‘Game of Thrones’ Star Returns for Series Finale Totally Transformed, and Fans Are Here for It

Against all odds, Game of Thrones brought back some of its long-lost characters for one last appearance in the final episode, and one had fans in awe.

Warning! Spoilers for the Game of Thrones series finale lie ahead!

Fans have always had one eye on the missing characters of Westeros, left behind in one of the show’s many disparate plot lines. By the end of this season, many had lost hope that we would see characters like Robin Arryn or Edmure Tully again, yet the show added them in at the last minute. When fans saw how much Robyn had grown up, their jaws dropped.

The young lord of the Vale had come a long way from the petulant child of earlier seasons. For those that don’t remember, Robin — played by Lino Facioli — was the child who became Lord of the Vale when his father died in Season 1. His mother was Lyssa Arryn, Catelyn Stark’s sister and Baelish’s wife. The Stark children were his cousins, although Robin was once betrothed to Sansa for a while.

As a character, Robyn may be best remembered as the boy who was breastfeeding at the age of 6, sitting on his mother’s lap on their throne. He also lacked empathy altogether, calling for Tyrion to be thrown out of the “Moon Door” just for his amusement. This made his return in Season 8 all the more surprising to fans.

The grown version of Robyn was undeniably handsome. The lord of the Vale looked poised and dapper, in the same kind of light cape he wore in earlier seasons. Robin did not get a lot of screen time, and spoke only to say “aye” when naming Bran Stark the new king.

Still, fans went wild for Robin’s transformation, declaring he had had a “glow up,” overcoming insurmountable odds.

“Shoutout yung arryn, for someone we first saw breastfeeding at age 8 he seems to have turned out ok,” one fan tweeted.

Others thought that fans. were too quick to forgive Robin, especially in an instance where he wields so much power. Robin was given a chance to vote on the new king of Westeros with the other lords, all of whom laughed at the idea of giving smallfolk a choice in the matter.

“I would just like to point out that THIS kid got a seat at the table to vote for the President of Westeros,” one fan wrote incredulously.

Robin and Edmure were reintroduced in a meeting of high lords to determine the fate of the kingdom, and of Tyrion and Jon Snow. While Robin might have changed, Edmure did not, delivering a cocky monologue about why he should be king until Sansa cut him off.

Next weekend, HBO will air a feature-length documentary on the making of Season 8 titled Game of Thrones: The Last Watch in the place of the series. It airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. The next novel in the series is expected soon, although no release date has been announced yet.