Spoilers ahead for those of you who aren't caught up on Game of Thrones.

If you caught last night's episode of Game of Thrones, which just so happened to be the series finale if you weren't aware, you know who is currently presiding over Westeros as the reigning ruler. And it's not someone most people expected. All's well that ends well for the (remaining members of the) Stark Family with King Bran the Broken now ruling over the realm and its people. (Not the best name, in my humble opinion, but still better than King Bran the Bowlcut. Honestly though, it's a rare treat to see a fictional person with a physical disability elevated to such a lofty position, so I'm just happy to see that.)

In a post-finale chat with EW, Bran himself Isaac Hempstead Wright talked about the final season of the drama, the series' answer to the ultimate question of just who would sit the Iron Throne, and his reactions to discovering that answer. But since Bran has had a bit more to do with the main plot of this eighth and final season, Hempstead Wright also got to react to some earlier events, like the anti-climactic clash against the Night King and the army of the dead. Here's what he had to say about that experience:

“Getting to do those night shoots when the Night King gets [killed] was pretty powerful. Seeing the end of one of the most important powerful characters come to an end. There was a moment between Bran and the Night King where Bran almost feels sorry for him. He didn’t ask to be the Night King. We saw him being strapped to the tree and get that Dragonglass plunged in his heart and he’s been on a hellbent mission of destruction. That was probably my favorite thing to shoot.”

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Image via HBO

That might have been his favorite moment to shoot, but it pales in comparison to becoming the king. Here's how Hempstead Wright learned about that pivotal moment:

“When I got to the [Dragonpit scene] in the last episode and they’re like, ‘What about Bran?’ I had to get up and pace around the room. I genuinely thought it was a joke script and that [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] sent to everyone a script with their own character ends up on the Iron Throne. ‘Yeah, good one guys. Oh s—, it’s actually real?’

But just as Bran didn't really want to be king (so he says, or so the mysterious Three-Eyed Raven said through him...), neither did Hempstead Wright necessarily want to outlive his co-stars:

“I’m happy, though I kind of did want to die and get in one good death scene with an exploding head or something.”

He also knows that not everyone will be on board with the decision:

“Not everyone will be happy. It’s so difficult to finish a series as popular as this without pissing some people off. I don’t think anybody will think it’s predictable and that’s as much as you can hope for. People are going to be angry. There’s going to be a lot of broken hearts. It’s ‘bittersweet,’ exactly as George R.R. Martin intended. It’s a fitting conclusion to this epic saga.”

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Image via HBO

And while we may still see more from Westeros and beyond, we're likely leaving the rule of King Bran the Broken behind. Here's what Hempstead Wright thinks that reign would be like:

“I think he’ll be a really good king actually. Perhaps there will be something missing in having real emotive leader, which is a useful quality in a king or queen as well. At the same time, you can’t really argue with Bran. He’s like, ‘No, I know everything.’”

And the next time you see him, he might just have a new catchphrase:

“I just want to shout: ‘King motherf—ers!, though that’s probably not a wise plan, obviously.”

For more of our coverage of all things Game of Thrones, be sure to click here and also click on the recent links below

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Image via HBO, Helen Sloan