And lo, Game of Thrones has come to yet another end with last night’s “The Winds of Winter,” an explosive climax with a higher body count than usual, thanks to Cersei’s fiery wiles. One death certainly hit harder than all the rest, though apparently the series-long star had asked for an even earlier end to their character.

You’re warned of full spoilers through Sunday’s Season 6 finale, but where we all knew Jonathan Pryce’s High Sparrow had to go (and arguably Finn Jones as well), fans still hoped against hope that Natalie Dormer’s Margaery Tyrell might somehow escape Cersei’s fiery wrath. Not so, tragically leaving Margaery a hot pile of green dust amongst foundations, but to hear Dormer tell it to Entertainment Weekly, Margaery might have had an even earlier end:

I preempted the [death phone call] because in true Natalie Dormer-style I tried to fit a million projects into a single year. I requested [while making season 5 that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] release me from working on the show earlier than usual so I could do another project, and they ended up phoning me — and that was The Call.

But I got it six months ahead of normal. They were like, “We weren’t going to tell you this for a few more months, but we’re not going to release you now, so you can’t do that job you really want to do and we’re really sorry about that. But on the bright side, we are going to release you proper in the not-so-distant future.” It was good news, bad news — no you can’t do this, but don’t worry, you’re going to have lots more opportunities very soon.

Dormer also noted the Margaery’s fatal mistake lay in ceding control of the battle against Cersei to the High Sparrow, as well that her final filmed scene was actually that of the meeting with Lady Olenna episodes earlier. All that said, Dormer appreciated showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff elevating Margaery off the written page, even if the character had reached a natural end:

Margaery had a fantastic arc in comparison to what’s in the books. David and Dan stood by what they originally said they would do, which is give me stuff to get my teeth into. It’s the longest time I’ve every spent playing a character. I’ll always have a little yellow rose after my heart, and I think it was just the right length of time, to be honest. It’s time for the Westeros story to move on and it’s a perfect time for her to exit.

We’ll certainly miss Margaery, even if we’re hard-pressed to argue that Kings’ Landing political turmoil should stretch on any further, but how might Margaery have gone in Dormer’s view? Will Queen Cersei have any of her consideration for their subjects?

Go inside the episode below, and stay tuned for more on that Game of Thrones Season 6 finale.

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