He was a good man; thefirstgood man.
And though nearly eight years have passed since his death onGame of Thrones, his spirit lives on.
Such is the legacy of Sean Beans Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.
Nick Briggs/HBO
Pure-of-heart Ned was the lone wolf cut down so soon in the game of thrones by King Joffreys executioner.
(Shocking to anyone who hadnt read George R.R.
Martins books, at least.)
That was all the way back in the penultimate hour of season 1.
Like with everything withGame of Thrones, it was kept very dark and secret.
We had a really good chat, and I was very thrilled to be asked to play the role.
I think it was only myself and Peter cast at the time.
I was very thrilled by the whole idea.
I didnt actually know at that time how enormous and massive this series would become.
I was just getting my head around the part, as we all were.
None of us really couldve imagined it would be such a big-scale, tantalizing drama.
Yeah, that was the beginning of the story for me.
And, of course, I knew I wasnt going to last very long.
They said that some things happened, there were quite dramatic twists and turns.
They let me know what they were within the first [season].
Any more information wouldve probably been overload.
They only reveal what they want you to know, and thats good, I think.
Thats what makes it so exciting to find out.
Hes one of the very few good men.
He was the first good man inGame of Thrones, and he stayed that way to the bitter end.
There wasthe pilot that we all saw, and then there wasthe original unaired pilot.
What do you remember from filming the original?I think there were some very good moments.
It was experimental in some ways.
But nevertheless, it gave you a sense of what it could be.
As I said, it shows you what could be done and certainly what was done thereafter.
It was developed, it got bigger and bigger and bigger and more exciting and breathtaking.
It was just an idea, I think.
Its impossible to get an idea of the whole season ofGame of Thronesinto a pilot.
He was very young at the time, when Isaac was playing the part.
There are some nice scenes with [Williams as Arya].
I also remember the banquet, which was quite interesting.
We shot it in Scotland, and it was a banquet with King Robert.
He was falling in, he was trying to keep his values, his dignity.
At the same time, he had no support, but he still carried on.
I remember filming that day.
The death, that was wonderful because it was so unexpected.
I thought it was amazing how they shot it.
We were in Malta; it was very hot.
It was very colorful.
Everyone was there, and with things like that theres a sort of gallows humor to it.
Its awful whats happening, and you start giggling and laughing.
When the head fell off, there were mistakes.
It didnt quite work out sometimes.
It was quite comic.
So it breaks the ice a bit.
