What’s An Ex-CIA Leader Doing On ‘Game Of Thrones’?
Conleth Hill, Emilia Clarke and Iain Glen in “Game of Thrones.” Image by Helen Sloan/HBO
By PJ Grisar April 22, 2019
Last night’s “Game of Thrones,” the second installment of the hit HBO show’s six-episode final season, saw the ensemble awaiting a climactic siege on the northern holdfast of Winterfell. But little did the keepers of the castle know, as they planted bulwarks and fretted about tactics, that an expert on matters of national security was in their midst.
In-a-blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, former Deputy CIA Director of the David S. Cohen was seen in Winterfell’s courtyard as an unnamed resident in line for a bowl of soup.
How do we know? In spy parlance, his former agency “made” him in a post on Twitter.
A perk of working for CIA is world travel. Apparently that sometimes extends to other realms…
“Little birds,” be on the lookout for a former deputy director of ours wandering through #Westeros in tonight’s episode of #GameOfThrones. pic.twitter.com/DBIzIFKoju
— CIA (@CIA) April 22, 2019
Fittingly, for a ex-leading sleuth, Cohen’s appearance was more discreet than that of previous high-profile figures. (Who could forget the fan furor over the appearance of that “kissed by fire” — or in non-Wilding terms, “redheaded” — troubadour Ed Sheeran?)
Cohen was none-too-pleased about the CIA’s Twitter reveal.
Way to blow my cover! ? https://t.co/NYbjFjya80
— David S. Cohen (@cohendavid) April 22, 2019
It seems unlikely that Cohen’s character will play a pivotal role in the war-to-come. But then again, “Game of Thrones” is a series known for its surprises.
PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture intern. He can be reached at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
-
Theater Why Nick Jonas should not sing ‘Shiksa Goddess,’ the outdated song from ‘The Last Five Years’
-
Theater William Finn, Tony-winning writer of queer, Jewish musicals dies at 73
-
Culture The only good Jews in this hit Christian TV show are the ones who follow Jesus
-
Books The golden age for American Jews is over — and wow was it short
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Opinion Trump’s Israel tariffs are a BDS dream come true — can Netanyahu make him rethink them?
- 3
Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
- 4
Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward ‘Next year in Gracie Mansion’: Where Jewish NYC mayoral candidates will do Seder
-
Fast Forward How Coke’s Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
-
Opinion Pro-Palestinian protests enriched Jewish life on my campus. Trump’s actions will do the opposite.
-
Fast Forward Fake rabbi sentenced to 135 years for sexually abusing adoptive sons
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.