How did secret Targaryen Jon Snow win Drogon’s respect during their first meeting in Game of Thrones episode 5? (Beyond the whole “secret Targaryen” part, anyway.)
According to Kit Harington, the King in the North channelled his inner direwolf.
“There was something I wanted to bring to it that was quite animalistic,” he says in a new behind-the-scenes video from the episode. “If you show a vicious animal fear, it’ll jump on that, but if you show it bravery, then it will respond in a different way.”
Showrunner Dan Weiss noted that there’s an undercurrent of intimidation motivating Daenerys in the scene, which makes sense, considering she’s still trying to get the measure of her new political rival at this point of the season.
“She doesn’t want to see her dragon eat him, but she would like to see him sweat a little bit,” Weiss admits. “I think she’s like 85 percent sure that the dragon’s not going to eat Jon.”
Between that and the 50 mph winds threatening to blow Kit Harington off the very real Irish clifftop, it’s a wonder Jon made it out alive.
