Watch Charles Dance deliver his lines in The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will feature Charles Dance as the voice of Emhyr var Emreis, the mighty Emperor of Nilfgaard. And for those of you who don't know who Charles Dance is, here's a hint: He always pays his debts.

Charles Dance is probably best known for playing Westeros power broker and imperious dude Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones, a gig that—SPOILER WARNING—came to an end when his ingrate son aced him with a crossbow while sat on the throne. Nope, the other throne. His involvement in The Witcher 3 was actually announced way back in 2013, but now we can see him in action—and, more interestingly, hear his thoughts about voicing a character in a videogame.

"This is my first videogame, that I've performed in. It's a whole new world for me. It's quite exciting, actually," he says in the video. "My character is, he's a very, very powerful man, probably the most powerful man, and as such he doesn't need throw his weight around. He's a man of few words, the words he speaks, speak volumes. And he's ruthless—he's ruthless because he has to be."

It sounds like Dance has a pretty good grasp of the Emperor, and his voice, based on what little bit we see here, should be a great fit for the character. I also think it's pretty cool when he says that fantasy is no longer for children, but now appeals to "quite discerning adults" as well.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes out on May 19.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.