Comic-Con: 'Game of Thrones' toasts the sword of Damacles

The reason to love HBO's "Game of Thrones," and author George R.R. Martin's sprawling medieval fantasy series on which it's based, is that characters die. Important characters, emotionally resonant characters, innocent characters -- they all are at risk of being killed in some ruthless or capricious way, as evidenced by the notable absence of one Mr. Sean Bean.

So for HBO to trot out a healthy handful of its stars on Thursday at Comic-Con was bittersweet for fans, who cringe at the idea that Peter Dinklage (above, left), for instance -- the Emmy nominee and clear crowd favorite -- could meet his end at any turn in the final two books.

"I want the readers to be almost afraid to turn the page, not knowing who's going to live and who's going to die," said Martin, who also moderated the panel. To avoid that is to "not involve your emotions, and that's not what I'm looking for." 

Martin indicated that he's wrestling with how to wind up the series' final two books, conceding that he sometimes mourns his characters as he kills them, finding those kinds of scenes "emotionally wrenching" to compose.

Any one in particular?

"I’m often asked when I do signings who's my favorite character, and I always say Tyrian (played by Dinklage)," Martin said. He then turned the question to the diminutive actor, asking him whether that changes his approach as an actor. 

“I don’t even know if I have an approach as an actor,” Dinklage deadpanned.

The panel was by turns playful and precarious like this, moreso than the average cast panel at Comic-Con, in part because the actors have shared scenes both intensely brutal and brutally intimate through the first season on HBO, averaging a healthy 2.2 million viewers and climaxing at the finale with 3.9 million.

Oh, and also because any one of them could die at any moment.

Jason Momoa (above, center) remembers reading about his moment -- is he dead? He may not be, entirely -- while locking himself in a room for four days to absorb all of Martin's books: "And I was just so mad at you," the hirsuit Goliath of Lionsgate's forthcoming "Conan the Barbarian" said, glaring down Martin at the podium. "I hated you! I was like … 'FUCK THIS!'"

When asked how he would end the series, Martin said his trademark pitilessness would not yield, though "in terms of making people happy, ehhh, it’ll make a few people happy. But I’m a fan of the bittersweet ending.”

Asked the same question, the preternaturally droll Dinklage went a different direction. His answer:

"Dance number."