*SPOILERS AHEAD* If you haven't seen Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3, you don't want to head south to see the rest of this article.
Seriously, click away if you haven't seen it.
After helping Jon take back Winterfell against Ramsay Bolton and become the King in the North, Lyanna Mormont refused to sit out of the biggest battle in Westeros history. She gathered her best men and stood behind Winterfell's main gate, but like thousands of others that fell to the Night King's forces—the young lord didn't make it through the long night. She was crushed to death by an undead giant, but not before driving a dragonglass dagger through its eye.
In an interview with HBO's Making Game of Thrones blog, Lyanna Mormont actress Bella Ramsey discussed her time shooting Game of Thrones season 8, Jon bending the knee to Daenerys, and getting killed by a wight giant.
"We imagined that I’d broken ribs, damaged my leg and was massively winded. I had fake blood in my mouth to spit out as I got up to face the giant, clutching at my chest and sprinting towards him with a limp," she said. "And then the battle cry. That was the best bit."
It was a tough production for the little Mormont lord. The crew had to place stuntmen around Ramsey to make sure she wasn't trampled in some of the more intense scenes during the hectic Game of Thrones shooting schedule.
"Intense is an understatement. There were weeks after weeks of night shoots in very cold weather. It was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do...there were these massive wind machines, tons of fake snow falling, lots of battle cries, and a mass stampede of people," she said. "In fact the stunt coordinator, Rowley [Irlam], put stunt guys around me to make sure I didn’t get knocked over because if I did I could have easily had my head stamped on."
In a post show segment, show creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss explained that Lyanna Mormont was meant to be a one-off character at first, but viewer reactions to Ramsey's performance convinced them to keep her around for more. But, like most other characters in Game of Thrones, Ramsey's time on screen had to come to an end. Despite the bittersweet feeling of leaving, the actress loved her grisly exit.
"Love it. Absolutely love it," she said. "If you’re going to die on Game of Thrones, at least die well. That final scene took ages, lots of green screen, lots of long night shoots, but it’s all worth it."
Hungry for more Game of Thrones? Check out the internet's reaction to Game of Thrones season 8 Battle of Winterfell or watch our episode 3 recap below:
