"Game of Thrones" showrunners may cut out one of the biggest character returns in the novels.
Michelle Fairley, the actress who played Catelyn Stark, explained to Entertainment Weekly it's unlikely the writers would resurrect her character as Lady Stoneheart.
In the novels, Catelyn's new persona is out for Lannister blood and kills anyone who gets in her way. Her injuries never healed so she can barely speak, and her stunning red hair turned grey.
Fairley claimed she was unaware of the outrage over Lady Stoneheart not appearing in the finale, but her character is definitely dead.
"You respect the writers' decision," Fairley told EW. "I knew the arc, and that was it. They can't stick to the books 100 percent. It's impossible-they only have 10 hours per season. They have got to keep it dramatic and exciting, and extraneous stuff along the way gets lost in order to maintain the quality of brilliant show."
"Game of Thrones" director Alex Graves spoke to EW in a separate interview about Lady Stoneheart. Graves explained it didn't make sense to bring back Fairley to become a cold-hearted killer.
"But to bring back Michelle Fairley, one of the greatest actresses around, to be a zombie for a little while - and just kill people? It is really sort of, what are we doing with that? How does it play into the whole story in a way that we're really going to like? It just didn't end up being a part of what was going to happen this season," Graves explained to EW.
"And finally one [more] reason: In case you didn't notice, a lot happens this season ... To add that in is something they opted out of. But what's funny is that it was never going to be in the season, yet it took off on the Internet like it was going to happen."
