Nikolaj Coster-Waldau says Season 7 is a “very significant shift” for Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones Season 7 is just a day away, and it seems like there is no upper limit to the hype levels. Cast member interviews have been dropping back to back, and every next one manages to make us even more excited about Season 7. The latest one comes from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays the role of Jaime Lannister, and he thinks that this season is a “very significant shift” for the show. Read on!

As you might remember, TIME did a whole story on Game of Thrones Season 7, along with a very cool photoshoot that has been doing the rounds, and they have been dropping individual cast interviews one by one. In the latest one, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau talked about a lot of things, like how he doesn’t think much about the incest on the show, because it’s too weird. Speaking about how his character has evolved over the years, he said :

“No hesitation, no. I had a meeting with Dan and David and they told me what would happen with Jaime over the potential first three seasons. I thought it was very exciting, because it doesn’t get much darker than what happens in episode 1. Having sex with his sister and then he tries to kill an innocent boy: It’s very dark. So clearly, you would think, this is the villain. I was very interested in the reasons why he’d do it — the whole cliché of does the end justify the means. The journey from that moment until season 3 where there’s a scene with him and Brienne where he tells her the truth of why he became the Kingslayer. It’s a very interesting arc and, especially [with his] identity crisis, losing the hand that defines him in the public eye. There’s so many things going on for Jaime that it’s pretty messed up, so that’s always fun.“

He talked about how secrecy had hit new levels on the show, and how the actors don’t know what happens after the season that they’re in the process of producing. He went on to talk about the show, and especially the showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss :

“We’re all going to die eventually. We’ll see what happens in season 7, but now that you’re this close… I remember speaking to Lena about this every season, we would be surprised if we survived another year, and then another year went by. It would be, “Well next year is the one, because there’s no way they’re going to keep us around,” and then they did, and then last season, it was the thing where we said, “Oh God, I hope we get to do one more season, because I’m just so curious to see what happens.”

What’s interesting is that they evolved so much over the years. After we went off book, and this season is the first truly off-off-off, they’ve become much more protective over the story and script. I think now they feel this is truly theirs now, and it’s not to be tampered with.”

He continued :

“I guess I can be a pain in the butt. I have suggestions like an annoying actor and I have questions. I’ve just sensed this last season that this is their baby: ‘Just say the words as they’re written, and shut up.’ Which is absolutely fine. I respect that! And obviously, what they write is not bad, it’s really good. It was a very significant shift.”

He also discussed the scene after Joffrey‘s death, when his dead body is in the Sept, and Jaime and Cersei have sex. He concluded that without such moments, the show wouldn’t be what it is :

“Well, it wouldn’t be the same show then. From season 1 with the killing of Ned Stark, that’s the nature of the show. And I still believe that that scene — even how messed up it was — was still true to those characters in a very disturbing way. What can I say? But I want people to remember it’s not real. It’s a story.”

There are a lot of good bits in the interview, so go check the full text, here. What do you think will happen to Jaime Lannister in Season 7? Talk to us in the comments, down below!

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