The Game of Thrones family has lost one of its Watchers. E! News has confirmed that J.J. Murphy died on Friday at the age of 86. The Belfast Telegraph reports that while the Irish actor had yet to make his debut on the HBO hit series, he was set to take on the role of Knights Watch member Ser Denys Mallister in the upcoming fifth season and died just four days after filming his first scenes for the show. Game of Thrones’ executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff issued a statement on Murphy’s passing, saying, “We will not be recasting J.J. Murphy. He was a lovely man, and the best Denys Mallister we could have hoped for. And now his watch is ended.”
