Game of Thrones season 8: Is Littlefinger alive? Will Aidan Gillen return?

Of all the Game of Thrones theories which have spiralled ahead of season eight, Littlefinger’s return was surprisingly one of the few we were buying.

How we hear you ask? Well, a popular prediction among the Game of Thrones fandom not only suggests Petyr Baelish is alive and well, but that he may end up taking the Iron Throne. After going through some of the scenes leading up to his untimely death by the hand of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), some of his behaviour, in hindsight, was quite bizarre.

However, speaking to Metro.co.uk, Aidan Gillen firmly ruled out any suggestion he’ll be appearing in season eight and we can vouch this isn’t another ‘is Jon Snow dead?’ drama.

‘I’ve heard a lot of that recently, but no,’ he told us. ‘What can you say other than no? To kind of utilise that as I might be able to would be a lie. I’d had enough of that guy.

‘I loved doing it but when it’s done, it’s done.’

Instead, Gillen’s new role in Project Blue Book couldn’t be farther from the god awful Lord Bealish, which was an ‘intentional’ move.

The 50-year-old is taking the reins as Dr. Allen Hynek, the real-life scientist hired by the US Air Force to investigate numerous UFO sightings and, hopefully, shut down any suggestion of extra terrestrial life. However, it’s not that simple…

Imagine if the X-Files was based on a true story, with some of the cases being every inch as wild as anything investigated by Mulder and Scully. It’s a ride.

‘I don’t see him so much as a hero but a warm, thoughtful empathetic person,’ explained Aidan. ‘It’s already aired in the states and someone referred to him as a UFO Hunter and that made him sound heroic.

‘Certainly not what I was thinking at the time but I’m sure I’m probably going to be going back to that somewhere in the back of my mind. It was definitely an intentional move to find a character that wasn’t a baddie.’

Project Blue Book will premiere Wednesday March 27 on SYFY UK while Game of Thrones returns to HBO and Sky Atlantic on April 14, while seasons one to seven are currently available to stream on NOW TV.