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Game of Thrones shot a reunion special with Conan O'Brien

Sean Bean says the comedian hosted a farewell show of some kind in Northern Ireland.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read
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Sean Bean was able to see his Game of Thrones family once more.

HBO

Sean Bean -- aka Ned Stark -- hasn't appeared on Game of Thrones since 2011 (except in flashback). But Bean was able to reunite with his former family members and other castmates recently as the show celebrated the end of filming in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

" Conan O'Brien did this thing," Bean told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was the last episode, so we all got together."

Bean elaborated a little on the event, saying, "it was for season eight, the last one. So they decided to get all the characters together for a bit for this big show in Belfast and (O'Brien) kind of hosted the evening."

We're going to assume this evening wasn't just a casual party, but was filmed for possible future broadcast.

Representatives for HBO said they couldn't comment on the report, and a representative for O'Brien didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, so it's unclear what will happen to the footage of the Belfast show. It could air on HBO, be shown as part of the TBS talk show Conan, or be released with home video versions of Game of Thrones ' final season.

Bean said he was proud of playing the honorable yet tough Ned Stark, and allowed that "you never know" about his character turning up in the Game of Thrones prequel shows. Author George R.R. Martin has said those shows will feature all new characters and will take place many years before the current show.

"I'm always a bit reluctant to go back to shows under a different format or guise," Bean told THR. "But you never know with something like this, it just depends on the time frames."

Game of Thrones is expected to return in 2019.

Inside the workshop where Game of Thrones swords are made

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