Bella Ramsey's Mom Knew About Her Game Of Thrones Demise Before She Did
Fans of HBO's "The Last of Us" will know Bella Ramsey best as the sarcastic and foul-mouthed teenager Ellie, a girl whose immunity to a mutant fungal infection makes her the last hope for humanity's survival, and who is forced to undergo a journey across the post-apocalyptic United States alongside a fellow survivor and the much older Joel (Pedro Pascal).
Yet, before she was fighting off mutant Infected in "The Last of Us," Ramsey was stealing the spotlight on another prolific HBO drama, in her breakout role as Lyanna Mormont in "Game of Thrones." We first met Lyanna in the sixth season when Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) arrived at Bear Isle to seek her support in their war against the Boltons. Forced to take over as the head of House Mormont at just 13 years old following her mother's death, Lyanna quickly became a fan favorite for her remarkable courage and leadership skills — despite her age.
As is the tradition in "Game of Thrones," well-liked characters often found themselves dead sooner rather than later. Lyanna ended up dying a hero's death during the third episode, "The Long Night," of the eighth and final season. Hilariously, Ramsey revealed in an interview that she didn't even know about her character's death until her mother read the script.
Bella Ramsey wasn't told that she was going to die
During a January 2023 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Bella Ramsey admitted that she wasn't expecting to die in that particular episode — and only found out about Lyanna Mormont's heroic last stand when her mother read the script and told her.
"I'd heard rumors that you get the phone call saying that, like, 'Listen you're gonna die this season.' I didn't get a phone call," Ramsey said. "Actually my mum read it first, in the middle of the night... she gets very excited about the script. She was reading it and let me know in the morning, 'You die.'" Ramsey said that she was extremely shocked by the news but was still ultimately happy with the decision, which makes sense given the incredible sendoff her character was given.
Where some characters in "Game of Thrones" end up with meaningless or heartbreaking deaths, Lyanna was given a hero's death –- she took a massive undead giant with her during the Battle of Winterfell, much to the excitement of fans on Twitter. Despite how shocking it must have been to only learn about your character's death from the script (via your mother), Ramsey's comments make it clear that she's alright with how things ended for the valiant Mormont teenager.