Game of Thrones officially turned 10 years old on April 18. Although the final season sparked much controversy among fans, it cannot be denied that this series remains a monumental achievement in global television, and it may take a long time before another show surpasses it. The 10th anniversary is also a perfect time for viewers to reflect on the journey that Game of Thrones has taken, filled with many ups and downs on its path to becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
For any series, the pilot episode plays a significant role in introducing the main characters and setting to the audience. For an adaptation like Game of Thrones, this is even more crucial, as this episode will determine whether the producers have done well enough to retain viewers who have read the original novels. However, few know that the first episode of Game of Thrones actually exists in two different versions: one that aired on HBO and one that has been lost to time.
Here are 12 “untold stories” about that forgotten version.
The first episode of Game of Thrones failed to pass HBO’s “approval” due to a major mistake
After months of filming, the writing duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss finally completed the first episode of Game of Thrones, ready to submit it for approval to HBO co-chairs Richard Plepler and Michael Lombardo. However, what they received was a cold splash of water: “You guys made a huge mistake“.
The most significant failure of this episode was that the sibling relationship between Jaime Lannister and Cersei Lannister was not clearly defined, resulting in the climactic moment when Jaime pushes Bran Stark from the tower failing to achieve the expected impact. Furthermore, the relationships among other characters, especially within the “large Stark family,” were also not explained in detail, making it easy for viewers to feel lost and confused.
However, HBO still trusted Benioff and Weiss with another chance and enlisted director Timothy Van Patten to replace Tom McCarthy, who was busy with another project at the time. McCarthy also shared that: “I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t connect with this series. So I don’t feel any difficulty or regret about not returning to Game of Thrones. That was the right decision.”
“The generals” remained the same, but the “troops” changed significantly, including the role of Daenerys Targaryen
While Benioff and Weiss were tasked with remaking the first episode of Game of Thrones, actress Tamzin Merchant was not as fortunate. She was replaced in the role of “Mother of Dragons” Daenerys Targaryen by Emilia Clarke, who remained with the series until its final episodes.
This was perhaps one of the most reasonable decisions by the production team, as it is hard to imagine anyone else as Dany in place of Emilia now. Additionally, Tamzin had shared with Entertainment Weekly that: “I am a self-taught actress, not formally trained, and I work instinctively. What excites me are engaging scripts and interesting characters — things I didn’t feel Game of Thrones had at that time.”
Michelle Fairley replaced Jennifer Ehle, redoing all of Catelyn Stark’s scenes
Like Daenerys, the role of Lady Stark was also changed during the filming of the first episode, with Michelle Fairley being chosen. The main reason for this decision was that Jennifer Ehle voluntarily withdrew because she did not want to commit to the series for such a long time.
Almost the entire script of the first episode had to be completely changed, including the haunting opening scene
Initially, Benioff and Weiss developed the script for Game of Thrones in a “safe” manner, meaning that whatever George R.R. Martin wrote in the original would be brought directly to the screen. However, this was clearly impossible due to time constraints. Additionally, they needed to deliver information in the most concise and precise way to the audience while clarifying the relationships among the main characters as clearly as possible.
In the unaired version, Game of Thrones opened exactly like the beginning of the book “A Game of Thrones” by Martin: Three members of the Night’s Watch (Ser Waymar Royce, Gared, and Will) had long departed from The Wall and were tracking the footprints of wildlings. However, in the official version, the episode begins with them casually entering the tunnel of The Wall to head north. The change may be very small, but it effectively helps viewers get a clearer picture of the setting and context of the show.
White Walkers had to be “teased” from the very first episode with their most basic characteristics
Another change in the official script is when Will, a member of the Night’s Watch, discovers the corpses of wildlings as well as the presence of the White Walkers. Here, the detail of these bodies being arranged in a certain order is a creation from Benioff and Weiss specifically for the television series. This indicates that White Walkers are sentient beings with intelligence rather than just mindless corpses.
The opening scene also had many changes
Not only did the content change, but the format of Game of Thrones was also refined, with a completely new opening sequence that has since become an iconic standard in television. Benioff and Weiss’s original idea was to use a flock of crows (created through computer graphics), symbolizing “opening, beginning,” and gradually lead the audience to follow them flying over different areas and lands of Westeros.
Character dialogues were adjusted to clarify their relationships as naturally as possible
This is a very small change, but extremely necessary to create a tighter first episode. Some examples of this detail are when Jon Snow reminds Bran Stark during archery practice, he uses the phrases “our father” and “your mother” to indirectly refer to his status as a “bastard.” Or in the first scene between Jaime and Cersei, the charming Lannister swordsman emphasizes that “as your brother,” while also providing information about his sister’s marriage to King Robert Baratheon for the audience.
Some scenes from the old version were retained in the officially aired episode, such as the detail of the crow flying towards Winterfell to report Jon Arryn’s death below
The scene of Bran Stark climbing to the top of a building in Winterfell to “snoop” on the party from King’s Landing was also retained
The first 18+ scene of Game of Thrones between Tyrion Lannister and a sex worker was also aired
If you pay attention, you will notice that Tyrion’s hair in this scene is longer and straighter than usual, and golden enough to almost be white, just as the original description states. However, in other scenes, and in the subsequent episodes, actor Peter Dinklage removed the wig and decided to film with his real hair.
Some scenes between Ned, Robert, and Benjen were also reused, and if you pay attention, you will see that actor Sean Bean’s hair changed slightly in such scenes
George R.R. Martin made a cameo in the wedding scene between Khal Drogo and Daenerys
But since Emilia Clarke was chosen to replace Tamzin as mentioned above, the entire scene had to be reshot. This meant that the author Martin had to be reluctantly cut from the very work he created. In an interview with Daily Beast, he stated: “It’s a pity that scene was left out in post-production. I played a Pentoshi nobleman attending Dany’s wedding in a huge, oversized hat.”
According to Insider