‘Game of Thrones’ season 5: Michelle Fairley on much-discussed Stoneheart rumor
We’re going to preface this “Game of Thrones” story in the same way that we have all of the others on this subject: There are pretty major spoilers ahead! If you want to avoid them and haven’t read the George R.R. Martin books, then you should probably turn away now. (We figure the name “Stoneheart” probably means little too you unless you already know what we’re talking about.)
Why wasn’t Stoneheart in season 4 of the HBO show? This was asked many times over after the recent finale, as almost everyone expected to see Michelle Fairley back. Book readers know that she is revived in a zombie-like form after the Red Wedding, and under the name Lady Stoneheart she plays a very significant role. So why leave her out? There are theories about schedules, there are theories about having to condense the story, and there are theories in regards to whether or not the show wanted to stay away from this story because it had too heavy a fantasy element to it. We would argue in response to the latter, though, that we wasted a whole lot of time on the Brotherhood Without Banners if Stoneheart is not going to appear.
What Fairley herself has to say about it right now is rather simple: She was never asked to be a part of the fourth season, as she went to do both “24: Live Another Day” and a major arc on “Suits” season 3. However, she was coy when asked by TVLine if she would be going back to Northern Ireland at some point for season 5:
“I… I don’t know [if I’d be back]…. I mean, I loved that job, I adored it and I made some great friends. I loved it. I don’t know.”
We unfortunately feel like given what happened with the Hound and Brienne in the finale, the show is setting up for a world without Stoneheart, and that much is disappointing. The only reason that we could see some fans having hope is simply because Fairley has not announced her next big project after her character Margot died on “24” this week.
We don’t believe in posting major plot spoilers here, so unless HBO formally announces Fairley’s return, we will not be reporting on it here.
If you do want some further TV updates now on everything we cover at CarterMatt, sign up for our official newsletter.
Photo: HBO