Ned Stark having his head mercilessly lopped off on the orders of King Robert Baratheon was a watershed moment in Game of Thrones, proving this was a series which would kill off beloved characters without a second thought.

Since his untimely end, we've seen many more bite the dust. Yet fans still hark back to this iconic scene, with some questioning - as the camera cut away before his actual head came off - whether he really is dead, and others are desperate to know what were the final words he whispered while his head was on the block.

Just a few of the myriad of theories about what he said include a secret about Jon Snow's parents, or "valar morghulis", meaning all men must die.

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If you were holding out hope that these last words are the key to Ned and other brutally murdered characters magically coming back to life, then we have bad news for you.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Sean Bean, who played Ned Stark, has admitted that he was “just saying a prayer.”

He added, “I couldn’t be too specific, because I don’t know if religion was around in those days, whatever they were. I just thought, ‘What would you do if this were really gonna happen?’ You probably would pray. You probably would murmur some words and you’d keep it quiet. You’d keep it to yourself.”

HBO

“It’s quite subtle in that many people wouldn’t pick it up. It was an interesting thing to do for me at that point. There’s not much you can do really, you’ve got your head on a block. That’s about the only thing you can do is murmur.”

And if that wasn't concrete proof enough that he's well and truly six feet under, Bean confirmed that HBO haven't invited him back. "I think I’ve done my time there, and I created a good character. It’d be rather strange to see him resurrected."

Life is cruel.

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