Game of Thrones Fans Are Loving Robin Arryn's Finale Glow-Up and Calling It 'the True Winner'
WARNING: The following story contains spoilers from season 8 of Game of Thrones.
One Game of Thrones character didn’t need to spend any time vying for the Iron Throne to get noticed.
Lino Facioli, who played Robin Arryn, Lord of the Vale, caught fans’ attention during Sunday night’s series finale as many took to Twitter to praise his “glow-up” from previous seasons. One fan even crowned the 18-year-old actor’s transformation from momma’s boy to attractive Lord as the “true winner of GOT.”
Facioli, 18, started on the series in season 1 as the son of Lysa Arryn (Kate Dickie), who doted on and breast-fed Robin well past what seemed appropriate. The Moon Door-obsessed kid was also briefly engaged to his cousin Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and was used as one of Littlefinger’s (Aiden Gillen) pawns throughout the series. In the finale, he was part of the committee that decided Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) should be named king.
“Definitely didn’t expect my morning to start off like this,” Facioli said on Twitter the morning after the finale of the epic series, referencing fans’ new obsession with his glow-up. In his Twitter bio, he calls himself “that weird kid from game of thrones.”
The actor also posted several throwback photos to his Instagram account on Monday, expressing his gratitude for his involvement in the popular series.
“9 years ago I had the honour of being invited to work in this incredible series. It’s been a wonderful adventure and I’m so, so thankful for having been able to be a part of it! #gameofthrones #Got #RobinArryn#throwbackmonday #tbt,” he wrote in the caption.
Definitely didn't expect my morning to start off like this #GOThttps://t.co/jKxVPZNB5R via @TVGuide
— Lino Facioli (@Lino_Facioli) May 20, 2019
A post shared by Lino Schmidek Facioli (@lino.facioli) on May 20, 2019 at 8:38am PDT
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Facioli’s transformation has been compared to that of Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films.
The term “Longbottoming” caught on after Lewis appeared in the final installments of the movies based on J.K. Rowling’s famous books and can be applied to any actor who started out as a kid onscreen and grew up to be attractive.
“NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM WALKED SO ROBIN ARRYN COULD RUN,” one fan on Twitter wrote.
“Robin Arryn straight up longbottomed us,” another tweeted.
Despite all the attention on the Lord of the Vale, he wasn’t the only character we’ve watched grow up on screen to get a huge reaction online.
There were plenty of comedic reactionds to Bran’s ascension to the throne as well.
See more fan reactions to Robin Arryn’s glow-up below.
Robin Arryn's ass getting finer i see..... 🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐 pic.twitter.com/7CoQDzaEeu
— Cersei McGowan (@Hooemare) May 20, 2019
Idk what to say about the Finale but I’m really just distracted how Robin Arryn grew up. #TheFinalEpisode #GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/p85S9DSHpT
— 🌒🐋 (@zxcvzxzxc) May 20, 2019
Hot Robin Arryn Is Officially the Neville Longbottom of Game of Thrones pic.twitter.com/TE45c6Le05
— elmahdi annis (@AnnisAnnismhdi) May 20, 2019
The plot twist of the #GameOfThrones finale is realizing that I’d answer Robin Arryn’s 2am “u up?” texts pic.twitter.com/xfD7HAVEvb
— Jackie Fisher (@JacFishTweets) May 20, 2019
That kid who played Robin Arryn Neville Longbottom’d HARD
— Mike Makowsky (@mike_makowsky) May 20, 2019
I know this is the same person, but how is this the same person 😭 Robin Arryn really had the illest glo-up #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/lANt79O0KT
— Leah Kay (@LeahKay13) May 20, 2019
Why is Robin Arryn lowkey serving
— brans wheelchair pusher (@lokiapoIogist) May 20, 2019
Can we all agree Robin Arryn served looks i mean dang. His mom's milk worked after all#GameOfThrones#Got#GameOfThronesFinale pic.twitter.com/4YF5ebAPFY
— ZDENALIE 👑 (@Zdenalie) May 20, 2019
NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM WALKED SO ROBIN ARRYN COULD RUN
— brooke (@twdlilia) May 20, 2019
Robin Arryn straight up longbottomed us #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/hhFQYGq5Ir
— coopaloop (@mcoops_) May 20, 2019
I’m bending the knee to Lord Robin Arryn & his glow up!🔥👏🏼👌🏼 #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/3qXsjc2oOM
— ✨JESSICA✨ (@Scavenger_Jess) May 20, 2019
So happy to log on this morning and discover I’m not alone in my surprise over Robin Arryn pulling a Neville Longbottom in time for the last installment
— Meredith Clark (@MeredithLClark) May 20, 2019
The true winner of #GOT: Robin Arryn being hot now
— Jordan (@tornadojally) May 20, 2019
Lil’ Robin Arryn silently slaying with his glow up like #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/byLSvYqlCe
— B54 (@DVBri54) May 20, 2019
In response to Bran becoming king, one Twitter user wrote, “let us all channel our inner Bran Stark this morning and work smarter, not harder.”
Another person tweeted, “The lone Bran Stark fan on twitter did not expect to see this day.”
“It was really sad. Saying goodbye to Bran and putting that costume away for the last time was like, wow. It was really weird,” Hempstead Wright, 20, told E! News last month. “I’m never in my life going to be Bran Stark again, the person I’ve got to play for the last ten years of my life. It’s a pretty huge chapter of my life to say goodbye to, so it was emotional.”