Game of Thrones: What's Ahead for Podrick Payne and Brienne of Tarth 

Game of Thrones: What\'s Ahead for Podrick Payne and Brienne of Tarth

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Podrick Payne has to be one of the luckiest characters on Game of Thrones -- not only because he\'s still alive as the series heads into Season 6 (a rare feat these days), but because he\'s had two of the best mentors in Westeros. For the first few seasons, Daniel Portman\'s character squired for Tyrion Lannister, before taking up with Brienne of Tarth in recent years.

With Brienne, Podrick has been on the hunt to rescue Sansa Stark, though that journey was waylaid a bit at the end of Season 5. In promotion for Game of Thrones\' Season 5 Blu-ray, Portman got on the phone to reflect on Pod\'s previous season and cue up what\'s ahead for him and Brienne in Season 6. He also talked about his character\'s relationship with Tyrion Lannister and explained how he thinks characters most misjudge Pod.

Additionally, here\'s an exclusive clip from the behind-the-scenes featurettes on Game of Thrones\' Season 5 Blu-ray:

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Full spoilers for Game of Thrones: Season 5 continue below.

IGN: What was your favorite moment for Podrick in Season 5?

Portman: In Season 5, I suppose a mixture of two. There was the horse chase that we had at the beginning of Season 5, which was just very exciting to shoot, and it was nice to do something action-packed. But a scene I think in episode 3 or 4, of where Brienne and Pod are sitting on the side of a mountain, they discuss each other\'s past. They just talk to each other about who they were before they met, and that was a really lovely thing to get a bit of definite proof as to where Pod has come from and to learn more about that, and for the audience to learn it. So those two moments in Season 5 were probably the most enjoyable.

IGN: I feel like the audience has come to know Pod a bit, but what do you think the characters within the world misjudge about him the most?

Portman: I think most of the characters that come into contact with Pod think he\'s stupid, but he\'s not stupid, as is demonstrated in Season 4 and Season 5. He picks up on things very quickly, and he is a very smart guy. I think his intellect is actually one of his biggest assets. Because if you\'re quiet, then people think you\'re stupid and no threat to anybody, so he just keeps his head down. But I think that\'s probably what most of the other characters within the world would misjudge about him. They\'d think he\'s stupid because he doesn\'t say much.

IGN: I liked the moments in Season 5 when Brienne finally came around to training him to be her squire. Of course, in Game of Thrones, we never get the things we want. I want to see Pod turn into an awesome, savvy knight and hero. Do you think we\'ll get some awesome action scenes for you in the future?

Portman: Well, I certainly hope so. I think that would be nice. I think that\'s probably the idea, is that down the line at some point you might see that side of Pod. Running around the countryside, he might run into whoever, so it\'s very possible. That would be nice to play with that side of the character, sort of the young man becoming a man and finding his way in the world, rather than being subservient and looking after polishing bits and starting fires. It would be nice to see him step up.

IGN: The two main partners that we\'ve seen for Pod are Tyrion and now Brienne. I know this is like asking to pick favorite parents or something, between Gwendoline Christie and Peter Dinkage, but do you have a pairing that you prefer of the two?

Portman: Working with both actors was so entirely different. I mean, everything I shot with Peter was almost exclusively interior, and everything I\'ve shot with Gwendoline was almost exclusively exterior. The stuff with Gwendoline has been a lot more action-packed. On location, we\'ve been riding horses, we\'ve been doing whatever. I really think both parts of the character\'s journey have been hugely enjoyable and a lot of fun in different ways. You know, when I was working with Peter, we also had Jerome Flynn, who was working with us in that trio, and that was a lot of fun to have those two guys and to be learning from those two guys who are older than me and working with such great actors who are lovely men. At the same time, with Gwendoline, we\'d be isolated, and we didn\'t really have scenes with many other characters.

Daniel Portman and Gwendoline Christie in Game of Thrones: Season 5

] Yeah. So it\'s been nice, because with Peter being in King\'s Landing, with Tyrion, you\'re part of this large set piece scenes quite a lot. Being with Brienne, it\'s much more isolated. So it\'s been a lovely difference, a nice chance to explore and understand what it\'s like to do both those different things.

IGN: What is the most important way that Pod grew in Season 5, in your opinion?

Portman: Self-assurance I think. I think being around Brienne has taught him self-assurance. It has taught that nobody\'s gonna hold your hand. Brienne is there to help him and to guide him, but he\'s not having his hand held. If he wants to be good at things, he needs to put in the work and do that. He can\'t be scared in these scenarios; he just needs to get on with the fact that he\'s in a dangerous world and at any point he might not be around anymore. So I think growing up is the biggest thing in its widest sense -- growing up and becoming a man, rather than strange place men get to. Between teenage-hood and manhood, they have that sort of awkward stage. I think that\'s kind of what happened to him. He\'s starting to come out the other end of being a teenager and starting to go into a young man, which is lovely to explore because I started Game of Thrones when I was 19, and I\'m 24, so I\'ve had a very similar journey on the show myself. So it was nice to be able to play with that.

IGN: I do love that Pod has this encyclopedic knowledge of the world of Westeros -- you know, the house word and banners and all that stuff. Do you have any of that? How well-versed in the world of Game of Thrones are you at this point?

Portman: I think I\'m fairly well-versed. I wouldn\'t be able to tell you which family has which banner. I could tell you a few. I wouldn\'t be able to tell you the house words of the houses, but I think I\'ve got quite a good grasp of the world and who people are and where they\'re from. I could point you out most places on the map, I think. Certainly not as much young Podrick has in the back of his head. I don\'t think I could rival him in terms of encyclopedic knowledge.

IGN: I feel like Pod\'s journey has very much been hinged upon the people who he\'s traveling with -- you know, like Brienne trying to get Sansa. What are his goals? If he was to go on a mission by himself, what would that mission be?

Portman: If Pod was to go on a mission by himself, I think his mission would be to track down Tyrion again and to make sure he could keep Tyrion safe. I think if he was given one goal, one mission, I think that would probably be it.

Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones: Season 6

IGN: Do you hope those two characters meet up again at some point?

Portman: I would love that, yeah. I think that would be a hugely satisfying moment for the audience. It would be wonderfully satisfying for me as an actor as well, to have that sort of dramatic -- tie off a loose end, because as soon as Tyrion sends Podrick away, neither of them are in contact with each other, and you really hope they get the chance to see each other again and that, when it\'s all said and done and all the war and horrors and atrocities that happen in Westeros have blown over, that they could maybe sit down and have a glass of wine together and catch up. That would be nice.

IGN: A lot of Season 5 was Pod and Brienne waiting for Sansa, waiting for the sign, and there\'s sort of the twist at the end where they go off and find Stannis. So what can you say of where they find themselves at the beginning of Season 6 and what the payoff for that waiting last season might be?

] So, what I will say is, you\'re right, Season 5 was a series of near misses. Brienne is a very strong-minded character, and she has goals and a real drive to do the right thing, and while Podrick is with Brienne, they\'re going to continue down that path, trying to fulfill the oath that she made. So I would say that\'s where we start in Season 6, essentially in the same place -- not geographically, but in the same place as we started in Season 5, where they\'re still trying to do what she said she was going to do.

IGN: I feel like this show doesn\'t often repeat itself, so does that mean, even though they\'re starting in the same place, the journey might be significantly different than last year?

Portman: Absolutely, absolutely. They\'re both different character, different people, after everything that happened in Season 5. Their situation changed them, and their relationship has grown. So they are different people, and they are geographically in a different place, but they are sort of back to square one in terms of their quest.

Game of Thrones: Season 5 will be available on Blu-ray on March 15. Season 6 premieres April 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.

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