writing "Hands of Gold" about his romance with Shae. He threatens to play it for Queen Cersei, Tyrion's sister, or Tywin Lannister, his father and the current Hand of the King, if Tyrion doesn't allow him to perform at Joffrey's wedding. This terrifies Tyrion, as Tywin has threatened to kill the next prostitute he sees with his son.
Tyrion responds by ordering Bronn, a sellsword under his command, to kill Symon. This casual act of murder helps set Tyrion down a darker, more evil path; a path which his show counterpart largely avoids. As such, Symon's omission from Game of Thrones makes sense for the version of Tyrion's story that the showrunners wanted to tell, as it would make the character far less redeemable.
Even after Symon's death, the song haunts Tyrion. He quotes its lyrics as he kills Shae after finding her in Tywin's bed towards the end of A Storm of Swords, and later remembers it throughout his travels in Essos in the fifth book in the series, A Dance with Dragons.
Is Ed Sheeran Symon Silver Tongue?
Despite this connection, Ed Sheeran's Game of Thrones character is clearly not meant to be Symon Silver Tongue, nor does his song have any connection to Tyrion and Shae in the show. The character is implied to be named "Eddie," not Symon, in season 7's premiere, and at this point in the show, Shae has been dead for seasons, and Tyrion has nothing to do with Sheeran's scene.
However, Sheeran's cameo is still a nice way to pay homage to this long forgotten plot point from the books. In his quick scene, Sheeran breathes a new life into lyrics that have existed since 2000. The lyrics on Game of Thrones perfectly match with Symon's words from A Storm of Swords, so effectively, he's given the song a canon melody, something that the books could not do for it.
While Sheeran's cameo still breaks the fantasy immersion that put Game of Thrones on the map, it is worth noting that his appearance still adds something valuable to the series' lore. "Hands of Gold" is an important plot point from Martin's original story, and while Symon — and more importantly, Tyrion casually commanding a man's death — is omitted from the TV adaptation, the show still found a way to include the song, setting Symon's, or Martin's, lyrics to music for the first time.
For more from the world of Westeros, be sure to check out the next series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, when it airs on HBO Max on January 18, 2026.