Is Tormund Giantsbane Done on Season 8 of Game of Thrones? Can He Return for GoT Finale?

With only one episode left before the series finale of Game of Thrones, character arcs and storylines are coming to a close and fans are having to say goodbye to some of their favorites. After last week’s episode, fans were left wondering if Tormund Giantsbane’s time on the show is over.

Beware of series spoilers below.

On last week’s episode of Game of Thrones, Tormund and Jon said goodbye in Winterfell, as Jon prepared to travel south to King’s Landing to claim the Iron Throne for Daenerys Targaryen. Their goodbye felt pretty final, and Jon even asked Tormund to take his direwolf, Ghost, with him back up to the “true North,” now that the threat of White Walkers has been eliminated.

This isn’t the first time fans thought they might have seen the end of Tormund Giantsbane. In the final minutes of season 7, Tormund and Beric Dondarrion were at the Wall when the Night King destroyed it with the help of his ice dragon’s fire. As the wall fell, Tormund and Beric were seemingly right in the middle of the devastation; however, the two appeared at the end of season 8 episode 1, unscathed and on their way to warn Jon of what they saw.

Hours before episode 5 aired, however, Kristofer Hivju, who has played Tormund on the show since season 3, shared a photo referencing on of Tormund’s hilarious season 8 lines, writing in the caption “In stores now! But only north of the wall. Ps. Enjoy tonights episode! Its a big one…” Although it’s possible that he’s just being a supportive castmate and promoting the final episodes of a show he’s been a part of for so long, it’s interesting that he seemed to know what happens in episode 5. Tormund did not show up in episode 5, which took place exclusively on Dragonstone and in King’s Landing.

Fans will have to wait until the series finale next week to learn if there is more to Tormund and Ghost’s stories, but it seems as though Tormund’s episode 4 goodbye with Jon was the end of his character’s arc.

Tune in to the series finale of Game of Thrones, Sunday, May 19, at 9pm on HBO.