Samwell Tarly, portrayed by John Bradley, was a much-loved character in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Surprisingly, despite his lack of fighting skills and being so close to some of the action, he also got a happily ever after.
Now, the actor admits that he’s sad his character won’t be in House of the Dragon, the new prequel series set some 300 years prior to the events that unfolded with Samwell Tarly.
House of the Dragon will leave John Bradley tinged with sadness
In Game of Thrones, Samwell Tarly first came onto the radar as the bumbling son of House Tarly sent to the Night’s Watch because he was of no use to his father.
Quickly, he and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) because firm friends, and, not long after, he became close with Gilly (Hannah Murray), even though the Night’s Watch were not supposed to have their own families.
While House Tarly may be present in the prequel series, because of the huge time gap, there is no way that Samwell — or any previous cast members outside of Melisandre (Carice van Houten) — will be able to return to the series.
And this is something that makes John Bradley sad.
“I think [House of the Dragon is] going to be great, but there’s going to be a tinge of sadness that none of us are involved,” Bradley revealed to Screen Rant recently.
Watching House of the Dragon will be ‘strange’
Along with the sadness that comes from not being involved with such a huge new production, Bradley also spoke out about how bittersweet it will be watching the show and not actually being in it.
“It’s going to be very strange. It’s a bit like when you move house, and you go back to your old house, and you see other people have moved in and what they’ve done with it and the way they’ve changed it. It’s going to be a strange experience, but it’s going to be a happy experience,” Bradley said.
While the actor may be sad about not being included in House of the Dragon, he is happy to see the Game of Thrones world continue in the new series.
In addition to that, he praised the current cast lineup as well as the fact that Miguel Sapochnik will return to the universe. Previously, Sapochnik has been responsible for directing some of the most memorable battle scene episodes in Game of Thrones.
He also hoped the universe will expand further because of the success of House of the Dragon.
“I really hope it does well because there’s so much potential for that universe to expand in all sorts of directions,” he said.
Season 1 of House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO in 2022.