Unofficial Baratheon offspring Gendry was more than just a bit player in Season 7 of Game of Thrones, but will the trend continue for the final season? News about filming for Season 8 has been cryptic to say the least, with more than one actor sticking to a similar “Everyone will be surprised” line, but Joe Dempsie let slip that the bastard-turned-blacksmith-turned-marathon runner will have a significant role to play.

Dempsie has been filming “a fair bit,” according to an exclusive interview with DigitalSpy, saying that he’s “done well out of it this year, for sure.” However, in a caveat typical of most Game of Thrones cast members, he was quick to add that, just because he is in it a lot, fans shouldn’t assume his character survives till the end.

Dempsie also noted that he was just grateful to have been brought back for the role in season seven, after a four-season-long absence:

“I’m aware that David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] have a million-and-one things that they need to think about when they’re putting their story arcs together,” he said. “It was one of the reasons why I never took for granted returning to the show at all.”

Once he knew he would be invited back, though, it meant keeping a lot of secrets — and even though Gendry has returned to Westeros, now Dempsie has to deal with “a whole raft of new secrets” about the show’s epic final season.

“[It] never really lets up, the pressure to keep your mouth shut when it comes to anything to do with Game of Thrones,” he said.