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Quick Links Game of Thrones' Final Season Actually Works--For the Most Part Where Does Game of Thrones Season 8 Go Wrong?

Game of Thrones was one of the biggest and most popular television series of its time, but it will forever be marred by what most fans agree is a terrible final season. After years of buildup, the eighth season of HBO's hit fantasy series seemingly fumbled every storyline it had set up, leaving fans utterly devastated by the finale. Many felt that the eighth season felt rushed and that the conclusions to certain storylines were unsatisfying and disappointing. When mentioning popular shows with the worst finales, Game of Thrones is almost always brought up as a contender.

I recently rewatched Game of Thrones in its entirety and was left surprised by my feelings after completing the series for a second time. I hadn't been a fan of the series as...

Aegon the Conqueror is one of the most famous names in Game of Thrones history, so there's a lot to know about the first Targaryen king. By the time of Game of Thrones season 1, Daenerys and her older brother Viserys are believed to be the last survivors of the Targaryen dynasty, a noble family that had been usurped from the Iron Throne of Westeros after a civil war called Robert's Rebellion. The history of House Targaryen is essentially the history of Westeros in the era leading up to Game of Thrones, and there's a ton of fascinating lore to break down.

Aegon II from House of the Dragon and Jon Snow (officially named Aegon Targaryen) from Game of Thrones are both named after Aegon the Conqueror, as are many other characters in Targaryen lore.

Much of what's known about Aegon the Conqueror, or Aegon I Targaryen comes from George R.R. Martin...

In the sprawling landscape of television, few shows have captured global attention and cultural significance like Game of Thrones. With its unprecedented success, HBO saw an opportunity to extend the universe crafted by George R. R. Martin. While that became a reality with the show’s prequel spin-off, House of the Dragon, the production company initially had plans to tackle yet another amazing storyline. However, the plans for that ended up falling through.

George R. R. Martin at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International | Credits: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

In fact, HBO even spent an insane amount of money to shoot the pilot episode. Yet, despite a staggering over $30 million investment, they wound up pulling the plug on the potential prequel that could have given fans a look at the old Westeros and a look at the history of White Walkers.

HBO’s canceled George R.

George R.R. Martin has refrained from making any announcements regarding the next novel in A Song of Ice and Fire series. However, he left a glimmer of hope for fans expecting The Winds of Winter. He shared in 2022 that he was done with approximately three-quarters of the book.

George R.R. Martin on the sets of Game of Thrones | HBO

The mounting pressure to write the next masterpiece may have got to Martin, as he is clearly struggling with the manuscript. While his iconic novel series remains incomplete, Martin has now teased a TV series or film adaptation of the famous video game Elden Ring.

He helped in the world-building of the games alongside creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki.

George R.R. Martin Provided A Glimmer Of Hope For Game Of Thrones Fans A still from Games of Thrones | HBO Entertainment

George R.R. Martin‘s sixth novel, The Winds of Winter,...

When Matt Groening's and David X. Cohen's "Futurama" debuted in 1999, it aired on Fox and fit neatly into the traditional network TV 30-minute time slot. Most half-hour TV shows were typically only about 22 minutes of actual programming, allowing for two extended commercial breaks roughly at the 10-minute mark and the 20-minute mark. Because they were beholden to that stringent schedule, most network TV shows worked their writing down to a science, writing stories that could only be told in a very specific way. To some readers, the structure may sound creatively limiting, but one might also recall that old saying about creation vis-à-vis necessity. For generations, TV writing expertly crafted stories that could fit into 30- or 60-minute time slots with ease, carefully writing in climactic moments or comedic punchlines right at the commercial breaks. 

This structure certainly aided "Futurama," which was forced to be jaunty and light...

While not every television show needs stunning cinematography to tell its story, some of the medium’s most visually immersive efforts would work well on the big screen. Historically, television cinematography was not seen as the medium’s strong suit. Television’s faster production schedule and the medium’s comparatively lower budgets resulted in TV show creators prioritizing storytelling over technical prowess. This led low-budget, self-contained formats like the sitcom and the soap opera to become television staples. However, in recent years, TV has focused more on craft.

Since the 2000s, and even more so during the height of the streaming boom of the 2010s, television budgets have grown exponentially. As a result, TV shows have become much more ambitious. Admittedly, there were always action shows that were particularly impactful, thrillers that looked dynamic despite their budgets, and horror TV shows that were genuinely frightening. But, in the last two decades,...

“I tried to imagine what would be coming; in my wildest dreams it was a battle between a live dragon and a dead dragon,” admits “Game of Thrones” sound designer Paula Fairfield about her expectation for the final season of the Emmy winning show. She continues, “I did not imagine an air fight between all three. That was insane.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

That three-way dragon battle took place in “The Long Night” episode, for which she’s nominated for an Emmy for Best Sound Editing (One-Hour Series). The episode centers on a monumental battle between human forces at Winterfell and the Night King’s army of the undead. It is the biggest battle ever filmed for the medium and the episode runs 80 minutes. Including Fairfield, it has been nominated for nine Emmys.

See‘Game of Thrones’ could make Emmy history with 9 wins for ‘The Long Night’

In...

At this point, setting Emmy records is old hat for “Game of Thrones,” but it’s on the verge of yet another according to our readers. The show’s epic battle episode “The Long Night,” which ends with the downfall of the Night King and his undead army, could win more awards than any other single episode in TV history. And 60% of our readers think it will do just that. Scroll down for our complete poll results.

The current record is six trophies. That distinction is shared by two TV spectacles: the Martin Scorsese-directed “Boardwalk Empire” pilot and the “Battle of the Bastards” episode of “Game of Thrones.” Now “Thrones” could best its own record since “The Long Night” has nine nominations, for its direction, hairstyling, non-prosthetic makeup, prosthetic makeup, music composition, picture editing, sound editing, sound mixing and for Carice van Houten‘s guest performance. The only achievement...

“Game of Thrones” has a bunch of Emmy records to its name — most wins by a primetime series, most wins by a series in a single year, most nominations for a drama, most nominations for a drama in a single year, to name a few — but it might add another one in September that it, safe to say, definitely does not want: most Best Drama Supporting Actress nominations without a win.

Thanks to its quadruple bids for Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, “Thrones” has topped out at 12 nominations in this category, breaking down to five for Headey, three for Emilia Clarke (now in lead), two for Williams, and one each for Christie and Turner. That’s the second most nominations for a show in drama supporting actress behind “Hill Street Blues,” which bagged 13. But unlike “Hill Street Blues,” which won for Alfre Woodard and Betty Thomas,...

According to our latest Emmy odds, Lena Headey will finally claim Best Drama Supporting Actress for “Game of Thrones,” but we think her co-star Maisie Williams is a serious threat. However, the Emmys don’t usually reward actors as young as she is — she’s only 22. In fact, if Williams does prevail she would be the youngest champ in exactly 40 years.

The last time anyone younger than Williams prevailed in this category was in 1979, when Kristy McNichol won the second of her two Emmys for playing Letitia “Buddy” Lawrence on “Family.” Before that she had claimed the prize in 1977. She accepted the first award on her 15th birthday, while the second came when she was a few days shy of her 17th birthday.

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Williams isn’t alone among young women in this category. Her 23-year-old co-star Sophie Turner and 25-year-old...

As if Game of Thrones devotees don't have enough to keep up with between fan theories, celebrity recaps, and prequel news, it's now come to our attention that the opening credits foreshadow events on the show . . . and they're constantly shifting.

Elastic, the production studio behind the breathtaking sequence (as well as other memorable openers for Westworld and True Detective), gave an in-depth interview to BuzzFeed News. According to Kirk Shintani, the art director for the season eight credits, we should stay glued to our televisions during those introductory moments. "I'll say that there are differences in every single episode. From episode to episode, pay attention, because there's lots of hints scattered around."

While the series has traditionally added minor tweaks from week to week, the season eight credits have a surprising new element. The point-of-view camera that flies through destinations on the clockwork map of Essos and Westeros now has...

“Game of Thrones” backlash hit a new level of outrage following the series’ penultimate episode, “The Bells.” Daenerys’ transformation into the Mad Queen has divided fans like no other twist in the show’s eight-season history. Other final season decisions, from Cersei’s uneventful death to Brienne losing her virginity to Jaime, also have been met with similar rage. While backlash can yield important critical perspectives (read IndieWire’s essay on “Thrones'” disrespectful treatment of women), the conversation around “Thrones” has gotten so drowned out by fans upset with the storytelling that barley anyone is giving attention to the one person who deserves overwhelming praise for “The Bells”: Director Miguel Sapochnik.

“The Bells” marked Sapochnik’s final episode of “Thrones” and capped off a six-episode directorial run that stands as some of the best filmmaking television or movies has seen this decade. Sapochnik got his start in film with his 2010 debut “Repo Men,...

George R. R. Martin can’t get enough of Avengers: Endgame.

The Game of Thrones creator, 70, praised the blockbuster film on his blog on May 4 in which he called it “amazing.”

“Kudos to the writers and director. I cannot believe they got all those characters into one film, and still managed to do them all justice,” he wrote. “The final battle was epic, exciting, thrilling, full of twists and turns… and strangely beautiful.”

Martin continued, “But the character scenes earlier in the film really made it for me. The opening with Hawkeye, the Ant-Man scenes, Tony Stark’s moments communing with his helm…...

Updated: A petition by an angry fan demanding that HBO remake the final season of “Game of Thrones” has now been signed by more than 400,000 people.

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are the target of the petition, which asserts that the pair, who have shepherded the HBO hit from the beginning, “have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on.” The show first moved beyond George R.R. Martin’s ongoing book series in the sixth season.

The online petition, which was started on Change.org by a user called Dylan D., is titled “Remake ‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 with competent writers” and states that fans of the smash-hit show deserve “a final season that makes sense.”

The petition was created following Monday’s episode, “The Bells,” which drew strong negative reactions from fans online over the...

‘Me & My Left Brain’.

Used to the quick turnaround of theatre production, Alex Lykos purposely crafted comedy Me & My Left Brain, released in cinemas today, as a low budget film that could be financed and produced quickly.

That was in part due to his frustration with the fact it took more than six years for his previous film, Alex & Eve – which he wrote based on his stageplay of the same name – to get to screen.

“The process was so slow, long and filled with so many setbacks. I went away, and thought for me – someone who has Adhd – I need to find a model to tell a story on film that could be a little bit more efficient,” Lykos tells If.

Me & My Left Brain is also based on a Lykos stageplay – ‘The Long Night’; he wrote the screen adaptation, moved into the director’s chair for the first time,...

One of the worst fears “Game of Thrones” fans had going into the final season’s third episode, “The Long Night,” was that the Army of the Dead attacking Winterfell would include the resurrected zombie versions of such beloved characters as Kristian Nairn’s Hodor. While the writers fortunately did not go down that painful route, they did once discuss the potential for beloved dead characters to return as white walkers. Vanity Fair has published exclusive storyboards from the show’s main storyboard artist, William Simpson, that reveal there was a plan at some point in early development to revive dead characters and have them join the Army of the Dead.

Per Simpson’s art, the seventh season premiere “Dragonstone” was originally set to feature the zombie version of the dead wildling Karsi (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen). The character became a fan favorite after her appearance in the battle episode “Hardhome,...

Remember after "The Long Night" when some Game of Thrones fans were raging about the fact that not enough of our "heroes" had died in the Battle of Winterfell? That was cute. Now that the body bags have started to stack up even more, only a Mad Queen could complain about a lack of carnage this

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Other Links From TVGuide.com Game of ThronesKit HaringtonMaisie WilliamsLena HeadeyNikolaj Coster-WaldauEmilia Clarke...

Game of Thrones burned down all competition and its own ratings records with the series’ penultimate episode Sunday. Flying fast toward its May 19 series finale, the blockbuster hit an all-time viewership high for itself and HBO with the battle-thick “The Bells.”

Snagging a linear audience of 12.5 million, the second-to-last episode of the eighth and final season of series executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss rose 6% in viewership from last week’s episode “The Last of the Starks.” Topping Sunday night on cable and broadcast, that 12.5 million is also the best any HBO show has done — ever.

Compared to the previous viewership high of the 12.2 million who watched GoT’s April 28-airing “The Long Night” episode, the dark and bloody battle of Winterfell that ended with the death of the Night King, “The Bells” bopped up 2.3%

In the 18-49 demographic, which isn’t really that important to the subscriber-based premium cabler,...

Luckily there are precious few Nielsen homes in King’s Landing, because Game of Thrones‘ penultimate episode ever set new records for the HBO saga.

The fifth episode of Season 8, titled “The Bells,” delivered an audience of 12.5 million in linear viewership alone, topping the previous record (12.1 million) set by the Season 7 finale.

Across all HBO platforms (linear, HBO Go and HBO Now), the fiery episode amassed a record 18.4 million viewers, exceeding the previous series high of 17.8 million (set two weeks ago by “The Long Night” aka The Battle of Winterfell).

Is a total audience of 20 million possible (or predestined) for the series’ grand finale,...

(Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you do not what to know what happened on Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” episode, “The Bells.”)

Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” broke the series record for multiplatform tune-in, with the penultimate episode, titled “The Bells,” drawing 18.4 million viewers. That includes linear viewing on HBO and streaming on HBO Go and HBO Now.

Last week’s episode, “The Last of the Starks,” drew 17.2 million multiplatform viewers. The week before that held the prior series record, as 17.8 million people watched “The Long Night” on the final Sunday in April.

On “The Bells,” which is alternatively known as “Game of Thrones” Episode 805, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) brings her army to King’s Landing to fight the “last war” against Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) to see who will claim the Iron Throne. But when the Mother of Dragons hears those titular bells ringing, signaling surrender from Cersei’s side,...

The third episode of Game of Thrones eighth and final season, The Long Night, saw the Stark's ancestral home at the brink of devastation. Winterfell is, in fact, the largest castle in the seven kingdoms, but it's far from the easiest to defend out of the many castles that stand in Westeros.

Perhaps if the combined forces of Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow were holed up in a different castle, it wouldn't have taken quite the loss of life as we saw in the Battle of Winterfell to defeat the Night King and his army of undead. In fact, here are 10 castles that would have been easier to defend against the Night King than Winterfell.

Related: Game of Thrones: 10 Facts About Winterfell That The Show Leaves Out...

Warning: The following story contains spoilers about the third episode of “Game of Thrones” Season 8, “The Long Night.”

Even though HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones” has produced acting nominations for eight of its cast members at the Primetime Emmy Awards, only Peter Dinklage has won, 2011, 2015 and 2018. The guest acting categories in particular have been dark and full of terrors for “Thrones” actors, as they’ve had a difficult time getting into, let alone winning them. Carice van Houten could finally turn the tide, now that she’s eligible in the drama guest actress race after her character Melisandre’s surprise return in “The Long Night.”

So far, Diana Rigg and Max von Sydow are the only actors from this show to have snatched guest acting nominations, the former received four bids, while the latter received one (2016). Although Rigg was expected to win the Best Drama Guest Actress Emmy...

A lot happens in each episode of Game of Thrones. So every week, we’re drilling down on one memorable scene in particular. Full spoilers for this week’s episode, “The Bells,” coming up.

Two weeks ago, Arya Stark singlehandedly saved the world.

This week, she nearly became one of thousands of innocent, anonymous victims of Dany and Drogon’s rampage through the skies above King’s Landing.

Game of Thrones Recap: For Whom the Bells Toll

Back in “The Long Night,” she leaped in from nowhere to wipe out...

We spend the first 35 minutes of the penultimate episode of the final season of “Game of Thrones” wondering if or when the Battle of King’s Landing will come, but the opening credits – and, you know, this whole show – tell us that peace isn’t happening. Seeing that “The Bells” is directed by Miguel Sapochnik, the helmer of this year’s”The Long Night” (and pretty much every big battle episode of the show), indicates that we will not escape this episode without a fight, despite a moment where it looks like we just might.

Continue reading ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 8: Death & Destruction Arrive At King’s Landing In ‘The Bells’ [Recap] at The Playlist.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “Game of Thrones” Season 8, Episode 5, “The Bells.”]

Even though there’s only one remaining episode of “Game of Thrones,” there was always going to be a question of how much would be left unanswered when the show cut to black for the last time. Through that lens, it’s hard not to see the series’ penultimate installment, called “The Bells” as anything but an answer to anyone who would want to see this thread of A Song of Ice and Fire lore to continue. “More of this? You’re sure you want more of this?” Though “Game of Thrones” has never shied away from brutality, much of what remains as the show limps to its final week is charred ruins, a literal scorched-earth sendoff for a handful of seminal series characters.

The episode’s first farewell, delivered solemnly on a cliff outside Dragonstone, is delivered both to and from Varys...

Alec Bojalad May 13, 2019

Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5 introduced a white horse...or pale horse. What could it mean?

The following contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 "The Bells."

You know what it's like. You've just discovered that your older brother's girlfriend is every much the insane murderous tyrant that her father is. You've just narrowly survived her sacking the biggest city in the continent with her mandate of fire and blood. Then you fight your way out of the rubble only to see...a white horse. 

That's the situation that young Arya Stark finds herself in at the end of Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 "The Bells." Clearly the wordless moment between Arya and the white horse bears some significance. In fact, it's the very final scene of the very busy episode. But what are we to make of that white horse? Is it an important "character" within the story?...

Spoiler Alert: This article contains details of tonight’s penultimate episode of Game of Thrones’ eighth & final season.

If you thought the swords on Game of Thrones were being fundamentally sheathed after the long and dark battle of Winterfell a few weeks ago, tonight’s expanded second-to-last “The Bells” episode of the HBO blockbuster burned down the house or at least the armada of the Iron Fleet and most of King’s Landing.

Harking to the best of World War II films, the long near silence of the carnage to come is broken about halfway through tonight’s 82-minute finale when, like a Spitfire mixed with a flying fortress over the English Channel, a fully armored Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) and her remaining dragon Drogan come screaming through the clouds like angels of death to obliterate the pirate fleet of Cersei Lannister’s (Lena Headey) latest lover and main line of offense,...

Are you still out there, Game of Thrones fans? Or did season eight's fourth episode, "The Last of the Starks," completely destroy you? Well, regardless of whether or not any of us are emotionally prepared for the fifth episode of the eighth season of the HBO fantasy epic, it's coming. And judging from the preview above, all hell is about to break loose.

The fifth episode, the title of which is yet to be revealed, will be one of the longest in Game of Thrones history, clocking in at 80 minutes when it debuts on May 12. It looks like both sides in the war for the Iron Throne are getting ready for battle and tensions are rapidly rising. Now that several people know Jon's secret and Deanerys seems on the edge of breaking down, what will come of all our heroes?

Watch the clip above and see how Westeros will recover...

“Game of Thrones” fans who are dreading the end of their beloved HBO series will get one final chance to celebrate their favorite fantasy when the “Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience” kicks off a 20-city amphitheater tour Sept. 5 in Syracuse, N.Y.

Ramin Djawadi’s Emmy-winning score will be played by symphony orchestras in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and 17 other cities in the U.S. and Canada while classic scenes from throughout the series, including the eighth and final season, are projected on giant screens in “an immersive outdoor concert experience,” according to promoters.

Djawadi himself will lead the orchestras at Jones Beach Theater in New York on Sept. 14; at Five Point Amphitheatre in Irvine, Calif. on Oct. 4; and at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Oct. 5.

“Having first conceptualized the tour several years ago, Ramin will be reworking and redeveloping the musical and visual elements of...

Warning: big Game of Thrones spoilers below!

If anyone expected Game of Thrones to go easy on us after the Battle of Winterfell, episode four is a lesson well learned. While season eight's "The Last of the Starks" doesn't have a high body count, it does feature a hugely significant death that viewers are still shaken by.

Following the intense - and frustratingly hard to see - events of "The Long Night," Daenerys and whatever is left of her retinue set forward on her campaign to challenge Cersei for the Iron Throne. Despite their victory in Winterfell, Daenerys's soldiers are sorely outnumbered by Cersei's forces - she has the Lannister army, as well as Euron's troops and the Golden Company at her beck and call. But Daenerys still has her two dragons and fighters faithful to her cause, which has gotten her this far.

Confident that an immediate attack on Cersei is what's best,...

Bruce Willis has been brought aboard the action-thriller The Long Night, from Matt Eskandari, and screenwriter Doug Wolfe.

Willis will star in the film wherein “two ruthless criminals break into a disgraced doctor’s home to be given medical attention after one of them is shot during a robbery gone wrong. Knowing that he lacks the expertise to patch up the injured trespasser, the doctor must protect his family at all costs.”

This sounds like a very Bruce Willis type role with lots of action and suspense. This movie is still very early in development, but in the mean time, we will see Willis in the Eskandari directed film Trauma Center, as well as the upcoming Die Hard franchise film, McClane, and the soonest film coming out, the crime drama Motherless Brooklyn, which will be out in November.

Are you excited to see Willis in his upcoming action and drama roles?...

"Everything that has a beginning, has an end." This may be a line from the tremendous Matrix Trilogy but it's also perfectly suitable for Game of Thrones.  Since we're currently in the middle of the final season, and just experienced one of the most exhausting, intense, and relentless, battle-sequences of all time in The Long Night, it's the perfect time to go back and look at the endings of the series' most beloved characters. Some of the Game of Thrones characters who have passed on were given tremendous final scenes worthy of their greatness. In fact, we deeply miss these characters and wish that they were still around in the fight. But other characters haven't been so lucky. Whether it was their fault or that of the writers, the exits of these characters actually harmed the integrity and quality of the beloved show. This article will dive deep into some of these moments,...

All aboard the Cannes Marché hype train to Promising Projectville! Please be sure to hold on to all of your belongings, and don't forget, folks. If you see something, say something. It's been announced that Bruce Willis has been chosen to star in Matt Eskandari’s action thriller The Long Night. Doug Wolfe is your scribe for this home…...

“I’m fuming about how Daenerys is being treated,” I declare to Riley Chow and Luca Giliberti in our 30-minute recap of “The Last of the Starks,” the fourth “Game of Thrones” episode in season 8, which aired on Sunday, May 5. Watch our exclusive video slugfest above.

Spoilers Ahead For This Episode:

After years of rising from exile, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is showing how hard it is for a woman to earn respect in the seven kingdoms of Westeros, and it’s a commentary that cuts unfortunately close to the real world. I explain that “you have all these people in the North praising Jon Snow, saying he should be King because he rode a dragon. How many battles does a woman need to ride a dragon in to get the same treatment? Daenerys has done it for seasons!”

The celebration of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who has failed to meet strategic and military expectations,...

The last few weeks have been full of twists, turns, and surprises for Game of Thrones fans. Even though the eighth and final season kicked off a little slowly – replete with heartfelt monologues, a few steamy scenes, and a few shocking deaths – things have certainly ramped up as of late.

“The Long Night,” which aired back in April, treated longtime viewers to more than an hour of some truly grueling combat, not to mention a few intense standoffs and tragic deaths. Last week’s episode, meanwhile, “The Last of the Starks,” was a more subdued affair, though it’s been front and center on social media for the past couple of days.

As wild as this season has been, some fans are a little concerned with the direction the series is taking. With only two episodes left, Game of Thrones devotees are wondering how the writing team and showrunners are...

Exclusive: Bruce Willis is set to star in Matt Eskandari’s action thriller The Long Night for Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films.

The pic marks the 16th collaboration between Willis and producers Randall Emmett and George Furla. It’s also the second feature between the Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films CEOs and co-founders and Eskandari following Trauma Center, which also stars Willis and is in post.

In The Long Night from screenwriter Doug Wolfe, two ruthless criminals break into a disgraced doctor’s home to be given medical attention after one of them is shot during a robbery gone wrong. Knowing that he lacks the expertise to patch up the injured trespasser, the doctor must protect his family at all costs.

Cameras will roll on June 3 in Columbus, Georgia in concert with the Columbus Film Fund. Emmett and Furla will produce with Tim Sullivan, Alex Eckert, and Ted Fox serving as executive producers.

“Game of Thrones” is all about giving screen time to the Seven Kingdoms’ power players, like Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey. But every once in a while, the HBO fantasy series slips in some great celebrity cameos — though a few have been so discrete you may have missed them.

Sure, you remember Ed Sheeran as a singing soldier and by now you know about the “GoT” Season 8 premiere’s big connection to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” But TheWrap is willing to bet all the precious Dragonglass in Westeros you haven’t caught every famous face that’s dropped by “Game of Thrones” unannounced.

See our round-up of the top 11 cameos in the show’s history and one famous face that was going to make it into a scene, and why they didn’t.

Also Read: 'Game of Thrones' Director David Nutter Talks 'Pouring Gasoline' on Daenerys' Fire,...

The last few weeks have been full of shocks and surprises for Game of Thrones fans. While the eighth and final season got off to a bit of a slow start – with tons of character development, a bit of dragon riding, and some accidental incest thrown in for good measure – the last two episodes have left their mark on the cultural landscape.

“The Long Night,” which originally aired on April 28th, treated longtime viewers to 80-plus minutes of blood-soaked fighting, not to mention a few intense standoffs and tragic deaths. Sunday’s episode meanwhile, “The Last of the Starks,” was a more subdued affair, though it’s been front and center on social media for the past couple of days.

Aside from a hilarious slip up involving a Starbucks cup making its way into one scene (said coffee cup has since been digitally removed from the episode), a monologue delivered...

Update, 12:54 Pm: There were no viewership records broken by the latest episode of Game of Thrones this weekend, but the near end of the battle for the Iron Throne was still very strong.

With HBOGo and HBO Now data plus additional linear airs added, the May 5 “The Last of the Starks” snagged 17.2 million viewers.

Put in the bluntest terms possible, that’s a dip of 3.8% from the all-time series high of the epic battle of April 28’s “The Long Night, which was the longest GoT ever at 82-minutes. Slipping a scant 1.1% from the Season 8 opener of April 14, the fourth episode of the eighth and final season of GoT is actually the third most watched episode of the David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Ep’d blockbuster ever.

At least until next week’s penultimate episode and May 19’s series finale.

Previously, 7:38 Am: There was one dragon down on the...

(Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you do not what to know anything that happened on Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” episode, “The Last of the Starks.”)

The latest “Game of Thrones” may not have broken the series record, but it still did darn good: 17.2 million viewers tuned in to watch “The Last of the Starks” on Sunday across multiple platforms, per HBO.

A week prior, “The Long Night” set a new series record with 17.8 million multiplatform viewers. That was up 12% from the prior week, and topped the Season 8 premiere by 400,000 viewers.

This week saw a 3.4% viewer decline.

Sunday’s Episode 804, “The Last of the Starks,” revealed the aftermath of the Battle of Winterfell and Jon Snow’s and Daenerys’ plans to head south and take King’s Landing, and thus the Iron Throne, from Cersei Lannister. But the Lion Queen had her own strategy brewing in the background with Euron Greyjoy.

There will likely continue to be a look of drinking on Game of Thrones but Daenerys Targaryen won’t be having a latte anymore.

After attracting a deluge of attention online and otherwise, the Starbucks-ish cup that sneaked its way in front of Emilia Clarke’s character on Sunday’s “The Last of the Starks” has been digitally removed by HBO from all future airings of the fourth episode of the eighth and final season.

Making sure our eyes weren’t deceiving us, an HBO spokesperson confirmed removal of the cup to Deadline this morning.

That means if you are trying to catch up on the David Nutter-directed “Starks” episode on HBOGo or Hbc Now or linear repeats, the fancy java all your pals were tweeting about will not be part of the drama.

Spotted in the victory banquet celebrating the defeat of the Night King and his...

After last week’s epic Battle of Winterfell posted record numbers for “Game of Thrones” viewership, it’s no surprise that this week’s episode, “The Last of the Starks,” has come in slightly lower.

Episode four of the final season drew 11.8 million total viewers during its initial broadcast, meaning it was down 200,000 viewers on last week’s episode, which was watched by 12.02 million viewers in the same window.

However, “The Last of the Starks” did manage to impressively equal the initial total viewership for the season 8 premiere, and also topped episode two, which posted the lowest initial broadcast viewership of the season so far with 10.29 million total viewers. The episode now has the third highest initial figures in “Thrones” history, behind only last week’s “The Long Night” and the season seven finale, which posted 12.07 million.

“The Long Night,” which was also the longest ever episodes for the series,...

Here’s something that’ll surely stir the Game of Thrones coffee pot a bit.

By now, you’ve hopefully heard about Starbucks staking its claim in Westeros last Sunday. In a scene where the survivors of “The Long Night” are celebrating their insanely narrow victory, courtesy of Arya Stark, a stray coffee cup mysteriously appeared onscreen. It was on the table Daenerys was sitting at, silently enjoying the raucous show.

One would think that’d be the end of it. HBO and Starbucks have (sort of) issued statements on the matter, and the whole thing should become yesterday’s news by tomorrow. But here’s yet another dragon-sized plot twist: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the heads of the freaking show itself, were in the same scene as the now-famous cup.

Don’t believe me? Well, Twitter says it’s true, so there.

Oh My God, the showrunners were...

Following the record-setting numbers for the Battle of Winterfell, ratings for Game of Thrones retreated just a tiny bit in the final season's fourth episode.

Sunday's installment of the HBO juggernaut, "The Last of the Starks," featured the dawn of a new battle (and an errant coffee cup). It drew 11.8 million viewers for its first airing, down a scant 2 percent from the previous week.

The April 28 episode, "The Long Night," drew the show's second-largest initial audience ever (12.02 million viewers) on its way to a single-night record of 17.8 ...

(Warning: This post contains spoilers through the fourth episode of “Game of Thrones” Season 8, titled “The Last of the Starks.”)

As the director of three of the six final “Game of Thrones” episodes, David Nutter might know more about what’s going in Westeros than anyone who isn’t named Dan “D.B.” Weiss or David Benioff (the HBO series’ creators).

However, his journey with viewers ended after Sunday’s “The Last of the Starks,” which saw most of our important players — including Daenerys, Jon Snow, Tyrion, Missandei (R.I.P.), Grey Worm, Varys, Arya and The Hound — leave the North following their victory in the Battle of Winterfell to head to King’s Landing. They had many different reasons for their trek down to Cersei and Nutter was instrumental in setting them all up last night.

TheWrap spoke with him Monday about directing not just that episode, but two...

Breaking: In a show that is as meticulous about everything as Game of Thrones, how did a very 21st century coffee cup end up in last night’s “The Last of the Starks” episode? More important, how did the beverage find itself sitting in front of Emilia Clarke’s Mother of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen

Well, after the slip-up — or sip-up, depending on your Pov — took off online on Sunday, HBO decided to come clean about what happened in the fourth episode of the eighth and final season of the blockbuster drama from EPs David Benioff and D.B. Weiss based on George R.R. Martin’s writings.

And you might find the craft services and art department matter amusing.

“The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake,” the premium cabler said in a statement today, stating the obvious. “Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”

It’s a media-mocking and somewhat...

We’ve survived “The Long Night” and watched Brienne become an honorable knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

And this past weekend, Game of Thrones took a moment to reflect on “The Last of the Starks” – namely Arya, Sansa, Jon and, er, Bran? – and how things stand in light of Jon and Dany’s newfound relationship. Said romance took a turn for the worse on Sunday evening, when the lovestruck duo mulled over their heritage, the Iron Throne and the immediate future of the Seven Kingdoms.

All that interpersonal drama fell onto the back-burner though once the Northern forces began marching (and sailing!) south, where they’ll meet and hopefully overthrow Queen Cersei and the Lannister forces. Doing so won’t be easy, as Lena Headey’s scheming tyrant always appears to be one step ahead (Rip Rhaegal), but there was one scene, in particular, that left fans flabbergasted during “The Last of the Starks.

John Oliver killed the lethal injection process for nearly 20 minutes on Sunday. He did that, yes, but the “Last Week Tonight” host also shoveled dirt on his home network HBO as the premium-cable channel nears its post-“Game of Thrones” era.

Oliver joked that lethal injection drugs sound like names of tribes in “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “Game of Space Thrones,” which “has probably already been optioned by HBO.”

Bob Greenblatt and Casey Bloys are listening…

Also Read: Was That a Starbucks Cup Next to Daenerys in Sunday's 'Game of Thrones'? (Photo)

“In two weeks time, this network is so deeply f—ed,” Oliver said.

Watch the video above.

“Game of Thrones,” which is currently Oliver’s lead-in, ends its eight-season run on May 19. A prequel pilot is in the works.

Also Read: 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Death Watch: Who's Dead and How Bloody Was It?...

Now that The Night King has been dispatched, Game of Thrones is turning its attention back to the prickly Iron Throne and whose caboose sits upon it. For those invested in the lore of the show’s fantasy origins, this will come as something of a letdown. But the show is not done decimating the world’s mythology, as “The Last of the Starks” also rather quickly dispatched of another dragon as well as a direwolf. Like “The Long Night,” these choices call into question what, exactly, writers and showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff see as being the point …...

(This post contains huge spoilers for the fourth episode of the final season of “Game of Thrones”)

We’re so close to the end now that we can taste it. This week, “Game of Thrones” gave us a transition episode, moving us from the madness of the Battle of Winterfell toward what will no doubt be the madness of Danerys’ attack on King’s Landing next week. The tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Things get off to a rough start with Euron and his Iron Fleet ambushing the ships carrying the Unsullied forces and wrecking them — and managing to kill the dragon Rhaegal in the process. The situation has never felt more precarious for Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) since she came to Westeros. With so many of those Scorpion crossbows out there and seemingly most of the Unsullied dead, things really don’t look good for her.