Game of Thrones' abbreviated seventh season has come to a close, and the indeterminately long wait for the eighth and final season now begins. One of the few things of which we can be sure is that a specific character won't be showing their face next season following a major death scene in Episode 7, "The Dragon and the Wolf." Showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have now spoken out on the scene and shared some thoughts on how and why it happened.

　　Game of Thrones Season 7 spoilers follow.

　　As a show famous for its many shocking death scenes, Season 7 was shocking for its distinct lack of deaths. Even characters who were seemingly doomed, like Tormund in Episode 6, made it out alive. But Episode 7 featured a twist that marked the end for Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, one of the show's most fascinating characters. He's also one who enjoyed a surprisingly long run, appearing in more episodes than all but a handful of characters (and employing more than a few accents along the way).

　　In an interview with EW, Benioff described his elimination as "one of the harder death calls we had to make," despite having relatively little screen time overall. "The fact that Littlefinger looms so large when people talk about the show, and when we think about the show, it's really a credit to Aidan [Gillen]. Every scene he's in manages to make you think about Littlefinger. And when he's at the center of a scene--like his final scene in the finale--he's completely mesmerizing."

　　Benioff also noted that he and Weiss had been fans of Gillen's from his role on The Wire. They also attribute much of the success of Littlefinger as a character to his performance. "He's just one of those guys you know is going to give you something good," Benioff said. "And with Aidan you don't know what he's going to give you. He's able to change things in ways that are strange and beguiling, yet to the betterment of the character and the show. Littlefinger is a much different character than we initially imagined, and the bulk of the credit for that goes to Aidan."

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　　Weiss added, "I would echo that there's such a beautiful strangeness to his performance and it's almost all coming from what he brings to the character. He almost turns Littlefinger into a mystical embodiment of will-to-power and thriving on chaos. There's something impenetrable to everything he does."

　　After a somewhat confounding sixth episode (as well as the season overall), Episode 7 made up for the show's faults. A number of things have been set up for Season 8, including a future without Littlefinger. As Benioff told EW, "We loved having Littlefinger along for the ride, but he f***ed with the wrong girls."