When the Game of Thrones finale aired and showed Grey Worm setting sail for the Isle of Naath, there was a theory that things would end very tragically for the soldier. Jacob Anderson, who played Grey Worm, has now confirmed the theory was, in fact, correct, and now we’re sad all over again.
Grey Worm chooses to sail to the Isle of Naath with the Unsullied army because it’s where his late love Missandei is from. While it seemed like a happy-ish ending at the time, soon after it aired fans began to theorise that once Grey Worm reached Naath with its beautiful white beaches, he and the Unsullied would meet a tragic end.
You see, according to the books written by George R.R. Martin, there’s a bunch of deadly butterflies that live on the Isle of Naath, and while those from Naath are immune to them, newcomers are not.
In the GoT wiki, they’re described as, “A large species of butterfly on Naath is a carrier for a horrific disease that makes the flesh literally slough off of a man’s bones.”
So, as soon as Grey Worm step foot in Naath it was only a matter of time before he caught ‘butterfly fever’.
In an interview with Insider, Anderson was asked about the theory and decided it was probably the best ending for his character.
He began, “Yeah but that’s a book thing. It’s not in [the] show,” before changing his mind. “I mean, actually, do you know what? I want to spread [the word] that [creators] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] told me that that’s real. Yeah, quote me. What actually happens is Grey Worm dies a horrible death by butterflies.”
It is possible that Grey Worm won’t meet this ending in the books, however, as they have not yet been finished. So, who knows, maybe Grey Worm will grow old and stay away from butterflies!