'Game Of Thrones' showrunners explain why Lady Stoneheart never made it to the show
It wasn’t just the final episodes and conclusion to Game Of Thrones that proved to be divisive, as there were a number of other controversies throughout the previous seasons of the show.
Most notably when Game Of Thrones’ show-runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss decided not to incorporate the character of Lady Stoneheart into the series.
For those of you that don’t know, Lady Stoneheart is the resurrected Catelyn Stark, who after being murdered at the Red Wedding goes on to lead the Brotherhood Without Banners.
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Fans of George RR Martin’s books expected Lady Stoneheart to appear in Game Of Thrones at some point. But, during their discussion for James Hibberd’s book on the series, Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon, both Benioff and Weiss admitted that there was never really much “debate” or discussion about including her.
Benioff said that Stoneheart only really has “one great scene” in the books, which is her dramatic appearance at the end of A Feast For Crows, reported Entertainment Weekly.
“That was the only debate. The scene where she first shows up is one of the best ‘holy s***’ moments in the books,” Weiss said.
Benioff admitted that one of the main reasons why they didn’t include Stoneheart was because of Martin’s plans for the character in the upcoming books, which they didn’t “want to spoil”.
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At the same time, the pair also knew that they were planning to kill Jon Snow at the end of season five, only to resurrect him at the start of season six. They believed that resurrecting Catelyn Stark would “start to diminish the impact of characters dying”.
Plus, they also believed that bringing Stark back would have ruined the impact of her death during the Red Wedding, especially since actress Michelle Fairley put in such a superb performance during that scene.
“To bring her back as a zombie who doesn’t speak felt like diminishing returns,” Benioff said.
