Game Of Thrones director reveals why Jon Snow didn't give Ghost a goodbye pet

That Jon Snow doesn’t give the good boy Ghost enough attention has been a point of contention among fans for a while now. Fans never really got the reunion they expected between Jon and his trusty direwolf in season eight. And now, to add insult to the injury, Jon’s parcelled off Ghost to the North with Tormund and his lot without so much as a pat in episode four and fans weren’t happy about it.

We finally know why Jon dispatched off his loyal canine with only a wistful look. The show’s creators have time and again maintained that modelling a CGI direwolf isn’t the easiest task in the world, given their similarities to an actual wolf. In an interview with Huffington Post, Game of Thrones visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer had previously said that real wolves have to be filmed and scaled up to create direwolves, and wolves sadly “only behave in certain ways.” Also, given the amount of screentime the dragons get, the CGI budget must look just a little bit woeful.

Speaking to Huffington Post, episode four Director David Nutter said, “Since the direwolves are kind of CG creations, we felt it best to keep it as simple as possible. And I think that it played out much more powerfully that way.”

Nutter said that the decision to keep Ghost to the side played out better, since this gave Jon a chance to bid a proper farewell to Gilly and Tormund.

“Then he just walks off by himself, he turns to Ghost and has this moment with Ghost that I thought was very, very powerful,” said Nutter.

What did you think about Jon ghosting Ghost?

Game of Thrones boasted a great collection of some of the best villains in television history. An ambitious villain makes the viewers praise his motivations, while some are purely sadistic. Iwan Rheon’s Ramsay Bolton was a mix of both, though more sadistic than ambitious at times. Ramsay would make his victims think they have control and can escape from him. He would then chase them down and fed them to his hounds. Iwan Rheon appeared in a real-life video game, with almost the same grim settings, but his role reversed.

Rheon was seen as a playable character in Screamfest 4: The Kraken’s Revenge. The 35-year-old actor talked about his experience in the game with NME. “It was crazy,” he explained. “I had earbuds in and a screen in front of me which just gave me a list of commands. I sort of had an idea of where the game was supposed to go so I could sort of help steer the game a little bit. But it was completely different every single time so you’re just improvising.”

Some users thought it might be fun to try and kill Rheon’s character instead of helping him escape. “There were a few people who I suspected were trying to kill me, but it’s difficult to know cos sometimes you just don’t know whether it’s just that they’re not quite getting the commands right. But I think one person was definitely seeing if the monster would murder me, and I submitted in the end and just said: ‘Go on then, take me’.”

The actor responded to the instructions given by players immediately via a live video link. Check out the link here yourself, and tell us about your experience in the comments below!

The final season of Game of Thrones was a controversial one. Season 8 divided the fanbase into two, one loved it, and the other seeking to get it remade. The cast wasn’t far from the squabble, they too had different opinions about it. Welsh actor Iwan Rheon, well known for his infamous character Ramsay Bolton, opened up about his views on the show’s final season.

In an interview with the NME, the Game of Thrones star revealed he had no issues with the controversial season. In fact, The Long Night was his favorite episode. “It was always gonna be divisive,” Rheon said. “I don’t think it was gonna be any other way, to be honest. Obviously, you can’t please everyone. I felt that they made a very strong decision to where they thought the season would go and I think they went with it and told the story really well.”

He added, “I thought the Battle of Winterfell was an absolute genius, the best television I’ve ever seen. I thought it was really brave and they went for it.”

When asked about the fan petition to remake the final season, Rheon said it was hilarious. He joked, “Who was doing the petition – Jeff Bezos?” He also shared his opinion about co-star Charles Dance not liking the eighth season. Iwan said, “There’s always controversy and loyalty, but I guess at the end of the day he’s entitled to his own opinion, as any fan is. I’ve got no problem with him saying what he wants to say, and what should anyone? It’s his opinion.”

Iwan Rheon defends the final season of the show while steering clear of criticizing those who don’t like it. How do you feel about the controversial season? Tell us in the comments below.

When a well-known celebrity makes an appearance in your favourite TV show, it is always a pleasant surprise. The biggest TV show of the past decade, Game of Thrones, witnessed a lot of celebrity cameos. We can’t blame them, the series got so popular and addictive, every single fan wanted to be a part of it.

In an interview with Stereogum, The National frontman Matt Berninger revealed he’s “f***ing p****d” that he and his bandmates were not given a cameo on Game of Thrones.

Berninger revealed his band was on set during the filming of some of the episodes. He said, “The National’s been to the top of the Wall. We were in Belfast. We’ve been to Castle Black. We couldn’t post anything but there are all these great pictures of us at the top of the Wall at Castle Black.”

The indie rock band had recorded songs for the hit HBO series. In 2013, they released a version of the classic Game of Thrones song The Rains of Castamere. They also wrote Turn On Me for an album featuring music inspired by the show.

The frontman couldn’t hold back his frustration when other singers made cameos on the series, including Ed Sheeran, Sigur Ros and members of Coldplay. The singer vented, “You’re right. I’m p****d. I’m f***ing p****d, I’m p****d I never got to be in it. I mean, there are were well-known there and we all have beards and s***.”

Matt also revealed showrunner Dan Weiss was a huge fan of the band. His bandmate, Bryce Dessner, was close friends with Weiss. No wonder the musician is so disappointed. Would you have liked his cameo? Talk to us in the comments below!

 

If you have any important filming news about House of the Dragon, or if you want to collaborate with us or want to write for us, please drop us a message here.

 

Official House of the Dragon Merchandise