Leave it to Game of Thrones to slip in more surprise Easter eggs than we can count. Our favorite kind: when someone you know from elsewhere in the music/entertainment world makes it into your living room during your Sunday night GoT viewing. Here, all of the show's cameos from season eight (so far)—and one we're betting will go down before the final credits roll.
All of the Surprise Cameos from ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 (and 1 We're Betting Is Going to Happen)
Published May 14, 2019
•7:46pm
HBO
Ed Sheeran
OK, so he wasn't actually on camera (although, when thinking of his real season seven cameo, that's probably for the best). But musician Ed Sheeran was there in spirit—and in name!—when Bronn was speaking with his lady friends during episode one of season eight. One of the women discusses a Lannister soldier named “Eddie,” aka Sheeran’s character that Arya met while on the road South.
“That boy Eddie...” one woman says. “The ginger?” another asks. “That’s him. Came back with his face burned off. He’s got no eyelids now,” the first woman replies. “How does he sleep with no eyelids?” Poor, poor Ed Sheeran.
Rob Mcelhenny
Rob McElhenny of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame appeared in episode one of the season. McElhenny played an unnamed member of Euron Greyjoy’s (Pilou Asbæk) army—he guarded the ship that held Yara (Gemma Whelan).
Unfortunately, the actor’s story line won’t progress any further than episode one, since he was killed off during Theon’s (Alfie Allen) rescue mission. In true GoT fashion, McElhenny’s character met his maker due to a gruesome injury: an arrow shot directly into his eyeball (for which the Always Sunny actor celebrated on Instagram).
Chris Stapleton
Country music singer Chris Stapleton added his name to the cast list for season eight, episode three. He played a fallen Wildling-turned–White Walker in the scene where Jon Snow (Kit Harington) tries to charge the Night King (Vladimir Furdik) outside Winterfell. Stapleton’s wife, Morgane, documented the moment on her personal Instagram account by sharing a slideshow, but the story of the country crooner asking showrunners Benioff and Weiss if he could have a cameo is the best part.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Stapleton discussed his surprise appearance and revealed that he’s a longtime GoT fan. “I was like, you know, I would gladly fly to wherever in the world just to be a small part and get to watch that show going down,” he said about flying to Northern Ireland for the part. “They were gracious enough to let me come participate that way.”
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
David Benioff And D.b. Weiss
Yup, the showrunners appeared in episode four, “The Last of the Starks.” Benioff and Weiss played two Wildlings during the feast scene in Winterfell. The famous duo can be seen cheerfully greeting Jon Snow (Kit Harington) in the banquet hall, while Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) raves about his accomplishments.
Aaron Rodgers
There was a surprise celeb appearance during the big Battle of King's Landing: Aaron Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers quarterback, who's been a longtime Thrones fan, was featured in episode five as a King's Landing citizen trying to flee the destruction of Dany and Drogon. He makes a run for his life (we see those rushing TD skills being put to good use), which can be viewed in this video posted to Twitter.
The football MVP discussed his appearance in HBO's weekly making-of-the-episode video called “The Game Revealed." "I was helping a woman who was injured, set her down, and then, the hell with her, I’m getting outta there,” Rodgers said, covered in fake blood and still in full costume.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
And One We Think Will Happen Before The Finale: George R.r. Martin
While he's said he turned down a cameo part for the final season, we're skeptical. “David and Dan invited me to a cameo in one of the final episodes, which I was tempted to do,” GoT author George R.R. Martin revealed in an interview. “But I didn’t think just for the sake of a cameo I could take the time to return to Belfast.”
But Reddit theorists have been going wild about the possibility of Martin actually somehow showing up at the very end of the show. His character, a grown-up Samwell Tarly (as the theories go) could be detailing the history of Westeros (aka everything that we've seen go down on the Game of Thrones show) at the citadel as a Maester, just like Martin writes his books for us that detail the history of GoT. See? Full circle (and our fingers and toes are crossed).
