As Hibberd notes, “Viserys’ death was largely created using practical effects instead of CGI. Actor Harry Lloyd was outfitted with hidden pipes that pushed bubbling steam through tiny holes in his wig.”
The episode’s director, Daniel Minahan, admitted it was a difficult process. “It wasn’t easy to figure out how to pour molten gold over someone’s head,” Minahan said. “And it was a very expensive wig. We were only going to be [able to] to do one take of it.”
During the scene, Lloyd had to play it as if Viserys was incredibly intoxicated, which was quite a challenge: “I was really worried about the drunkenness looking ridiculous. The night before I was watching YouTube videos of drunks, and I wandered down the hotel corridor trying to stumble right. When it came time to shoot I was outside the tent in the freezing cold in Belfast with a hot toddy — tea and honey — and I had a little whiskey from the hotel and put some in there. The vulnerability in the scene came naturally, because it was f**king scary.”
Minahan also noted that one of the actors was terrified to shoot the scene, much to his surprise. “What surprised me was how nervous Jason Momoa was, because he was so unflappable and fearless,” Minahan recalled. “Before we shot, Jason caught my eye and held up his hand — it was shaking.” Momoa agreed: “I was really nervous. I didn’t want to mess it up.”
