“Game of Thrones” Facts that Have Been Unearthed Since the Series Finale

The final season of “Game of Thrones” is behind us, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop thinking about it.

With over ten years of the biggest production in television history, there are bound to be some behind-the-scenes secrets that you have yet to learn, so keep reading for more of the things you might have missed from the very beginning all the way to the end.

Maisie Williams Learned to Fight Left-Handed

When Maisie Williams landed the role of Arya, her mother told her that the character is left-handed in the books.

Showing true dedication to her acting craft, the right-handed Williams learned to wield a sword with her left hand and performed many of her own stunts, a decision that paid off in spectacular fashion with her impressive ambidextrous fighting in the season eight episode Battle of Winterfell.

Emilia Clarke’s Health Scare

Given Emilia Clarke’s empowering on-screen performance as Daenerys, it’s hard to believe that the actress was dealing with a life-threatening health problem during the early seasons.

She revealed in a 2019 New Yorker article that after filming season one she had a brain aneurysm, the effects of which at one point caused her to forget her own name, and that she needed another brain surgery after season three.

Different Cast for the Pilot

It’s hard to imagine a world without Michelle Fairley’s gutting performance at the Red Wedding or Emilia Clarke’s eyebrow acrobatics, but if the original “Game of Thrones” pilot (which was by all accounts a total flop) had made it to air, chances are we would have never seen either one, as it featured two entirely different actresses: accomplished stage performer Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark, and “The Tudors’” Tamzin Merchant (pictured above) as Daenerys Targaryen.

George R. R. Martin Wrote Four Episodes

Beyond writing the novels upon which “Game of Thrones” is based, George R. R. Martin also wrote scripts for one episode in each of the first four seasons, including classics like “Blackwater” in season two and “The Lion and the Rose” in season four (the one where Joffrey dies).

Martin stopped writing for the show in season five to concentrate on “The Winds of Winter,” and we can only hope that his efforts will someday pay off.