"Game of Thrones" fans will be delighted to see a familiar, musical ginger in Season 7. The award-winning HBO hit has featured a lot of cameo appearances in the past, but this next one is probably the most recognizable of all. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss revealed at the "Game of Thrones" panel at the SXSW that Ed Sheeran will be making a cameo appearance in "Game of Thrones" Season 7.
"For years we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie and this year we finally did it," Entertainment Weekly quoted Benioff as saying. "Game of Thrones" star Maisie Williams, who plays fan favorite Arya Stark on the show, is a huge fan of the "Shape of You" singer.
A lot of musicians also played cameo roles in past "Game of Thrones" season. The list includes Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, Coldplay's Will Champion, Sigur Ros and Mastodon. The stars were often unrecognizable in the characters they played, particular the members of Mastodon who dressed up as Wildings.
Sheeran's role, however, was not revealed and nor was the extent of his appearance. However, it is worthy to note that Sheeran has prior experience in this department.
The Grammy-winning artist did a cameo appearance in the medieval drama series "The Bastard Executioner" in 2015. According to The Telegraph, the FX show was dubbed as "the Welsh 'Game of Thrones'" by some viewers.
The singer played a rather dark character, Sir Cormac, who was described as "an ambitious and deadly protégé of a high-ranking church elder." He doesn't play the nice guy at all, and in one scene even demanded a torture to "take the eye" of a prisoner.
Given the brutal nature of "Game of Thrones" Season 7, it's possible Sheeran will also play a bad character. Since Benioff and Weiss are doing this for Williams, it's also possible Sheeran's character will bump into Arya Stark as the latter makes her journey home to Westeros.
Meanwhile, Williams has been doing a lot of teasing lately. On Twitter, she said that nothing will prepare fans for what's to come in the seventh season.
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 will premiere on July 16 on HBO.