How Daenerys Unleashed Dragonfire

Still reeling from Dany's big moment Sunday night? Maybe you have a few spears, a flamethrower and an army of slave soldiers you want to put to use to recreate the scene? Here's the storyboard featured in this week's Interactive Features on HBO Go.  

Still hungry for details? Here are some handy phrases in High Valyrian to put a merciless slave master in his place.

"Zaldrizes buzdari iksos daor." – A dragon is not a slave. 
"Ydra ji Valyre?" – You speak Valyrian?
"Vayrio muño engos ñuhys issa." – Valyrian is my mother tongue.

"And Now His Watch Is Ended" Round-Up: “Lady Power” and the Fires of Revenge

This week on Game of Thrones, the spirit of revenge hovers in the air like an angry dragon. The episode begins with Varys prying open a crate to reveal the captured sorcerer who cut him and ends with Daenerys unleashing her power in a scene that solidifies her claim to the Iron Throne. In an interview for HBO GO’s interactive features, actress Emilia Clarke explains that by trusting her instincts, Dany exceeds all expectations, including her own. Executive Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss agree, calling the mother of dragons a “major force to be reckoned with” in this week’s Inside the Episode. Going a step further, the Hollywood Reporter declares Dany’s vengeance on the slavers of Astapor to be the biggest game-changer since Ned Stark’s death. The scene’s stunning visual effects also wowed audiences. Benioff spoke to Entertainment Weekly about creating the powerful display; it was that moment from the books that compelled him to make the show.   

Dany wasn’t the only woman to assert her influence last night. As Slate’s Rachael Larimore points out, although Cersei and Lady Olenna commiserate about their subservient positions, “There was a lot of lady power on display.” Kate Aurthur supports that position, in typical Buzzfeed fashion, with "9 Ways Game of Thrones Is Actually Feminist." This theme rings true as women are seen motivating men throughout the episode; Ros nudges Varys to thwart Littlefinger; Margaery coaxes Joffrey to face his constituency; and Brienne pushes Jaime to survive.

And then there are the men who have sworn off women. Lord Commander Mormont meets a tragic end, stabbed in the back by his own men. Actor James Cosmo spoke to Access Hollywood about Mormont’s untimely demise and his character’s influence on Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly, saying, “The traits in his character [are] something that they will hopefully try to emulate as they grow into adulthood and become leaders in their own right.” The Guardian asserts that the scene reinforces one of Game of Thrones’ strengths, “the way it refuses to flinch from the realities of war.”

Were you surprised by the brutality of the Night’s Watch? What do you think this means for Jon Snow? And the biggest question of the night—what was your reaction to Dany’s revenge?

Behind the Scenes of the First Three Episodes

By Cat Taylor

It’s here, it’s finally here! We are a few episodes into the third season of Game of Thrones, the season that David Benioff and Dan Weiss were determined to get to from the beginning. For those amongst you that have read the books, you know that Season 3 features some of the most game-changing, event-filled storylines to date. For those who haven’t…brace yourselves.

In Belfast, preparations have already begun on the next season, but before I get to that, let’s look back at some of the behind the scenes action for the three episodes that have aired so far. After every few episodes, I’ll be filling you in on some of what went on behind the camera and, hopefully, a few little extras you may have missed.

If you've been following the blog, the opening scene may have seemed a little familiar. An ending for us was the beginning for you—that opening was shot on the very last day of filming in Iceland.

Other travellers: The first time you see Daenerys, she is on the deck of a ship sailing over open water. In reality, the ship was built in Banbridge for a very different purpose. Because Production Designer Gemma Jackson and her team have super powers, you probably didn’t notice that ship spent a good deal of the Battle of Blackwater on fire. It was the only scene that Emilia Clarke shot in Belfast this season; everything else was on location in Croatia and Morocco. It took one day.

In the second episode, "Dark Wings, Dark Words," Bran has a dream in the woods. It was a two-splinter-units-in-one-location day, which always makes things crazy. That's a real raven Bran is chasing, brought in especially for the scene by our team at Birds and Animals. (From not quite as far as our white raven in Season 2— that bird had to be brought in all the way from Austria!) The main unit was just down the road in Gosford Castle, where we were filming a scene in Littlefinger’s brothel—one from this Sunday's episode. Daniel Portman (Pod) was having a very busy day indeed with several new friends, including the very bendy Pixie Le Knot. Two ends of the kingdom on a single driveway. What luck.

Season 3 introduces us to several new and important characters and I don’t mind admitting that one of my favourites is Lady Olenna, played by the incomparable Diana Rigg. There was palpable excitement in the office on the day she was confirmed, and more than a few extra people came to set on her first filming day. We also get to meet the Brotherhood Without Banners; we’ll see more of them as the series progresses. What I can tell you is this: The day we filmed that meeting between Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie and the BWB was not nearly so pastoral and spring-like as it appeared. It was just bloody wet.

Did you spot someone in a cameo? The soldier singing lead in "The Bear and Maiden Fair" is local boy Gary Lightbody, of Snow Patrol fame. He taught the song to the extras before they rode down the track, a song that we’ll certainly hear again. If you were wondering, Jamie and Brienne really were riding back to back on a single horse—the dismounting was something of a process.

Speaking of horses, did I mention the ring the White Walkers laid out got covered by a snowstorm the night before filming? The Art Department had to take an industrial blow torch (also known as a flame thrower) to the horse models to defrost the "flesh." The blood then had to be re-splattered onto the snow so that it was visible. That’s a fun day at work, but all our days are. If you're a regular reader, you’ll know what was happening the day Melisandre and Stannis said goodbye on the beach– and not a tractor track to be seen!

The Greens Department—the crew that insures the scenery is as it should be, adding trees and vines, or flowers and hedges— is also responsible for things like the beach. But the most amazing transformation I saw firsthand was the Master Torturer's chase of Theon through the woods. The chase was actually filmed over several locations, on the open grounds of Tollymore Park and in the woods of Shane’s Castle. When we first scouted the woods, the ground was thick with foliage that stood taller than our heads. There was no clear space for our tracking vehicle and the ground was unsafe. In days, the team had cleared it to a flat forest glade and placed our stunt branch. The difference was amazing. Almost as amazing as one of our stunt riders yelling, "WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" at the top of his lungs as they thundered over the steep open fields at the start of the chase… I’m not sure, but I don’t think he was at all scared of speed.

"Walk of Punishment" Round-up: “Joan of Arc” and Paying the Price

"All men must die, but we are not men," Danerys tells her newly acquired servant Missandei after negotiating the purchase of the Unsullied. This transaction highlights a running theme of the episode – the art of bargaining. "Walk of Punishment" shows the cast trying their hand at deal-making with mixed results.

Already acquainted with power, Tyrion is forced to embark on a new relationship with money after he’s appointed Master of Coin. Time’s James Poniewozik points out the Lannisters’ irresponsible attitude towards cash: “It’s the basis of their family’s fame, and yet too much attention to the making and managing of it is uncouth, unseemly.” This point is drilled home with Tyrion learns that Littlefinger has run the country into a nearly insurmountable debt.

Of course, there are things worth more than money, and it doesn’t get more valuable than a dragon. For Dany, no price is too high to win her throne. Sers Barristan and Jorah are horrified that she barters a dragon to obtain an army, but Dany remains steadfast in her resolve. As Executive Producer and Director of this episode D.B. Weiss explains in this week’s Inside the Episode, Dany possesses Joan of Arc-like ambition: She believes her mission is divine.

Meanwhile, Theon Greyjoy has nothing to offer in exchange for his life. He’s released, but his freedom proves short-lived.  To see the storyboard of this riveting chase, check out HBO Go’s Interactive Features.

On the road, Jaime successfully spares Brienne from rape, but infuriates Locke with his arrogance. The Lannister name proves useless as, in the episode’s most shocking moment, his volatile captor takes his hand. Paste’s Josh Jackson sums up how this moment illuminates the show’s stakes: “There’s real tension because the protagonist of any scene never feels truly safe. The ripples of losing Eddard Stark in Season One are still felt by the audience.” Executive Producer and episode director David Benioff evokes the same parallel between Jamie’s "be-handing" and Ned’s beheading – Jaime’s sword hand is his identity. Without it, he’s basically a dead man walking.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau speaks to Jaime’s trauma, “It’s a horrifying experience and the question is, ‘Can he deal with that?’ ” What were your reactions to the scene? Share your predictions for the Kingslayer below. 

‘Dark Wings, Dark Words’ Round-up: "The Kate Middleton of Westeros" and Bad News for the Starks

The second episode of Season 3 of Game of Thrones is full of revelations for characters and fans alike. This week’s shockers focus on those trapped in bleak situations: Theon is imprisoned (and tortured) by a mystery captor, Arya is seized by the Brotherhood Without Banners, and Sansa is plied with lemon cake and cheese in exchange for her secrets. Then there are those who find themselves in surprising circumstances: The Lord Commander declares the survival of Sam and Rast to be interdependent, Brienne proves to be Jaime’s equal (much to his shock, as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reveals in HBO Go’s interactive features) and Bran learns that he can see into the past, present and future. Dragons aren’t the only flying powerhouses in Westeros; Bran’s gifts come on the wings of the three-eyed-raven.

This revelation is the only good thing going for the Starks right now. Robb learns Winterfell has fallen, and most likely, his brothers with it; news he must break to his mother. As Executive Producer D.B. Weiss explains in this week's Inside the Episode, Catelyn’s love for her family is actually for the members of her family, and not just a sense of honor or legacy. Unsurprisingly, word of her father’s death and Bran and Rickon’s disappearance leaves her noticeably shaken – a theme among the Starks right now. Alan Sepinwall of HitFlix.com notes this commonality; though the family is spread across Westeros, they’re connected by the shadow of Ned’s life and haunted by a ghost who didn’t survive his political mistakes. The pressure to play the game strategically pulses in Stark blood.

Speaking of playing the game, Margaery proves herself adept at handling her unruly husband-to-be. TheAVClub.com’s David Sims calls her “the one to watch” and Margaery lives up to the hype by applying what she learns from Sansa about Joffrey, giving the impression that shares his taste for blood. Having already won over the orphans with her handouts, she clearly understands that when it comes to leading, popularity matters (just like in high school). In an interview with Rolling Stone, actress Natalie Dormer calls her PR-savvy character “the Kate Middleton of Westeros.”

While you await this royal wedding, catch up on family histories, houses and more in our Viewer’s Guide.