You either loved it or hated it — but the series finale of Game of Thrones sure got a lot of people talking.
And if you’re a total GOT tragic, then you’re absolutely going to want to grab the DVD which holds a ton of gems in its commentary and special features about the finale episode, ‘The Iron Throne’.
In a making-of documentary called ‘Duty is the Death of Love’ on the home release, which also features an audio commentary track with showrunners David Benioff, Dan Weiss, and star Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), new details about the show have emerged.
Here are eight new revelations we’ve learnt about the show.
1. Jon Snow did not intend to kill Daenerys
Kit Harington (Jon Snow) explained exactly what was going on in his character’s mind when he went to the throne room, revealing that it was her final words that sentenced her to death.
“He doesn’t know he’s going to betray her until right at the end,” he said.
“In Jon’s head, it’s a number of [reasons: Dany] doesn’t factor in anyone else’s decisions and it also means [Dany] is going to kill my sisters, so it becomes [my] family vs. her.”
2. Drogon didn’t eat Daenerys’ body
When Drogon took hold of his mother’s body across the sea, fans thought that he took the body to eat her, but according to Benioff, this wasn’t the case.
In fact, even Clarke questioned the showrunners because fans had said that “dragons eat their masters”.
“Drogon’s not going to eat you,” Benioff told her. “He’s not a cat. Did you see how gently he was nudging you?”
3. The real reason Drogon torched the Iron Throne
The reason for Drogon torching the throne wasn’t specifically addressed however Benioff did allude to his thoughts while doing so.
“If [Dany is] not going to sit on it, no one’s going to sit on it.”
4. Jaime Lannister told Brienne that he didn’t love her
This scene occurred in the episode before the finale, however, during the audio commentary in the making-of, it was revealed that the showrunners had Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) tell Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) a “secret line”.
In a heartbreaking exchange, a secret line was said: “I don’t love you. No one loves you.”
5. Bran being named King of Westeros is author George R.R. Martin’s planned ending for the books
Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) noted that “Bran is the only probably pure person in there and the fact he cannot father children is key because they’ve repeated the cycle in this Westerosi history of heirs being really bad.”
6. Aria leaves Westeros to be an explorer
This was never explicitly said in the finale, however it was heavily implied and was confirmed by the showrunners.
7. The showrunners reveal their favourite seasons
Benioff said that seasons 4, 6 and 8 were his favourite to make, while Clarke revealed season 4 was her favourite because “everybody was in a groove but we were so far from the end we didn’t have to worry about the ending… 4 was peak fun.”
8. Gwendoline Christie learnt calligraphy for her final scene
Production spent three days getting the short, yet powerful scene of Brienne filling out Jamie Lannister’s story in the White Book right.
9. The infamous Starbucks coffee cup was not from Starbucks at all
While coffee cup culprit has not been confirmed, it was shared that the coffee cup was not from Starbucks at all, but was from a local Belfast coffee shop called Established Coffee.