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Game of Thrones Trivia
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Jack Gleeson (Joffrey) received a letter from author George R.R. Martin after the show aired, stating: "Congratulations on your marvelous performance. Everyone hates you!", which was later copied and sent to D.B. Weiss (creator of the series), who had a very long conversation with George R.R. Martin in 2008 (when the series pilot was being developed) about who should perform the role of Joffrey Baratheon. D.B. Weiss insisted in an actor from South America named Alan Miller, who was slightly more relevant than Gleeson in 2008. Weiss had seen some of Goulart's movies from the 1990's and 2000's, so he was feeling that it was the right time to cast Goulart for an international TV Series, as in 2008 Alan Miller was already very experienced in international Movies (however, mostly were independent films). So George R.R. Martin's letter to Jack Gleeson was also a soft way to state that Martin's decision for the role was a good decision after all.
When Jason Momoa first met Emilia Clarke he rugby tackled her to the floor of the Belfast hotel yelling "WIFEY".
Writer George R.R. Martin was approached several times with plans to adapt his (still unfinished) book series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' into a movie, but he rejected them all, as he thought his books were much too expansive to be made into a movie. When David Benioff and D.B. Weiss told him that they wanted to make a series out of it, he asked them who they thought Jon Snow's mother could be. Satisfied with the answer, he agreed to sell the rights to the book.
Peter Dinklage has been nominated seven consecutive times (once for each season) for the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmys. He won for the first, fifth and seventh season, tying the record held by Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul for most wins in the Best Supporting Actor category for the same role.
Maester Aemon Targaryen of the Night's Watch is revealed to be blind in the novels. He was played by Peter Vaughan, who was partially blind himself.
Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) was doused in so much fake blood during the horse heart eating scene in season 1 that she got stuck to a toilet seat during a break.
This is the first TV show on IMDB to get more than one million votes from users.
Composer Ramin Djawadi said that after initially watching some visuals of the show, before starting to compose it, the idea for the main title theme just came to his mind and he whistled it while he was driving his car to the studio, where he started to actually write the piece.
Prior to being cast, Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn were in a relationship that ended on such bad terms that each had a clause inserted into their contracts that they were never to share scenes and must remain apart on set.
The average cost of production per episode of the show, up to Season 6, was around $6 million, with the most expensive episode being Episode 9 of Season 2, "Blackwater", which cost a reported $8 million. However, HBO decided to set a budget of $100 million for Season 6 which means each episode of the season will have an average production cost of $10 million. This puts the show on par with Friends (1994) as the most expensive TV show of all time (although most of the budget of "Friends" went to its stars' salaries rather than the production itself, as in "Thrones").
A replica of Gandalf's sword, Glamdring, from the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies is forged inside the Iron Throne. Sean Bean (Eddard "Ned" Stark) played Boromir in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
While filming season 7 in Iceland, temperatures sometimes dropped down to -20°F (-28.9°C). Much of the cast had inadequate thermal underwear. Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju made sure that all of the cast members got merino wool underwear from Norwegian clothing company Devold.
In the year 2012, over 160 baby girls in the U.S. were legally named "Khaleesi", after the character in the show, although it is not the character's name (Daenerys) but a title.
No character appears in every episode. Only three characters appeared in every episode of a given season during the original ten episode format: Cersei and Joffrey appeared in every episode of the first season, and Tyrion appeared in every episode of the second and fifth seasons. Tyrion, Daenerys, Jon, Littlefinger, Davos, and Sansa appeared in every episode of the shortened seventh season.
Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) had been best friends for years prior to the show, having previously worked together on Ultra (2006) and Pete Smalls Is Dead (2010). It was on the set of the latter that Dinklage first read the pilot and he subsequently recommended Headey to David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. In fact, whenever their shooting schedules line up, Dinklage and Headey share an apartment, drive to the set together, and are frequently seen going to local pubs and restaurants to eat.
Charles Dance found Lord Tywin's appalling treatment of his son disgusting. He remarks that it's quite difficult for him to mistreat a genuinely nice man like Peter Dinklage.
Natalie Dormer claims that she only reads the script to the extent that is absolutely necessary for her role, so she can enjoy watching the completed episodes on TV when they air without spoiling them.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who plays Gregor "the Mountain" Clegane, is 6'9″. That's still shorter than Kristian Nairn ("Hodor"), who is 6'10.5″.
Jack Gleeson based Joffrey on Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus in Gladiator (2000).
Daenerys' dragon Drogon, the largest of the three with black and red scales, is considered in the novels to be the reincarnation of Balerion the Black Dread. Balerion was the largest of Aegon the Conquerer's dragons, and was also responsible for the creation of the Iron Throne.
The character Joffrey Baratheon is modeled after the unbalanced Roman emperor Caligula, whose four-year reign, by most accounts, was marked by extreme cruelty and sadism.
Charles Dance dressed an actual stag carcass on-camera for Tywin Lannister's first scene. Dance was shown the procedure the previous day by a butcher.
Executive Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said the production of the show is a massive undertaking. It lasts the entire year and they shoot the show like a ten-hour movie. Season 5 alone was shot in five countries, on 151 sets, for 240 days, having 166 cast members, over 1,000 crew members and over 5,000 extras.
Kit Harington and Rose Lesie, cast members who play Jon Snow and Ygritte, were wed to each other on June 23, 2018 in Scotland. They fell in love while playing the dynamic couple on-screen and he popped the question in September of 2017.
Game of Thrones (2011) is the 1st TV series in history to be screened in IMAX theaters.
In Westeros, bastards (also "natural child" or "baseborn") born to nobles are given surnames different than their father's, according to the region where they were born. The surnames are mostly associated with the geographic or climatic features of the respective regions: Flowers (The Reach), Hill (The Westerlands), Pyke (The Iron Islands), Rivers (The Riverlands), Sand (Dorne), Snow (The North), Stone (The Vale), Storm (The Stormlands), or Waters (The Crownlands). Special surnames apply only to noble-born bastards who are openly acknowledged by their noble parent. Noble-born bastards unacknowledged by their noble parent (like Gendry), or those whose parents are commoners, can't use the special surname. A noble-born bastard can be legitimized by royal decree and change their surname to the father's. However, the social stigma may not always be lifted even after legitimization.
While the first two seasons roughly cover George R. R. Martin's novels "A Game of Thrones" and "A Clash of Kings" respectively, the third season covers about two-thirds of the third novel "A Storm of Swords." The fourth season covers the rest of "A Storm of Swords" and chapters from the fourth and fifth novels "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons". The fifth season covers almost entirely "A Feast for Crows", "A Dance With Dragons", and even early events of the unreleased sixth novel "The Winds of Winter". Seasons 6 through 8 are partially based on unpublished storylines George provided the showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss that will reportedly appear in "The Winds of Winter" and the last book of the series, "A Dream of Spring", with several major changes the showrunners saw fit to make while adapting the remaining books to the television medium. However they claimed in several occasions that the very ending of the show will be almost exactly similar to George's original idea for the ending of the book series.
George R R Martin's wife once said that she will leave him if he kills off Arya or Sansa.
Natural brunette Emilia Clarke has stated that she has never dyed her hair for the show. Daenerys Targaryen's impressive platinum blonde locks are achieved via an elaborate wig and makeup system that takes considerable time to get into place. After season 7 however, Clarke revealed via Instagram that she had dyed her hair for the 8th and final season.
Although the Wall is the largest structure in the "Game of Thrones" world, it is not the tallest. In the books, the tallest structure is the High Tower in Oldtown and the second tallest the Great Pyramid of Meereen.
Executive Producer David Benioff confirmed in the Season 6 "Inside Episode 5" video that the way Hodor came about the name "Hodor" was George R.R. Martin's idea.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster was 22 when he was cast as 13-year-old Jojen Reed.
A gelatin "heart" was made for the scene in which Daenerys must consume a horse's heart raw. Although it was safe to eat, Clarke said it was still foul tasting enough that her facial expressions and gagging while forcing it down required no acting for the camera.
Iwan Rheon was the primary runner-up to play Jon Snow, but was later cast as Ramsay Bolton
Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, says that fans often ask her to recite the list of names Arya always recites before sleeping–the names of the persons in the series who have injured her or her family and whom she intends to kill–and to insert the fan's name into the list.
Ben Hawkey who plays the character Hot Pie, has opened up a real life Game of Thrones themed bakery in London. It is operated by deliveroo. You can purchase a direwolf loaf for £1.30. The bakery is cleverly named "You Know Nothing Jon Dough".
With winning a total of 12 Emmys both in 2015 and in 2016, the show took home more Emmys in a single year than any other show, surpassing The West Wing (1999) (9).
George R.R. Martin has stated that several of the show's characters are improvements over his own versions in the books in both writing and performance, specifically mentioning Natalia Tena as Osha and Sibel Kekilli as Shae.
Author George R.R. Martin was asked if he had a resolution or ending to the seemingly endless conflict. He jokingly replied that the next book would just be a description of a cloud of dust or snow being driven by the wind across a vast graveyard full of tombstones.
In June 2014 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the sets at Paint Hall Studios in Belfast as part of a three-day visit to Northern Ireland. They met members of the cast and crew and were presented with a miniature version of the Iron Throne. Elizabeth was offered the chance to sit on the Iron Throne but declined, as the monarch of Great Britain is not allowed to sit on a foreign throne, even a fictional one. Some news sources claimed Elizabeth is a viewer of the series, though Maisie Williams remarked on the visit, "I did not get the impression she is a fan" as the Queen was unaware of her role on the series.
Each season shoots from July to December. Two units, the "Wolf" and the "Dragon", shoot concurrently in various countries. A third unit was added in Season 6, the "White Walker".
Daenerys had purple eyes in the books, but the contact lenses Emilia Clarke wore affected her performance so they were abandoned.
Kit Harington broke his ankle in 2012 when he was locked out of his apartment building in London and fell while trying to climb to his flat. During Season 3 of Game of Thrones (2011) the film crew had to figure out how to shoot around the injury, including the use of stand-ins in "Jon Snow wigs". Harington felt so guilty that he bought the production manager a bottle of whiskey.
Women in Westeros typically take their husband's surname upon marriage, with the exception of the house holding the Iron Throne, where the surname is only inherited by birth and not marriage. This is why consorts to kings and heirs of the Iron Throne retain their own name, e.g., Cersei Lannister instead of Cersei Baratheon, Elia Martell instead of Elia Targaryen.
Carice van Houten ("Melisandre") had previously been asked to audition for the role of Cersei Lannister but was unable to because she was filming Intruders (2011).
In sharp contrast to his turn as sadistic Joffrey, everyone on the show describes actor Jack Gleeson as a warm and friendly person. He is also good friends with Sophie Turner, who he often has to antagonize on-screen.
The official words of House Lannister, "Hear Me Roar!", are seldom mentioned. Their unofficial motto, "A Lannister always pays his debts", is often used, mostly in negative context, meaning that Lannisters always repay unkindness with unkindness.
Author George R.R. Martin intended to write an episode for each season, but did not write one after the fourth season because he was busy focusing on finishing the sixth book of the series, "The Winds of Winter".
Yara Greyjoy, introduced in the second book and season, is named Asha in the books. The name was changed for the television series to avoid confusion with Osha. However, in the German dubbed version she is called Asha, like in the books. Similarly, Lysa Arryn's son Robert is named Robin in the series to avoid confusion with Robert Baratheon.
George R.R. Martin was inspired to write the novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire" after years of writing for restrictive television budgets, and deliberately wrote the series to be nearly unfilmable. After the success of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Martin was approached to license the novels into a series of films, one project was proposed using only Daenerys' story line, and another project proposed only including the conflict between the Starks and Lannisters. Martin declined every film offer, reasoning that his books contained too much story to work as films, and the box office failure of The Golden Compass (2007) made him concerned that if the first film was not a success the series would be cancelled.
Liam Burke was cast as Aerys II Targaryen, the "Mad King" in flashback scenes, but the scenes were cut. Eventually, a flashback scene of Aerys was included in Game of Thrones: Blood of My Blood (2016), and the character was played by David Rintoul.
As of 2014, this is the most watched HBO series of all time, with an average viewership of 16.1 million (Season 4), slightly ahead of a record that was previously held by The Sopranos (1999).
Characters from noble houses often have images of their house's sigil incorporated into their costumes. For example, Cersei almost always appears wearing jewelry with images of lions. Sometimes the inclusion is almost indiscernible to the television viewer, such as the blue dress Daenerys' wore through season three which was embroidered with a texture resembling dragon scales.
Some of the inspiration for the War of the Five Kings in the series comes from the War of the Roses, a series of dynastic wars in the 15th century where rival houses fought for the throne of England.
George R.R. Martin has confirmed that the words of House Bolton are "Our Blades are Sharp", most likely because of the Boltons' history of flaying their enemies alive.
According to Kit Harington, his performance in the rejected pilot episode was so bad that the creators often jokingly threaten to release scenes of it on the internet if he complains too much.
In a rare move for a cable channel, the fifth and sixth seasons were announced simultaneously less than 24 hours after the Season 4 premiere.
According to George R.R. Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" books were a major influence behind his "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, on which the television series is based. Other elements were drawn from ancient European history: the Wall is based on Hadrian's Wall, a man-made fortification that was meant to protect Roman forces in England from barbarian tribes in the north; the War of the Five Kings is based on the War of the Roses, a series of conflicts between factions battling for the English throne in the 15th century. Martin also stated to have been inspired by historical fiction and the writings of Tad Williams in bringing back the gritty realism that he felt fantasy had lost along the way. More so, he wanted to avoid the many tropes of the genre and make it less predictable, by killing off popular characters, and showing that good men don't automatically make good kings (a sentiment most clearly reflected in Robert Baratheon).
The role of Tommen Baratheon, played by Callum Wharry, was completely absent from the third season of the series and was later recast for Season 4, but was played by Dean-Charles Chapman, who had appeared in the show playing Martyn Lannister in Season 3.
In early 2016 it was announced that Season 7 will consist of 7 episodes, and season 8, which will premier in 2019, will be the final season of the series with 6 episodes (although they may be of considerable length). According to HBO, they would have loved to extend the series beyond its planned 73 episodes, but they ultimately left the decision to what the showrunners think is best for the series. HBO later stated that they were considering several spin-off shows.
The Stark children were all aged up for the series. At the start of George R.R. Martin's novels, Robb Stark and Jon Snow are 14 years old, Sansa Stark is 11, Arya is 9, Bran is 7, and Rickon Stark is just 3 years old. At the start of the series, Robb and Jon are 17, Sansa is 13, Arya is 11, Bran is 10, and Rickon is 6. Of the child actors, only Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran) and Sophie Turner (Sansa) were the same ages as their characters when the pilot was filmed; the others were all a year or more older.
The first season used Northern Inuit dogs, a type specifically bred for wolf-like appearance, to stand in for the direwolves (the Stark's house sigil). However, since direwolves are known to be much larger than normal wolves, real wolves were digitally composited into scenes for Season 2. This strained the budget and the schedule, which is why there are only a handful of scenes with Grey Wind (Robb Stark's wolf), Summer (Bran Stark's wolf) and Shaggydog (Rickon Stark's wolf); Ghost, who belongs to Jon Snow, is shown in brief glimpses.
In the unaired pilot, George R.R. Martin cameoed as a Pentoshi nobleman at the wedding of Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen. The scene, alongside most of the pilot, was subsequently reshot and Martin did not appear.
Emilia Clarke revealed that the makers have shot different endings and have not confirmed to anyone which would be final.
Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) was voted by fans as the series' most hated character. Headey has said that she is often the victim of fans who direct their hatred towards her character to her personally. People frequently call her names both on-line and in public, and at fan conventions, she is more than often shunned. She claimed that during an autograph session at Comic Con, people were actually snatching their books from her hands to prevent her from signing it.
Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow on the show, great-grandfather invented the flush toilet.
Producer David Benioff wanted the theme song to be the Lannister song "The Rains of Castamere." Co-producer D.B. Weiss convinced him not to do it.
Catelyn Stark was played in the pilot by Jennifer Ehle, but she dropped out when the series was picked up, and Michelle Fairley was cast.
There are only three American-born actors in the show: Peter Dinklage ("Tyrion Lannister"), Rosabell Laurenti Sellers ("Tyene Sand") and Jason Momoa ("Khal Drogo"). However, Pedro Pascal ("Oberyn Martell"), while born in Chile, was raised in San Antonio, Texas, where his family fled shortly after his birth, and is a U.S. citizen.
In the pilot episode as the three boys are preparing for the king's welcome, Alfie Allen, Richard Madden, and Kit Harington each tried to one-up each other in their shirtless scene by flexing and doing push-ups right before they went on camera.
The series takes its name from the first novel in the book series "A Game of Thrones", which is actually known as "A Song of Ice and Fire." George R.R. Martin's story credit acknowledges the entire series under this title, rather than the title of individual volumes.
Sri Lankan cricket legend Mahela Jayawardene named his first daughter "Sansa Arya Jayawardene", after the two daughters of House Stark.
Theon Greyjoy is played by Alfie Allen, brother of singer Lily Allen, and was the inspiration for her song "Alfie".
Ed Skrein played Daario Naharis for 3 episodes in Season 3 but subsequently left the show. Speaking about his departure, Skrein told Entertainment Weekly: "My plan was to stay with Game of Thrones for the long haul. That was always my plan. I would have loved to. It was a wonderful experience, but politics led to us parting ways." The role was recast with Michiel Huisman.
Wilko Johnson, who played Ilyn Payne, retired after the second season because he was diagnosed with cancer. While Payne appears in subsequent novels, his role in the series was effectively replaced with Bronn (Jerome Flynn), who instead accompanies Jaime on later missions.
The 6 foot 3 inch Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) has stated that the most grueling scene she ever had to play in the series was in Game of Thrones: The Children (2014) when she fought sword-to-sword with 6 foot 6 inch Rory McCann ('The Hound'). She spent 2 months training, 3-4 days a week with swordmaster C.C. Smiff, just to build up the required stamina for her fight scene.
The series has used many locations to bring Westeros and Essos to life. Most of the Northern scenes are filmed in Northern Ireland. The country is the production's home base and most interior scenes are filmed in a studio in Belfast. Scenes in King's Landing are filmed in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. Scenes in Essos were also shot in Croatia. Many of the scenes in Essos and King's Landing were filmed in Malta in the first season, but for unknown reasons the production never returned there after Season 1. Morocco was used as a location for Daenerys' sequences in Astapor and Yunkai in Season 3, but the country was dropped as a location after Season 3. Scenes beyond the Wall were filmed in various locations in Iceland. Season 5 added Spain as a filming location for Dorne. It has been revealed that the production will return to Spain for Season 6, but it is unclear if it will be for Dorne or another location (the locations scouted are different to those used in Season 5).
Has had the dubious distinction of being the most pirated television show consistently since 2012, well ahead of second and third placers The Walking Dead (2010) and The Big Bang Theory (2007). In 2017, anti-piracy firms estimated each episode was downloaded more than 90 million times in the week of its initial airing, and over 15 million times in the US alone, almost equaling the total viewers from legal platforms.
Features ten actors from the "Harry Potter" film series: Bronson Webb ("Will") played an unnamed Slytherin student in the third film; Natalia Tena ("Osha") played Nymphadora Tonks; David Bradley ("Lord Walder Frey") played Argus Filch; Julian Glover ("Grand Maester Pycelle") voiced Aragog; Michelle Fairley ("Catelyn Stark") played Mrs. Granger in the seventh film; Ciarán Hinds ("Mance Rayder") played Aberforth Dumbledore; Ralph Ineson ("Dagmer Cleftjaw") played Amycus Carrow; Edward Tudor-Pole ("Protestor at King's Landing") played Mr. Borgin; Ian Whyte ("Gregor Clegane") played Madame Maxime in full-body shots; Jim Broadbent ("Archmaester Ebrose") played Professor Horace Slughorn. Stephen Dillane ("Stannis Baratheon") is also the father of Frank Dillane, who played the young Voldemort / Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). "Potter" cast members Jamie Campbell Bower (young "Gellert Grindelwald") and Simon Fisher-Becker ("Fat Friar") were originally set to play Waymar Royce and the High Septon before being replaced by Rob Ostlere and David Verrey, respectively.
The original plot left everyone so unsatisfied that HBO agreed to reshoot most of it, bringing Timothy Van Patten to do the second episode and letting the creators rewrite whatever they felt they needed to.
Executive Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said in a podcast once that while making the show they worked all through the year, non-stop. They would write an outline for each season and then start writing the actual script while managing production at the same time. The scripts had to be all done by the time they started filming the season, and being such a huge production, they were filming for months with several units in several countries at the same time so that while some of the actors were filming with a director on a location, other cast members were filming in an entirely different country with another director. It was important to them that there was always someone from the writing crew at each of the filming units, to supervise. Almost immediately after finishing filming one season they started writing the outline for the next season. At the same time, the previous season was in post-production (editing, special effects, sound mixing, etc.) and they had to oversee all these procedures while writing, and then after all that was done, they had to deal with marketing the upcoming season. They noted several times that all they wanted to do when everything was finally done was to "get some sleep".
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board conducts sightseeing tours to a lot of the filming locations.
In the show, only the banners from the main houses, along with several banners from smaller houses in Dorne and the North, are ever disclosed. According to the Citadel heraldry page on westeros.org, the number of known banners of all houses is 370.
Natalie Dormer responded to false news stories that she condones sex with minors due to her character Margaery Tyrell being married to Tommen Baratheon. She went on record that herself and her character were misinterpreted and pointed out that she plays a fictional character in a fictional land.
Tamzin Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen in the pilot but was replaced by Emilia Clarke for the series. While the reason for Merchant's departure has not been made public, George R.R. Martin praised her performance as "wonderful" in his blog.
In April 2016 a new channel launched in Israel called the "Game of Thrones Channel". It aired only things related to "Game of Thrones" throughout the day, such as the episodes, interviews, behind-the scenes-videos, special features from the Blu-Ray edition, etc., as preparation for Season 6. It was the first time in Israeli Television's history that a complete channel was dedicated to only one show.
After filming her final scenes as Daenerys Targaryen, Emilia Clarke got a tattoo of 3 dragons on her wrist.
The terms 'First Men' and 'Andals' are frequently mentioned on the show, and often only indirectly explained. The 'Song of Ice and Fire' books and several bonus features on the DVD give more backstory to these concepts. Westeros used to be populated by the wood nymph-like Children of the Forest, until the First Men invaded the continent from Essos via a land bridge. The Children destroyed the land bridge and waged millennia of war against the First Men before a peace was negotiated. They co-existed for several millennia, and even built the Wall together to keep the White Walkers in the far North. Long after the First Men established kingdoms on Westeros and converted to the Children's forest religion, a second wave of invasion came from Essos. These people, the Andals, succeeded in conquering the entire continent except for the North, and established their religion, the Faith of the Seven, as the dominant one in the South. Through intermarriage, the First Men and Andals slowly mingled; Southern Westerosi are usually of mixed descent, with nobility often having more Andal blood than commoners. The Northerners and Wildlings, though, descend directly from the First Men and still follow their traditions. The phrase 'by the Old Gods and the New' thus refers to the old Gods of the Forest from the North, and the Seven-Faced God of the Andals; rulers of Westeros receive the apt title "King of the Andals and the First men". The complex history often causes some misunderstandings, such as Dothraki warriors referring to all Westerosi as Andals, even though the Northerners have no Andal blood; and the Wildlings often consider themselves the only true Northerners, and will refer to other Northerners as Southerners.
While most of the show is largely faithful to the books, composite characters do appear. The most prominent is the prostitute Ros, who is a composite of several named (Alayaya, Chataya, Kyra) and unnamed characters from the book series. Another composite character is the trader Spice King in Qarth, who appears in Season Two.
During an interview for the second season, Sophie Turner ("Sansa Stark") said she was most looking forward to filming Sansa's relationship with Sandor Clegane–aka "The Hound"–played by Rory McCann.
Kit Harington admitted in an interview that he found the line "You know nothing Jon Snow!" confusing.
Tom Hollander was reportedly offered the role of "Littlefinger" and now regrets turning it down.
Conleth Hill (Lord Varys) originally auditioned for the role of Robert Baratheon.
In 2014 Emilia Clarke ("Daenerys Targaryen") was announced to succeed Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in the sequel to The Terminator (1984), Terminator Genisys (2015). Lena Headey ("Cersei Lannister") had played Sarah Connor in the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), which was a spin-off of the "Terminator" films.
The main title sequence was designed by the company Elastic, and was conceived as a three-dimensional map of the show's world, created by "a mad monk, in a tower somewhere" who is keeping track of all the action. As a rule, four locations are always shown in the main title sequence, regardless of whether the episode has scenes set there: King's Landing, Winterfell, the Wall, and wherever Daenerys is. King's Landing is always shown first, with the crowned stag of House Baratheon. Winterfell is shown first in the hands of House Stark, then sacked and torched, and later with the House Bolton sigil. The Wall is the last main shot before the camera pans to Essos. Furthermore, no specific animation is used for locations that are only seen a few times in the series, so the capital of that region is shown instead: e.g. the Eyrie represents most actions occurring in the Vale. Due to time constraints, the sequence can only shows up to six locations, with certain animations sped up to allow the camera time to pan around the map.
In the series, Charles Dance's character, Tywin Lannister, was previously married to a woman named Joanna, who died and with whom he had three children. In real life, Dance was previously married to a woman who was also named Joanna before their divorce, and has three children.
Jorah Mormont is often referred to as "Jorah the Andal" mainly by Essosi characters pointing Jorah's Westerosi heritage despite the fact that House Mormont is a house from northern Westeros meaning they are descended from the First Men, not the Andals.
On IMDb, this is the first TV series to have gathered more than 15,000 votes for all its individual episodes. Only 2 TV series have achieved this as of May 2018; the other one being Black Mirror.
Stephen Dillane (Stannis) revealed on an interview given in March 2016 that even though he didn't have anything bad to say about his experience on the show, he didn't particularly enjoy it or understand most of the story lines. He described it as an overwhelming experience, and one that he ultimately undertook for the money.
The first season of Game of Thrones (2011) premiered on Sean Bean's birthday (April 17th).
Roy Dotrice, a frequent collaborator with George R.R. Martin and narrator of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" audio books, was cast as Grand Maester Pycelle but had to withdraw from the role due to health reasons. He was replaced by Julian Glover. Dotrice would later appear in the show as Hallyne.
Brian Cox revealed that he was offered a role but turned it down. Cox told Vodzilla: "Stupidly, I turned it down in the early days because they didn't pay enough money. Now they have more money. And I was silly. I was silly, it was silly, because I'm a complete addict now."
Gillian Anderson admitted in 2016 she turned down one character in this series. She had two little sons at the time. It was rumored that the character was, in fact, Cersei Lannister.
US President Barack Obama personally asked the makers about John Snow's fate following the season 5 finale, and also requested to see Season 6 before anyone else because he's such a fan of the show.
The 67th Emmy Awards ceremony, in which this series won Best Drama series, Best Writing for an Episode of a Drama series and Best Directing for an episode of a drama series, was held on George R.R. Martin's 67th birthday.
Roy Dotrice ("Wisdom Hallyne") also narrates the audio books of the novels. He and George R.R. Martin have been friends since they both worked on Beauty and the Beast (1987).
As of 2019, the highest rated seasons of "Game of Thrones" on IMDb, (season 8 excluded) are as follows; Season 4: 9.3; Season 7: 9.2; Season 1: 9.1; Season 6: 9.1; Season 3: 9.1; Season 2: 9.0 and Season 5: 8.9;
Natalie Dormer revealed on The Jonathan Ross Show (2011) that she originally auditioned for another unnamed character before she was offered the role of Margaery Tyrell.
Ron Donachie (Ser Rodrik Cassel) and Daniel Portman (Podrick Payne) are father and son in real life. However, their characters were unrelated and the two never shared any scenes.
The show will sometimes briefly introduce a character and then recast them for a formal introduction later on. Selyse Baratheon was played in the second season by an uncredited Sarah MacKeever before being recast with Tara Fitzgerald and formally introduced in the third season. Lord Beric Dondarrion appears briefly in one scene in the first season, played by David Michael Scott, and returns in a bigger role in the third season, played by Richard Dormer. Tommen Baratheon and his sister Myrcella were played by Callum Wharry and Aimee Richardson during the first two seasons, and replaced by Dean-Charles Chapman and Nell Tiger Free from the fourth season on. The Three-Eyed Raven and Leaf were played by Struan Rodger and Octavia Selena Alexandru for brief appearances in the fourth season, and recast with Max von Sydow and Kae Alexander for the sixth season. Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane was played in a few scenes by Conan Stevens and Ian Whyte in the first two seasons, before Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson took over the role when the character became more prominent in the fourth season. Lastly, Ed Skrein was introduced as Daario Naharis for three episodes in season 3, but disagreements with HBO led to him being replaced by Michiel Huisman in the next season.
Season 7 will start in the summer of 2017 and will have seven episodes, with a budget of 100 million Euros.
Jon Snow is coincidentally the name of a Channel Four (UK) news anchor, making the line "You know nothing, Jon Snow" unintentionally funny.
Alfie Allen's sister Lily Allen joked she was offered the role of Yara Greyjoy.
According to the novels, the sigil of House Baratheon is a black stag with a crown above its head on a field of gold. In the TV series, the Baratheons' banner depicts a stag with a crown around its neck.
In the novels the title of the King of Westeros is "King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." In the show, "the Rhoynar" is omitted from the title. The Rhoynar is a reference to the Dornish, who immigrated to Westeros from the River Rhoyne. The writers believed this would cause confusion since the Dornish did not appear until later seasons so it was left out.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category for his role as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones (2011), but lost to Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones (2011).
The series first premiered in 2011, which also was the 15th anniversary of the publishing of the very first "A Song of Fire and Ice" novel by George R.R. Martin in 1996.
Of all the international locations used throughout the series, Emilia Clarke's favorite is Croatia.
During the series you can see characters wearing belts with a particular knot twisted after the buckle, this is clearly visible in most knights. The knot is actually correct and was used in medieval times, is often referred to as a garter and used to fix leg armor pieces to the knights' legs below the knees. It is one of the symbols of the English "Order of the Garter", the highest chivalric order, which was founded in 1348 by the English King Edward III in the early stages of the 100 Years War with France. The arms of the Order of the Garter is a blue belt, or garter, with this same characteristic knot seen in the TV series. An example can also be seen in the tomb of one of the Order founders, Sir Reginald of Cobham, at Lingnfield Church in Surrey; his effigy has the garter below his left knee.
According to their respective IMDb ratings out of 10, the top ten episodes are as follows: 1. S06x09 Battle of the Bastards – 10.0; 2. S06x10 The Winds of Winter – 10.0; 3. S05x08 Hardhome – 9.9; 4. S03x09 The Rains of Castamere – 9.9; 5. S06x05 The Door – 9.8; 6. S04x02 The Lion and the Rose – 9.7; 7. S04x08 The Mountain and the Viper – 9.7; 8. S04x06 The Laws of Gods and Men – 9.7; 9. S02x09 Blackwater – 9.7 10. S04x10 The Children – 9.6. When the ratings are the same (as in the case of 6, 7, 8 and 9) they are in order according to the number of ratings, with the higher number of ratings meaning a higher rank.
Sam Claflin auditioned for the roles of Jon Snow and Viserys Targaryen.
Both Jack Gleeson ("Joffrey") and Aidan Gillen ("Littlefinger") appeared in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Gleeson appeared in Batman Begins (2005) while Gillen appeared in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Richard Brake, who portrays The Night's King, also appeared in "Batman Begins" as Joe Chill, and Burn Gorman (Karl Tanner) appeared in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
In March 2014 HBO released a ten-track mixtape called "Catch the Throne" as promotion for the show's fourth season. The tape includes rap songs from artists like Common, Big Boi, Wale Folarin, Kilo Kish and others, and each song is related to things in the show in its lyrics. Most of the songs also sampled music from the original Ramin Djawadi soundtracks of the show's first three seasons.
Leading to the eighth and final season of the show, HBO launched the "Bleed for the Throne" campaign in the U.S., described as "the largest blood donation promotional effort by an entertainment company in American Red Cross history, with six days of coordinated giving from fans across the entire country". The partnership included an immersive experience at SXSW from March 7-9, in addition to blood drives in 43 states and 9 colleges and universities across the U.S. from March 7-12. Fans who step up and donate will receive an exclusive Bleed For The Throne t-shirt and as a bonus incentive, people who present for blood donation at any Red Cross blood drive by March 17th will automatically be entered to win a trip to the season 8 world premiere of Game of Thrones.
This is the first TV show or series to hit over 1,000,000 User-Submitted reviews on IMDB. It is also the highest-rated TV series on IMDb with a 9.5 score- tied with AMC's "Breaking Bad" and also HBO's "Band of Brothers", though this one is a limited series.
Each of the Stark children adopted one of six orphaned Direwolves (similar to conventional wolves except for being much larger and powerful) which appears on the Stark banner as their sygil. They were – Grey Wind/Robb Stark, Lady/Sansa Stark, Nymeria/Arya Stark, Summer/Bran, ShaggyDog/Rickon Stark, and the runt of the litter Ghost went to the bastard Jon Snow.
Carice van Houten ("Melisandre") and Michiel Huisman ("Daario Naharis") are both Dutch actors and starred in the Dutch film Black Book (2006) (aka "Black Book").
Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, had never really acted before this show. Arya was her first major role.
Oded Fehr was a strong contender for the role of Oberyn Martell.
Almost all actors in the series are at least five years older than their character counterparts in the novels, with many key actors being over ten years older.
Oona Chaplin (Talisa Maegyr) is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin.
Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams have matching tattoos of the date 07.08.09, the day they found out that they have been cast in the show.
Starting off in the series, Carice van Houten (Melisandre) and Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) play enemies. However, they previously starred together in the film Black Butterflies (2011), playing lovers.
Emilia Clarke and Charles Dance would later star together in Me Before You (2016).
Direwolves have been extinct for thousands of years, fading out in the controversial Quarternary extinction event
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) features a total of eight cast members from Game of Thrones (2011). They are Gwendoline Christie ("Brienne of Tarth"), Mark Stanley ("Grenn"), Max von Sydow ("Three-Eyed Raven"), Thomas Brodie-Sangster ("Jojen Reed"), Miltos Yerolemou ("Syrio Forel"), Jessica Henwick ("Nymeria Sand"), Emun Elliott ("Marillion") and Hannah John-Kamen ("Ornela").
Features actors from two different adaptations of "The Lord of the Rings": Peter Vaughan, who played Denethor in the BBC Radio adaptation; and Sean Bean, who played the character's son Boromir in the Peter Jackson films.
To the Dothraki and most men of the east, Jorah Mormont is known as "Jorah The Andal." Though technically, isn't actually of the Andals. Jorah is of the Northern Kingdom of Westoros; more specifically, from Bear Island which is one of the farther north of the noble houses. His family like the Starks, have mostly the blood of the first Men since they were never conquered by the Andals and did not all breed with them.
Sam Heughan auditioned to play various characters including Renly Baratheon, Loras Tyrell and a few different members of the Night's Watch. He went on to star in Outlander (2014) alongside "Game of Thrones" alumnus Tobias Menzies.
Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) and Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) both appear in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) as Cressida and Commander Lyme, respectively. Dormer also appears in Part 1.
As of 2018, Game of Thrones has 47 Emmy Awards, more than any other scripted series in history.
Broke Frasier (1993)'s record of most Emmy wins for a TV series of any kind (comedy or drama) in 2016, with the show receiving its 38th award in 2016.
Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton) is also a singer songwriter. He released his first album in 2015.
Maisie Williams got a tattoo on her neck that reads "No One".
The show has five Doctor Who (2005) guest stars, each of whom participated in two-parters: Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), and Rupert Vansittart (Yohn Royce). Both Harry Lloyd and Thomas Brodie-Sangster were in the same episodes; Doctor Who: Human Nature (2007) and Doctor Who: The Family of Blood (2007).
Features two actors from the original cast of the UK teen drama series Skins (2007): Hannah Murray ("Gilly") and Joe Dempsie ("Gendry").
Tyrion Lannister is supposed to be 7 years younger than his siblings Cersei and Jaime. In reality, however, Peter Dinklage is a year older than Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) and 4 years older than Lena Headey (Cersei). Also, Stannis Baratheon is supposed to be a year younger than his brother Robert, but Stephen Dillane (Stannis) is 7 years older than Mark Addy (Robert).
During the title sequence, there is a 'sun' in the sky with several rotating bands around it. These bands depict events from this world's history. The sequence opens with a picture of a city in flames on the slopes of an erupting volcano, next to a watching dragon and a boat full of people. This represents the Doom of Valyria, a series of massive volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that destroyed the Valyrian civilization on Essos; the dragon and people represent the Targaryen family and their dragons fleeing the disaster, and invading Westeros almost a century later. The second time the bands are seen, they depict Robert's Rebellion, represented by a dragon (the Mad King Aerys Targaryen) battling a stag (the Baratheons), a lion (the Lannisters) and a direwolf (the Starks). The final picture shows all sorts of animals bowing to the triumphant stag, symbolizing Robert Baratheon winning the rebellion and usurping the throne. The title display also shows the dragon, lion, wolf and stag, representing four of the great houses of Westeros.
The first television series in history to have a front cover of Empire Magazine dedicated to it. In all it's 30 years only feature cinematic films were given the spotlight on the front cover of Empire, and they rationalized their decision to dedicate the cover of the 360th issue to Game of Thrones (in the month of the final season premiere in 2019) due to its cinematic nature and it's scale, claiming they don't plan to feature another TV show on the front cover any time soon for "there has never been a show like Game of Thrones before".
This is Ron Donachie's ("Ser Rodrick Cassel") second time playing a master at arms; the first time was when he played master at arms in Titanic (1997).
The first television series to be presented in Dolby Atmos surround sound.
Troy (2004) contains three Game of Thrones (2011) actors: Sean Bean (Ned Stark), Julian Glover (Pycelle) and James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont). Also, Game of Thrones (2011) producer David Benioff wrote the screenplay for Troy (2004).
Population of King's Landing is half a million. Jaime mentions this to Qyburn in season 3 episode 7.
The Red Wedding helped popularize a now YouTube staple called "reaction videos"
Sophie Turner got a tattoo of a direwolf as in the sigil of House Stark and their words "The Pack Survives" on her forearm.
Iwan Rheon (Ramsey Snow/Bolton) and Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark) both had roles in the Channel 4 TV show Misfits (2009). Rheon played main cast member Simon, while Fairley played the mother of another character. Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed) also had a brief role on the channel 4 show for 5 episodes in 2013. Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) also had a brief role in the season 3 premiere of the show.
George R.R. Martin stated in a 2017 interview with Metro that he hasn't watched the series beyond the first few seasons, citing a busy schedule of writing and touring.
Emilia Clarke received her second Prime Time Emmy nomination for her performance in Series 6, but lost out to Maggie Smith.
Behind the scenes, Jack Gleeson and Sophie Turner used to rap together.
Each episode is rated on IMDb on a scale of 1-10. If you total up the ratings for all episodes in this series, 100 is the maximum possible score for a season, since there are ten episodes per season, each with the potential for 10.0 stars. Based on this system, Season 4 is the highest rated series and Season 5 is the lowest. The total season scores out of 100, along with their respective ranks, are as follows: Season 1 – 90.9 Rank #2; Season 2 – 89.7 Rank #5; Season 3 – 90.3 Rank #4; Season 4 – 93.2 Rank #1; Season 5 – 88.5 Rank #6; Season 6 – 90.8 Rank #3.
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of the famous novel by Mary Shelley, is considered to be a strong influence behind Qyburn. Qyburn, a former maester and a skilled healer, conducts unnatural and repugnant experiments on living humans. Ser Gregor Clegane is experimented on and saved from the brink of death by Qyburn after being poisoned by Oberyn Martell.
Danaerys's three dragons are identifiable by the color of their scales, which is easier to differentiate in the early seasons when they were smaller; Drogon is mainly red, Rhaegal is mainly green, and Viserion is mainly yellow/gold. In this sense they resemble the three dragons in the classic Atari 2600 game "Adventure"; Rhindle the red, Grundle the green, and Yorgle the yellow.
Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell) and Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand) were cast as the lead roles in Iron Fist (2017).
Tricia Helfer auditioned for the role of Cersei Lannister.
Game of Thrones is the most Emmy winning scripted series in history, while the only show having more wins is Saturday Night Live, which is a live variety series. However, it took Saturday Night Live 39 seasons to gain the title in 2013, while Game of Thrones got that same amount of awards in only 6 seasons (at the 2016 ceremony).
Dominic West and Perdita Weeks were offered major roles.
In England's Wars Of The Roses, the house of York's emblem was a white rose, whilst that of the house of Lancaster was a red rose. This was the inspiration for the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters. As well as the similarity of the names, the background color of the Stark's banner is a light gray – almost white – and that of the Lannister's is a deep red.
The series has come under repeated criticism for its explicit depiction of physical and sexual violence. Especially recurrent scenes of rape caused large amounts of controversy. Writer George R.R. Martin has defended his artistic choices by saying that he wants to put his readers right into the action, rather than create a safe distance from events by merely summarizing them. He maintains that although his Song of Ice and Fire books (and the series by extension) are epic fantasy, he based them on actual history, where "rape and sexual violence have been a part of every war ever fought". He also claimed that the atrocities in the books, sexual and otherwise, pale in comparison to what can be found in any good history book: "the true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves. We are the monsters. And the heroes too." He also stated that it is the choice of showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss what scenes from his books they adapt, and how.
Jamie Bamber auditioned for the role of Jaime Lannister.
Ian McNeice played Illyrio Mopatis in the pilot but was unable to appear in the series due to scheduling conflicts. He was replaced by Roger Allam.
Jonathan Pryce and Diana Rigg both starred in James Bond films as did Sean Bean as 006
Unlike her character of wildling Ygritte, who has never seen a castle, the actress Rose Leslie was actually born in Lickleyhead Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Emilia Clarke dyed her hair blonde for the final season.
The following Game of Thrones (2011) cast members took part in a short promotional video by HBO and the International Rescue Committee to create awareness on the refugee crisis: Lena Headey ("Cersei Lannister"), Deobia Oparei ("Areo Hotah"), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ("Jaimie Lannister"), Liam Cunningham ("Davos Seaworth"), Maisie Williams ("Arya Stark"), Tom Wlaschiha ("Jaqen H'ghar"), Sophie Turner ("Sansa Stark"), John Bradley ("Samwell Tarly"), Oona Chaplin ("Talisa Maegyr"), Eugene Simon ("Lancel Lannister"), Iwan Rheon ("Ramsay Snow"), Hannah Murray ("Gilly") and Michiel Huisman ("Daario Naharis"). Their efforts were primarily targeted towards Syrian refugees. In addition, Lena Headey, Liam Cunningham and Maisie Williams attended a Syrian refugee camp in Greece in 2016, while Michiel Huisman and Tom Wlaschiha, respectively, visited camps in Jordan and Lebanon.
The Frontier from The Last Starfighter (1984) has been considered to be an major influence behind The Wall. In The Last Starfighter (1984)], The Frontier is a wall in space which defends the peaceful worlds of The Star League from The Kodan armada and other hostile species. In the series, The Wall prevents The Wildings, The White Walkers and the undead from entering Westeros.
It is established in zombie mythology that zombies can supernaturally reanimate an dead body and can transform any living being into zombies by biting them. In the series, The White Walkers (zombies) don't supernaturally reanimate dead bodies into White Walkers. Only their leader The Night King has that ability.
At least 11 series cast members are also in Ripper Street (2012). They are Jerome Flynn ("Bronn" / "Sgt. Drake") Ian McElhinney ("Barristan Selmy" / "Theodore Swift"), Kristian Nairn ("Hodor" / "Barnaby"), Iain Glen ("Jorah Mormont" / "Madoc Faulkner"), Clive Russell ("Brynden Tully" / "Chief Insp. Abberline"), Anton Lesser ("Qybern" / "Dr. Karl Krabbe"), Francis Magee ("Yoren" / "Davies"), Michael McElhatton ("Roose Bolton" / "Commissioner Monroe") Joseph Mawle ("Benjin Stark" / "D.I. Shine"), Philip Arditti ("Goatherd" / "Marvel") and Dean-Charles Chapman ("King Tommen" / "Harry Ward")
Danish cast members Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaimie Lannister) and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (Karsi) have both starred in At World's End (2009) and 3 Things (2017).
Upon being crowned as king, Tommen Baratheon marries and has sex with Margery Tyrell in Game of Thrones: High Sparrow (2015) (TV Episode). In the medieval age, underage children were wed to adults whom were of nobility. This was centuries before the underage sex laws was established which an adult having sex with an underage male was declared illegal.
Maisie Williams', who plays the role of Arya Stark, sword moves are helped by the fact that she has been hitting the classical dance floor since she was very young. She enjoys street and hip-hop styles of dance as well.
Shortly before becoming a household name, Mahershala Ali auditioned unsuccessfully for a role in this popular series.
Derek Halligan was cast as Alliser Thorne but left the show before production began. He was replaced by Owen Teale.
Ian McShane and Jonathan Pryce have both also starred in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, although they have never shared a scene in either the films or this television show.
Natalie Dormer who plays the role of Margaery Tyrell, unlike her character, enjoys fencing in real life and is a member of the London Fencing Academy.
Concerning the growing disappointment of some fans in how the show deviated more and more from the books, writer George R.R. Martin has repeatedly stated that books and TV shows are two separate mediums, "with different strengths, different weaknesses, different requirements". He explained that there have been small changes between the books and the show since the first season, and like the butterfly effect, some of these changes led to larger changes later on: "the longer the show goes on, the bigger the butterflies become. And now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms. [..] More and more, they differ, [like] two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, [..] but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place."
Dean Charles Chapman stated in an interview that he found the sex scene between him and Natalie Dormer was disturbing.
As of December 2017, this is a TV series with the highest number of IMDb votes. Only two series have over 1 million votes: Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad (2008). Both have a rating of 9.5.
Elena Satine screen-tested against Emilia Clarke for the role of Daenerys Targaryen.
The BBC program Merlin (2008) had many "Game of Thrones" actors in minor roles, including Joe Dempsie ("Gendry"), John Bradley ("Samwell Tarly"), Tom Hopper ("Dickon Tarly"), Donald Sumpter ("Maester Luwin"), Liam Cunningham ("Davos Seaworth"), Joseph Mawle ("Benjen Stark"), Mackenzie Crook ("Orell"), Charles Dance ("Tywin Lannister"), James Cosmo ("Jeor Mormont"), Julian Glover ("Pycell"), Ralph Ineson ("Dagmer Cleftjaw"), Alexander Siddig ("Doran Martell") and Clive Russell ("Blackfish") as well as Alexandra Dowling ("Roslin Frey").
This is the most Emmy-nominated show in television history at 128 nominations.
Simon Fisher-Becker was originally set to play the High Septon of the Faith of the Seven, which he confirmed in an interview, but David Verrey was cast.
Rachel Hurd-Wood was considered for the role of Sansa.
It's most likely Joffrey Baratheon could be suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder which is an psychiatric condition which a person manipulates, exploits or violates the rights of others. The symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder are aggression towards people and animals. Lying. Deceitfulness. Theft and Serious violation of rules. In the series, Joffrey hurts and kills people and delights in it.
Season 1 was the only season of the series to be given the R16 rating in New Zealand, when it was released on DVD. All the other seasons were given the R18 rating when they were released on DVD.
Lena Headey was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category for her role as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones (2011), but lost to Thandie Newton from Westworld (2016).
Emilia Clarke was dissed online for being a terrible actress. In 2016, Emilia Clarke received her first BAFTA nomination for her performance as Daenerys Targaryen in Series 6, but lost out to Maggie Smith.
The best-selling 1965 science fiction fantasy novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert was speculated to be an influence behind George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" fantasy novels which the series is based on.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4 Jonathan Pryce (High Sparrow) revealed that he had been offered a role at the beginning of the show but turned it down.
In 2018 ten principal characters from the series appeared on the UK's Royal Mail postage stamps including: Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), Eddard Stark (Sean Bean), Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), and Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance). Other stamps feature the Night King, Giants, Direwolves, Dragons, and the Iron Throne.
Few weeks before the premiere of the final season, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that Game of Thrones' cox creators David Benioff Dan Weiss will join the ranks of Steven Spielberg, Matthew Weiner, J. J. Abrams and other key figures by receiving the International Emmy Founders Award in the November 2019 Ceremony, an award that's being given for individuals whose creative accomplishments have contributed in some way to the quality of global television production. Specifically, the Academy stated that "David and D.B. are absolute game changers, visionary storytellers who have created, with their first foray into television, a record breaking global cultural phenomenon with an international following like no other."
Over the course of its eight seasons, the show has filmed in ten countries, including Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Malta, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, United States, Canada and Scotland. There have been 50 locations in Ireland, including 49 in Northern Ireland and one in the Republic of Ireland.
Benjamin Gur auditioned for the part of Trystane Martell in Season 5.
The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) contains 3 Game of Thrones (2011) actors/actresses. This includes Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) and Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger).
Many Game of Thrones actors have also appeared in the Star Wars film series, including: Emilia Clarke, Julian Glover, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Gwendoline Christie, Jessica Henwick, Max von Sydow, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Mark Stanley, Miltos Yerolemou, Emun Elliott, Kate Dickie, Ian McElhinney, and Spencer Wilding.
Danny Dyer revealed that he auditioned for a role.
Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin) and Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) both appeared in the film Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) as Claudius and Hamlet respectively.
Jeremy Podeswa was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series category for Game of Thrones: The Dragon and the Wolf (2017), but lost to Stephen Daldry for The Crown: Paterfamilias (2017).
Jonathan Nolan, brother of acclaimed film director Christopher Nolan, co-writer of The Dark Knight Trilogy and Interstellar (2014) and creator of the HBO series Westworld (2016), was described by his wife Lisa Joy as a "huge fan" of "Game of Thrones".
The White Walkers are considered to be 'The Borg of Game of Thrones'. In Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) The Borg are a race of cybernetic aliens linked to a hive mind that assimilates other species into Borg drones. In the series, The Night King can assimilate the living and the dead into Wights by touching them.
Two actresses who dropped out of the show have appeared in an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice." Jennifer Ehle, who was set to play Catelyn Stark, played Elizabeth Bennet in BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1995) and Tamzin Merchant played Georgiana Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (2005).
Grim and Gram, the central protagonists of The Mighty (1998) is an influence behind the relationship between Bran Stark and Hodor.
Peter Dinklage won the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category for his role as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones (2011).
Alan Taylor was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series category for Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall (2017), but lost to Stephen Daldry for The Crown: Paterfamilias (2017).
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David Benioff & D.B. Weiss were nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category for Game of Thrones: The Dragon and the Wolf (2017), but lost to Joel Fields & Joseph Weisberg for The Americans: START (2018).
Over the course of eight seasons, the show has used 12,137 wigs and hairpieces. Deanerys' wig color and style are the result of more than two months of testing and seven prototypes.
According to IMDB Game of Thrones (2011) is the most popular and highest rated tv program on IMDB of all time. Even though Planet Earth II (2016) is number 1. Game of Thrones (2011) is technically number 1 because over 1.5 million users have contributed to the rating of 9.5. Where less then 70,000 people have contributed to Planet Earth II' s (2011) rating of 9.5. Game of Thrones (2011) takes the crown. (April 2019)
Kit Harrington married Rose Leslie in real life.
Isaac Hempstead Wright (Brandon Stark), Joseph Mawle (Benjen Stark) and Ian Hanmore' (Pyat Pree) have all starred in the horror movie The Awakening (2011).
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo uses the tagline "winter is coming" when speaking on the International Monetary Fund – World Bank annual meeting plenary in Bali on Friday (Oct 12th 2018).
First tv series in the history to have massive 1.2 million ratings on imdb.
The series initially followed the standard release schedule of one season per 12 months for the first six seasons, typically premiering in April between 2011 and 2016. However, the seventh season didn't premiere until July 2017 due to the increased complexity of the production (i.e. more location shooting and a longer post-production period). The logistical demands for the eighth and final season were so extreme that HBO announced in 2017 that it wouldn't air until April 2019, a wait of 21 months since the previous season.
A good number of "Game of Thrones" actors had major roles in horror films. Sean Bean ("Ned Stark") starred in Silent Hill (2006) and its sequel, which also starred Kit Harington ("Jon Snow"). Bean also had major roles in both the Dark and Black Death (2010), In the latter film Bean had to match wits with Carice van Houten ("Melissandre"). Joseph Mawle (Benjen Stark) and Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) starred opposite each other in the horror fairy tale The Hallow. Rose Leslie ("Ygritte") had a lead role in Honeymoon. Katie Dickie (Lysa Arryn) had significant roles in two scary films the ALIEN prequel Prometheus as well as The Witch this film also starred Ralph Inneson (Dagmer Cleftjaw) Ms Dickie had the lead in Outcast alongside James Cosmo (Jeor Moremont) and Dan Portman (Podrick Payne). James Cosmo went on to play a bristly priest in CITADEL Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell) was the lead in The Last Showing, while his TV sister Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) had a double role in The Forest Ms Dormer joined John Bradley West (Sam Tarley) for some zombie horror in Patient Zero. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) also played two different people in Guillermo Del Toro's Mama. His small screen sister/lover Lena Heady (Cersei Lannister) has appeared in several scary pictures Laid To Rest The Purge and The Cave. Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark), portrayed another very special boy In The Awakening he is joined by Joseph Mawle (Benjen Stark) and Ian Hanmore (Pyat Pree) . Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) portrayed Old Nick in Let Us Pray Mr Cunningham also plays a gruff werewolf in GOT directors Dog Soldiers. True to form Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) portrayed another highly intelligent but implacable father in Patrick Evil Awakens, while in ALIEN 3 Mr Dance plays a very kind but ill-fated doctor. Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) had a relatively big part in The Thing Awakens, prequel to John Carpenters's classic. Free Folk King Beyond The Wall Cirián Hinds (Mance Rayder) starred opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the supernatural revenge tale The Woman In Black. Michelle Fairly (Catelyn Stark) was part of the spooky classic The Others. Iain Glen (Jorah Moremont) headed the cast in the occult thriller Darkness. Loving Horror films Noah Taylor starred in no less than 3. In Red White & Blue he portrays a haunted soldier. Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None reunites him with fellow Thrones Actor Charles Dance. In The Windmill Massacre Taylor plays a man with something to hide. Eugene Simon (Lancel Lannister) plays a lead role in the Irish haunted mansion movie The Lodgers and David Bradley (Walder Frey) goes along for the ride. Alfie Allen Theon Greyjoy) must contend with deadly aliens in The Predator, his TV big sis meanwhile plays a timid maid in The Wolfman remake. Essie Davis (Lady Crane) comes to fear literature in The Babadook. In The Invitation Michiel Huisman (Dario Naharis) throws a killer party for real. Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Tom Hopper find themselves contending with vengeance from beyond the grave in TORMENTED.
Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) have both starred in Century (1993), The Contractor (2007) and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016).
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Both Jonathan Pryce and Lena Headey had roles in The Brothers Grimm (2005).
The movie "Robin Hood (2010)" contains six Game of Thrones (2011) actors and actresses. This includes Max von Sydow (Three-eyed raven), Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon), Robert Pugh (Craster), Ralph Ineson (Dagmer Cleftjaw), Mark Lewis Jones (Shagga) and Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon).
Like Star Wars Rebels (2014) and Doctor Who (2005), Game of Thrones (2011) became one of the most talked about TV series on YouTube, which fans of the series shared theories on episodes and character and what they think is going to happen.
Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister and The Night King are the main characters of the series as of 2019.
Daenerys Targaryen's arc throughout the series is about her transformation from a frightened young girl to powerful woman.
Stars Dean-Charles Chapman ("Tommen Baratheon") and Faye Marsay ("The Waif") have a habit of appearing on the same shows. They both starred in the crime drama Glue (2014), in which Marsasy portrayed a woman who lies about her identity. Both also had major roles on the Starz/BBC period drama The White Queen (2013). The series details The Wars Of The Roses, a 15th-century English dynastic struggle that partly inspired "Game of Thrones".
The series shares several actors with the BBC's crime drama Peaky Blinders. Most famously, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish is played by Aidan Gillen, who plays Aberama Gold in Blinders; Noah Taylor (Locke) plays Darby Sabini in Blinders; Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell) plays Ruben Oliver in Blinders; Richard Brake (the Night King) plays Anton Kaledin in Blinders; and Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin) plays Arthur Bigge in Blinders.
Sean Bean and Owen Teale starred together in TV movie 'The Fifteen Streets' 1989, based on the Catherine Cookson novel. They played rival brothers, with Teale's character 'John' the protagonist and Bean's 'Dominic' the antagonist.
Various "Game of Thrones" actors appeared in Tom Fontana's Borgia (2011) (partly filmed in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a frequent location for "Thrones"): John Bradley ("Samwell Tarly") portrayed Giovanni Di Medici during Season 1; Iain Glen ("Jorah Moremont") played Girolamo Savonarola during Season 2 (Savonarola was a religious fanatic who may have inspired the High Sparrow); Tom Wlaschiha ("Jaqen H'ghar") played Philip von Hapsburg during Season 3; James Faulkner ("Randyll Tarly") played Piero Soderini during Season 2 (in a bit of irony, Faulkner's character was an ally of John West's character, though they never appeared on screen together)
Daenerys Targaryen has a similar character arc to that of Tony Montana in the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006). Daenerys is out to reclaim The Iron Throne and take her rightful place as queen of the Seven Kingdoms following the death of her father The Mad King and her exile and along the way she becomes a powerful woman as she marries Khal Drogo and becomes the Mother of Dragons and conqueror of the cities of Yunkai, Astapor and Meereen as she intended to put an end to slavery and injustice and burning Khal Moro alive and taking leadership of the Dothraki and gaining allies such as Yara Greyoy, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Ellaria Sand, Olenna Tyrel and Varys and agreeing to form an alliance with Jon Snow and to fight and defeat The White Walkers and to overthrow Cersei Lannister and make the world a better place.
The upcoming movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) features three Game of Thrones (2011) cast members. This includes Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) and Eline Powell (Bianca).
Ian McShane (Brother Ray), Anton Lesser (Qyburn), Roger Allam (Illyrio Mopatis) and Deobia Oparei (Areo Hotah) have all appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).
An unknown follower on Emilia Clarke's official Instragram account commented on a photo of the actress which she posted on January 12th 2018, which he commented: "You'd make a good Helen of Troy." Cast members Sean Bean, Julian Glover, James Cosmos and Mark Lewis Jones starred in Troy (2004) which was an adaptation of the mythical siege of Troy. Brad Pitt whom starred in the film made a $120,000 bid to watch the series with Emilia Clarke on January 6th 2018, which Brad Pitt lost the bet.
The BBC programme The Fades (2011) contains 4 Game of Thrones (2011) cast members. This includes Natalie Dormer (Margarey Tyrell), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), Francis Magee (Yoren) and Ian Hanmore (Pyat Pree).
Emilia Clarke was unwell between Season 1 and Season 2 as she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage which she suffered another which it almost killed her.
Across it's eight seasons, the show totaled 105,846 days for extras across all seasons and countries. The Series has used 12,986 extras in Northern Ireland alone and 2,000 Northern Ireland crew members, as published by HBO.
The series won 38 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Main Title Design, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – Peter Dinklage, Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series – Garden of Bones, The Ghost of Harrenhal & A Man Without Honor, Outstanding Costumes for a Series – The Prince of Winterfell & The Lion and the Rose, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) – The Old Gods and the New & Kissed by Fire, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series – Blackwater, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One-Hour) – Blackwater, Outstanding Special Visual Effects – Valar Morghulis & Valar Dohaeris, Outstanding Art Direction for a Contemporary or Fantasy Series (Single-Camera) – The Laws of God and Men & The Mountain and the Viper, Outstanding Special and Visual Effects – The Children, Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special – The Children. Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) – Mother's Mercy, Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More) – High Sparrow, Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken & Hardhome, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series – The Dance of Dragons, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series – Hardhome, Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) – Hardhome, Outstanding Special Visual Effects – The Dance of Dragons, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series – Mother's Mercy, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series – Mother's Mercy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – Peter Dinklage, Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) – Battle of the Bastards, Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special – The Door, Outstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Movie – The Winds of Winter, Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More) – Blood of My Blood/The Broken Man and No One, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Special Visual Effects – Battle of the Bastards, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series – Battle of the Bastards, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) – Battle of the Bastards, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series – Battle of the Bastards, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series – Battle of the Bastards and Outstanding Drama Series.
In the series, Tyrion Lannister is harshly mistreated and abused by Tywin and Cersei Lanniser, both of them blaming him for the death of Tywin's wife Joanna, who died when he was born. Joanna Lannister died when she bled to dead during a birth-related injury, but this was clearly not Tyrion's fault. Logically, the real person to blame for Joanna's death, if anyone, is actually Tywin Lannister himself, as he got his wife pregnant which led to her death.
In the series both Ygritte and Melisandre say to Jon Snow "You know nothing, Jon Snow." It is not known why this to him. However, it is theorized that both Ygritte and Melisandre said this to Jon Snow because they're calling him a idiot and that he doesn't understand nearly as much as he thinks about how the "real world" works.
Both Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke have played female action icon Sarah Connor from The Terminator (1984) franchise. In 'The Terminator' universe. John Connor leads human rebel warriors against evil cyborgs called The Terminators, created by a supercomputer called Skynet to exterminate the survivors of a nuclear attack. In the series, The White Walkers and the Army of the Dead led by The Night King threatens the Seven Kingdoms.
Between seasons, Lena Headey played another antagonist in the comic book move Dredd (2012) as Ma-Ma, prostitute turned evil drug lord. Karl Urban (Judge Dredd) had played Eomer in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. George R.R. Martin had cited "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R Tolkien as one of his influences behind his "A Song of Fire and Ice" novels which the series is based on.
The 2011 BBC drama The Hour (2011) consists of 4 Game of Thrones (2011) cast members. This comprises of Oona Chaplin (Talisa Maegyr), Anton Lesser (Qyburn), Hannah John-Kamen (Ornela) and Burn Gorman (Karl Tanner). Also starring the series was Dominic West, who turned down a major Game of Thrones (2011)'s character.
Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) and Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell) previously stared in Rebecca (1997) as Maxim de Winter and Mrs. Danvers respectively.
Classic Alien³ (1992) features three Game of Thrones (2011) actors. This includes Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Clive Mantle (Greatjon Umber) and Deobia Oparei (Areo Hotah).
The upcoming movie Underworld: Blood Wars (2016) features a total of 3 Game of Thrones (2011) actors. This includes Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Tobias Menzies (Edmure Tully) and James Faulkner (Randyll Tarly). In addition, this movie also features Lara Pulver (Elissa Forrestor) from Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series (2014).
The BBC series Wolf Hall (2015) features a total of nine Game of Thrones (2011) cast members. This includes Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), Tim Plester (Black Walda Rivers), Anton Lesser (Qyburn), Jonathan Pryce (High Sparrow), Enzo Cilenti (Yezzan),Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon), Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel), Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen) and Mark Gatiss (Tycho Nestoris).
The film The Last Legion (2007) included various Game of Thrones (2011) cast members. This included Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed), Nonso Anozie (Xaro Xan Daxos), Owen Teale (Alliser Thorne), Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont) and Robert Pugh (Craster).
An uncredited Rob Bottin provided the special make-up effects in Game of Thrones: The Lion and the Rose (2014).
BBC production Da Vinci's Demons (2013) carries a total of three Game of Thrones (2011) cast members. This includes Eros Vlahos (Lommy Greenhands), James Faulkner (Randyll Tarly) and Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell). In addition, Lara Pulver (Lady Elissa Forrestor) from Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series (2014) was also present as Clarice Orsini.
Cast members Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Elyes Gabel (Rakharo) and Tim McInnerny (Robett Glover) have all starred in the British spy-thriller MI-5 (2015) alongside Lara Pulver from Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series (2014) who voiced Lady Elissa Forrestor.
Both Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed) and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers (Tyene Sand) have portrayed iconic WWII diarist Anne Frank. Kendrick played Frank in the British Masterpiece Classic version. Laurenti Sellers portrayed Frank in the Italian version "Mi Ricordo Anna Frank." Notably, both versions were TV movies that came out in 2009.
U.S. viewership of each one of the seasons, as published by HBO: Season One- 9.3 Million, Season 2- 11.6 Million, Season 3- 14.4 Million, Season 4- 19.1 Million, Season 5- 20.2 Million, Season 6- 25.7 Million and Season 7- 32.8 Million.
HBO published that In all it's episodes the series has utilized a total of 40 VFX houses in 13 countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Northern Ireland, Spain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, China, France, Sweden and India. There were 13,250 VFX shots in the first seven seasons of the series.
As published by HBO, During all eight seasons, and specific to production in Northern Ireland, 3,748 pounds of rubber and 1.5 tons of metal were used for armory, with 1,300 shields created. Additionally, production used: 52,000 bags of paper snow; 163 tons of propane; 3,000 pyrotechnic effects; 4,000 gallons of artificial blood; 20,907 candles; 25 miles of rope; 22,966 feet of waxed cotton fabric to make more than 330 tents; and 50 miles of fabric for costumes. The construction department used: 745 miles of repurposed timber; 60,000 sheets of plywood; 20,000,000 screws and bolts; 65,000 bags of plaster; 1,320 gallons of wood glue; 1,200 blocks of polystyrene; 1,000 sheets of fire board; more than 1,000 miles of cable; and 120 semi-truck loads of reclaimed beams from warehouses and barns from all over Europe.
By the end of the fifth season, Director David Nutter did 6 episodes of the show and even won an Emmy Award in 2015, but was taken out of commission after Season 5 by a major injury that required several back surgeries. He had to skip Season 6 and Season 7 and after he was healed enough to come back to work he was invited to direct half of the episodes in the final season. He said that being asked to direct half of the episodes felt like "when you're in the ocean and you can't swim and someone throws you a life jacket. After being out of commission for a couple years, it was fantastic to get a chance to work with people I care so much about." By the show's end he is the most frequent director to helm the show, having directed 9 episodes.
It had been theorized and speculated online that Ygritte is Melisandre due to both characters saying "You know nothing Jon Snow" to Jon Snow.
The 8th and final season will air the same year as a feature film which also has the word 'game' in the title – Avengers: Endgame (2019).
The series premiered 1 year after the premiere of Spartacus (2010) which is the groundbreaking graphic adaptation of the history of the Thracian rebel gladiator Spartacus (Played in the series by Andy Whitfield and Liam McIntyre). Both series have graphic violence, explicit sex, nudity and profanity. Characters get killed off and evil cunning characters scheme and commit skullduggery.
Kirsty Mitchell portrayed the on-screen mother of Emilia Clarke in the TV movie Triassic Attack (2010) and Kerry Ingram in the limited series Barbarians Rising (2016); both of whom appear in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011).
Following his departure from the series, Iwan Rheon played another antagonist in Inhumans (2017). In the series, he played Maximus, the brother of Black Bolt, King of Attlian whom overthrows his brother to fulfill his desire to become King himself.
Iain Glen, Noah Taylor and Ciaran Hands starred opposite Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) Emilia Clarke was one of the frontrunners for Lara Croft in the reboot Tomb Raider (2018) but lost out to Alicia Vikander.
Ancient history, religion, William Shakespeare, Richard III (1955), The Lord of the Rings (1978) and Dune (1984) were speculated to be influences behind the series and the books.
Between seasons, Kit Harrington starred in the historical flick Pompeii (2014) based on the volcanic disaster of Pompeii in 79 A.D. which the actor stars as a gladiator whom falls in love with a wealthy merchant's daughter. The series and the books were influenced by ancient history.
Both Nicolaj Coster Waldau and Iain Glen have appeared in the epic-drama film "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005).
David Nutter directed Lena Headey in 3 episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008) (TV Series).
The number of weeks required for post production per season, according to HBO: Season One- 17 weeks, Season Two- 21 weeks, Season Three- 20 weeks, Season Four- 21 weeks, Season Five- 22 weeks, Season Six- 24 weeks, Season Seven- 30 weeks and Season Eight- 42 weeks
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
George R.R. Martin has stated that the infamous "Red Wedding" was the hardest chapter for him to write in "A Storm of Swords." He was so emotionally attached to the characters that he actually wrote the rest of the book first, then that chapter last. Executive Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, upon reading it, declared it was one of the major reasons they decided to option the books for a TV series. Their dramatization differs from the book in a few details, most notably that Robb's wife is not present at the wedding, nor is she killed. Whether she is pregnant is unknown.
After filming his death scene, Sean Bean played football with his replica head.
Series author George R.R. Martin reported on his blog that after the filming of the episode in which Sansa's direwolf Lady is executed, the dog that played Lady, a Northern Inuit named Zunni, was adopted by Sophie Turner, the actress who plays Sansa.
Executive Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss stated when the show began they set a rule of "no prophecies, dreams, or flashbacks". All three rules were eventually broken, with the inclusion of Bran's dreams of the three-eyed raven, prophetic visions in the House of the Undying experienced by Daenerys and a flashback scene to Cersei's childhood.
Robert Baratheon is never seen sitting on the Iron Throne. The first king that we see sitting on it is Joffrey.
Grand Maester Pycelle's elderly and feeble demeanor is an act, briefly alluded to in a scene from season one's finale "Fire and Blood" showing Pycelle doing a series of exercises and stretches. A deleted scene between Pycelle and Tywin Lannister shot for the third season and included on the DVD/Blu-ray set shows Pycelle's normal posture and speaking cadence, explaining that he maintains the facade to appear harmless. In the series the only time Pycelle speaks in his regular cadence is to Tyrion in Game of Thrones: Valar Morghulis (2012).
Daenerys' dragons are named Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion. Each one is named after someone she has lost in her life: Drogon, the largest dragon with black/red scales, is named after her husband Khal Drogo; Rhaegal, who has green/bronze scales, is named after Daenerys' brother Rhaegar Targaryen, who was killed by Robert Baratheon during Robert's Rebellion; Viserion, the cream/gold scaled dragon, is named after Daenerys' abusive brother Viserys. She claimed that she named her dragon this because "Viserys was cruel and weak and frightened, yet he was my brother still. My dragon will do what he could not."
George R.R. Martin has said that some fans have correctly guessed the ending of the series. One of the most popular fan theories was that Jon Snow is in fact a Targaryen, with his true father being Rhaegar Targaryen and true mother being Ned Stark's sister Lyanna. This was indeed confirmed in the season 6 finale. It was then debated whether this would make him an heir to the Iron Throne, as his presumed father was married to another woman (Elia Martell) and he would still be a bastard; however, because the Targaryens were known to practice bigamy, Lyanna and Rhaegar may have been married, making him a legitimate heir. The seventh season finale indeed confirmed that Rhaegar had annulled his previous marriage, and legally married Lyanna, making Jon (or Aegon Targaryan as is his real name) a legitimate son.
More than 45 of the main characters have died during the first six seasons.
The first five seasons were largely based on published novels, though beginning late in season five the series began including plot points from future novels told to the executive producers by author George R.R. Martin. Beginning with season six, the show included a large amount of original content as well as adapting an outline of future novels provided by Martin. The producers stated there were "three "holy shit!" moments" revealed by Martin: Shireen Baratheon would be sacrificed by her father, the meaning of Hodor's name and its correlation to his eventual death, and a third to be revealed at the end of the series. Martin responded "Yes and no" to fan inquiries about whether the show would spoil the final two novels, and the producers stated, "So much of what we're doing diverges from the books at this point . . . there are certain key elements that will be the same". Only a few plot points from the series have been confirmed to be intended for future novels, Martin stated that Tyrion and Daenerys will "intersect", and Alan Taylor stated that Martin told him Jon and Daenerys would meet and ally against the Others (White Walkers).
In the first six seasons at least one king or claimant to a throne dies. In season one they are Robert Baratheon (King on the Iron Throne), Viserys Targaryen (claimant to the Iron Throne), and Khal Drogo (a Khal is a chieftain similar in position to a king); in season two Renly Baratheon (claimant to the Iron Throne) and Xaro Xhoan Daxos (King of Qarth); in season three Robb Stark (King in the North); in season four Joffrey Baratheon (King on the Iron Throne); in season five Mance Rayder (King Beyond the Wall) and Stannis Baratheon (claimant to the Iron Throne); and in season six Balon Greyjoy (King of the Iron Islands) and Tommen Baratheon (King on the Iron Throne). The seventh season is unique as no kings die: only Olenna Tyrell, who was nicknamed 'Queen of Thornes', but was neither a king nor actual royalty; two kings effectively surrender their sovereign status: Jon Snow (King in the North) pledges fealty to Daenerys and Euron Greyjoy (King of the Iron Islands) pledges fealty to Cersei.
As mentioned on the show, the ominous song "The Rains of Castmere" was originally composed to commemorate the brutal decimation of House Reyne by Tywin Lannister. The books add that the song was so effective in reminding people of the wrath of the Lannisters, that all Tywin had to do was send a minstrel playing the song to seditious bannermen to make them cooperative again. The song finally became so widespread by Lannister soldiers that it is considered the unofficial Lannister theme song. Ironically, the song was played throughout each episode of the fourth season (save for the ninth episode) to foreshadow the deaths of Tywin and Joffrey.
In the series King Renly Baratheon has his own Kingsguard and inducts Brienne of Tarth into the order. In the novels they are known as the Rainbow Guard, but HBO elected to omit the name as it could be interpreted as a jab at Renly's homosexuality which is only subtly referenced in the novels but made explicit in the series.
In the novel, Robb Stark's wife is named Jeyne Westerling. House Westerling is a staunch supporter of House Lannister and takes part in the sinister scheme to bring the Starks down: they secretly orchestrate the entire affair between Robb and Jeyne in order to break his marriage pact with the Freys. In the show, Robb's wife is called Talisa Maegyr, and her backstory is also changed considerably. In addition to this, she dies while carrying Robb's child along with Robb and Catelyn at the Red Wedding. In the novel, Jeyne does not attend the wedding, she is not pregnant and discovers the fate of her husband while residing in Riverrun. The reason for the name change was that the writers made so many significant changes to the character in the show that author George R.R. Martin suggested to make her a different character altogether. He came up with the name 'Talisa', and the surname 'Maegyr' was chosen because in the books, it was the name of one of the ruling families in Volantis (where Talisa is from).
Many of the characters have nicknames, mostly based on a specific deed, behavior or physical feature of the person in question. The nicknames can also be derogatory (Kingslayer) or for mockery (Brienne the Beauty). For example: Eddard Stark: Ned; Jaime Lannister: the Kingslayer; Tyrion Lannister: the Imp or Halfman; Robert Baratheon: the Usurper or Stag King; Joffrey: the Boy King; Varys: the Spider; Sandor Clegane: the Hound; Gregor Clegane: the Mountain that Rides (or simply the Mountain); Petyr Baelish: Littlefinger; Jeor Mormont: the Old Bear; Jorah Mormont: Jorah the Andal; Loras Tyrell: Knight of Flowers; Olenna Tyrell: Queen of Thorns; Roose Bolton: Leech Lord; Aerys Targaryen: the Mad King; Viserys Targaryen: the Beggar King; Daenerys Targaryen: Dany, Daenerys Stormborn, Khaleesi, Mhysa, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, or Breaker of Chains; Theon Greyjoy: the Turncloak or Reek; Melisandre: the Red Woman; Vargo Hoat: the Goat; Robb Stark: the Young Wolf; Arya Stark: Arry; Jon Snow: the White Wolf or The Bastard of Winterfell (sometimes Ned Stark's Bastard); Brienne of Tarth: Brienne the Beauty; Qhorin: Halfhand; Mance Rayder: the King Beyond the Wall; Davos Seaworth: the Onion Knight; Jon Umber Sr.: Greatjon; Jon Umber Jr.: Smalljon; Eddison Tollett: Dolorous Edd; Samwell Tarly: Sam the Slayer; Gerold Hightower: the White Bull; Arthur Dayne: Sword of the Morning; Brynden Tully: Blackfish; Oberyn Martell: the Red Viper; Oberyn Martell's bastard daughters: the Sand Snakes. Some characters, like Hot Pie, Grey Worm and the High Sparrow, are known by their nicknames only, since their real names are unknown or never mentioned. Hodor also turns out to be a nickname, with his real name being revealed as Wylis.
Only two actors appeared in every episode that aired before their characters were killed off: Mark Addy ("Robert Baratheon") and Sean Bean ("Ned Stark").
Maester Aemon is the first prominent character on the show to die of natural causes. Hoster Tully (Catelyn's father and Lord of Riverrun) also died of natural causes, but only appears on-screen after his death at his funeral. Old Nan also died of natural causes, according to the producers, after the death of Margaret John, who portrayed her, but the death was never seen or mentioned on-screen.
Kit Harrington revealed that he used Jon Snow's fate to avoid a speeding ticket. The officer asked him to either reach to the police station to be booked or to tell him whether Jon will again be alive in the next episode. Kit told him the secret.
In the show, Ramsay Bolton is arranged to be married to Sansa Stark to solidify the Boltons' hold on the north. In the novels, he is arranged to marry Sansa's best friend Jeyne Pool. Jeyne is married to Ramsay under the guise of being "Arya Stark." However, Jeyne does not have a major role in the show, so Sansa Stark became the most suitable marriage choice for Ramsay.
Only two episodes, Game of Thrones: Lord Snow (2011) and Game of Thrones: The Bear and the Maiden Fair (2013), have no deaths of any kind. One, Game of Thrones: Blood of My Blood (2016), only has flashback deaths of already deceased characters, and three others, Game of Thrones: The Prince of Winterfell (2012), Game of Thrones: Valar Dohaeris (2013), and Game of Thrones: Dark Wings, Dark Words (2013), only have off-screen deaths.
According to Paula Fairfield, a sound designer on the series, Daenerys' dragon Drogon is designed to sound similar to her late husband Khal Drogo, whom the sound team considers Drogon to be a metaphorical reincarnation of.
In the Season 6 finale, it is revealed that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. This makes him literally the Son(g) of Ice and Fire, which is the title of the book series.
Sean Bean, who played Eddard Stark, also played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). "Lord of the Rings" was one of George R.R. Martin's biggest influences while writing the series. Coincidentally, both of Bean's characters don't make it past the first installment in both "Game of Thrones" (dies at the end of Season 1) and "Lord of the Rings" (dies at the end of the first movie).
Although not shown in the show, where Ser Arthur Dayne uses two swords, the true sword that Ser Arthur wielded was a sword named Dawn forged from a fallen meteoroid, just as strong as Valyrian steel. Unlike the other Valyrian swords of Westeros, like Longclaw (Mormont) and Ice (Stark), Dawn wasn't passed from lord to lord of House Dayne. It was bestowed upon a knight of House Dayne deemed worthy of using it. The wielder of Dawn was given the title Sword of the Morning.
In the narrative behind why Tommen Baratheon commits suicide in Series 6: Cersei betrayed Tommen's trust by murdering his wife, his brother-in-law and effectively his role as King of the Seven Kingdoms and took every possible opportunity to undermine Tommen's rule and not able to follow through with getting revenge on his mother by killing her, Tommen decided to jump to his death instead.
Sophie Turner had a twin sister when she was born, who was deceased on birth. Turner said that for the scene when Ned Stark is beheaded, she thoughtof her sister to get more into the character.
Excluding the title sequence, the Fire and Ice theme is heard only twice in the series' run so far: both pertain to Jon Snow as he leads the Night's Watch defense against the Wildlings; and the other is when he is named King in the North by the Northerners.
Contains spoilers for the novel "A Storm of Swords". In the novels after the Red Wedding where Robb and Catelyn Stark are murdered, Catelyn's corpse is found by Beric Dondarrion who trades his life for hers, and the newly resurrected Catelyn, using the nom de guerre "Lady Stoneheart", takes control of the Brotherhood without Banners to hunt down and execute those who betrayed her family. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss decided to omit this storyline from the series. George R.R. Martin stated in a 2017 Time interview he disagreed with their decision, calling it "the first major diversion of the show from the books and, you know, I argued against that, and David and Dan made that decision."
Jon Snow's murder in Game of Thrones: Mother's Mercy (2015), in which he is stabbed by Alliser Thorne, Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck Olly and his other Watch brothers, is strongly influenced by the historic assassination of the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar when he was stabbed to death by Roman Senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus on March 15th 44 BC. Especially the fact that Caesar's trusted friend Brutus was one of the killers is paralleled by John's protegee Olly delivering the final blow.
A poster for Series 7 was released which Cersei Lannister sits on The Iron Throne as a White Walker. This hints at Cersei Lannister's possible fate in the 8th and final season which Cersei Lannister dies and could get reanimated by The Night King which she becomes The Night Queen.
Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Jorah Mormont, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Varys, Samwell Tarly, Bronn, and Daenerys' dragons Drogon and Rhaegal are the only characters to appear living in all eight seasons.
Only three people in the series history (as of the end of season 7) have killed a White Walker: Sam, Jon, and Meera. Jon also has the distinction of being the only character to have killed two White Walkers.
When Bran and Meera meet The Three-Eyed Raven (Straun Rodger) at the end of Season 4, The Three-Eyed Raven claims that he has been many things. This hints that The Three-Eyed Raven could have the ability to change his form and his appearance. Max Von Sydow took over the role in Season 6.
One of the hallmarks of the show is its willingness to kill off beloved characters, oftentimes without warning. Examples include the unexpected deaths of Ned in season one, Catelyn and Robb in season three, Jon in season 5, and Hodor in season 6.
Nero, the Roman Emperor, is considered to be a major influence behind Aerys Targaryen II (aka "The Mad King"), who threatened to burn King's Landing down to the ground with hidden wildfire and murder the capital's five million inhabitants.
Only 12 characters have appeared in all eight seasons: Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Jorah Monmont, Samwell Tarly, Varys and Bronn. Also, Brandon Stark and Sandor Clegane are present in all seasons except season 5.
Five characters appeared in every season except season 1: Davos Seaworth, Brienne of Tarth, Podrick Payne, Gilly and Melisandre.
Maggy the Frog correctly predicts the deaths of all 3 of Cersei and Jaime Lannister's children: Both Joffrey and Mycella are fatally poisoned and Tommen commits suicide.
In the books, Davos has seven children. Four of them, Dale, Allard, Matthos and Maric, die in the Battle of the Blackwater. Devan, the older of the surviving three, serves as king Stannis's squire, while the youngest two, Stannis (named after the king) and Steffon, live safely away with their mother at his knightly (and eventually lordly) estate on Cape Wrath in the Stormlands. In the show, all seven were condensed into Davos' third son Matthos. Sallador Saan mentions Davos's wife on one occasion, but he has never mentioned her himself, nor has he shown any desire to return to her since joining up with Jon Snow.
List of major characters who, as of season 7, are dead on the show, but are still alive by the point the novels (and the sample chapters of the upcoming sixth novel) have reached: Daenerys' silver mare, Stannis Baratheon, Shireen Baratheon, Selyse Baratheon, Barristen Selmy, Margaery Tyrell, Loras Tyrell, Mace Tyrell, Jojen Reed, Doran Martell, Trystane Martell, Areo Hotah, Grenn, Pyp, Alliser Thorne, Bowen Marsh, Roose Bolton, Ramsay Bolton, Walda Bolton, Myrcella Baratheon, Tommen Baratheon, Brynden Tully, Rickon Stark, Walder Frey, Black Walder, Lancel Lannister, Hodor, the ThreeEyed Raven, Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun, the High Sparrow, Shaddydog, Summer, Mance Rayder, the Waif, Osha, Greatjon Umber, Leaf, Xaro Xoan Daxos, Olenna Tyrell, Ellaria Sand, the Sand Snakes, Randyll Tarly, Dickon Tarly, Thoros, Viserion and Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish.
Dean-Charles Chapman played both Martyn Lannister in season 3 and Tommen Baratheon from season 4 onwards. He has been associated with the lannister family twice.
In 2014, Cersei Lannister Lena Headey was officially the most hated Game of Thrones character in a poll following the death of Joffrey Baratheon. The character is mostly hated for the indirect murder of Ned Stark. The direct murder of Robert Baratheon. Installing Joffrey on the throne. Responsible for the death of her youngest son. Killed most of the Tyrell family in a single explosion and sitting on the throne as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
Arya Stark could kill Cersei Lannister in the final season. Arya Stark wants to kill Cersei Lannister for her role in Ned Stark's death. However, it was established in Game of Thrones: The Wars to Come (2015) that Maggy the Frog told young Cersei that the valongar ("Little brother") would kill her, hinting that Jaime or Tyrion could kill her. In Series 5 and 6, Arya trains as a Faceless Man and Faceless Men disguised themselves as other people to kill their targets. Arya could kill Cersei by disguising herself as Jaime Lannister or Tyrion Lannister. If so, Maggy the Frog's prophecy could end up being partially true.
When Cersei is arrested and imprisoned by the High Sparrow, Cersei says to Septa Unella "Look at my face. It's the last thing you will see before you die." This foreshadows Septa Unella's demise in Game of Thrones: The Winds of Winter (2016) where she is tortured by Cersei and left at the mercy of Ser Gregor Clegane.
In the first seven seasons, the opening titles began with an intricate astrolabe decorated with murals meant to represent the history of Westeros and Essos that predates the show: the Doom of Valyria (which seemingly ended the age of dragons), the Battle of the Trident (which concluded Robert's Rebellion against the Targaryens), and the Rise of House Baratheon as the rulers of Westeros- the point in history the show starts in. In the eighth season the opening titles went through a major redesign so it starts with and astrolabe with different murals- depicting three crucial events that took place during the run of the show and led to it's current moment in history, in reversed order- the fall of the Wall, the Red Wedding, and the birth of Daenerys' dragons.
Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven time traveling which they appear In visions of events from the past which nobody can hear or see them is influenced by the classic influential novel "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickins. In the novel, the cruel, bitter and mean-spirited businessman Ebernezer Scrooge is visited by 3 ghosts whom show him visions of Christmas in the past, the past and the future which nobody can see nor hear them as the 3 ghosts teach Scrooge about Christmas and help him to become a better and more caring person.
Season 5 is the only one to have the death of a main character be its closing scene.
It's possible and highly likely that the series could end with nobody winning The Iron Thorne and all the remaining characters and everybody in The Seven Kingdoms getting killed by The Night King and the army of the dead.
A bare naked Daenerys Targaryen walking into the steaming hot bath in Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming (2011) strongly foreshadows Daenerys Targaryen becoming fireproof in Game of Thrones: Fire and Blood (2011).
Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) is an almost similar role to Teale's role in Doctor Who: Vengeance on Varos: Part One (1985) and Doctor Who: Vengeance on Varos: Part Two (1985), in which Teale played the guard Maldak. In that story, Maldak keeps watch over the execution of the rebel prisoner Jondar (Jason Connery). In season 5 finale of this series, Allister Thorne murders Jon Snow.
Olly became a disliked character due to the character stabbing Jon Snow.
Posted in TV Triva and tagged Game of Thrones, Game of Thrones facts, Game of Thrones Trivia, Game of Thrones wiki, trivia.
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