Not even watching the Super Bowl is an escape from Game of Thrones madness. The hit HBO fantasy show teamed up with Bud Light for a major commercial during tonight’s big game, featuring the beer company’s signature “Bud Knight” from its “Dilly Dilly” campaign. Considering the common themes of medieval chivalry, kings, and queens, the collaboration was a surprisingly fitting marriage between two unlikely forces.
Watch an extended version of the commercial here:
The menacing knight, The Mountain (played by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) makes a cameo in the ad. According to HBO, GoT director David Nutter (who helmed “The Red Wedding” episode) and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss worked on the commercial, along with over 25 members of the show’s crew. The first half of the advertisement was directed by Bud Light’s Spencer Riviera.
The ad combines a couple of references from GoT‘s extensive catalogue. The first is the jousting scene from Season 1 (Episode 5, “The Wolf and the Lion”) where The Mountain battles Ser Loras Tyrell in front of King Robert Baratheon and Queen Cersei Lannister in the audience. In the commercial, however, The Mountain battles The Bud Knight—and knocks him off of his horse.
Then, to rub in his victory, The Mountian walks over to the Bud Knight and crushes his head with his hands, just like he did with Oberon Martell in Season 4 (Episode 8, “The Mountain and The Viper”). Someone in the audience even recreates Ellaria Sand’s blood-curdling scream.
The sequence ends with one of Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons arriving and breathing fire onto the stadium grounds. The moment is reminiscent of when Drogon rescued Khaleesi when she and her crew were being attacked in the fighting pits of Meereen in Season 5 (Episode 9, “The Dance of Dragons”).
Game of Thrones returns for its eighth and final season on April 14. Watch an official teaser trailer below.
