Ian McShane Explains The Purpose of His Game of Thrones Role

( Helen Sloan/HBO)

Warning: Spoilers ahead from Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 7.

On Sunday night's episode, The Broken Man, Ian McShane made his Game of Thrones debut – and exit. In the episode, we saw the return of Sandor Clegane, AKA The Hound (Rory McCann). The Emmy-winning Deadwood actor played Brother Ray, a man who spiritually nurtured The Hound, only to be killed by the band of attackers who share different religious views.

In a recent interview with EW, McShane talked about how he got his Game of Thrones role. In the episode, we saw Ray give an inspiring speech in which he describes his time as a soldier, giving violent orders, and feeling guilty after doing so.

"Well, they wrote a two-page speech – so that's why they invited me. It's a big soliloquy, like in Deadwood, and they needed to get somebody who could do that. It was really well written. Rory was a delight to work with, and so was the director. The whole experience was five days in Belfast, and I enjoyed it a lot."

Ray also helped The Hound believe he could redeem himself "But I think my main use was to re-introduce a character people thought was long gone and who needed some humanity. The Hound has not been shown much humanity in his life, and he gets a little from Brother Ray and carries that forward into his character, which makes it more interesting for those who watch him."

Although his character only lasted for one episode, McShane brilliantly portrayed someone who served a good purpose to a character many of us didn't expect to return. When McShane was asked if Ray's message would influence The Hound's decisions, he said, "But if they're following the Western code, he'll seek to avenge me, then continue his life in a different way. You have to have revenge, and expedient revenge. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I understand personal vengeance. How do you reconcile those in real life? In film, you can do it very easily. You show somebody has been wronged and therefore their morality is in the right place."

Hopefully, we'll see The Hound avenge Ray. Seeing him grab the ax at the end of the show hints his thirst for vengeance. After all, hate is what kept him going.

The next Game of Thrones will air this coming Sunday, on 9 p.m. EST on HBO.

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