The Actor Who Plays A Favorite ‘Game Of Thrones’ Character Hopes That Fans ‘Roar’ When He Returns

HBO

After the fall of the wall at the end of Game of Thrones season seven, fans of the show feared for the life of one character in particular — the redheaded, bearded and beautiful Tormund Giantsbane. Played by the Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju, Tormund’s fate has since been confirmed on multiple occasions, so rest assured that he will be back in the eighth and final season. To prove it, Entertainment Weekly spoke with Hivju recently about his return to the show and how he hopes his fans will react.

“We didn’t see him die; season 8 could have started episode 1 with dead Tormund,” he joked in the interview. However, the actor told a story about watching the return of the Hound (Rory McCann) in a crowded bar with Game of Thrones fans, and it sounds like he wants a similar reaction when Tormund pops back up on the screen:

“I sat in a bar when I was shooting The Fate of the Furious and I watched an episode of Thrones with diehard fans, and it was like seeing a sporting event,” Hivju said. “I didn’t understand the impact of the show until watching it with other people. It was the episode where [Rory McCann’s character, the Hound, who was presumed dead for a time] came back, and there was this roar. I’m going for that.”

As for how Tormund is going to go about achieving said “road,” neither Hivju nor EW are allowed to reveal too much, though the actor was able to discuss the character’s mindset at the final season’s beginning. “He wants closure,” he explained. “All the Free Folk grew up with the horror stories of the White Walkers… This has been the terror of their worst nightmare as long as they’ve existed. Tormund has confronted them many times. This is the nightmare moment where you have to face centuries of bad dreams.”

As for whether or not Tormund will be reunited with his obvious crush, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), who knows Maybe Game of Thrones will at least allow one or two of its many miserable characters to be happy by the end of the series.