Ed Sheeran got to live out a fantasy cameo role in Game of Thrones, but it wasn't exactly a fairytale ending.
The singer revealed during Dax Shepherd's Armchair Expert podcast on Nov. 1 that his TV appearance on the popular HBO series left him feeling like he had gone through a major battle after the show aired.
"I feel like people's reaction to it sort of muddied my joy to it," Ed said about the social media teasing that came out when he played a Lannister soldier in the season seven episode "Dragonstone."
The GOT audience unfortunately felt that watching him singing a ballad in the medieval woods was a bit too distracting to the plot.
The Grammy-winning musician explained on the podcast that he was inspired to take the small part because he was a huge fan of the show, but also because he wanted to surprise friend Maisie Williams on set.
Initially, Ed looked at it as a way to lessen the blow of her Arya Stark character shockingly being killed in the original script—a fact which was leaked early on by her own co-star Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) at a fan convention panel.
"She's always been awesome," Ed said of Maisie. "I don't think they had written the ending yet. It was meant to be her last season but it wasn't. And as a surprise for her, [they got] me on. So, she was meant to turn up on set and I was by the fire."
Luckily for GOT fans, his appearance didn't coincide with Arya's death, and Maisie's character went on to be one of the most beloved women in the HBO series.