'Game of Thrones' Star Kristofer Hivju Says Tormund 'Wants Closure' in Final Season
By Hannah Wigandt
If the trailer for Game of Thrones Season 8 is anything to go by, we think it's safe to say Tormund Giantsbane is back in the game. The last time we saw him he was being crushed as the wall came down on him, but from what we can see in the trailer it seems he's thankfully as healthy as a horse.
The preview shows Tormund walking down a dark hall carrying a torch with none other than Beric Dondarrion. But that's pretty much all we know about Kristofer Hivju's character in the final season.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hivju revealed that he had to go undercover during Season 8 filming so fans wouldn't know he was still alive.
“We didn’t see him die; season 8 could have started episode 1 with dead Tormund,” Hivju shared. He went on to claim he doesn't know when his character actually makes his appearance in the season but he hopes fans are happy he's back.
"I sat in a bar when I was shooting The Fate of the Furious and I watched an episode of Thrones with diehard fans, and it was like seeing a sporting event," Hivju recalled. "I didn’t understand the impact of the show until watching it with other people. It was the episode where [Rory McCann’s character, the Hound, who was presumed dead for a time] came back, and there was this roar. I’m going for that."
While Hivju couldn't spoil much about his return, he did talk about Tormund's mindset at the beginning of the final season.
“He wants closure,” Hivju shared. “All the Free Folk grew up with the horror stories of the White Walkers, like that story Nan told Bran in season 1 with the ice spiders — except having seen them. This has been the terror of their worst nightmare as long as they’ve existed. Tormund has confronted them many times. This is the nightmare moment where you have to face centuries of bad dreams.”
The actor concluded that he's sorry to see the show end, and that his fellow co-stars gave the performances of their lives. We can't wait to see if he's right when Thrones returns on April 14.