SPOILERS AHEAD for last night’s episode of “Game of Thrones!” If you haven’t seen “The Climb” yet, skip this article!
On Sunday’s sixth installment of “Game of Thrones” Season 3, Ros (Esmé Bianco) met her end via crossbow, courtesy of King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson). Ros was an original creation for the TV series and a former prostitute who found herself in the service of Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aiden Gillen) before she started spying on him for Lord Varys (Conleth Hill). And it was ultimately that decision that cost Ros her life.
HBO has posted an interview with Blanco about her time on the series and Ros’ unexpectedly swift demise.
“It’s another example of how evil Joffrey is and how cruel,” offered Blanco. “But I like that you don’t actually see it happening. I think there’s more of a shock. I’ve seen stills and it looks absolutely beautiful, like a painting. Really, every scene she’s been in is like a Caravaggio. I’m just glad she didn’t get her head chopped off.”
“I think she [understood the risks] and possibly, she underestimated Littlefinger,” continued Blanco. “I think she knew there was an inherent risk when she started spying for Varys, but it was something she knew she had to do if she didn’t want to be Littlefinger’s whore for the rest of her life. You can’t get anywhere in life without taking risks. She realized it was part of the game she was playing, but I don’t think she knew it would come to this. She probably thought that Varys could protect her more than he could.”
Bianco also recalled that “I was supposed to be in one scene in the pilot, the scene she has with Tyrion in the brothel. Just after they got the greenlight, I got an email from David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] and they said, ‘We love your character, we really like what you did. Would you consider coming back if we wrote you in?’ So they kept sending me scenes and it went from there. It progressed naturally as they were writing the season.
“For David and Dan, it gave them the liberty to use her and write [Ros] in as they need her,” added Blanco. “I read as far as Book 3 (‘A Storm of Swords’), so I didn’t spoil too much for the story for myself. I think if my character had been in the book, I wouldn’t have read them because I wouldn’t have wanted to know.”
The full interview with Blanco can be found on HBO.com. “Game of Thrones” Season 3 continues this Sunday on HBO.
