The Rob McElhenney Cameo You Missed In Game Of Thrones Season 8
Mac may have broken character on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on occasion, but Rob McElhenney (aka Rob Mac) certainly keeps things consistent on "Game of Thrones." Don't worry, if you weren't aware that the "Sunny" star appears on the HBO fantasy juggernaut, you probably aren't alone. After all, McElhenney's cameo is incredibly quick and to the point — literally.
McElhenney and Martin Starr of "Sililcon Valley" and "Tulsa King" fame drop by in the "Game of Thrones" Season 8 premiere "Winterfell," playing Ironborn soldiers who are very rapidly and graphically taken down with arrows. They get no lines, nor all that much screen time, really, but McElhenney remains highly recognizable despite his scruffy clothes and long wig. Briefly, anyway.
There are many "Game of Thrones" cameos you probably missed during the show's run. These two comedians turning up just to go down in such a gruesomely efficient fashion definitely rank among the most interesting ones.
The Game of Thrones showrunners pulled an even more brutal stunt on McElhenney behind the scenes
If killing Rob McElhenney's "Game of Thrones" incarnation with an arrow through the eye isn't grisly enough, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did something even more brutal to him. As the pair told Entertainment Weekly, McElhenney recommended "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" director Matt Shakman to them. In response, the showrunners pulled a highly elaborate guilt trip prank on McElhenney.
"We thought it would be funny if we told Rob that it was not working out with Matt and that he was a total disaster," Weiss said. "He would feel so guilty because he recommended him. We went back and forth [on email] slowly, not throwing it out there all at once, asking questions like, 'So when Matt's on set, how does he usually behave?' Rob was all, 'What‐what‐what's wrong?!' We told him we're going to have to step in and take over the episode because it's turned into such a mess."
While there's no word on how long they chose to string McElhenney along, it should be noted that the prank wasn't based on reality. Shakman's Season 7 episodes are "The Spoils of War" and "Eastwatch," the former of which did very well on Looper's ranking of 30 best "Game of Thrones" episodes. The talented director has since gone on to helm the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ gem "WandaVision" and the 2025 MCU film "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." Rob Mac, meanwhile, hasn't been hit with an arrow since.