It may be hard to fathom now, but Game of Thrones makers had very little idea of the height it would reach when they started out. In fact, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were apparently only hoping to get at least 3 seasons before the show’s untimely cancellation. Why Season 3? So that they could film the spectacular Red Wedding.
George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire series (on which Game of Thrones is based), recently revealed this interesting tidbit about the show in an interview with the Irish Times. He was asked if he anticipated the huge success Game of Thrones was going to be. Martin replied:
“No one can anticipate that. It became the most popular television show in the world. When it started David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the showrunners, I remember them saying, ‘Well, let’s hope we can get three seasons, so we can get to at least the Red Wedding … Obviously, we got more than that.”
Game of Thrones’ selling point has always been its shock quotient, and the Red Wedding remains the golden standard in that regard. Several characters met a bloody end in the wedding feast turned mass murder, including fan favourites Robb and Catelyn Stark.
In the books as in the show, the Red Wedding acts as a pivotal moment in the War of Five Kings and completely changes the future of Westeros. No wonder the showrunners wanted to explore the creative opportunity it promised.
As we all know now, they did get to explore that, and how! Thoughts? Hit us up in the comments, down below!
