Game of Thrones isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs, is it? But oddly enough it’s made us all laugh quite a bit over the years, whether from scathing witticisms or broad physical comedy. Every season, including the final one, has a great deal of humor laced between the dark and dramatic moments to lift us up and avoid weighing down the audience too heavily. It’s with that in mind we celebrate the funniest scenes of season 8, nominated by our readers. Your task this week: narrow it down to your favorite 5, in our preliminary round of voting!
Please choose your five favorites from the preliminary poll. The ground rules: Select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. You can choose fewer if you like, but you can’t choose more than 5. (Visit the initial WotW Awards post for a complete explanation of the rules and process.)
At the end of one week (Saturday 09/07/19 at 10PM Eastern Time), whichever five scenes have the most votes will continue on to the finals. The results of the poll will be revealed when it’s time to choose the winnerof Funniest Scene in a few weeks.
Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss aren’t known for extensive interviews, and that’s been particularly true after this final season. Not that it came as a surprise: for months before the final season aired, they made clear that their post-season plan was to hole up without an internet connnection, relax for the first time in a decade, and get drunk. It appears their vacation may be over, as they have now addressed the final season in a new video interview coming out of Japan.
This surprising interview comes from Star Channel, the Japanese group of premium television channels that airs Game of Thrones. The showrunners were asked about the show’s legacy has turned out to be in their lives and to the world:
“To have [the show] become what it became, and to be able to spend not one year or two years but more than ten years of our lives making it at this level, with [all] the people [behind the camera] that we got to work with…”, Weiss trails off. “We didn’t have any idea that the show would be so big,” Benioff follows up his companion’s thought. “When we first started going to Northern Ireland, where we shot the show, the customs officers would ask us what we were doing there; we’s say ‘we’re working on this show…’ [and they’d be like] ‘what is it, Game of Thornes?’ And then, by the third season, [at London’s] Heathrow Airport, the [customs] guy was reading A Game of Thrones, George’s book, and we knew that something was starting to cross the threshold of public awareness.”
For the first time since the finale, the showrunners address the controversial final season, with Benioff highlighting his favorite scene when asked about it:
“One [season eight scene] that sticks out to me, because Brienne of Tarth has always been one of our favorite characters, is the moment where she’s knighted by Jaime Lannister; it’s just a wonderful thing in the story, and to see Gwen’s face in that moment… I’ve probably seen that scene four hundred times and every time it gets me. It makes me a little bit thrilled, it makes me tear up. I love that scene.”
Regarding the infamous coffee cup incident a few episodes later, in which a coffee shop cup briefly appeared on the table during a feast scene in “The Last of the Starks”, Benioff gets a bit philosophical about it, though with a definite tone of irony:
“I think in Persian rugs it’s tradition that you make a little mistake when making the rug, because only God can do anything perfect, so for us I guess that just was our [mistake].” Weiss interrupts, jokingly: “That’s why I put the coffee cup there. Conscious, concerted statement of our imperfection.” The real answer, provided by Benioff, is of course not as funny: “We were concentrating so much on Daenerys and Jon Snow that we just didn’t see this coffee cup right in the middle. So, at first I couldn’t believe it, and then it was embarassment; ‘how did we not see this coffee cup in the middle of the shot?’. And then, eventually, it was just funny. This one is just a mistake, and it’s kind of funny to us now.”
Finally, as for the the astounding (and record-breaking) 32 Emmy nominations the final season received, Weiss welcomes them for the sake of the cast and crew’s hard work but rather candidly admits he did not expect the show to break its own record again:
“It was kind of surprising? I did not know that we expected [that]. At least in my mind, I thought that the [previous] season would have been the peak and that we would’ve ended up with maybe a couple less, at best,” Weiss emphasizes. “I felt very happy for all of our team of people, all of the actors and all of the crew who got recognized. Each made us feel really proud of them and happy for them, because we know first-hand how hard they worked; we saw it every day for many years.”
“And it’s also just fun,” Benioff interjects, “because once people get nominated, that means they come to L.A. for the ceremonies. Ten of the actors are nominated, and so many of the crew members, so it’s just a great excuse for everyone to get drunk again.”
Things have been quiet, as expected, on the Game of Thrones spinoff front since filming completed on the pilot in mid-July, in Italy. But as always in the world of GoT, fresh casting news crops up after the fact as actors’ resumes fill out slowly, providing us with new surprises, letting the fun roll out for months to come.
The newest Blood Moon casting comes to us today via a tip from our friends at Redanian Intelligence.
According to the actor’s CV, Irish actor Tadhg Murphy has filmed a role in the Game of Thrones prequel.
There are no details at the moment as to what role he’s playing in the prequel pilot, as HBO is keeping things hush-hush, and the actor’s resume lists only the show and the director S.J. Clarkson, no character name. Currently Murphy is best known to audiences for his roles on Vikings as Arne and Black Sails as the real-life pirate Ned Low. He had a recurring role in the TNT show Will (which co-starred Jamie Campbell Bower), and will be appearing in the upcoming third season of the Amazon series Absentia.
I really enjoyed Murphy in his Black Sails and Vikings roles so hopefully HBO has something meaty for him to work with. This is still just a pilot, so it’s hard to know who is in for a long run or not, but we can wish!
Experience the beautiful photography of Helen Sloan in one of these new art books
You might have heard of the four-book Game of Thrones art book collection from Insight Editions and HBO, announced back in March, which aims to highlight the show’s absolutely beautiful photography, storyboards, art, and costumes. “The Storyboards” is out now (Buy Now!, etc), and “The Costumes” is coming soon, but what we bring you today is a sneak peek of Michael Kogge’s book on Helen Sloan’s iconic photography, as well as the striking cover for Jody Revenson and production designer Deborah Riley’s volume on the imaginative art created to inspire GOT’s production design.
“The Photography of Game of Thrones”, written by Michael Kogge, offers you a window into the world of Westeros and Essos through the work of Helen Sloan, the principal stills photographer for the series. This deluxe, 320 page-long hardcover compendium, which will be available on November 12, 2019 for $75.00, gives fans a rare behind the scenes peek at some of their favorite characters and moments in gorgeous detail.
Here is a preview of what the tome will offer:
Helen Sloan has compiled the most iconic shots from the acclaimed show. The best of her collection, along with the work of the unit photography team, is featured here.
Bold and gorgeously crafted, The Photography of Game of Thrones captures in striking detail the scope and nuance of the show, celebrating a world of iconic characters, shocking moments, breathtaking locations, and much more.
Finally, there is “The Art of Game of Thrones,” with this astounding cover featuring the concept art for the early Daenerys scene in the show’s final episode. Written by Jody Revenson and Deborah Riley, this 320-page book is filled with gorgeous illustrations and artwork, and will be available later in November 2019, for $75.00 as well.
Deborah Riley, who started working on Game of Thrones as its production designer for the fourth season, has earned four consecutive Emmy Awards, three Art Directors Guild Awards, and a BAFTA for her work on the epic, groundbreaking series. This beautifully crafted book presents a visual chronicle of the early concept stages of Riley’s team; all the meticulous work done by artists to bring the world of Westeros to life on-screen.
Fans will recognize thrilling moments and stunning locations from the show. Showcasing a multitude of fascinating and beautifully rendered images and previously unpublished works of art, this collectible book contains the visual legacy of Game of Thrones and is a must-have for fans of the show.
John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, at the Citadel. Photo: HBO
The Night’s Cast, the official podcast of Watchers on the Wall, is continuing our series of Westeros History 101 with another installment in Summer School at the Citadel — so if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with the talk behind the Game of Thrones spinoff in the works, which deals with a Westeros thousands of years older than what we saw in the original show, pick up a quill and have a seat!
Your co-maesters Petra, Samantha and Vanessa are back this week, talking about the Westerlands, the Reach, the Casterlys and early Lannisters, and some other things we may — or may not, it’s still all speculation at this point — see in the still-tentatively-titled Blood Moon.
The podcast is available on iTunes and SoundCloud, and you can follow us on Twitter as well. Happy listening!
So, a fun thing happens when you slaughter a good chunk of the cast before the final season of Game of Thrones– it really clears the decks when it comes time for fandom awards season. In all of our acting categories, the nominees are few and unified enough that we can go ahead and confirm the final nominations for all the performance categories. That is except for one, the category that is an absolute bloodbath every year due to an overabundance of talent. And that’s the one we’ll be voting on today- Best Supporting Actor!
But before the voting, Watchers on the Wall is happy to confirm the finalists for five categories. The nominees for Best Leading Actor are:
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Kit Harington as Jon Snow
Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark
The nominees for Best Leading Actress are:
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are:
Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
Bella Ramsey as Lyanna Mormont
Hannah Murray as Gilly
Our Guest Performer categories are also ready! For Best Guest Actress, our nominees are:
Laura Elphinstone as Nora (In “The Bells”)
Bea Glancy as Teela (In “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and “The Long Night”)
Carice van Houten as Melisandre (In “The Long Night”)
Gemma Whelan as Yara Greyjoy (In “Winterfell”and “The Iron Throne”)
For Best Guest Actor, the nominees are:
Lino Facioli as Robin Arryn (In “The Iron Throne”)
Vladimir Furdik as the Night King (In “The Long Night”)
Harry Grasby as Ned Umber (In “Winterfell”)
Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully (In “The Iron Throne”)
Marc Rissman as Harry Strickland (In “Winterfell” and “The Bells”)
Voting on the above categories will take place with the final round, after we’ve completed the prelim round!
Now, onto Best Supporting Actor… please choose your five favorites from the preliminary poll. The preliminary round rules: Select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. You can choose fewer if you like, but you can’t choose more than 5. (Visit the initial WotW Awards post for a complete explanation of the rules and process.)
At the end of one week (Thursday 08/29/19 at 10PM Eastern Time), whichever five actors have the most votes will continue on to the finals. The results of the poll will be revealed when it’s time to choose the winnerof Best Supporting Actor in a few weeks.
George R.R. Martin speaks at Dublin 2019: An Irish WorldCon last week.
Dublin 2019: An Irish WorldCon, the 77th World Science Fiction Convention, wrapped up just a few days ago in the Irish capital, and the creator of Westeros himself, George R.R. Martin, had been a prominent figure, attending events and giving interviews. It’s always nice to hear from the man who built the fictional world we love, especially when he’s offering interesting tidbits into things like his writing process and how he designed the shape of the fictional continent itself (spoiler: it’s just the map of Ireland turned upside down!).
As part of WorldCon and in conjunction with the Irish Film Institute, Martin gave an extension interview to the website Joe.ie, covering a wide range of questions about Game of Thrones, the prequels, the possibility of pitching his other series to HBO, and much more. The interview is a lengthy one, but some of the intriguing moments include:
In the show, is there an actor, or performance that best encapsulates the character as you envisioned them on the page when you were writing?
Well, that’s a hard question because you’re asking me who’s my favourite child! … They’re all great. You know, the one that was the easiest to cast — although it could have been the hardest to cast — was Tyrion. We never really looked at anyone besides Peter Dinklage. We auditioned no one else for that role.
What’s your ideal writing process like? I’m sure plenty of aspiring writers are curious about what it takes to reach your levels.
It’s different for every writer. I have friends who can write anywhere at anytime. … When I’m in my own place and office with my own computer, I can fall through the page. I can go to Westeros and be these characters. That’s what I need to write. Anything that disrupts that isolation and takes me out of that process, I don’t like that. I do my best work in the morning. I get up early and have a coffee and start to work. Even if I’ve got an appointment at 4 pm, that’s going to distract me at 11 am. Just the knowledge that I’ve to break off at 3:30 pm to make that 4 pm appointment throws me off.
When the show ended, you said you had ‘mixed feelings’ about it because in an ideal world, you wanted it to continue on for more seasons.
Yeah, I’ve got to finish my books. I said everything I had to say about that years ago. There’s enough material in the books that if they had included all of it, we could have gone for 13 seasons instead of eight. Really, we did seven-and-a-half seasons because the last two seasons were shortened. … Who knows? Maybe that was the right decision. You can’t quarrel with the most popular television show in the world, but I have my books in mind and I’m going ahead. I know I’m very slow, but I’ll get there eventually.
How are the prequels going? A few months ago you said that things are coming along nicely but since then, I believe Jane Goldman’s pilot has wrapped filming. That must be good news?
Jane Goldman’s show has wrapped up in Belfast. I just saw her in London, she’s deep in the throes of post-production. I hope to see a cut of it (the pilot) probably by early September.
And you said that there are three other shows are in various stages too?
Well, we’re counting her’s as one of those shows, but there are two others that are still in the script stage.
There’s so much material in your back catalogue that’s perfect for adapting. What would you love to dip into and adapt – not HBO now or another studio – but what would you love to see made?
Any of the material in Fire and Blood. When I was going through that, there’s 20 novels there and at least a dozen TV shows if they want to make them. There will be equally as many in Fire and Blood: Part Two.
Again, the entire interview is much longer than we what summarized here, but definitely worth a read — you can find it in its entirety here.
Meanwhile, the Thrones merch train is making another stop! Two stops, actually, and both will be wonderful additions to anyone’s collection: Funko, maker of those adorable big-headed interpretations of our favorite fictional characters, will be offering new Hodor and Brienne Pop! figurines. Beware, though — both are kind of heart-breaking, albeit for different reasons.
HODOR!
The “Lord Commander of the Kingsguard” Brienne is my favorite Brienne.
Hodor holding the door! Brienne as the knight (and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) she deserves to be! It’s too early in the morning for me to be this teary-eyed. Funko didn’t release any additional information about when these two new Pops will be available or their price points, although website Entertainment Earth has the Hodor one listed at $24.99 with an estimated ship date of January 2020. Take that with a grain of salt, however, since it’s not from the official Funko source. I suggest signing up for Funko’s newsletter so you can get the news directly from them when these two beauties will be ready to take home.
According to HBO, the highly anticipated Game of Thrones spinoff about the Long Night won’t be “the story we think we know,” which begs the question… why? In this video essay I discuss the spinoff’s potential to explore historical revisionism in Westeros and what sort of prequel that might create.
What do you think? Are you hoping for a certain historical/legendary figure to feature in the spinoff? Tell us below.
In anticipation of the Emmy Awards next month, Alfie Allen spoke with Deadline and Gold Derby about his absolute shock at being nominated, the fan reaction to Theon’s story and the importance of talking about your problems.
In his interview with Deadline, Allen’s excitement for his first Emmy nomination was evident. “For me, it’s dream stuff,” he said. “To be nominated alongside people I’ve spent eight, nine, ten years working with; it’s a dream.”
However, he admitted that part of the reason the nomination feels so gratifying is that it’s for playing a character who took him on such dark journey. “Theon was kind of hated. Reviled, in fact, might be the word,” he said.
“I was pouring my all into this character, and I would feel it at times, when I would enter rooms and people would give me a certain look,” he said. “It was like I was wearing a really bad outfit or something. That was testing, at times, without a shadow of a doubt.”
“Even up to the point of getting an Emmy nomination, this character did make me get inside my own head a lot, and there were dark, dark moments. To have fans give the character a pat on the back after all of it, and end it on a note of positivity for Theon, that feels nice.”
One unexpected benefit of the struggle to play Theon was that it got Allen to open up to friends about his problems and helped him realize the importance of addressing mental health issues directly.
“Gwendoline and Kit were the two people (everybody a little bit, but them most so) who were always willing to talk to me about that stuff. There’s a lot to be said about men’s mental health within Theon’s journey to Reek and back again.”
Indeed, Allen said he’d like to address mental health in his work moving forward.
“I’d love to try writing something,” he said. “I’ve always had an idea, again on the topic of men’s mental health, to look at the world of conventions, and make a really positive story set there … It’s about something larger I’m interested in, too, involving mental health, because that idea of the male ego and toxic masculinity, if we can talk about it a little more, and start a next generation without those kinds of ideals, I think that would be a good thing.
“I also have a nine-month-old daughter, so I’m going to try my best to show her that I talk about my problems, rather than projecting them on her. It was something I learned with Theon, where I shied away from talking about how hard it was, and how much I struggled with it. I think if we can just open up and talk about that, and allow ourselves to be more vulnerable, that’s the way forward.”
Allen also spoke with Gold Derby editor Rob Licuria about Theon’s arc and his Emmy nomination, which he really,really, really was not expecting.
“I was just – I still am in shock. I wasn’t expecting it because all that had just kind of faded into ridiculousness that that would even happen,” he said (at :58). “I’m not going to lie. When I first started Thrones there was a part of me that was like, ‘Maybe one day I’ll get an opportunity to be up for an award or something’ but all that faded into … [it] just definitely wasn’t going to happen … It wasn’t that I didn’t have any hope. It just wasn’t realistic. And so for it to happen, it’s just insane.”
Again, Allen expressed how gratifying it is that his long-suffering character ended the series with honor and redemption.
“Now that the character is in more of a positive light … to have that kind of turn around is nice because the fans feel that way about me and the character,” he said (at 10:00) “So, yeah, those dark moments do stay with you but the positive ones do as well.”
When asked about Theon’s arc and his quest for identity and redemption, Allen said he doesn’t think Theon found closure until his death scene.
“I think he only really comes full circle in those last moments, you know?” he said (at 10:52). “… And then, morbid as it may be, you know, that’s what they say, isn’t it? People have those struggles their whole life and if you don’t address them and try to do something about it and kind of take care of your mental health you’ll be on your death bed and realize these moments of clarity when you’ve only got so much of your life left. So, I think we all kind of owe it to ourselves to work through those things and, eh, not have an identity crisis.”
Lastly, Allen talked about how Game of Thrones has changed every aspect of his life. Interacting with fans, though, remains a positive experience for him.
“I’ve not really had any moments of weird fandom. If everyone’s nice I don’t mind, you know?” he said (at 15:47). “Obviously people have related to Theon’s trauma and his aspects of PTSD and I think it’s important that we just talk about that openly moving forward without a shadow of a doubt. It’s all just positive for me.”
Things have been quiet, as expected, on the Game of Thrones spinoff front since filming completed on the pilot in mid-July, 
