Game of Thrones writers reveal the character who wasn't meant to die

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the series finale of Game of Thrones. Photo / HBO via AP

Warning: Spoilers for the Game of Thrones finale follow.

The final season of Game of Thrones was a bona fide bloodbath, with more main characters biting the dust than in any of the hit show's previous seven seasons.

Yet one of the high profile dead was originally supposed to survive until the bitter end.

Nope, it's not Daenerys Targaryen (or even Jamie and Cersei), but rather the mother of dragons' right-hand man Ser Jorah Mormont, played by British actor Iain Glen.

Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) served as Daenerys Targaryen's right-hand man throughout Game of Thrones. Photo / HBO

When the writers began planning season eight, they initially wanted Ser Jorah to survive until the end, perhaps at the wall with Jon Snow.

Instead Jorah died shielding his beloved Daenerys during the epic battle with the White Walkers.

"For a long time we wanted Ser Jorah to be there at The Wall in the end," writer Dave Hill told Entertainment Weekly in the US. "The three coming out of the tunnel would be Jon and Jorah and Tormund.

"But the amount to logic we'd have to bend to get Jorah up to The Wall and get him to leave Dany's side right before [the events in the finale] … there's no way to do that blithely. And Jorah should have the noble death he craves defending the woman he loves."

Ser Jorah perished in the battle against the army of the dead in episode three of season eight. Photo / HBO

It makes sense that Jorah should die then, given his demise contributed to Daenerys' dark turn as did Missandei's beheading and Jon Snow's romantic rejection.

EW asked Iain Glen what Jorah would have made of Dany turning all Mad Queen at King's Landing and obliterating innocent civilians with the help of Drogon.

Glen agreed that his character's death was a "cut strung" for the woman who would be queen.

"There's a sweetness in that because Jorah will never know what she did," Glen told the magazine. "That's probably best. It's a blessing for him that he never found out what happened to her. And from a pragmatic story point of view, his death served a greater purpose. Where could we have taken Jorah from there? F**k if I know."

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