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 fans learned as early as season 1, you can never predict who will live or die on any given day in Westeros. Never has guessing about fate of the show’s characters been more in vogue than as the HBO series gears up for its season 6 premiere. Even friends and family of the show’s cast and writers are kept guessing.

While most fans worry about the fate of Jon Snow, there was a time when those close to actor Liam Cunningham thought that his character, Ser Davos Seaworth, had been killed off the bloody fantasy show. At a release event for the 

 season 5 DVD set Tuesday, Cunningham told EW about the change to his grooming routine that nearly caused a breakdown in his circle of friends.

“When the season ends, the first thing I do is shave the beard off,” Cunningham said. “I was around a friend of mine’s house and her sister came in, and when she opened the door she went, ‘Oh my God, you’re dead! You’re dead, you’re dead!’ And I went, ‘What do you mean I’m dead? I’m not dead!’ She went, ‘You have no beard! You took the beard off, you must be dead! Oh God! I’m telling all my friends you’re dead.’ I went, ‘I just shaved the beard off, I just finished.’ She wouldn’t believe me. There was no amount of convincing this girl that I was possibly still alive. Because I didn’t have the beard, that was her clue that I was dead.”

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Of course, we now know that Davos survived through season 5, and is shown in the season 6 teaser trailer. But even Cunningham’s family, who avidly watches the show with him, are anxiously awaiting to find out what will happen in the new season.

“We sit on the sofa all together and watch the show,” Cunningham said, referring to his wife and three children. “I can’t tell them anything. I do have a little look at their faces when something’s about to come up, so that’s really funny.”

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