George R.R. Martin Guest Starring On ‘Z Nation’ Tonight [Video]
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is making a cameo appearance as himself on Z Nation, the irreverent Syfy channel take on the zombie apocalypse, which is now in Season 2 of its run.
Just in time for Halloween, the premise of Episode 8 of Z Nation is that Martin suffered a zombie bite at Comic Con and he is now chained up and held prisoner by “the collector” in a celebrity zombie exhibit and doomed via muscle memory to autograph A Song of Ice and Fire books in perpetuity in his undead condition.
“I have hundreds of these! I’m gonna make tons of money when eBay comes back,” the collector boasts in the viral, as it were, clip embedded below.
Martin’s captor (played by Tom Beyer) also quips that “some dirty guy with a crossbow” unsuccessfully tried to save Martin at Comic Con, which presumably is a satirical jab at Walking Dead fan favorite Daryl Dixon.
In the show, Martin has an encounter with Murphy (series regular Keith Allan), the only man in the Z Nation world who has survived in human form, somewhat, a zombie bite. Apparently, the collector also has designs on Murphy.
“Murphy is captured by an overly enthusiastic zombie fan who wants a new addition to his museum,” the TV Guide summary indicates.
A zombified George R.R. Martin can now be added to the list of characters on Z Nation.
In Z Nation, which has somewhat of a Mad Max road trip vibe (but on a far smaller budget), the core group of survivors is attempting to transport Murphy, an opportunistic ex-con slacker, to a CDC lab in California so researchers can develop a vaccine for the zombie virus from his blood.
The reluctant/uncooperative savior Murphy, who slowly appears to be transitioning from human to quasi-human, has also somehow become a zombie whisperer, with the ability to psychically control the flesh eaters, who in Z Nation are generally more peppy and aggressive than in The Walking Dead.
Various bounty hunters and other miscreants would also like to get their hands on Murphy to leverage a cash reward from the scientists.
In the scene with the Game of Thrones inspiration, Murphy admits he’s unfamiliar with Martin because “we didn’t get HBO in the clink.”
“After all, it’s not likely they’ll be particularly impressed with Martin since, within the mythos of Z Nation, the world ended in 2011, meaning they barely had time to digest what happens to Ned Stark (Sean Bean) in Season 1 before they were blasting their way through the zombie horde.”
Z Nation, created by Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler, originates from the same production company as the campy Sharknado franchise, which is also known for its wacky cameos.
While Z Nation suggests that George R.R. Martin survives the zombie apocalypse albeit in an undead state, the same may or may not be said of Glenn, another Walking Dead fan favorite. In last Sunday night’s episode, it appeared that he was devoured by a swarm of zombies, but they may actually have been feasting on the body of suicide victim Nicholas instead. So it all may be a swerve, but Glenn’s fate probably will be left unresolved in the next installment, which apparently will feature a Morgan-centric storyline.
Z Nation with George R.R. Martin airs on Syfy tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
Here's George R.R. Martin getting makeup applied for his zombie cameo in this week's @ZNation pic.twitter.com/mwSGIarmkc
— Craig Engler (@craigengler) October 29, 2015
[Image via YouTube]
