Game of Thrones Showrunners reveal why ‘Beyond the Wall' storyline really happened

Game of Thrones season 7 episode 6 Beyond the Wall revolved around the story of some of the show’s prominent characters going beyond the wall to capture a wight. Though the mission was successful, the episode saw the deaths of Thoros of Myr and one of Daenerys’ dragon, Viserion.

The pivotal episode finally led to the convincing of Cersei and all of Westeros into believing in the Army of Dead’s existence. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss reveal in the book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon written by James Hibberd, why the episode was filmed.

Weiss said, “We were talking about breaching the Wall and trying to figure out what pieces we already had on the board without introducing new Deux ex Machina pieces. What was in the world already that could conceivably knock down the Wall? Just getting the Night King past the Wall didn’t do it; just getting the White Walkers past didn’t do it.”

He continued, “You needed to get an army of a hundred thousand dead men past the Wall, which means a giant hole. We were racking our brains as to what could do that. Then we realized there would be something massive in the show. They weren’t massive at the time we thought of this – and that was the dragons. But getting a dragon north of the Wall was tricky.”

The idea of getting a wight from the Night King’s territory seemed like a dumb idea. Jon ultimately had to call Daenerys for help. The showrunners also revealed why Game of Thrones ended early in Hibberd’s book.

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Some characters begin as a side role but become massively popular amongst fans when done right. They completely steal the show. Miltos Yerolemou knew Game of Thrones was special, but he never knew his character Syrio Forel would gain such humongous fan-following. In an interview with Collider, he expressed how he felt when he checked out Game of Thrones forums on the internet.

“I never expected it in my wildest dreams, especially after only being in three episodes of Season 1,” he said. “I honestly did not expect that my gravestone will say, ‘Not today,’ but with the not crossed out. Now, you can hold me to that. But I really did not expect that to be my reality, but it is. And like I said, I’m thrilled, embarrassed, and humbled by it every single day.”

“I made the terrible mistake after I got cast to go and have a look at some of the Game of Thrones forums and realize just how excited the fans were that they were turning it into a TV show,” he said. “[T]he ingredients for a good TV show were there. But, I mean, it’s one thing having a successful and well-watched TV show. It’s another thing to do what Game of Thrones did, which changed all of our viewing habits overnight, really.”

Do you agree with Arya Stark’s sword instructor? Tell us in the comments below!

Game of Thrones was one of the biggest TV shows of the past decade. The fantastical epic set the bar for quality TV shows really high. It was hailed as the greatest TV show of the 21st century. Game of Thrones actor Miltos Yerolemou, who played Syrio Forel on the show, recently talked to Collider about the fantasy epic’s popularity.

He said, “[I]t became a show that you had to watch when it aired because of the nature of it. The fact that there were so many twists in it. If you didn’t watch it when it aired, you were very likely to get spoiled.”

He continued, “I had the fantastic experience of being able to watch the show aired live in big viewing parties in Greece, in Texas, in London. I kind of had that amazing experience, and I’d never had that experience before. Especially at the time when things were moving from the terrestrial… That whole way of watching TV was already shifting. I mean, now we’re all into the streaming medium and binge-watching. But Game of Thrones kind of straddled that transition, and really took us back to a place where it was exciting to watch that show altogether and at the same time. I thought that was pretty, really important as far as for the television industry. That’s for sure.”

Why do you think Game of Thrones became so popular? Tell us in the comments below!

Game of Thrones wrapped up filming nearly two years ago. Fans of the fantasy epic dearly miss the show and are eagerly waiting for the prequel House of The Dragon. Meanwhile, Netflix is keeping their audience busy with a fantasy story that has become quite popular in recent times, Shadow and Bone. Much to everyone’s surprise, there’s a secret connection between both the shows not many people know of. David J. Peterson, who wrote Valyrian and Dothraki for Game of Thrones, also created Fjerdan, a fictional language for Shadow and Bone.

In an interview with Cinema Blend, Danielle Galligan revealed how she learned the fictional language for her role, Nina Zenik. Galligan also played the small role of Sarra in Season 8 of Game of Thrones. She said:

“[Speaking Fjerdan] was really cool because I love language anyway and me and Cal are actually learning languages on Duo Lingo at the moment, so this is a theme in our relationship [laughs]. I thought that was really fun… to be able to go and learn another language that has been completely made up now. The guy who [helped us] also did Valyrian and Dothraki for Game of Thrones, so the fact that he can go back to etymology and to make this is absolutely incredible, and just speaks to the producers and showrunners about how specific they are and want us to be about this world. And yeah, I loved speaking Fjerdan, my voice always dropped two octaves and I’m not sure why.”

Did you know about this unknown connection between the two shows? Tell us in the comments below!