John Bradley on Sam's Citadel Struggles and Working With New Cast Member Jim Broadbent 

So maybe life at the Citadel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, eh, Sam?

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premiere served as a rude awakening for Jon Snow’s loyal friend Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), who found himself stuck in a mind-numbing routine of reshelving books and scrubbing out bedpans as a lowly apprentice in Westeros’ great hall of learning. But Bradley tells TVLine that Sam doesn’t mind paying his dues.

“He’s not gone to the Citadel for an easy life for himself,” Bradley says. “When he appealed to Jon Snow, he said, ‘Send me to the Citadel because that’s where I can do the most good… I will help you win this war.’ He wants to go to the Citadel and work, and find knowledge that he can apply that’s going to change the course of things for everybody.”

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Sam hit a roadblock, though, when the books he needed to help Jon were kept in a restricted area reserved for maesters. That exposed a rift between Sam and the maesters, Bradley says: “People at the Citadel are very keen on academia and knowledge for the sake of it. They’re quite keen to store all this knowledge and leave it on the shelf for a long time and never apply it. Sam doesn’t believe in that relationship with knowledge. He knows that knowledge isn’t powerful if it’s on the shelf… and not being applied.” (Maybe that’s why Sam later took those books off the shelves and snuck them away to read later.)

The Season 7 premiere also introduced us to Archmaester Marwyn, played by

alum Jim Broadbent, who dismissed Sam’s worries about a White Walker invasion. (“Every winter that ever came has ended,” he said.) Bradley admits to being awestruck at first when working with the veteran actor: “You think you’ve done this job for a while, and you know the way it works. And you think, ‘Well, I know he’s going to be good, but… I may not be blown away by his first take.’ First take, I was blown away by.”

So how do Sam and Marwyn get along this season? “He’s a fatherly figure,” Bradley hints. “He’s a very wise old soul that Sam develops this relationship with.” Well, we’ll see how “fatherly” the Archmaester is feeling towards Sam after he finds out about those books he stole…

Will Sam face dire consequences for his book theft? And what’d you think of Jim Broadbent’s

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I love Sam. He is one of my favorites and has changed so much from the first time we saw him.

I was blown away by Jim Broadbent…recognized his voice before I saw his face. Loved how they were talking about the “restricted area” just like the “restricted section” in HP…the tone and inflection was just like Slughorns speech to Harry…as a fan of both, I loved it!

Sam taking the books explains to me how Gilly was reading books too. Last season, the guy who runs the library, said, “No women or children allowed.”

No women and children allowed at the Citadel – where Sam is learning – but the actual city is Oldtown my guess is that they are living there perhaps Sam goes there to sleep sometimes.

No doubt in my mind, information Sam gleans from the old books will be a major factor in winning the war against the white walkers. But now I’m wondering…………. with Jorah Mormont there with his greyscale………. maybe Sam will also find a treatment or cure for the greyscale in those old books as well. I expect the two will eventually start talking cause Sam is such a sweet, kind person and Sam will be shocked to find this greyscale person is the son of the deceased Commander of the NIght’s Watch, Joer Mormont (Lyanna Mormont’s grandfather also). May take a while tho as Jorah doesn’t like talking about his past since he was exiled from Bear Island and his family because Jorah sold slaves. Long story short, this could be an interesting friendship of sorts. I do hope Samwell finds the cure. I’d love to see him becoming a “double hero”…. help defeat the white walkers and help defeat the greyscale!

Incredible that the one book he steals shows where a stash of dragon glass is….I mean, it’s almost comical.

Or, you know, he took the books that looked promising and had titles which related to the task at hand. He examined the covers before he shoved them in his bag. Just saying.

If thinking that helps you through your day then I guess have at it.

So you have no problems with dragons, a woman who can walk through fire without any detriment (even as everyone else there is incinerated), zombies who can only be killed by something called dragon glass, giants, and a cult that can change faces at will – but it’s someone walking into a library, perusing a few titles and finding the book he was looking for that you find incredulous. I mean, that NEVER happens (said no librarian ever).

maybe he finds out the greyscale infected warriors can’t become wights

Jim Broadbent is awesome very time. Love listening to his words, not just watching the movie

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