Ed Sheeran made a surprise appearance on 'Game of Thrones' on Sunday (16.07.17).
Ed Sheeran on Game of Thrones (c) Instagram
The 'Castle on the Hill' hitmaker was known to have a cameo role in the seventh season of the HBO drama series, but it came sooner than many fans expected when his soldier alter ego - who was listed as "Man #1" - crossed paths with Arya Stark (Maisie Williams).
Arya was riding through the forest when she came across a group of Lannister soldiers singing. She asked the so-far unseen group what the "pretty song" was and the camera panned to Ed, who smiled and said: "A new one".
She then dined with the group and they swapped stories, with the 26-year-old singer appearing prominently in most of the shots.
Ed had earlier teased his appearance on the show on social media.
He tweeted: "Sunday = cat picture. Also, watch Game of Thrones tonight x"
When the episode aired, he also shared a photo he'd taken of his own TV while he was on screen.
He captioned the Instagram post: "Throwback to the time I was a Lannister (sic)"
While Ed's character claimed the song was new, the lyrics actually appeared in author George R.R. Martin's third book of the saga, 'A Storm of Swords', as they were written by a singer, Symon Silver Tongue, who attempts to blackmail Tyrion Lannister over his relationship with prostitute Shae.
The lyrics were: "He rode through the streets of the city / Down from his hill on high / O'er the winds and the steps and the cobbles / He rode to a woman's sigh / For she was his secret treasure / She was his shame and his bliss / And a chain and a keep are nothing / Compared to a woman's kiss / For hands of gold are always cold / But a woman's hands are warm."
The British singer previously insisted "nothing exciting happens" during his brief appearance on the show.
He said: "I haven't seen it yet! I just know the scene I did, I did with Maisie, and it's decent. I like it.
"Nothing exciting happens in this scene, we just have a conversation and that's kind of it."
And he admitted he was worried his cameo had been "built up too much."
He added: "People will just be like, 'Oh... oh, all right'. It's not an integral part of it, at all. I'm just like, in it."
It was revealed in March the 'Photograph' hitmaker would have an appearance on the show because Maisie is a big fan of the award-winning singer.
Showrunner David Benioff said: "For years we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie and this year we finally did it."
And Ed isn't the only musician to have had a cameo on the programme, as Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, Coldplay drummer Will Champion, Sigur Ros and Mastadon have all made appearances in the past.
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