Ed Sheeran played a Lannister soldier in the "Game of Thrones" premiere. HBO

The INSIDER Summary:

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven.

Ed Sheeran had a cameo on the season seven premiere.

He sang a song straight from the book series called "Hands of Gold."

The song was used to blackmail Tyrion about his forbidden relationship with Shae.

Tyrion said the lyrics of the song as he murdered Shae in the books.



The "Game of Thrones" season seven premiere episode was packed with a joyously deadly murder scene, the resurgence of a mysterious weapon, and Daenerys finally putting her feet on Westerosi land.

But one of the most light-hearted moments came from Ed Sheeran's highly anticipated cameo.

As Arya rode on horseback through the Riverlands, she came upon a group of Lannister soldiers who made camp by the road. Sheeran played one of the soldiers, and he was singing a song as Arya came up. And not just any song — Sheeran sang a song straight from George R.R. Martin's third book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Here are the song lyrics:

He rode through the streets of the city,

Down from his hill on high,

O'er the wynds and the steps and the cobbles,

He rode to a woman's sigh.

For she was his secret treasure,

She was his shame and bliss.

And a chain and a keep are nothing,

Compared to a woman's kiss

For hands of gold are always cold

But a woman's hands are warm

For hands of gold are always cold

But a woman's hands are warm

The ballad is written by a book character named Symon Silver Tongue, and it's meant to be a threat to Tyrion and Shae (the prostitute Tyrion falls in love with).

In the books, Shae isn't given to Sansa as a handmaid as a cover for her presence. Instead she's kept hidden in a house in King's Landing, and Tyrion must secretly travel outside the Red Keep's walls each time he wants to see her.

One of the times Tyrion goes to visit, he finds Symon Silver Tongue inside the house with Shae. Symon recognizes Tyrion right away, which throws him off. If this singer knows about Tyrion and Shae, who else does? And what if he says something? Both Tyrion and Shae would be in grave danger if the secret of their relationship made its way to Tywin Lannister.

Shae wound up in Tywin's bed anyways, and was killed by Tyrion strangling her with the golden chain she wore. HBO

Symon makes the mistake of blackmailing Tyrion. He wants to be able to sing at an upcoming royal wedding, and demands that Tyrion make it happen or else he'll spill the beans. Symon sings the "Hands of Gold" song for Tyrion, threatening to sing it for all of King's Landing and expose Tyrion's relationship.

These key lyrics are more revealing if you realize it's a song about Tyrion traveling to be at Shae's side:



For she was his secret treasure,

She was his shame and bliss.

And a chain and a keep are nothing,

Compared to a woman's kiss

For hands of gold are always cold

But a woman's hands are warm

You see, the Hand of the King doesn't only wear a pin in the books, but also a golden chain made of hands linking together — hence the "hands of gold." We saw an iteration of the golden chain on Tyrion's armor on the "Blackwater" episode.

Tyrion wore a decorative link of golden hands on his armor. HBO

But most importantly, the "hands of gold" are what Tyrion uses to kill Shae in the books when he finds her in Tywin's bed. This is the passage in "A Storm of Swords" where Tyrion murders his ex-love:

Tyrion slid a hand under his father's chain, and twisted. The links tightened, digging into her neck. "For hands of gold are always cold, but a woman's hands are warm," he said. He gave cold hands another twist as the warm ones beat away his tears.

On the show, Shae is wearing a plain gold chain — not one made of hands. But other than the song reference, her murder plays out almost the same.

When Arya hears Ed Sheeran's character sing the song on the season seven premiere, she remarks that she's never heard "that one" before. Sheeran's soldier says "it's new," implying that it might still be meant to reference Tyrion and Shae within the show. But even if his character's name is Symon, it's long past the time in the series where anyone would be trying to blackmail Tyrion about Shae.

Instead it was likely just a fun way to give book readers a nod at a point in the series that's gone far beyond Martin's published books. Of all the musician cameos in "Game of Thrones" so far, this one definitely has the best hidden meaning.