It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator Rob McElhenney and Silicon Valley star Martin Starr have made an unexpected cameo in Game of Thrones’ season eight premiere.
Eagle-eyed viewers noted that McElhenney and Starr appeared during a characteristically brutal scene from the final season’s first episode, Winterfell, which saw Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) rescue his sister Yara (Gemma Whelan) from the ship captained by their uncle Euron (Pilou Asbæk).
The actors played soldiers in the Golden Company, who become caught up in the fallout from the escape attempt.
McElhenney confirmed his cameo shortly after the episode aired on HBO, sharing a gruesome close up of his face with an injured eye on Instagram.
He set the photo’s location to the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros in a nod to George R.R. Martin’s fantasy lands, and captioned the post: “Don’t blink. #gameofthrones.”
The actor and writer, who is best known for playing Mac in the US comedy, has previously worked with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
The writing partners scripted an episode of It’s Always Sunny’s ninth season, and even made a cameo as a pair of lifeguards in season 12.
The episode also featured a reference to last season’s Ed Sheeran cameo, finally revealing the fate of the singer’s character.
Sheeran left fans baffled when he appeared as Lannister soldier Eddie in the first episode of season seven, drawing on his musical talents to serenade Maisie Williams’ Arya Stark around the campfire.
Jerome Flynn’s Bronn alluded to the character’s bad luck as he explained: “That boy Eddie. Came back with his face burned right off. He’s got no eyelids now.”
Game of Thrones season eight episode one is currently available to stream on NOW TV. It will be repeated tonight at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.
