Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama TV series created by D.B. Weiss and David Benioff for HBO. Adapted from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, the show is focused on the fictional continent of Westeros, the neighboring realm of Essos, and an unmapped area to the north, covered by a massive wall of ice and old magic.
Since its inception in 2011, Game of Thrones has taken the world by storm and left a sizeable mark on popular culture. Its complex themes, fantasy elements, and memorable characters live on in memes, conversations, and fanfic, even though the show aired its final episode early in 2019.
While the show enjoyed widespread love (apart from its questionable and controversial ending), there were many production quirks that slipped past the eyes of most viewers. Join us now as we reveal some of the show’s most ridiculous errors; if you managed to pick any of these up, then you have a sharper eye than most!
Unscientific
Viserys Targaryen was among the earliest villains in the show, and his death was nothing to be sad about. However, his death by molten gold shows that chemistry wasn’t a strong suit for anyone on the GoT set. Normally, gold would melt at around 1063 degrees Celsius, but a campfire rarely gets over 370 degrees Celsius. This would mean that Dothraki campfires defy science, especially coupled with the fact that the gold turned into a liquid mess in mere seconds. While it is excusable since the show is set in a fantasy world, a little realism wouldn’t hurt now would it?
Ginger latte for Khaleesi
Fans with strong attention to detail spotted this production mishap, even before media outlets reported on it. Yes, we’re talking about THAT coffee cup among the wine goblets at the celebratory feast after the Battle of Winterfell. Funnily enough, Starbucks made a tweet regarding this, saying that they’re surprised she didn’t order a Dragon Drink. HBO decided to ride on the mistake, saying that she actually ordered herbal tea. To be frank, we too would be in need of some espresso or herbal tea after taking part in such a decisive battle.
Sansa Targarien
Over the years, many easter eggs were hidden in the show’s opening sequence; but there were some straight-up errors too! For instance, Sophie Turner was listed as a Targaryen in the first season, while it’s clear that Sansa, her character, is a pure northerner. There was also a mixup among the houses, such as Iain Glen (Jorah) being listed under the banner of Lannister while Rory McCann (The Hound) was shown beside the stag of Baratheon. Since the show was early in its run back then, these mixups were only noticed by a few of those who had read the books.
Doesn’t she need that necklace?
Melisandre, also known as the Red Woman, remained a youthful and beautiful maiden at 400 years. The show’s sixth season revealed that the ornate necklace she wore was what kept her from being old and wrinkly at her age. However, there is a continuity error: In season four, Melisandre is seen talking to Selyse Baratheon without her necklace, and she still looks the same as she does two seasons later when she apparently needs the necklace to be youthful. What gives? Either the showrunners added the necklace element to her story later on, or R’hllor magic is more potent than she wants us to think.
President’s head on a spike…
Of all the people’s heads to use as props for King’s Landing, the showrunners had to pick the wrong one: George W. Bush’s. Although definitely fake, the scene showing the 43rd US President’s head alongside Ned Stark’s and Septa Mordane’s managed to stir up a massive controversy. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the show’s creators, later confirmed that they used Bush’s head and promptly apologized. The show already has tons of politics in its narrative, and using an image of a well-known, real-life political figure in a gruesome scene is very much uncalled for (regardless of your opinion of the man).
Wasn’t her hair supposed to burn?..
We’re not sure if shampoo exists in the show’s world. However, judging by Daenerys’s hair and the fact that she raises baby dragons, maybe there is such a thing, and hers must’ve been making her hair fireproof. After all, she managed to walk into a raging fire in the first season, and still have her hair unaffected while everything around her, including her clothes, went up in flames. What’s in that shampoo, anyway? Is it a beauty secret kept by House Targaryen? Whatever it is, she must be using it a lot because you know, mother of dragons and all.
You’ve got a new email
Of all the well-written characters in the show, Margaery Tyrell is among the best. The Queen Consort of House Baratheon, being the manipulative yet compassionate noble she is, was handing out toys to children who were orphaned by the Battle of the Blackwater massacre in this scene from the third season. However, the editing crew forgot to remove the alert notification sound. Whether it’s from a phone, tablet, or computer, the people of Westeros are awfully bad at hiding their secretly advanced technology.
A not-so-deadly weapon
Most GoT fans to agree that the Battle of the Bastards in season six is one of the best fight scenes in the whole series. While most viewers were hypnotized by all the action, a few frowned as they noticed a rather hilarious goof: Jon Snow’s fearsome weapon has an odd bounciness to it. As the man who knows nothing sprang up onto his steed, his weapon flopped around like a fish out of water. One could theorize that Valyrian Steel is more flexible than our Earthy metals, but that’s a bit of a stretch, particularly considering nothing of the sort was ever explained.
Running out of charge
In the finale of the show’s fifth season, Stannis Baratheon’s fate was sealed at the hands of Brienne of Tarth. The scene is quite gruesome (though tame compared to others), with him leaning on the tree, bleeding out. However, there’s something in the scene that doesn’t make sense: a modern charger is seen tucked in beside his bleeding right leg. Perhaps the fantasy world of Westeros is trying to hide its advanced technology? If so, then its people aren’t really doing a good job.
A fleeting mistake
In the later seasons of the series, Euron Greyjoy managed to rise to prominence after it was revealed that he commanded the largest fleet in the Seven Kingdoms. However, his homeland, the Iron Islands, doesn’t even possess the necessary resources for him to amass such a huge fleet of ships. Indeed, he’d struggle to manage a single seaworthy vessel! There’s definitely something amiss here, or perhaps he magically used rocks and bird poo to create the materials for building ships? Nah, that’s way too far-fetched, even for a world filled with dragons, sorcerers, and frozen zombies. But if we give GoT the benefit of the doubt for the mistakes we’ve shown you so far, maybe anything’s possible in Westeros?
Grenn’s magic sword
Forget about the continent’s secret advanced technology, magic is still very much alive in Westeros, and Grenn’s blade is solid proof. In this scene from the third episode of the first season, Jon Snow disarmed fellow recruit Grenn in sword combat training. However, as Grenn went to pick up his sword, Jon threatened him once more, and this is where the goof takes place. While Grenn was picking up his weapon, the scene quickly changed camera angles, and the sword was immediately seen on the ground. Few fans noticed this editing fail because of the rapid pacing and the fact that our attention is focussed on Jon.
Bad Heir Day
When it comes to genetics, particularly hereditary traits, the show definitely doubles down on it. The best example would be House Baratheon, where all its children share the same black hair, save for one person: Shireen. As a matter of fact, her hair looks suspiciously blonde (the Lannisters’ signature hair color). Was it a hidden side effect of greyscale, the disease that once plagued her? Was there a Baratheon-Lannister tryst we never heard about? Or maybe the hair color inconsistency simply slipped the production crew’s minds? It’s probably best not to dwell on it, considering Shireen’s life was rough from start to finish.
Where are the good boys?
Do you recall the moment when Ramsay Bolton sent his forces to find the missing prisoners? If you do, then you must also know that some hound dogs were among the ranks of the search parties. In this scene, Theon and Sansa are about to be mauled by the dogs when they’re saved by Brienne of Tarth. However, the pooches managed to “disappear” without a trace as soon as she arrived. What gives? Were the dogs just hallucinations created by Theon and Sansa out of fear? While you’re thinking about that, remember that the bloodhounds were once called rottweilers, adding more to the inconsistency of this scene.
Miracles can happen, right?
Ah, greyscale – one of the deadliest diseases known in the show’s universe. Once you get infected, your skin starts to harden into a rock-like state, and your innards will soon follow suit, leaving you as nothing more than a stony husk as it ravages your mind. To make matters worse, it’s highly contagious and rarely curable – that is, if you’re not Jorah. Somehow, this guy managed to have himself rid of the disease in a matter of one day. How? By having his infected skin painfully removed. The real problem with this is that they never explained how the process creates the cure.
How old are you again?
In a world filled with political strife and upheaval, birthday celebrations weren’t really in fashion. Still, keeping track of one’s age is important, right? Some characters – like Jon, Sansa, and Cersei – are portrayed by actors who are older than their characters, but Tommen Baratheon is really stretching it. Though he is seven when he is first introduced in the books, the television version of the character was portrayed by nineteen-year-old Dean-Charles Chapman. The guy even had to talk in a high-pitched voice to mask his actual age. Casting children on an adult-oriented show is definitely tricky business, but come on.
Another necklace mixup
As if the inconsistency with Melisandre’s enchanted necklace wasn’t enough – in the fifth season, Cersei received her daughter Myrcella’s necklaces, which was sent from Dorne. This led her to believe that her child was in danger since only two of those necklaces were known to exist. However, for those who pay close attention, this isn’t actually true. Before Joffrey was antagonizing Sansa Stark, you may remember him giving her an identical necklace, saying that it’s “just like the one your mother wears.” For a “master strategist,” Cersei certainly doesn’t have a strong memory.
Another hair situation
First, we have Daenerys’s flame-retardant hair conditioner, and now we have Robb Stark and Jon Snow’s magic hair growth formula. In the first episode, the two men were shown with short haircuts and clean-shaven faces just as King Robert was dropping by for a visit. However, they managed to grow their hair out almost instantaneously when they came across the lost dire wolf pups with their dad. Seriously, we know nothing about how the people of this world maintain their hair. Or perhaps, this magic hair growth is House Stark’s signature beauty secret? Does every leading family of the Seven Kingdoms have their own magical beauty secrets? We’ll never know since none of this was ever explained!
Spooky skeletons
These frozen bags of bones may send shivers down your spine but they weren’t supposed to be walking in the first place. For some reason, their bones were able to stay intact despite being under the weight of the snow for so many years, which isn’t very realistic. And let’s not get into the concept of bones moving without muscles, tendons, and ligaments – in a world full of dragons, sorcerers, stone people, and a colossal magical ice wall, it’s best not to think too much about the logic of these bony folks.
Practice what you preach
With a power struggle happening within the Seven Kingdoms, there’s bound to be corruption, conspiracies, betrayals, and of course, hypocrisy. Speaking of hypocrisy, remember when Daenerys was known to be an advocate of ending slavery? Well, guess what, she still owns slaves through the series. And she treats them like tools instead of acknowledging each and every one of them as individuals. Nothing can be so jarring as someone not practicing what they’re advocating, even if it’s a means to an end they think is justified. If anything, this character flaw goes some way towards justifying her fate at the end of the series.
Lighting the way
It’s one thing to be stuck in a prison cell with very minimal lighting. It’s another to be stuck in a prison cell with nothing but a couple of small windows for light to shine through. For Tyrion, neither is the case. While his cell matches the first two descriptions, light somehow manages to shine on him when the long shot of his cell was shown. Sure, people love to complain about the lack of lighting during the Battle of Winterfell, but all this light in a supposedly dark cell is just too much.
Reaching for the top
Castles in medieval times were built to be defensive behemoths. You would think one of those defenses would include not being easy to scale, but it looks like that logic doesn’t apply in Westeros. In the first episode, Bran was able to scale the tower effortlessly, almost as if it was built with hand and foot holes in mind. Whoever designed that thing should be executed for their shoddy defensive strategy. What’s even more puzzling, however, is that of all the places they could have their incestuous affair, Jaime and Cersei chose this crude tower. You definitely have to feel sorry for Bran, not just for being crippled, but also for witnessing something so hideously inappropriate.
An unlikely duo
With political strife comes hatred, and Arya’s hatred towards the Mountain is no exception. Something’s not right, however: Why did she never express her hatred towards him, even after realizing The Hound also despised him? After all, Arya adds many people to her hit list for good reasons, and for The Mountain, it’s his involvement in the torture of her fellow captives. Is it part of her master plan to lull him into a false sense of security by revealing his weaknesses? In any case, Arya is definitely not to be messed around with.
Dead men tell no lies
The fifth season showed us the Sons of the Harpy being challenged by the Unsullied, led by none other than Barristan and Grey Worm. Sure enough, carnage ensued, leaving many dead bodies littering the ground. However, as soon as the camera pans out, most of them disappear from the shot. What happened? Did those corpses just up and vanish? Maybe there were lots of janitors on standby, ready to rid the area of any viscera in the blink of an eye? Well, with all that bloodshed, surely it’s someone ‘s job to clean up the mess.
Scabbard scramble
As a soldier, weapons training is crucial if one is to succeed in combat, or at the very least, survive. Being good with a weapon means you can effortlessly cut down their foes, but being able to put it away after use is another matter entirely. Take this soldier, for example – he has a lot of trouble getting his sword back into its scabbard. Given that Jon’s “rubber” sword was shown during the Battle of the Bastards, maybe the soldier also has a sword like that and he’s having difficulty putting it away because it’s so dang jiggly. Seriously, they shouldn’t be using rubber for a prop sword on such a big-budget show.
A handy disappearing act
Before Jaime Lannister lost his right hand, many GoT fans were distracted by Catelyn Stark’s magic hand. In this scene from the first season, her hand just seems to vanish between shots. Maybe the show’s world is more magical than we think, but it doesn’t disappear with any of the smoke and sparkles you’d expect from a typical magical spell. It seems more likely that the people on-set that day lapsed in their attention to detail, as shown with all the previous mistakes like this. Either way, it doesn’t really matter because we all know that Catelyn’s vanishing hand is nothing compared to what went down at the infamous red wedding.
Sneaky, slithery snakes
Even though the Sand Snakes are bastard daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell, they were well-loved by their father. Still, bastards are often ostracized, and for those born into nobility, being ignored is one of the best-case scenarios. Indeed, the Sand Snakes were an unwelcome presence in the GoT world, and they had to mask their movements throughout the realm. However, this doesn’t explain how they managed to travel towards the capital aboard Jaime’s ship, kill the King, and flee back to Dorne, all without being caught.
Undying will
Arya’s will was unbreakable, even in the face of tragedies such as the red wedding. Indeed, the young girl witnessed many horrific events, including the brutal torture of her fellow prisoners. Did she have an insanely strong mind and heart? Definitely. And an unbelievably strong body? Apparently so. Being stabbed by a twisting knife wasn’t enough to kill her, even though the wonders of modern medicine were sorely lacking in Westeros. Then again, other characters suffered far more cruel fates – so much so that Arya’s stabbing is but a mild inconvenience at worst. It seems the saying “mind over matter” definitely applies in her case.
Gotta go fast
The continent of Westeros is huge, and according to George R.R. Martin, roughly the size of South America. A land this big means traveling from one kingdom to another would take many days, even on the fastest known land transportation available. Yet somehow, Varys and Arya managed to hop from one kingdom to another in a short amount of time. Even teleportation is out of the question as far as the show’s lore is concerned, so what gives? Is there some fast travel method that the GoT creators didn’t bother to tell us about?