14 DAY TRIAL // Season 4 of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was an emotional rollercoaster for fans, many of whom repeatedly came close to swearing off the show for good. For those fans who also read the novels of George R. R. Martin on which it’s based, the final blow came at the end of the last episode of season 4, “The Children.”
Many of them expected to see Lady Stoneheart make at least a second-long cameo towards the end of the episode and, as you may have heard, they had good reason to believe this would happen. When it didn’t, they took their anger and frustration online because, they said, if there was one way in which the producers could screw up a potentially perfect season finale, this was it.
So, what happened?
*If you haven’t seen season 4 finale of “Game of Thrones,” “The Children,” it’s not advisable to continue reading because the article includes major spoilers.*
If you’re yet to read the books, the name of Lady Stoneheart can’t ring a bell because she was never featured on the show or, at least, not that you know of. She is actually Lady Catelyn Stark, who was murdered at the Red Wedding and then buried in the river, as tradition calls.
Three days after her body was tossed in the river, she was recovered by Lord Beric Dondarrion and, through the power of R’hllor, the Lord of Light, she was brought back from the dead. She’s basically a zombie with a slashed throat, itching to get back at those who killed her and her entire family.
Alex Graves, the director of “The Children,” says that, even though Lady Stoneheart appears in the epilogue to “A Storm of Swords,” it was ultimately the decision of executive producers / creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff not to include her on the season 4 finale, IGN reports.
As far as Graves knows, this character was never even considered for a cameo on this episode, no matter what people online say to the contrary. Among those people is also Lena Headey, who plays Queen Cersei Lannister, who dropped major teasers on her Instagram regarding a cameo from this particular undead Lady.
“She was never going to be a part of it. I know it caught on on the internet, and people really started to believe it. I think the bottom line is that there was so much going on, at least from where I stood, that it wasn’t something to get into because, you know, when you get into taking Michelle Fairley, one of the greatest actresses around, and making her a zombie who doesn’t speak and goes around killing people, what’s the best way to integrate that into the show?” Graves says.
In the end, it was decided that there was no “best way” to do that, at least not on the fourth season.
“I don’t think there was room for it this season. I don’t know what they’re going to do about it, because it is certainly something people are attached to. I was attached to it because I established Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion last year in the story to rejuvenate her. I have no idea what they plan to do about that because honestly, it just wasn’t talked about. It wasn’t on the radar. It didn’t come up in season four,” Graves continues.
He also says that he spoke to the creators of the series about this character since season 3, but didn’t get a satisfying answer about when she would debut. It sounds as if Graves is hinting at the possibility that Lady Stoneheart might be written out altogether, in which case fans are bound to be even more furious.