It's A No-Brainer: 'Game of Thrones' Character Originally Had a Much More Violent Death Scene

Whether it be a pot of molten gold being poured over a head, having a face gnawed by ravenous dogs, or just a good ol' fashioned Baratheon BBQ, HBO's #GameofThrones has some of THE most violent and shocking deaths out there in TV Land. The rule of D.B. Weiss and David Benioff's show is to never get too attached to your favorites and, even more so in #GeorgeRRMartin's books, no one is safe.

With the show moving forward in its never-ending quest to overtake Martin's snail-pace of writing, we find ourselves truly lost in uncharted waters but hooked more than ever. As we wait for Season 7 of the Ice and Fire saga, it is anyone's guess who'll be next for the chop; however, as far back as Season 5, we have seen some pretty big deaths and an early swansong for those still kicking around on the pages of the books. Now, one of the actors has spoken out on their early trip to the showers and the way in which their demise was meant to be oh so much more graphic and Thrones-ey.

You're Poison Running Through My Veins

If you remember back to the Season 5 finale and alongside the departure of "The False King" Stannis, the death of Myrcella Baratheon was a pretty major "non-book" farewell to feast our eyes upon. The book A Dance with Dragons still has Myrcella touring Dorne after an attempt on her life, so fans were rightly shocked to see her succumb to the poison kiss of Ellaria Sand and choke it within moments. We can only assume that Martin doesn't have any major plans for Myrcella down the line in the books either, but by departing so violently from the source material, we were pleasantly horrified at her death.

Speaking with MYM Buzz at MCM London, actress Nell Tiger Free revealed that she always knew Myrcella's death was coming, but there was a much more violent death just a stone throw's away. According to Free, the original plan was for her to splutter her brains all over the deck of the ship on her return to King's Landing:

“I don’t know if I should say this, but originally what happened is they gave me those mashed up bananas with like blood fake blood, and my brains were supposed to be all over the ship and stuff. I was so excited. I don’t like gore but, like, I knew they were just like bananas, so I was okay with it.”

Given the Lannister kids and their aversion to poison, Myrcella's death poignantly mirrored that of her brother Joffrey from his "Purple Wedding." However, this scene perfectly balanced sadness and happiness, with Myrcella revealing she knew that she was the result of incest and Jaime Lannister was her father. As some corn syrup and red food dye flowed from Myrcella's nostrils, she tragically died in the arms of her father.

Game Of Tones

According to Free, the reason for toning down Myrcella's death was to reflect her characterization on the show, feeling that such a horrific death wouldn't fit her character:

"They wanted Myrcella’s death to reflect her life, and wanted it to be sweet— which is rare for [Game of] Thrones.”

Well, that certainly doesn't explain why other "sweet" characters like Rickon, Shireen, and Tommen all got their fair share of ghastly deaths, or why the noble name of Stark carries such a cursed life with it.

Quite why the show didn't stick with its intended gory story for Myrcella is a bit of a gripe. Given that we are quite accustomed to seeing someone have their eyes gouged out before having their head smashed like a coconut, her graphic goodbye certainly wouldn't have been out of place on the show. Oh well, I'm sure there'll be plenty more where that came from as the show winds to a close across Seasons 7 and 8 — I'll start mashing the bananas.

Check out Myrcella's death below.