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"Game of Thrones star Sean Bean has described HBO as &amp;quot;courageous&amp;quot; for its first season twist in the fantasy drama. Bean&amp;#039;s character Lord Eddard Stark was killed off in the penultimate episode of the season, which aired on HBO last night, surprising viewers who had not read George R.R. Martin&amp;#039;s Ice and Fire books. Bean told Entertainment Weekly of his exit: &amp;quot;I thought it was a very courageous move for a television company. I know HBO has a track record of bold moves but I thought this is pretty incredible if they can pull this off.  &amp;quot;I love the character, that he&amp;#039;s a principled man who tries to hold things together. This is a journey that he makes where ultimately his loyalty causes his downfall. But I just thought it was a wonderful piece of work.&amp;quot; Joking about fans who were upset by his departure from the show, Bean said: &amp;quot;Ah, sorry about that! Tell them to blame George R.R. Martin.&amp;quot; Game of Thrones concludes next Sunday at 9pm on HBO in the US, while episode nine airs tonight at 9pm on Sky Atlantic in the UK. &amp;gt; &amp;#039;Games of Thrones&amp;#039; writers avoid fan responses Watch our interview with Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/game-of-thrones/news/a324559/sean-bean-game-of-thrones-twist-is-courageous/>