Is 'Game of Thrones''s Tormund Alive or Dead?
by EG
We all came away from this week's season finale of GoT with the unsettling fear that Tormund, one of our favorite characters, might be dead. It's impossible to know for sure, unless the actor who plays Tormund is willing to spill the beans....
[Warning: This story contains spoilers for the season seven finale of HBO's Game of Thrones, "The Dragon and the Wolf."]
With so much time spent dwelling on the death of Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and the fall of the Wall, few people have stopped to consider the very grim possibility that two other fan-favorite characters met their maker in the season seven finale of Game of Thrones.
The final scene of the episode, called "The Dragon and the Wolf," featured Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) and Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) helplessly watching as the Night King, riding an undead Viserion, pounded the wall with a steady stream of ice-blue zombie-dragon fire. The Wall collapses shortly thereafter, but viewers never see what exactly befalls Tormund and Beric. Since we don't see their bodies, should we assume the two are safe? After all, Tormund narrowly avoided what would have been an incredibly memorable death in "Beyond the Wall," while Beric has been killed off and resurrected multiple times for some unknown predestined purpose; was that purpose nothing more than being a witness to the greatest act of destruction Westeros has ever known, or is there more life in the man yet?
Unfortunately, anyone searching for clarity shouldn't look to Kristofer Hivju for comfort. Though the actor was as jovial as ever when he spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the season finale, he stopped short of confirming or denying Tormund's fate. Here's what he said about shooting the final scene, the numbingly real possibility that his time on Game of Thrones has reached its end, and more.
How are you feeling, Kristofer?
All good!
All good? Even though we have no idea what happened to Tormund at the end of this episode?
I don't know either! (Laughs.) Pretty scary, right?
When we spoke last week, I told you I thought Tormund would be safe from now on, since he survived what would have been such a memorable death in "Beyond the Wall." Did I curse you?
You made this happen. You made it happen. (Laughs.) I honestly don't know. It doesn't look good though, does it?
Have you been told whether or not you're going to be in the final season?
I don't know. I don't know.
If Tormund and Beric survive this encounter, will they be best friends forever moving forward? Few quicker ways to bond two people together than surviving the fall of the Wall!
Realistically speaking, if you're on top of an ice wall and it's many hundreds of meters tall... I was a competitive climber when I was younger, and that fall, I must say, it doesn't look good, man. (Laughs.) It really doesn't look good. I saw an Instagram post somewhere of a guy shoveling through the snow and screaming, "Tormund! Tormund!" (Big laugh.)
That's because people will be very upset to lose these characters in this way, and not even get a chance to actually see them go out. If this is the way Tormund dies, are you satisfied with that?
If this is my way out... well, it's the huge cliffhanger of the season. So, in that way, that people might have to wait two years to know whether he's dead or alive? If I was [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss], and I wanted to kill Tormund and Beric off, I wouldn't end the season with the death. I would end it with the cliffhanger. So, I understand that. But I wish he could have whispered something into one of those crow's ears before it happened. But, you know, when the Wall is down, they won't need the Night's Watch or the Free Folk at the Wall anymore. It's a hell of an ending.
Read the rest of the interview at The Hollywood Reporter.
Do you think Tormund survived the collapse of the Wall? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.