But nearly 10 years ago, Bower played Ser Waymar Royce the Night's Watch ranger in charge of the mission that goes deadly wrong during the cold open of the series' very first episode.
In a blog post from that summer , author George R.R. Martin says Bower had signed onto a Starz series, "Camelot," by the time HBO was doing reshoots.
"Unfortunately, Jamie's shooting schedule with 'Camelot' conflicted with our own, so there was no way he could come back and reprise his performance as Ser Waymar," Martin wrote . "But we wish him luck with his new (much larger) role ... and who knows, if 'Game of Thrones' should happen to have a longer run than 'Camelot,' maybe one day he can come back and play another (much larger) role for us."
Perhaps, all these years later, Martin's blog post has come true. "Camelot" did indeed end after just one season on Starz, and now Bower will have a role on HBO's first (currently untitled) "Game of Thrones" prequel show. For now, the network has only ordered a pilot episode to be filmed, not an entire series. But it's shaping up to be a very interesting premise.
"Taking place thousands of years before the events of 'Game of Thrones,' the series chronicles the worlds descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour," HBO's official description of the series says . "From the horrifying secrets of Westeross history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: Its not the story we think we know."
So far we don't know anything about the characters the newly announced cast will play, with the exception of Naomi Watts' role as "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret." If the prequel does brush up against the White Walkers, then it's possible Bower's role will be something of a full circle to his unseen portrayal of Ser Waymar.
On the cold open of the pilot, Ser Waymar and his Night's Watch brothers are attacked by wildlings. Waymar is the first to die in both the scene and the entire series. His role is also a big part of the audience's introduction to the threat the White Walkers pose to the realm of Westeros.
Actor Rob Ostlere took over the part of Ser Waymar for the version of the pilot that eventually made it to air. Some pieces of the original footage was salvaged, but the bulk of that very first version of the episode was, according to Benioff and Weiss and their close friends , a "massive problem." HBO gave them the greenlight for a first season anyways, and the duo set to work rewriting and re-shooting. The rest is Westeros history.
"Game of Thrones" will air its eighth and final season beginning this April . Fans will have to wait and see how the prequel pilot goes and whether or not HBO picks it (or any of the other four spinoff ideas) up for a full series.
