15 Fun Facts About Game of Thrones (No Spoilers)

By Vivian El-Salawy on May 27, 2017

Everybody has been raving over the recent release of the trailer for the seventh season of Game of Thrones. Whether you’re just starting your summer binging with season one or just made your way through season six for the tenth time already, the show is still immeasurably intricate. In fact, it is so intricate with its plot, character development, and production, that there are countless things you might not know about it. Here are 15 fun facts about Game of Thrones (with no spoilers):

1. Game of Thrones is actually the world’s most pirated television series. 

Image via Quartz

A report from TorrentFreak claims that Game of Thrones is the most pirated television show in 2016, marking its fifth consecutive year with this title. The report claims that the highest number of “actively shared” episodes across multiple torrents was 350,000.

2. You can get a circle line from Casterly Rock to King’s Landing.

Image via Michael Tyznik

Artist Michael Tyznik made his own TFL style underground map to reflect the geography of George R. R. Martin’s world. He sells all kinds of rail maps of Westeros and The Known World. These prints are available starting at $40 at inPRNT.

 3. Dothraki is a real language.

Image via Vulture

No, the language isn’t used in real parts of the world. However, the language was constructed as a fictional language to be used in George R. R. Martin’s novel series A Song of Ice and Fire along with the Game of Thrones television series. Linguist David J. Peterson constructed the show’s language based off of words and phrases used in Martin’s novels. Peterson claims that due to the dental consonants, it sounds like a mix between Arabic (to an untrained ear) and Spanish.

4. Ramsay Bolton almost played Jon Snow.

Image via Digital Spy

According to TIME Magazine, Iwan Rheon, the actor who plays Ramsay Bolton, was actually the runner-up to play Jon Snow. As the role went to Kit Harrington, Rheon then went on to play Roose Bolton’s son instead. “I think they made the right choice,” he told Interview. ”It would’ve been a very different Jon Snow if I’d played him.”

5. There is an official Game of Thrones-themed rap album.

Image via SoundCloud

In 2014, HBO released an official rap album for Game of Thrones on SoundCloud called Catch the Throne. There are currently two volumes out. The songs are sampled from the official soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi and produced, mixed, and arranged by Darius Leon, Samuel Gilbert, and Miles Felix of Launch Point Records.

6. Season one features the severed head of George W. Bush.

Image via EOnline

In a couple of scenes actually, but it wasn’t a political statement at all. HBO made a statement regarding the feature in the movie, apologizing and claiming that they will remove it from future DVD production.

The producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, also issued a statement:

“What happened was this: we use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etc. We can’t afford to have these all made from scratch, especially in scenes where we need a lot of them, so we rent them in bulk. After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush.”

7. The throne in the television series is nothing like the throne that George R. R. Martin envisions.

Image via Marc Simonetti

The Iron Throne as painted by Marc Simonetti is the best depiction of what Martin believes the throne should look like. He made a statement about it in his blog on Live Journal:

“This Iron Throne is massive. Ugly. Assymetric. It’s a throne made by blacksmiths hammering together half-melted, broken, twisted swords, wrenched from the hands of dead men or yielded up by defeated foes… a symbol of conquest… it has the steps I describe, and the height. From on top, the king dominates the throne room. And there are thousands of swords in it, not just a few. This Iron Throne is scary. And not at all a comfortable seat, just as Aegon intended.”

 8. Alfie Allen (Theon) is Lily Allen’s brother.

Image via Independent

No, really. Lily Allen even wrote a song about him called “Alfie”. There were rumors around the internet about Lily Allen earning a role in Game of Thrones a few years ago, however Alfie made a statement saying that she was offered no roles for the show.

9. Tyrion Lannister is technically the main character of Game of Thrones.

Image via Wikipedia

Based on the math, IMDb reported that there have only been three characters that have been in every episode of a given season: Cersei Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, and Joffrey Baratheon. Cersei and Joffrey were in every episode of season 1 and Tyrion was in every episode of seasons 2 and 5. Mathematicians analyzed both Martin’s novels and the television series, determining that technically Tyrion Lannister is the main character based off of his interactions with the majority of characters within the novel.

 10. Emilia Clarke ended up getting stuck to a toilet after filming a certain episode.

Image via WallpaperUP

For the sake of not spoiling anything (as promised), there is a now-famous Daenerys Targaryen scene that involved a lot of fake, sticky blood. In fact, so much fake and sticky blood, that when Emilia had a bathroom break after shooting the scene, it stuck her to the toilet, according to IMDb.

 11. Peter Dinklage is vegetarian.

Image via Pinterest

Yes, he is vegetarian and has been since childhood – Dinklage even made a vegetarian testimonial with PETA. However, Tyrian Lannister obviously is not, as we see him eating meat in many scenes where he is both wining and dining. In fact, the show itself requires a great deal of fur, leather, and meat to be used. However, in all of the scenes where Peter Dinklage eats meat, he actually eats tofu or fake meat.

 12. Jon Snow met Jon Snow.

Image via Twitter

Jon Snow (as in Kit Harington from Game of Thrones) got to meet Jon Snow (Channel 4 newsreader).

 13. Each episode costs approximately $10 million dollars…

Image via Blasting News

Reported James Hibberd with Entertainment Weekly wrote about the budget for the show, stating that each episode costs north of $10 million dollars – at least for later seasons, such as season 5. “For example, Season 5 shot in 5 countries, on 151 sets, for 240 days, with 166 cast members, more than 1,000 crew members and more than 5,000 extras,” states Hibberd.

14. The only character from the show that influenced Martin’s depiction of a character in the book series was Osha.

Image via Westeros.org

George R. R. Martin made a statement regarding Natalia Tena’s role as Osha in the Game of Thrones television series:

“She’s younger, more attractive, and more dynamic than I had initially written that character. And, when Osha comes back into the story, as I hope that she will, I’m definitely going to take that into account,” says Martin.

15. Maisie Williams, outside of being on actress on Game of Thrones, is actually an incredible dancer.

Image via Tumblr

Maisie Williams, who plays Arya, dances at Bath Dance College when she’s not filming. A girl has many talents.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format