14 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Game Of Thrones Season 1

14 Things You Didn't Know About GOTs1

1. Sansa Stark named her wolf Lady. Lady was played by Zunni from Mahlek Northern Inuit Dogs. (Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa in the series, adopted Lady as her own pet when the first season wrapped and live animals were replaced by CGI).

2. A real dead stag - not a prop - was used for the scene where the direwolf pups are found. The actors found the smell during the filming of the scene revolting, as it had been dead for two days at that point and was decomposing.

3. Jack Gleeson cited Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus in "Gladiator" as influence on his portrayal of Joffrey.


4. The episode title "Winter Is Coming" is the motto of House Stark.

5. The makers of the show (on which the animal training duties are headed by James P. Warren) initially considered using actual wolves. But this idea was nixed because wolves present certain dangers plus they're illegal in the U.K., where the show is filmed - especially since they would be working with child actors. The Northern Inuit breed was chosen because of its resemblance to wolves, yet they possess the requisite, adorable factor.

6. This episode originally aired on Sean Bean's birthday.

7. Lena Headey's first TV series following the cancellation of her earlier TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), which she played Sarah Connor. Emilia Clarke later played Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys (2015).
8. Lena Headey was pregnant while filming this episode, so many scenes show her either wrapped in furs, sitting down, standing behind something, or only in close facial shots to conceal the pregnancy.
9. The only episode of the series with portions shot on 35mm film. Footage from the original pilot, which was shot on film, was used sparingly in the aired pilot, specifically the scene in the Winterfell crypts between Robert and Ned, and some shots in the feast. The reshot pilot, as well as the remainder of the series, was shot digitally with Arri Alexa cameras.

10. This episode is actually the second pilot of the series, a previous pilot was shot in 2009 but the show runners and HBO executives were not satisfied with it and reshot almost all of it. The reshoots took place a year later and were compiled with some usable footage from the first pilot. The only full scene from the original pilot retained for the broadcast pilot is the conversation between Ned and Robert in the Winterfell crypts. Some major parts were recast as well, Daenerys Targaryen was originally played by Tamzin Merchant and Catelyn Stark was originally played by Jennifer Ehle. There are noticeable differences in the hair styles of Sean Bean and Mark Addy throughout the episode, and Bran is also noticeably younger in some scenes compared to others.

11. In August 2014, Mr. Skin placed Emilia Clarke's nudity from this episode at #5 on their list of "The Top 150 Greatest Celebrity Nude Scenes of All Time".

12. The structure with large pillars in right of the landscape shot of King's Landing is the original design of the Great Sept of Baelor. The season one Blu-ray special features show the early concept art for the sept, which was originally designed to resemble a medieval cathedral, consisting of seven huge spokes leaning in against each other. While the Great Sept of Baelor is featured in the climax of Game of Thrones: Baelor (2011), there was not a wide shot of the structure until Game of Thrones: And Now His Watch Is Ended (2013) where it appears as a dome-like structure as was used for the rest of the series.

13. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss referred to the shaving scene with Robb, Theon, and Jon as "the worst scene we've ever written - probably the most embarrassing ... the only reason it was in there [is because there] was no continuity between scenes in the pilot where their beards are all different".

14. When King Robert Baratheon greets the Starks in Winterfell, he tells Bran Stark to "show him his muscles" and that he'll be a soldier, but this is in error. Because Bran is of noble birth, he would never be a common soldier. Instead, he could be a knight, a much more honorable title and fitting for the second son of a Lord.