Deceased character returning for Season 8 of Game of Thrones?
By Ryan Stuver
Did we just get an accidental Game of Thrones mini-spoiler?
*** Potential Game of Thrones spoilers ahead ***
The much anticipated Season 8 of Game of Thrones is still almost a year away, so us fans will latch onto pretty much any news we can get. Doing a remarkably excellent job at keeping spoilers from getting out, we haven’t received much of anything. However, some interesting news has potentially leaked.
Welsh actor Wilf Scolding, who plays the long-dead Rhaegar Targaryen, posted a picture on his Instagram (that has since been taken down), showing him standing out in front of the Europa Hotel in Belfast, Ireland. Why does this have fans talking?
Well, Belfast happens to be where the show is filming. Fortunately, @a_red_priestess captured the picture in a screenshot before it was removed.
Rhaegar’s in town?! More flashbacks!#GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/q7SUvldHbt
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) April 30, 2018
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Awfully suspicious, huh? It’s also quite intriguing that the original post disappeared not long after the news broke.
If Wilf is, in fact, returning for Season 8, then one can’t help but wonder what role the slain prince might play?
Killed off by Robert Baratheon long before Season 1 of Game of Thrones even started, Rhaegar is a character who’s only shown up in flashbacks (courteous of Bran Stark warging in and out of history).
We knew that he was Dany’s uncle. We now know from the closing minutes of Season 7 that he’s also the father of Jon Snow. This was a major reveal, but it would make sense that the Rhaegar-Lyanna Stark flashback storyline is concluded.
Perhaps there’s more of the story to be revealed? The T.V. show is far ahead of George R.R. Martin’s novels at this point and therefore really anything is possible. Maybe we’ll be treated to more flashbacks that might point to the future tension between Jon and Dany.
After all, Jon is now the rightful heir to the throne.
Next: Game of Thrones: The best episodes for each season
In such a busy, sure to be an action-packed final season, how much time can the writers really spend on Rhaegar — let alone flashbacks? While this is exciting, thought-provoking news, it could also just be a false alarm.
Rhaegar or no Rhaegar, it’s just something exciting for Thrones fans as we try to patiently await what might just be the best season of any show ever.