Liam Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos Seaworth in the HBO hit series “Game of Thrones,” is more of a method actor rather than an action star.
His character may have been into some battles, the last of which was the Battle of the Bastards during episode 9 of Season 6 where he emerged victorious along with Jon Snow, but he has never fought without his sword.
During the Season 6 finale of “Game of Thrones,” Ser Davos seems out for justice against the Red Witch Melisandre, played by Carrie Von Houten, after he discovered that she burned Shireen, the daughter of Stannis Baratheon, in the stakes which was what the Lord of Light apparently told her.
Shireen was sacrificed by Stannis before his battle with Ramsay Bolton in an attempt to take Winterfell during Season 5 of “Game of Thrones.” The sacrifice proved useless as he and his men were handily defeated by the Boltons and a dying Stannis was killed by Brienne of Tarth.
Honing his combat skills
Although Ser Davos is already safe in the confines of Winterfell under the new King of the North Jon Snow as seen during the Season 6 finale, it looks like he will be up for more battles in Season 7 of “Game of Thrones” when it returns to HBO next year. And it seems that he will not be using just his sword to fight but his hand-to-hand combat skills as well.
This became imminent when actor Liam Cunningham was recently spotted taking a combat training with John Kavanagh, the coach of current UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, reports The Telegraph.
It was actually Kavanagh himself who posted the photo and video on his Twitter and Instagram accounts showing Cunninghan under his tutelage in a gym in Dublin, Ireland.
The actor does not have anything on his plate acting-wise, so the speculations that he was training for Season 7 of “Game of Thrones” started going around which is very likely.
Cunningham is not the first “Game of Thrones” star to train with John Kavanagh. Last year, Hafbor Julius Bjornsson, who plays Ser Gregor Clegane a.k.a. The Mountain, also trained with Kavanagh and was even filmed sparring with Conan McGregor himself and Kavanagh, reports Games Radar.
As Jon Snow’s lieutenant, it is imperative for Ser Davos to summon every fighting trick in his arsenal even without his sword especially if they will go up against the Night King and the white walkers.
Preparing for the ultimate battle
The Season 6 finale of “Game of Thrones” seems to have simplified all storylines and made them converge in two major plotlines for Season 7.
The first is the re-alignment of most of the Houses in the North by picking their new King in Jon Snow. Arya Stark has incidentally made her payback with Walder Frey in Riverrun.
It is likely that Arya and Bran Stark will eventually re-join their brother Jon and sister Sansa in Winterfell in Season 7 to complete their reunion. Perhaps Bran would reveal to Jon Snow that he is not actually his half-brother but his cousin.
The only remaining subplots in the North for Season 7 include the plan of Peter ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish to marry Sansa or whether he would use the army of the Vale against the King of the North to get what he wants.
Then there are the subplots involving Brienne of Tarth and Pod and the rumors saying that the Blackfish may still be alive. There is also Sandor Clegane, a.k.a. The Hound, and his journey with the brotherhood without banners.
If reports are true, Euron Greyjoy from the Iron Isles shall become another of the key antagonists for Season 7. It is possible that since her niece and nephew, Yara and Theon, have already joined forces with Daenerys, Euron might take the side of Cersei Lannister, who has just been proclaimed Queen of the Iron Thrones, after dethroning her son Tommen.