Years after his "Game of Thrones" run came to a harrowing end with Ned Stark's decapitation, Sean Bean spoke to Vulture about his experience in the show's early days. Looking at the program as a whole, he also revealed the reason why he feels the title became such an unparalleled hit. "Anything can happen. When you can kill the main character in the first series, everybody's in danger," he told the publication, noting that "Game of Thrones" did a great job blending the tenets of the fantasy genre with those of dramas. Bean also credits the show with creating engaging, relatable characters as well.
Still, at the end of the day, it's hard to ignore the fact that Sean Bean didn't last long on "Game of Thrones" — a trend that many of his on-screen roles have in common. In fact, Bean is considered a Hollywood icon in large part because of how often his characters die off. While he's done his best to curb this phenomenon as the years have gone on, he's not heartbroken over how Ned Stark's story came to an end. He told The Guardian, "They told me, 'You die, but you're in it for nearly the full season.' But he was a great character, and it was a good death, so I didn't mind."
Several factors worked in unison to make "Game of Thrones" a television favorite, and though he didn't stick around for the long haul, Sean Bean's take on Ned Stark certainly had a hand in it reaching such a status.
