Westeros continues to expand as the Game of Thrones franchise grows from strength to strength. Following House of the Dragon and the more recent A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO’s flagship fantasy series is about to hit the stage. In Game of Thrones: The Mad King, an upcoming stage production from playwright and director Duncan Macmillan, a tournament at Harrenhal set 10 years before the events of the original series takes place, with a plot against the King brewing as his subjects begin to fear his tyranny.
The play, presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company, has its opening night scheduled for August 8 in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, where those in attendance will get a newer look at the lives of several beloved characters, including the iconic Ned Stark. First portrayed by Sean Bean in the series, a younger version of the character was later played by Robert Aramayo in Seasons 6 and 7 via flashbacks. This was long before Aramayo would play the younger version of another iconic fantasy character, Elrond, in Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Should the stars align, and the upcoming stage show find itself popular enough for a television adaptation, perhaps Aramayo, who recently won the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role, could have a chance at playing Ned in a full-time capacity.
This possibility was posed to Aramayo in a recent interview with ScreenRant. “Oh, my word. I’ve never been asked that question before,” Aramayo responded. “I mean, that was just such an amazing part of my life. I absolutely loved playing Ned. It was great. I loved Game of Thrones. I was so excited to do. It was one of my first jobs. So I’ve got very, very good memories of it, but it was a long time ago.” The actor wouldn’t rule out the possibility, but it’s clear he sees several stars having to align for this to happen, making it unlikely.
Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz Which Lord of the Rings Character Are You? One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed
The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.
💍Frodo
🌿Samwise
👑Aragorn
🔥Gandalf
🏹Legolas
⚒️Gimli
👁️Sauron
🪨Gollum
01
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
02
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
03
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.
04
What does “home” mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
05
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.
06
Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it’s knowing which questions to ask.
07
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
08
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
09
You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
10
When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.
💍 Frodo
🌿 Samwise
👑 Aragorn
🔥 Gandalf
🏹 Legolas
⚒️ Gimli
👁️ Sauron
🪨 Gollum
You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don’t have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.
You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you’d do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.
You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.
You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.
Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.
You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don’t do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you’re not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.
You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.
Robert Aramayo’s Best Performance Is Finally Coming to Netflix in the U.S.
The aforementioned BAFTA win for Aramayo came for one of the past year’s most underrated movies. Written and directed by Kirk Jones, the hilarious, heartwarming, and profoundly educational biopic I Swearfinally makes its U.S. streaming debut this weekend. Described as “an endearing, unflinching biopic” in Aidan Kelley‘s review, the film is a true gem and will hopefully find its way up the streaming charts over the next few days.
Could Robert Aramayo return to play Ned Stark in Game of Thrones? Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for all the latest news.
