There was certainly plenty of fan response to Ed Sheeran’s cameo appearance in Season 7 of Game of Thrones — unfortunately, a lot of it was not positive.
Now, the musician, who recently was diagnosed with COVID-19, has spoken out about why he did the cameo and what he thought of the response from viewers after the episode aired.
Ed Sheeran stared as a Lannister soldier
Ed Sheeran portrayed a Lannister soldier when he made his appearance in the Season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones.
He was first introduced as he sang a song — did we expect anything less? However, the song in question was actually a song by an actor and singer in the Game of Thrones books that didn’t get a mention in HBO’s adaptation of Game of Thrones, according to Romper.
Titled “Hands of Gold,” it was a song about Tyrion Lannister (portrayed by Peter Dinklage in the TV show) and his love affair with Shae (Sibel Kekilli).
This really didn’t play into the storyline at hand, though, other than to give a nod to the fans of the book series on which Game of Thrones is based.
Instead, Sheeran’s role helped to show Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) a side of the Lannister army that she hadn’t contemplated before, as well as give her a better understanding of the consequences of war.
Ed enjoyed his time on Game of Thrones but fans ruined it for him
Sheeran revealed during an interview with Armchair Expert’s Dax Shepard and Monica Padman that he certainly had fun while filming his cameo in Game of Thrones.
“It was great,” Sheeran said about filming on the hit epic fantasy series.
However, the reaction to his appearance has since made him hesitant to appear in TV shows in the future.
“I was a fan of the show. They asked me to be in it. I didn’t expect there to be that much backlash but I am definitely more careful when I am offered cameos now.”
He further explained that it was a direct result of the fans’ reactions to his performance that saw him make this decision.
“I feel like people’s reactions to it sort of muddied my joy to it,” Sheeran stated.
In addition to that, the music star also gave a shocking revelation that Arya Stark was supposed to die in Season 7 of Game of Thrones. Because of this, he was asked to do the cameo as a way to soften the blow considering Maisie Williams was such a huge fan of his.
Instead, Arya survived Season 7 and went on to kill the Night King (Vladimir Furdik) in the final season of Game of Thrones.
All seasons of Game of Thrones are available on HBO Max. Season 1 of House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO at a later date.