Sesame Street's Elmo joins cast of 'Game of Thrones'

No one had expected the hit show's latest twist

Cesei and Tyrone mee the new cast member in a screenshot from Respect is Coming.
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In a plot twist to rival the carnage of the Red Wedding, Sesame Street's Elmo has joined the cast of the final season of Game of Thrones. Sort of.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the seminal children’s show, HBO has launched a new campaign focused on teaching children about the concept of respect, and, since the network also produces George RR Martin's mega-successful fantasy series, why not combine the two, seems to have been the theory.

Hence, in a new public service announcement clip produced by HBO, and entitled Respect is Coming, we see a quarrelling Cersei and Tyrion Lannister (Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage) interrupted by the helium-voiced red muppet, who tries to teach them about the concept of respect.

Following a brief lecture from their new furry friend, Tyrion comes to the realisation that “if we stopped fighting and worked together, we’d be stronger.”

Cersei proves harder to convince, but when pressed on whether she will take more time to listen and understand what her rival is saying she concedes “I’ll try.”

This could spell bad news for GoT fans. The final season of the hit fantasy drama has only just aired its first episode. If Elmo manages to get round the entire warring cast with this level of success before the season finale, we could be watching a medieval adaptation of The Waltons before anyone finally manages to seat themselves on the Iron Throne.

The logical next step would surely be for Miss Piggy to give her best “hi-ya” to the Night King’s zombie dragon, while Big Bird explains to the undead leader that breaking down the wall and launching a zombie apocalypse on the poor folks of Westeros is simply “not cool”.