‘Game of Thrones’ Swordsman Joins ‘Episode VII’

We’ve yet to learn officially if any of Star Wars Episode VII’s first-time cast members will turn out to be Jedi Knights, but at least we can rest easy now that they have a professional swordfighter in their ranks. BBC News is reporting that Miltos Yerolemou, who played Syrio Forel on HBO’s Game of Thrones, has joined the cast of the sequel.

According to BBC, Yerolemou’s role is “not thought to be a major one.” Still, considering what most fans know him for, it’s hard not to see him wielding a lightsaber in the near future.

And Yerolemou already has something in common with another cast member on set, as he’ll be joining Gwendoline Christie, who plays the giant lady knight Brienne of Tarth on Thrones.

*WARNING: Spoilers below for Game of Thrones Season 1*

Yerolemou played the Braavosi swordsman Forel in three episodes of Game of Thrones. He was hired by Ned Stark to train his daughter Arya in the art of swordfighting. He supposedly met his demise in “The Pointy End,” when he held off Ser Meryn Trant and Lannister guards long enough for Arya to escape from being taken.

It now may be safe to assume he was able to flee the swordsmen and hopped on a ship to a galaxy far, far away.

Yerolemou brought a lot of charm to the role of Forel. If you’re not familiar with the show or the books, his character was one of the first that fans met who hailed from a foreign land called Braavos. Yerolemou gave the character a silky accent and seemed to have a perpetual wink in his eye, as if he always knew what was about to happen next. His line, “What do we say to Death? Not today,” is still one of the most quoted lines of the show, although it rarely works out that way for the characters.

Yerolemou also played a recurring role on the British children’s television series, Hububb, and has performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Check out the introduction of Syrio Forel in this clip from the Game of Thrones season 1 episode “Lord Snow.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Invy0tvOc