Tom Hopper Moves from the High Seas to Westeros

Well, if Watchers on the Wall is to be believed, my favorite knight/pirate will be journeying to Westeros. That’s right, everyone. It looks like Tom Hopper will be joining Game of Thrones in season 7.

Tom Hopper, who is best known for his roles as Billy Bones in Black Sails and Sir Percival in Merlin, was spotted recently in Spain with James Faulkner, the actor who plays Randyll Tarly on Game of Thrones. Randyll Tarly is, of course, our beloved Samwell Tarly’s distant (to put it mildly) father, whom we met briefly in season 6 when Sam visited his family… and stole his father’s prized Valyrian steel sword.

With nothing officially confirmed by HBO, it’s up to GoT fans to speculate – which, let’s face it, is what we do best. The theory is that Tom will be taking over the role of Dickon Tarly – Sam’s younger brother – from actor Freddie Stroma, who will be starring as H.G. Wells in the ABC midseason vehicle Time After Time and thus has not been seen on set. Though there are only fourteen episodes left of Game of Thrones, it seems that Dickon is important enough to warrant being recast, and as a major fan of Tom Hopper, I’m thrilled to see him on the show.

Spoiler warning: The following paragraphs contain potential spoilers for season 7 of Game of Thrones. 

It seems as though Dickon and Randyll are part of the hullabaloo going on in the south of Westeros. Remember, at the end of last season Cersei effectively wiped out the Tyrells, and it looks like the Tarlys were sent to finish the job. Apparently, the Tarlys – and perhaps Jaime and Bronn – are part of a force that sacks Highgarden. On their way back to King’s Landing, their caravan is ambushed by Daenerys and her dragons.

Since this is Game of Thrones and no one is safe, it stands to reason that one or both Tarlys will be killed in the ambush. This would technically make Sam the head of House Tarly, except for the tiny, insignificant detail that as a member of the Night’s Watch, he had to renounce all land and titles. We don’t know when this ambush takes place during the season, but I hope that Dickon is around for a while, because I really enjoy looking at Tom. He’s so very tall. Besides, there needs to be some sort of resolution between Sam and his family, if for no other reason than I can’t imagine Randyll overlooking the fact that Sam stole an important family artifact.

This also means that Daenerys and her dragons *gasp* actually get to Westeros! For a long time, I feared it would never happen. Even with the dramatic ending in the season 6 finale, I was still partially convinced that it was one giant fake-out, and Daenerys would stay in Essos forever.

Tom will return as Billy in the fourth and final season of Black Sails, which airs on Starz starting January 29, 2017.

What do you guys think of this news? Any Tarly theories you want to share?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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