Robb grieves for Talisa at the Red Wedding.
Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) makes a desperate final attempt to save her son.
Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) learns about crossbows and a king thanks to Joffrey Baratheon.
Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) squares off with Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) on a bridge.
Ros (Esmé Bianco) in service.
Theon (Alfie Allen) gives his tormentor Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) a close shave.
Oberyn “the Red Viper” Martell (Pedro Pascal) fights Ser Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane (Hafþór Björnsson).
Emilia Clarke gets some shade on the set of season four.
Isaac Hempstead Wright on the move in Northern Ireland.
Sandor “the Hound” Clegane (Rory McCann) fights Brienne.
Margaery Tyrell and King Joffrey at the Purple Wedding.
Joffrey struggles for breath.
Obara Sand (Keisha Castle-Hughes) takes a stand.
Tyene Sand (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) prepares to get stabby.
Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) prepares to marry Ramsay Bolton in “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.”
Sansa and Ramsay on their wedding night.
Shireen Baratheon (Kerry Ingram) resists her fate.
Nymeria Sand (Jessica Henwick) whips a prisoner into submission.
Tyene Sand and Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) in their final moment.
Shae (Sibel Kekilli) takes the stand against Tyrion.
Tyrion Lannister on trial.
A completed post-effects shot of the village of Hardhome with its stockade border wall in the aftermath of the Army of the Dead attack.
A closer look at Hardhome.
The Night King (Richard Brake) raises the dead at Hardhome.
Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) mourns Jon Snow as Ghost sleeps.
Carice van Houten and Kit Harington prepare for the resurrection scene.
The return of Jon Snow.
Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) share a couple of tender moments.
Sophie Turner and Alfie Allen share a laugh between shots in season six.
The “Queen of Thorns” Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg).
Hodor (Kristian Nairn) holds the door.
Free Folk giant Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun (Ian Whyte) among Jon Snow’s line of troops at the Battle of the Bastards.
Jon Snow takes on the Bolton army at the Battle of the Bastards.
Jon Snow’s army trapped between the Bolton shield wall and the body pile.
Jon Snow struggles up toward the light during the Battle of the Bastards.
Kit Harington checks his last take during the battle filming.
Peter Dinklage peers at a “dragon” on a cliff on the set in Spain.
Jaime Lannister charges a dragon.
Daenerys Targaryen, meet Jon Snow.
Drogon lays waste to the Lannister army.
Pilou Asbæk plays Euron Greyjoy on a rampage during the filming of the “Stormborn” sea battle.
Isaac Hempstead Wright, Maisie Williams, and Sophie Turner perform at Winterfell’s weirwood tree.
Joe Dempsie, Rory McCann, Kristofer Hivju, Kit Harington, Richard Dormer, and Paul Kaye take a rest while shooting “Beyond the Wall.”
Filming the “Beyond the Wall” wight attack on a mock frozen lake in Northern Ireland.
Daenerys fights alongside Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) during “The Long Night.”
Emilia Clarke intently rides the dragon rig (aka “the Green Turtle”) in the motion-capture suite.
Arya is throttled by the Night King a moment before she passes the dagger to her right hand.
Cersei and Jaime Lannister spend their final moments together.
The throne room in ruins while filming “The Iron Throne.”
Filming the series finale, “The Iron Throne.”
King Bran I the Broken along with Arya and Sansa.
The final Game of Thrones panel at Comic-Con 2019.
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INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Note: Game of Thrones characters can be found alphabetized under their first names.
Addy, Mark. See Robert Baratheon
Aegon Targaryen (Kit Harington), 396–397, 402
Aemon (Peter Vaughan), 65
Aerys II Targaryen, “the Mad King,” 13, 43, 150, 396
Allen, Alfie. See Theon Greyjoy
Anderson, Jacob. See Grey Worm
Anthony, Gethin. See Renly Baratheon
Armeca (Sahara Knite), 112
Army of the Dead, 109, 255–257, 348
arranged marriages, 269–271
Arya Stark (Maisie Williams)
balancing ninja warrior with humanity, 293
bedding Gendry, 421–423
casting for, 29
destroying the Night King, 377–379
direwolf of, 233
the Hound and, 175–176, 178, 422–423
at Ned Stark’s execution, 85–86
sets sail for destinations unknown, 424
sparring scenes with the Waif, 292–294
temporarily blinded, 291–292
Asbæk, Pilou. See Euron Greyjoy
Astapor city, 248
“Baelor” episode, 85
Balerion the Black Dread, 402
Bastard of Bolton, 174, 316
bathtub scene, 148–150
Battle of the Bastards
as best episode in television history, 304–305
body pile, 312–314
controlled chaos in filming, 311–312
Davos Seaworth’s strategy, 308–309
filming of, 1
filming time, 306
hiring military drillmaster for shoot, 311
horses as challenging to film, 307–308
inspiration for, 308
Jon Snow at, 307–309, 312–316
location for, 306–307
mock corpses, 307
as primal barbarism, 1
Ramsay Bolton’s death, 316–317
Battle of the Blackwater. See Blackwater Battle
Battle of the Green Fork, 59–60, 116
Battle of the Whispering Wood, 60, 116, 342
Battle on the Green Fork, 59
battles
action driven by characters, 371–372
avoiding filming of, 115–116
Battle of the Bastards (See Battle of the Bastards)
Blackwater (See Blackwater Battle)
budgets for, 59, 123–124
calm-before-the-storm discussion scenes prior to, 370–371
filming trends for, 310
Green Fork, 59–60, 116
Hardhome, 242, 254–256, 258
in HBO’s Rome, 115
staging for, 305
Whispering Wood, 60, 116, 342
Battlestar Galactica (TV show), 322
Bean, Sean. See Eddard “Ned” Stark
Beauty and the Beast (television show), 8
Belfast, Ireland, 35–36, 286
“The
Bells” episode, 402–404
“Beyond the Wall” episode, 347–349
Bianco, Esmé. See Ros, the Redheaded Whore
birthing scene, 106–108
BitTorrent, 219–220
Björnsson, Hafþór. See Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane
Black Dinner, 152
Blackwater Battle
additional budget for, 118
barge, 124
director drops out from filming, 119
filming of, 121–124
filming style for, 118–119
finding replacement director, 120
Neil Marshall’s vision for, 120–121
setting up the scene, 121
showrunners’ negotiating for, 117–118
Tyrion and, 115–116, 123
visual effects, 123–124
body doubles, 261–263
Bradley, David. See Walder Frey
Bradley, John. See Samwell Tarly
Brake, Richard. See Night King (Richard Brake)
Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright)
ability to know past and future, 355
becoming Three-Eyed Raven, 294–297, 354–355, 420
benched for season five, 229
casting for, 30–31
changing mode of transportation for, 294
“chaos is a ladder” speech, 356–357
direwolf of, 233
Iron Throne possibility for, 419–420
Night King and, 379–380
punishing Jon Snow, 424
Brandon Stark, 358–359, 418–419
“Breaker of Chains” episode, 249
Breaking Bad (TV show), 322–323
Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie)
bathtub scene, 148–150
bedding Jaime, 410–412
as captor-turned-fellow-captive, 143–145
casting for, 100–101
developing relationship with Jaime, 374
duel with the Hound, 179–180
as physically vulnerable, 150
receiving knighthood, 409–410
sword-fight scene, 145–147
brothel scenes, 111–114. See also sex scenes
Brother Ray (Ian McShane), 297–298
cast accents, 130, 130n
cast auditions
Arya Stark, 29
Bran Stark, 30–31
Brienne of Tarth, 100–101
chemistry read, 30
child actors, 28–30
Daenerys Targaryen, 27–28
Davos Seaworth, 97
Eddard “Ned” Stark, 23–24
fandom lobbying online for, 24–25
Gendry, 33
Headey’s body double, 262–263
Hodor, 26–27
Jaime Lannister, 24–25
Joffrey Baratheon, 28–29
Jon Snow, 31–32
Jorah Mormont, 27
Khal Drogo, 25
Margaery Tyrell, 98
Melisandre, 97–98
Missandei, 130
Oberyn Martell, 200–201
Olenna Tyrell, 101–102
Robb Stark, 31
Roose Bolton, 99–100
Ros (the Redheaded Whore), 32–33
Samwell Tarly, 34
Sandor “the Hound” Clegane, 26
Sansa Stark, 29–30
Shae, 27
Theon Greyjoy, 25
Tormund Giantsbane, 99
Tyrion Lannister, 22–23
Varys, 25–26
Walder Frey, 99
worst auditions, 131
Yara Greyjoy, 99
Ygritte, 98–99
cast members
behind-the-scenes pranks, 166–171
bonding between, 48–52, 102–104, 109–110, 131–132, 201
on delivering character’s last line, 376–377
end-of-season wrap parties, 326
fan encounters (See fandom)
final scripts reactions, 361–363
final scripts table read, 360, 365–367
hygiene challenges, 304
on last day of shooting, 416–417
on legacy of Thrones, 435–436
Lena Headey’s birthday party, 260
looking back on Thrones, 431–435
as object of fan obsession, 218–219
off-screen romance, 133–134
post-Thrones, 431–435
praising Miguel’s direction, 382–383
reactions to their character’s fates, 364–365
social media and, 216–217
support for ending Thrones, 328–329
unique ways to prepare, 181
wanting to move on to other opportunities, 324
weight of knowing spoilers, 363–364
Castle-Hughes, Keisha. See Obara Sand
castration scene, 174
Catelyn Stark (Jennifer Ehle), unaired pilot, 45
Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley)
arranged marriage for, 269
Brandon dueling for hand of, 358–359
death of, 151, 161
holding Tyrion as prisoner, 193
horseriding, 56
Littlefinger and, 112, 358
recasting role of, 45–46
at Red Wedding, 157–158
Renly Baratheon and, 106
resurrection of, 231
cave scene, 138–139
Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey)
accusing Tyrion for Joffrey’s death, 191, 197
adversarial relationship with Robert, 62–64
awaiting fate in Maegor’s Holdfast, 123
death of, 412–413
Ellaria Sand and, 340–341
execution of, 391
haunted by Maggy the Frog, 253
as Jaime’s sibling lover, 43
power of the Sparrows and, 245
reclaiming control of King’s Landing, 299
revenge for Myrcella’s murder, 340–341
revenge on Septa Unella, 302
suffering from Joffrey’s tyranny, 183
trial at the sept, 300
Tyrion maneuvering against, 109–110
“Walk of Shame” sequence, 262–268
“chaos is a ladder” speech, 356–357
Chaplin, Oona. See Talisa Stark
Chapman, Dean-Charles. See Tommen
chemistry read, 30
child actors, 29
Children of the Forest, 257, 378, 379
Christie, Gwendoline. See Brienne of Tarth
Clarke, Emilia. See Daenerys “Dany” Targaryen
A Clash of Kings (Martin), 96, 115–116
Clegane Bowl, 414–415
Coldplay (band), 156
Comic-Con, 183, 212, 426, 430–431. See also fandom
Cosmo, James. See Jeor Mormont
Coster-Waldau, Nikolaj. See Jaime Lannister
costumes
background actors, 255
breastplate armor, 241
cast praise for, 48
as character transformation, 101
for Euron Greyjoy, 335–336
green screen, 255
Michele Clapton creating, 47, 241
mid-decomps, 255
Super fresh, 255
for White Walkers, 36–37
critics. See media critics
Croatia, 96–97, 155
Crook, Mackenzie. See Orell
Cunningham, Liam. See Davos Seaworth
Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman), 75, 133
Daenerys “Dany” Targaryen (Emilia Clarke)
acts of benevolence in, 395
clashing with Sansa, 396
coupling with Jon, 349–350
death of, 405–408
descent into madness, 392–393
developing storyline for, 127–128
at Drogo-Mago fight, 80–81
entering pyre’s flames, 92
firebombing attack, 343–345
gaining Unsullied army, 127–130
goodness in, 395–396
on Iron Throne, 391–392, 408
on Jon’s parentage, 397–398
Jorah Mormont and, 375, 417
launching devastating attack, 402–404
ordering Varys’s execution, 399
orders Cersei’s execution, 391
rebirth of, 92–94
recasting role of, 46, 71–73
seizing Lannister fortress, 342
tyrannical destiny of, 393–395
Viserys’s death and, 77
wedding night seduction scene, 40–41, 73–74
wedding scene, 61–62, 73
on a winning streak, 248
Daenerys “Dany” Targaryen (Tamzin Merchant), casting for, 27–28
Dance, Charles. See Tywin Lannister
Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), 97, 289–290, 308–309