Well. My dears. Last night’s episode of Game if Thrones… I mean, REALLY. WHAT can you say? That it was perhaps THE GREATEST EPISODE OF THE SERIES? That it featured some of the MOST SATISFYING BATTLE SCENES EVER CAPTURED ON FILM? That we finally got some closure (vis-à-vis the unfurling of the Stark banner)?. I literally had to turn away (then quickly rewind, then turn away AGAIN, then rewind AGAIN!) during the “Battle of the Bastards.” And afterwards. Well. There was (SPOILER ALERT! SOPILER ALERT!) the whole business with Wun Wun. And poor Rickon‘s failure to zig-zag. And  Jon being buried in the pile of bodies. And my hot Wildling lover Tormund taking a BITE out of that guy’s neck. Then, of course, Sansa saving the day.

And through it all was Iwan Rheon delivering his most Emmy-worthy performance to date. WHAT A BAD-ASS. WHAT A VILLAIN. He’s hot, no doubt about it, but with probably the most punchable face this side of Jack Gleeson (Joffrey).

After last night’s WILDLY satisfying ending – again: GO SANSA! – Rheon sat down with the New York Times to talk about (again SPOLIER ALERT!) the mechanics of Ramsay’s demise and why it was time for him to go, along with some of his favorite Ramsay moments.

Were you satisfied with Ramsay’s death?

He got a just end, didn’t he? I wanted dragons but you can’t have everything in this life, can you?

Did you know going into this season that this would be it for the character? He’d reached a point of no return.

Yeah I had a feeling. I sort of thought last year I’d go, actually. A character like Ramsay is so extreme and he’s done such extreme things. What can you make him do next? He’d reached his natural conclusion. And also in terms of the story line, it’s so important that the Starks get Winterfell back. That good kind of comes back into the world a little bit, before it all kicks off in the end.

People don’t always stay dead on the show. Any chance Ramsay will be back?

I made a bit of a joke to David [Benioff, one of the creators] about how he could be a White Walker now that he’s been eaten by dogs. And David went, “No!” [Laughs.] So yeah, not to give away any spoilers, but Ramsay’s done. And good riddance, I’m sure everyone would agree.

What was your final day like?

That was my actual last day, that scene. That was the last thing we shot. So it was kind of fitting, really. And to be honest at the end of that day all I really wanted to do was go and get all the [grime] washed off me. I was covered in all manner of it and it was quite uncomfortable. So that was my priority, as opposed to having a big round of applause and being sentimental.

Yes you were covered in all sorts of stuff. How long did you have to sit in that?

All day. Eating was a challenge.

The dog attack began with a pretty brutal strike to the face. How was that shot?

I’d love to tell you it was me with some big scary dogs but it was all C.G.I. There’s very little contact with the dogs — they’re trained to be brutal guard dogs. They’re not pets. You’re not allowed to make eye contact with them because they might think you’re threatening them. It’s just not safe to be anywhere near them. We did one shot where there was a real dog behind me in a cage. But the rest of them were digitally put there. It also adds extra pressure to shooting when you throw in a few dogs — you can’t really ask them to be quiet.

Now that you’ve had some time to look back on it, do you have a couple of favorite moments from the show?

What’s so great about this show is that every season there seems to be one scene that stands out for an actor. This season it was great to do that big parley scene on the horses, finally getting to meet Jon Snow. Also the dinner table scene with everyone was really cool. And the shaving scene in Season 4. That was probably one of he best scenes I’ve ever got to be a part of.

What do you think was Ramsay’s most despicable act?

So, so many. I think [castrating] Theon was pretty bad. But then, so is raping Sansa Stark. Killing his own brother and stepmother — that was probably not the nicest way to do that. There are so many.

What will you miss the most about being on “Game of Thrones”?

Just that feeling of being part of the show. It’s wonderful to be in something that you know is good. Everyone’s really proud of the work and it raises the level, I think. That time of the year when we get the scripts and it’s time to start again, when July comes. I’ll be very sad.