Sean Bean’s unmatched talent for dying on screen has traumatized fans everywhere.
Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones — the list of gut-wrenching deaths is long enough to outlast most Sean Bean characters. He knows he’s caused us a lot of pain in the past. But hopefully his new role in the upcoming Hitman 2 can provide some bloody catharsis for all our grief.
Because instead of mourning him, players will now be tasked with figuring out how to kill his character, Mark Fab, as the world-class assassin Agent 47. Faba, a former M15 agent nicknamed “The Undying” (lol), will be the first Elusive Target mission released for the game a week after it launches on Nov 13.
But unlike his other on-screen deaths, the point of Sean Bean’s death in the game is to have fun. We finally get to choose exactly how we take out his character.
“How ironic, yeah? I just figured, ‘Why not? I’ve died so many times before. What harm will another one do?'” he told Mashable over the phone, laughing. “Now they get the chance to kill me. and if that makes them happy, then that’s fine by me.”
True Sean Bean stans aren’t ever “happy” to see him die, no matter the situation. But certainly, Game of Thrones fans have a lot leftover exasperation over his most traumatically vidid death as Ned Stark.
“Who’s left?” he said, jogging his memory of the endless blood bath brought upon his house.
“It was a memorable event — a bit of a shock,” Bean said, in the understatement of the decade. “I’m proud of all that, though. It’s great to be part of a phenomena, establish this character and then he’s there forever.”
#TheNorthRemembers, Sean. We will never forget the unexpected pain of losing Ned, who first introduced us to how Game of Thrones will kill everyone you’ve ever loved.
One of the worst parts about the Stark patriarch’s death was how it was the catalyst for so many other Stark deaths: Rob, his unborn child, Catelyn, Rickon. If Ned hadn’t been so naive and if he’d been better at playing the game, all the misfortunes that plagued their house might’ve been avoided.
Now, Bean can only look on from a distance on the show. He’s only caught bits and pieces of the show since his departure, as perhaps one of the only people in the world who doesn’t obsessively watch every Sunday.
Arya was always Ned Stark’s favorite, so take Sean Bean’s prediction with a grain of salt.
But he still has some thoughts on which of his former TV children will make it to the end.
“Who’s left?” he said, jogging his memory of the endless blood bath brought upon his house. “Jon Snow is left, isn’t he? But Arya would have to be it. Yeah Arya will last — maybe she’ll be on the throne.”
With all her assassin training, Arya definitely does have a pretty good shot at surviving the Many-Faced God of death. And doesn’t Queen Arya have a nice ring to it? With all her stealth and disguise skills, she might even be able to give Hitman‘s Agent 47 a few tips.
But you know, in retrospect, maybe the best way we can all start to truly heal from the devastating loss of Ned Stark is to deliberately choose to lose, and for once not kill Sean Bean in Hitman 2.
We’ll take that bullet for you, Sean — if you can make George R. R. Martin promise to let all the remaining Stark kids survive the end.
