Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7.
Back in August, Entertainment Weekly reported that Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent would be joining the cast of Game of Thrones Season 7 for an unspecified, “significant” role. Thanks to Broadbent’s interview with Screen Crush, Game of Thrones fans now know the answer. According to Broadbent, he will be playing a “maester.” Not just any maester either, Broadbent explained.
“I’m a maester, an archmaester. I’m an old professor character.”
As one might expect given that Broadbent’s character is a maester, Screen Crush reports that Broadbent will share scenes with Samwell Tarley (John Bradley). Sam was last seen entering the Citadel in Game of Thrones‘ Season 6 finale to undergo his maester training, as Gilly and Little Sam looked on.
When it comes to how many episodes of Game of Thrones Broadbent will star in he told Screen Crush.
“I did five episodes. I did sort of one major scene in each episode.”
Given there will only be seven episodes in Game of Thrones Season 7, that means he will star in most of them. What is interesting is that Broadbent says he will have “one major scene” in each of them, so how much actual screen time he will have in Season 7 is speculative.
Which maester is Broadbent playing?
The identity of the mystery maester Broadbent will be playing is where Game of Thrones fans will need to put on their theory hats. Screen Crush speculates Broadbent will be playing Maester Marwyn, a maester in the A Song of Fire and Ice novels, who shortly after meeting Sam heads out to meet with Daenerys.
Whereas Winter is Coming contends Broadbent could be playing Archmaester Ebrose, “a minor character from the novels who specializes in healing.” They also acknowledge Broadbent’s character could be an amalgam of several book characters. While fans will have to wait until this summer to learn for certain, which one is correct, previously revealed spoilers seem to support Winter is Coming‘s conclusion.
In November, Watchers on the Wall reported that in Game of Thrones Season 7, a greyscale-inflicted Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) would meet Sam at the Citadel, whilst looking for a cure for his disease. If Broadbent is playing Archmaester Ebrose as Winter is Coming suggests, it stands to reason, he could be crucial to aiding in that effort.
Since Broadbent says he will star in five episodes, what does that mean for Sam’s storyline? While we now know the number of Season 7 episodes Broadbent will appear in, we do not know which one he will appear in last.
Broadbent’s episodes could be sprinkled throughout the season. Due to that, he could be last seen as late as the Season 7 finale, or have completed his arc as soon as Episode 5. Will Sam be at the Citadel until then?
Another question looms as to how long Broadbent’s maester character will impact the events of Game of Thrones. As the Inquisitr previously reported, it is possible that Game of Thrones will endure a time jump in Season 7. This opens up the possibility Broadbent’s maester character could influence the events of Game of Thrones, for a while.
Since Game of Thrones has cast such a high-profile actor for the role of this mystery archemaester, it leads one to wonder if his role will be as simple as teaching Sam everything he knows, and saving Jorah, in the process. Or will Broadbent play a larger one?
It has been widely speculated that in Game of Thrones Season 7, Sam might discover proof of Jon Snow’s real heritage while scouring the maester’s vast library. Could Broadbent’s archemaester character hold the key to revealing the best kept secret in the Seven Kingdoms?
Neither of the maester characters Winter is Coming or Screen Crush suggests would necessarily have access to any secret knowledge or evidence proving the paternity of Sam’s best friend, Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
In the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale, Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) learned that Jon Snow is not his biological half-brother, rather his cousin. While Bran is expected to eventually share this knowledge with Jon, how he will prove his “vision” has been a subject of great speculation. It is possible that Broadbent’s maester character could have the answer. Does he possess the paper trail that confirms Jon’s true heritage?
What would prompt Sam to ask for the archemaester’s help to confirm Jon’s heritage is also open to speculation. As of the conclusion of Game of Thrones Season 6, no one knows about Jon’s true parentage except Bran. Find out if Jim Broadbent’s mystery maester will uncover Jon Snow’s true heritage, when Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres, this summer on HBO.
[Featured Image by HBO]