HBO
Between his wildfire (Thrones puns!) hair, his general ass-kickery, and the fact that he’s Jon Snow’s BFF, Tormund is one of Game Of Thrones’ most likable characters, which is why the whole world collectively held their breath as the massive 700-foot wall Tormund was standing on collapsed at the end of the season 7 finale. Him AND Beric, mind you.
Did he live? Did he die? What happened?
I believe that the fact that we don’t know for certain bodes well for the fate of the Wildling leader, as a character of his status would almost certainly be killed unequivocally. And it appears that my beliefs would be true, as the actor who plays Tormund, Kristofer Hivju, was spotted in Belfast along with the rest of the Game Of Thrones cast (such as Dany and Samwell Tarly), where they just began production.
via Vanity Fair:
One fan spotted a bunch of cast members on location in Belfast, including Hivju, whom she photographed standing alongside Dolorous Edd actor Ben Crompton. Fans have already spotted most of the show’s principal cast as well, including Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Now that the Thrones train is running once more, nothing can stop it—well, except Harington’s wedding to former Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie, which will evidently halt production for a day so that the cast and crew can attend the festivities.
The Hivju sighting is by far the most exciting beginning-of-production development so far. Sure, for all we know, the actor could simply be filming a flashback, or an extended death scene in which he slowly bleeds out thanks to a fallen icicle—but at the very least we know he’s got at least a few moments of screen time left.
Going into its final season, the HBO juggernaut’s plot points are all, as always, closely guarded secrets. But in the wake of the massive hack the company faced earlier this year, even more secrecy precautions are being taken than ever before.
While serious Game Of Thrones fans should have been able to deduce on their own that Tormund survived, its comforting to know that our favorite kissed-by-fire-friend on set for the final season.
