John Bradley, better known as Samwell Tarly in the Game of Thrones universe, has had a bit of a hard time over the last several months. This isn’t just because his Game of Thrones character is having to deal with a slew of people he has trouble getting along with as part of the small council. No, it has to do with the unfortunate water bottle incident.
Most Game of Thrones fans should already know about the water bottle incident, but we’ll get more detailed later. The barebones gist is there was a water bottle in a Game of Thrones scene and some fans online have blamed John Bradley for it.
He hears your criticisms, but you should hear him out too. Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, the actor revealed he feels he may not be to blame for the water bottle incident that came out in light of the coffee cup issue earlier during Season 8. Here is what John Bradley had to say about the water bottle.
I’ve always been somebody who’s felt a lot of responsibility for things and felt a lot of blame for things. And so, when I saw it, even thought, even if it was mine. But can I just say this? I’m right-handed. I’ve thought about this very strongly. I’m right-handed. So, if I’m drinking a water bottle, with my right hand, right? If I was gonna put it on the floor, I think I’d put it on this [the side opposite where the water bottle was seen] of my leg. The bottle was on this [the other] side.
If you haven’t seen the evidence of what went down, you should really take a look.
See his point? The water bottle is not in a location that would be easy for a right-handed person to reach. Although, I will note that today, during the Game of Thrones panel, I had my water bottle to the left of my seat, and I’m a right-handed person as well.
Still, John Bradley would like to clear his name, although he’s not willing to go so far as to throw anyone under the bus regarding the incident.
As a conspiracy theory, I’m not trying to clear my name here too forcefully, but I will say that there’s a guy on this side who might [be responsible]. I think I’ve taken the blame for this one. No, no, no, I’m not naming.
Both Liam Cunningham and Jacob Anderson were sitting on the “side” ohn Bradley was alluding to when he made these comments, and it was pointed out that Greyworm was standing during the scene. As for Liam Cunningham, the actor made the bold pronouncement, ‘I don’t drink water,’ to which the audience laughed and the topic moved on.
Look, water bottle do happen -- in fact, they happen on plenty of shows beyond the HBO drama -- in fact, to the point where director Christopher Nolan even bans them from set, given they are distractions. It should also be noted, if you look in the image above, you really have to strive to see the water bottle in question. It likely would never have been a big deal if the coffee cup thing hadn’t blown up as well, but here we are, weeks after release, still talking about it.
So is John Bradley responsible for water bottle gate? Perhaps the world will never know, but he should always find solace in the fact that at least he was not responsible for that coffee cup.
Game of Thrones Season 8 is available for pre-order now. Or read more from the epic Comic-Con panel.
