Warning: spoilers ahead for the Season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones.
If you were watching Game of Thrones’ Season 8 premiere and somehow recognized a familiar face from one of TV's best comedies in a deadly sea of arrows, congrats! Double points to you If you realized that ghoulish face belonged to none other than It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and co-creator Rob McElhenney.
That’s right. The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia mainstay confirmed that he made his Game of Thrones’ debut in Sunday night's premiere, which was followed by his quick exit after a matter of seconds. If anyone still needs help placing where Rob McElhenney had appeared in the premiere, the actor himself shared an image from his Game of Thrones close-up. Check it out:
Rob McElhenney made his cameo as one of the Ironborn. His brief appearance went down during Theon’s rescue of Yara Greyjoy from Euron’s ship. It was a violent way to exit the show, too, as McElhenney’s Ironborn character chose the wrong side.
In a rare victory for Theon Greyjoy, he was able to save his sister from his evil uncle. That meant casualties, which included McElhenney’s character. Particularly the gross eye socket region.
When the camera lingers on a seemingly random character a little more, viewers tend to take a closer look. Game of Thrones is known for its tendency to pull focus on everything in those kinds of scenes, so that moment did not entirely standout to me as strange, or even as a “Hey, look it’s a famous person!” moment. Now, Rob McElhenney has a screengrab that forever proves he's a Game of Thrones alum. Not everyone is able to make such a lofty claim.
The It’s Always Sunny star was not the only famous comedy star to make his Game of Thrones debut. Silicon Valley’s Martin Starr also appeared, and like McElhenney, it was an in-and-out mission. His character was also one of those struck by an arrow during Yara's rescue. When you think about it, both Starr and McElhenney had the full Game of Thrones experience.
They lived during an exciting escapade, and then they died without their full stories being told. And unlike Ed Sheeran, the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Silicon Valley stars made brief entrances and exits. (It was revealed in the premiere that Sheeran's character is still alive, but with his face completely burned off.)
I will have to pay even closer attention from now on to see if there will be any other celebs making brief cameos, since this is the final season for famous fans to do so. There is no shortage of opportunities for others to make a quick intro and outro, and quite a few have done it in the past.
One such chance would be with the Night King’s army. It may be worth paying closer attention to the White Walkers and their victims as they all get shown more.
This subtle cameo by these stars should not draw ire from fans as some previous cameos have. Fans will recall the uproar surrounding Ed Sheeran’s Season 7 run as a Lannister soldier. Rob McElhenny’s was literally blink-and-you-missed-it, so there was nothing to get too upset about for those concerned with Game of Thrones' narrative flow getting disrupted by recognizable stars.
Find out if any other famous faces pop in when new episodes of Game of Thrones Season 8 air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
