How George RR Martin’s ‘least favourite’ Game of Thrones scene was ‘fixed’ in House of the Dragon episode 3
Author said the scene was the one he disliked most ‘in all eight seasons’ of the series
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Your support makes all the difference.House of the Dragon just fixed what George RR Martin described as his “least favourite” Game of Thrones scene.
The author, who was a consultant on GoT, is taking a much more hands-on approach with the recently released spin-off.
It has already been noted how, in the first few episodes, there have been several changes to reflect book details that David Benioff and DB Weiss skipped while making GoT.
Episode three of House of the Dragon had the most striking difference yet, which seemed to be an intentional way of correcting a scene Martin has been vocal about disliking.
In fact, Martin said of the GoT scene in question: “Where we really fell down in terms of budget was my least favourite scene in the entire show, in all eight seasons.”
This scene came in the first season, and it was when King Robert Baratheon goes on an ill-fated boar hunt.
In his book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, Martin wrote (as per The Hollywood Reporter): “Four guys walking on foot through the woods carrying spears and Robert is giving Renly s***. In the book, Robert goes off hunting, we get word he was gored by a boar, and they bring him back and he dies. So I never [wrote a hunting scene].”
He continued: “But I knew what a royal hunting party was like. There would have been a hundred guys. There would have been pavilions. There would have been huntsmen. There would have been dogs. There would have been horns blowing – that’s how a king goes hunting! He wouldn’t have just been walking through the woods with three of his friends holding spears hoping to meet a boar.”
In the latest House of the Dragon instalment, titled “Second of His Name”, the hunting party of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is shown to be precisely how Martin envisioned.
House of the Dragon showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, who last week announced he had quit the show, previously revealed that the author stepped in to offer his views on certain things he wanted to be included in the show – and one detail that was drastically changed to match his book description is the Iron Throne.
The throne featured in House of the Dragon is more aligned the one in Martin’s source material than the one in Game of Thrones was.
Following the release of the latest episode, viewers are cottoning on the fact that the time jumps between each epsiodes will soon lead to the departure of a main cast member, who has swiflty become a fan favourite.
Also, actor Daniel Scott-Smith confirmed a fan theory linking his mysterious character Crabfeeder to Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon continues Sundays in the US on HBO at 9pm. The episode is simulcast on Monday mornings in the UK on NOW, and is shown again at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.
Find The Independent’s episode three recap here.
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