The 'GOT' Showrunners Finally Revealed What Happened To Ser Pounce

Game of Thrones is infamous for its body count. The last few seasons have been especially brutal. Every time someone turns around, it seems like they're dead. Season 6 even seemed to bring back actors for the express purpose of killing them off, effectively tying up loose ends, so no one would question what happened to so-and-so. But one character seems to have disappeared from the screen with no explanation for his fate: Tommen's cat, Ser Pounce. What happened to Ser Pounce? No one should be surprised to hear he's dead too.

Pounce's fate was probably sealed long before the rest of the Tyrell clan and those in their orbit like Tommen. He only appeared on screen once, back in Season 4, with Margaery making nice to Tommen's favorite pet as the opening gambit to twist him around her little fingers after Joffrey died.

But according to everyone, working with the cat was terrible. Natalie Dormer was very vocal about how much she disliked working with the poor animal, complaining he was "a bit of a diva" and "didn't want to stay on the bed." The performance doomed any chance of a future scene with Pounce, at least not while the character was still alive.

But even though Pounce might not have been a favorite on set, he was a favorite in fans' hearts, especially with book readers. The cat is a regular fixture in Tommen's life in the books.* As much as Cersei finds the cat irritating, like Margaery, she's not above using Tommen's pet to distract him.

*It should be noted, in the books, Tommen is only seven, so his kitty companion also makes more sense for the character than it does with the 14-year-old on-screen version, who is busy being distracted by puberty and religion.

But even though the production relegated Pounce to an off-screen character, fans still want to know what happened to him. With his owner deceased, and any person who might take care of him also removed, what would Cersei do to Tommen's beloved feline friend?

According to showrunner David Benioff, she killed the cat too. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Benioff said:

Cersei hated the name ‘Ser Pounce’ so much she could not allow him to survive. So she came up with her most diabolical [execution]. Ser Pounce’s death was so horrible we couldn’t even put it on the air.

Considering this is a show which aired not just the Red Wedding, but also the Purple Wedding and the Black Wedding, Ser Pounce's death must have been horrible indeed.

Co-showrunner Dan Weiss couldn't help but extend the joke:

If you buy the super-extended, super-charged Game of Thrones box set that comes out, the death of Ser Pounce will be in there. Just one whole episode devoted to the death of Ser Pounce.

HBO is reserving footage to make the Game of Thrones Season 1-8 box set worth it to fans to buy, but even this seems a little much.

RIP Ser Pounce, His Royal Furriness, First of his Name, Killer of Mice, Eater of Nip, Taker of Naps. And now his watch has ended.