Curtain Call: Dominic Carter 

“Are you drunk? I won’t have my honour questioned by an imp!”

“I’m not questioning your honour, Lord Janos. I’m denying its existence.”

So went the infamous words of one Tyrion Lannister, there setting to spark the beginning of a series of

unfortunate events befalling one Lord Janos Slynt. This poor man’s fall was as spectacular and meteoric as his rise; Janos was born but a butcher’s son, after all, and rose through the ranks of the city guard to eventually command the Gold Cloaks. But in his fall he left a trail of woe that would impress Dolorous Edd.

His acts of infamy included not only his all-too-easy fall from a cushy lordship, but even more famously hiding in the larder (“in a puddle of his own making”) during the Wildling assault on Castle Black, and then ending in a spectacular miscalculation of Jon Snow’s

Slynt was rude, arrogant, piggish, insufferable, and played with sneering relish by Dominic Carter — an actor who has been on the show and in the role since year one. Suffice to say we’re not sad to see Slynt lose his head, but I’ll personally miss Dominic’s spot-on portrayal of a character little removed from George R.R. Martin’s novels.

And let’s face it, it’s easy to root for the good guys — especially when he or she has a truly loathsome foil, and Dominic, through Slynt, made their jobs that much easier.

People will speak of his season 2 barb-filled exchange with Tyrion as their favorite scene, or possibly even his final defiance of Lord Commander Snow… but my personal favorite will always be the look of terror in Slynt’s eyes that turned into some weird semblance of relief when Grenn (played by the able Mark Stanley) relieved Lord Janos of his duty atop the Wall, allowing a better commander — our heroic Jon Snow — to take charge. Slynt stammered a weak bluster and promptly fled.

(Yes, I was actually rooting for him to survive that night. A good coward is hard to come by in television these days. Too many bloody heroes!)

In his assorted weaknesses, Slynt was all too human, and therefore all the more real to me, and to many others. Sure, people loved to hate him. But he will be missed.

And though Slynt’s watch has ended, Dominic remains — I have been assured — hale and hearty, with head intact. (Or at least it

, as he stated in his Twitter account, @dominiccarter7) (He then added, shades o’ the Kingslayer,

Dominic is a veteran of television, with credits in shows like

, and played four different characters in the television show

will likely open a few more doors, if he cares to…

Thanks for everything you gave, Dominic! You’ll never be forgotten.

Give ‘im your love, Gatewatch faithful!

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Sometimes with characters like this, people just despise them so much they completely forget an actual person is playing the part. That is a great compliment to the actor in that case. I feel like that happened here.

Unpleasant characters get no love from the audience, but Dominic played his role very nicely. Well done sir!

When Jon Snow eats, will he say “7 Blessings” for the PANTRY PROTECTOR Janos Slynt who kept the food safe from Wilding bellies!?!?!

Jon said Stannis’ army was eating too much food at Castle Black — hey dumbStark, THE ONLY REASON YOU HAVE FOOD IS LORD JANOS GUARDED IT!!!

I have friends in King’s Landing! Important friends!

I loved his portrayal of Slynt. He was such a cowardly, slimy guy in the books, and Mr. Carter brought that out beautifully. Playing such an obsequious pissant so well cannot be easy, and Carter made it seem effortless. That said, Slynt deserved to have his head removed for what he did to Ned.

Dominic was great as Janos. In some ways I think they could have easily replaced him with Alliser Thorne for Season 4 onwards, rather than having to reintroduce 2 characters, but I think it’s testament to the performances of both Dominic and Owen that they reintroduced both.

Well played, and I hope he gets to play some more great characters (whether they are nice, or loathsome) in the future.

Such a good performance. Always couldn’t stand the character and wanted to smack him in the head…which is exactly how I felt about him in the books.

Couldn’t help but feel a touch sorry for Janos with his fear in “High Sparrow” in that last moment but it was too late after all his misdeeds. Well done on Carter’s part though!

Such a brilliant portrayal of a gutless, opportunistic, mean-hearted boot licker.

I too hope this show has opened some doors for Mr Carter.

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