‘Ser Davos’ has a message for Game of Thrones spoiler seekers

MANILA, Philippines - Irish actor Liam Cunningham, a.k.a. Ser Davos Seaworth on HBO’s Game of Thrones (GOT), is the last person to ask about surprises and spoilers. 

Season 7 of the medieval-fantasy show adapted from George R.R. Martin’s best-selling book series A Song of Ice and Fire is set to premiere on July 17 (9 a.m. Philippine time).

Early this year, Liam made news when he had some special words for those who went to “silly” lengths to score leaks to the most-watched series in HBO history. He was quoted as calling those who sent drones to the new season’s set location in Spain as “low-lifers.” 

In a recent interview with media from Southeast Asia (The STAR included), Liam stressed that the “low-lifers” tag wasn’t addressed to fans because “they’re not fans if they’re doing what they’re doing.”

“People who do that, they don’t care,” added the 56-year-old actor who’s been recognized for his work on British TV and stage.

The subject on spoilers was raised during a roundtable with Liam hosted by HBO Asia in Bangkok (wherein the actor said on the side, “I’ve got an invitation to visit the Philippines, from a friend of a friend who has a resort. I’d love to get there.”)

Spoilers do what they do best, and that is to spoil the fun. “It’s like you’re telling a friend a joke and you’re halfway telling a joke, and somebody tells the punchline. That’s what they’re doing.”

When asked why spoilers persist even if showrunners take pains to protect a production, Liam reckoned, “They want something for their timelines, I suppose. ‘Oh, look what I know and what you don’t know.’ I feel sorry for these people. I really feel sorry for them. They’re sad. They’re not evil but they’re sad. It’s a silly, stupid thing to do. Why do you want to spoil the enjoyment of other people?”

Liam appears careful, too, about fanning GOT fan theories. Many a theory has abound since time immemorial. Or at least since 2011, when this series started entertaining viewers with a sprawling saga of epic fights over the Iron Throne, the seat of power in the mythical continent of Westeros.

HBO Asia furnished the media a brief description for the latest season: “In the new season, Daenerys Targaryen has finally set sail for Westeros with her armies, dragons and new Hand of the Queen, Tyrion Lannister. Jon Snow has been named King in the North after defeating Ramsay Bolton in the Battle of the Bastards and returning Winterfell to House Stark. In King’s Landing, Cersei Lannister has seized the Iron Throne by incinerating the High Sparrow, his followers and her rivals in the Sept of Baelor. But as old alliances fracture and new ones emerge, an army of dead men marches on the Wall, threatening to end the game of thrones forever.” 

The official Season 7 trailer also has Jon Snow saying: “The Great War is here.”

When a reporter asked Liam more about this “great war,” the actor deadpanned, “Where did you hear that? Who told you that? Give me a name!”

“Are they getting ready for war? They might be, they might not be. They might be getting ready not to talk to each other. I smiled when I saw the trailer. It sets your mind: What is going on? I laughed because it’s very, very good,” he mused. “What we do know is that the Night King is coming and he’s got hundreds of thousands of the undead. Whatever the size of this army is, we know it’s very, very big and nobody in Westeros has that army to take on something like this.”

Liam has also developed his own theory about this new threat. “It’s funny, but you know what went through my mind when I was reading about this threat from the North about the war? I kind of thought of it as climate change. You know, it’s this thing that could come and kill us all. If we don’t do something about it, then terrible things are gonna happen to the world. In my mind, it felt like a metaphor for climate change. Nobody is concerned about it; we don’t see it as a threat because we don’t feel like it’s damaging us now. Well, it is damaging us now. But that might be a stupid theory (laughs).”

Liam is also aware of fan theories about his character. “There’s always Twitter, Facebook, where you get sensible stuff and you get ridiculous stuff... What’s great about the show is that it’s so unpredictable. I try not engaging with (theories) because if you discuss it, people would go, ‘Why is he discussing it?’ They hang their hat on anything they could. I’m always a bit wary discussing any of these theories.”

According to him, some speculations are just too far off that “it’s mad.” “I’ve heard theories that Stannis was coming back because we didn’t see the sword going in,” he said, referring to the Season 5 finale wherein HBO didn’t show the death scene. (For the uninitiated, Ser Davos was the right hand man to Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone). 

Then, there are shippers of him and Melisandre (Carice van Houten) the priestess/former counselor to Stannis.

“Where do the people get this idea?” said Liam, playfully adding, “Anything could happen on this show. Maybe that’s what will happen. Maybe the two of them will be walking into the sunset and holding a small child,” then taking it back, “I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

Liam further said, “We’ve never had a good relationship. It was like a bad marriage. She was sent away at the end of Season 6. And I can’t imagine that would be last time we’d be seeing of Melisandre. I think she’s too important a character. Whether we’ll see her in Season 7? I don’t know. We have to wait and see.” 

One thing’s certain, he enjoys working on the show and making sure he’s not going to be the guy who gets told, “You’ve ruined the show!”

He shared his filming experience for Season 7: “It’s been different this season. There was a big change for me, obviously when Stannis got killed, and my character had to go on and be with Jon Snow. And that was very strange because I used to be in Dragonstone and the only time I ever saw Castle Black was on television whenever I sat to watch the show. It felt like being in a different show. But the guys are so cool. I really love working with Kit Harington (who plays Jon Snow) and all the other guys. It’s just such a wonderfully professional job to do.” 

No question Liam loves playing Davos, who’s been a steady, reliable GOT character. “I think most people see him as an honorable man. He’s a decent man, I think. He’s a loyal friend. Even if you don’t want to hear the bad news, he’s still gonna tell the bad news because it’s the truth. He tells the truth. He’s a good guy. I’m hoping to be Davos one day.”

Even with his sterling qualities though, Liam doesn’t think Davos has what it takes to sit on the much-coveted Iron Throne. “Davos is not a leader. Leaders have to make decisions that sometimes are not in the best interest of everyone. Jon Snow is a wonderful character. He has to do a couple of bad things. I’m not sure if Davos is capable of that.

“I think Davos is a counselor. Have you seen the movie The Godfather? Tom Hagen, the rather devoted character in that, I kind of think of Davos as a little bit like that. He’s the guy you’d go to, ‘Listen, we have this plan’ and he’s gonna be the guy who’d go, ‘Look, that’s not gonna do, that’s going to have implications.’ I wouldn’t want to see Davos in charge too much. It would be terrible to see Davos corrupted. And power corrupts, as we know.”

To the heartbreak of many fans, Game of Thrones has a reputation of sending some of the best-loved guys to the chopping board and Liam admitted that he does get scared that the ax might fall on his character.

“Every time we finish the season, I kind of go, what’s going to happen next, who’s gonna end up on the throne? In our costumes, we go, who do you think is going to leave the show?

Ser Davos on the ‘great war’ in Season 7: ‘Are they getting ready for war? They might be, they might not be.’

“We’re the same in the show. Everybody on the show is as big a fan as the people who watch it. In fact, I get to see the show at the same time as you, I don’t get advance copies and I have my whole family with me, we sit on the sofa. I know what’s going to happen because I read the script but I don’t tell my family, and we sit there and we watch it altogether.”

While running on seven episodes only, Season 7 filming was completed in the same amount of time it took to shoot the previous 10-episode seasons.

“That means we spent longer on each episode. The reason we spent longer is, I think, this season is more cinematic. It’s less television, more cinema. The scale is bigger,” Liam explained.

Asked if Game of Thrones’ shortest season to date will leave fans contented, the actor said, “They will never be satisfied. You always leave them wanting more. I think this show leaves them wanting more. I think people are already saying on the Internet, what are we going to do when Game of Thrones is going to end? People are already thinking there’s going to be a hole in their life.

“Imagine what it means for us! We’re in this show. It’s going to be a very big hole, professionally. But when you have a story this quality, then you know (it) has a beginning and an end.

“There are some shows that kind of point to a method of making money. If HBO weren’t as honorable as they are, they would try and stretch this thing for 20 seasons because (Game of Thrones is) so popular and obviously making a lot of money. But the story has an end, and it’s coming. Not only Winter is coming, but the end is also coming.”

(Game of Thrones returns to HBO with Season 7 on July 17, 9 a.m. Other playdates are July 17, 9 p.m. on HBO; and July 18, 9 p.m. and July 20, 10 p.m. on HBO Signature.)