- “Game of Thrones” has ended, but there are still plenty of facts and details from the series that fans might not know.
- Insider’s Kim Renfro describes 9 interesting tidbits she learned while covering the show, including a subtle music cue in the pilot episode that provided clues about one of the first big mysteries, and how Kit Harington almost turned into a kite.
- You can read more in her book “The Unofficial Guide to Game of Thrones.”
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
Following is a transcript of the video.
Kim Renfro: Did you know that Westeros looks just like the United Kingdom, if you put England on top of an inverted version of Ireland?
Well, I know that, because I’ve been covering the show for years for Insider and I wrote “The Unofficial Guide to Game of Thrones.” Here are nine more facts about “Game of Thrones” that might surprise even die-hard fans.
There is an episode of “Game of Thrones” that you’ve never seen and will probably never see. And that is the very first version of the pilot that they shot over 10 years ago.
In that pilot, there is an actor named Jamie Campbell Bower who played the role of Ser Waymar Royce. He was one of the Night’s Watchmen who we see in that very first cold-open shot, where they’re ranging beyond the Wall. By the time that it came time to do reshoots for the pilot, he was working on a Starz show called “Camelot,” and he was super dedicated to that show. So he decided that he couldn’t come back and appear in the final version of the “Game of Thrones” pilot.
At the time, George R.R. Martin posted on his blog about the reshoots that were going on for the coming pilot. And he mentioned Jamie Campbell Bower would unfortunately not be able to come and join them again for this pilot.
However, George kind of hinted that he hoped that maybe Jamie could return to the “Game of Thrones” universe sometime in the future. Well, all these years later, George’s prophecy is coming true. Jamie Campbell Bower was one of the first cast members announced in the new HBO prequel series that was gonna be all about the Age of Heroes and the Long Night.
So, hopefully, we’ll see him in an actual “Game of Thrones” show to come.
Jon Snow may have died and come back to life, but actor Kit Harington actually had a close call of his own while they were filming season seven. There was this scene where they were on a cliff’s edge, and it was super windy that day. And Kit had this really heavy cape on. And the cinematographer for that episode, Robert McLachlan, said in an interview that Kit was dangerously close to turning into a kite. He was about to blow off the side of that cliff. And so they actually had to tie him down to the ground with a special cable while they were filming all of those scenes.
Now, this isn’t something that you would see in the actual show, but Emilia Clarke posted a really fun video from behind the scenes that season, and Kit’s, you know, flapping his cape and pretending to be a dragon or whatever, but you can see down in the corner that that cable is actually still tied to him, even as they were goofing off on that set.
Did you ever notice that a King’s Landing scene looks a lot more orange and red compared to, let’s say, a Castle Black scene, which is a little more blue-toned?
Well, those colors that differentiate the locations on “Game of Thrones” actually helped composer Ramin Djawadi make the music for the show. How, exactly? Well, Ramin Djawadi has a condition known as synesthesia, and that means that he sees colors as music. And so, when he is composing music to the different scenes, the setting really helps him get inspired for all the various notes and tones of the show. He has compared this process to painting.
So whether it’s Daenerys in the desert in Essos or Jon Snow at Castle Black, he can kind of pick up the aesthetic of the show and translate that into music.
In the pilot episode, there’s a character named Ros, and she is one of the sex workers who we see in Tyrion’s first-ever scene.
Now, Ros is not a character from the books, and she didn’t even have a name to begin with in the show, in those early versions of the script. And it was actually George R.R. Martin who was on set and chatting with the creators and the actors, and he said: “Hey! Maybe we should give her a name? Other than red-headed whore.” Which is how she was described in the scripts. And the actress, Esmé Bianco, said that George R.R. Martin gets the credit for Ros having a name in the show.
So, “Game of Thrones” has done more than completely change television and the culture of fandom around the world. It’s also literally changed the economy of Northern Ireland.
The entire show is based in Belfast. Dozens of locations all around Northern Ireland were used as the sets for various scenes all throughout all eight seasons. And there’s an entire industry now, called screen tourism, that has been built out of people who are just flocking to the country, and they want to experience “Game of Thrones” for themselves.
But there are literally people who have jobs and careers now that they never would have had if “Game of Thrones” wasn’t filming in Northern Ireland all these years.
Arya Stark has a long kill list that gets shorter and shorter as she becomes a more skilled assassin as the seasons go on. But there’s one name that disappeared from that list for a completely different reason. And that was the name of Ser Ilyn Payne.
You might have noticed by season five, she was no longer reciting Ser Ilyn Payne’s name on her list. And this was because the actor who played Ser Ilyn Payne, Wilko Johnson, was diagnosed with cancer, and they decided to write his character off the show, rather than trying to replace him or sort of explain it away.
Bonus fact: This is why Bronn had a much bigger role starting in season five. He was the one who stepped in and began sword training with Jaime, even though that role was Ser Ilyn Payne in the books.
Good news, Wilko Johnson’s cancer is in remission as of 2019. So, he’s all well, but he decided not to return to the show.
One of the most-hyped scenes in the series was Cleganebowl, which finally came to fruition in season eight. But have you ever wondered why it’s called Cleganebowl?
It actually all has to do with the 2013 Super Bowl, of all things. So, that year, the coaches of the opposing teams were brothers. And their names were Jim and John Harbaugh. Nice little portmanteau: Everyone decided to call it the Harbowl. So, Harbowl was a common phrase being tossed around.
And it was around this time that someone pieced together a few different theories, and they came up with the idea that Clegane versus Clegane might happen in an epic fight to the death. Why not call that Cleganebowl as well? And so that theory was born.
One of the first mysteries early on in the series is Jon Arryn’s death. But there’s a little clue that was given to viewers that you might not have noticed.
When the raven first arrives in Winterfell bearing the news of Jon Arryn’s death, the music that plays in that moment is actually Littlefinger’s theme. You wouldn’t have known that it’s Littlefinger’s theme music until much later in the season. But if you rewatch that episode, you can totally put two and two together.
And lastly, Theon’s courageous death in season eight, when he was protecting Bran, was actually this really great callback to season two. He was trying to rally the ironborn troops and thinking that they were gonna defend Winterfell from whoever was outside the gates.
And I’m gonna quote this directly, because I need to give Theon’s words justice. He said, “[We] die bleeding from a hundred wounds, with arrows in our necks and spears in our guts.”
And how did he die, almost six seasons later? With a spear in his gut. In the battle of Winterfell. The real battle of Winterfell. So.
Pretty epic way to go out, Theon. Even if it was sad.
