Today, “Game of Thrones” is considered one of the most successful series of all time. However, the beginning of the production was anything but smooth. The pilot episode was a complete disaster.
The beginning of “Game of Thrones”:
- The pilot episode of “Game of Thrones” was filmed in 2009 but was never aired
- The new first episode titled “Winter Is Coming” first aired in 2011 on the American channel HBO
- The screenplay was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss based on the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin
Here you can see the trailer for the prequel series “House of the Dragon”:
“No one knew […] what the hell that was”
What kind of episode was that? You probably never saw the pilot episode of “Game of Thrones”. Because hardly anyone did – for good reasons. In interviews with Entertainment Weekly, various participants recount the beginnings of the fantasy hit (via 3D Juegos).
Before it even started, rookie showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss had already spent 4 years planning the series. Then they finally began filming in Northern Ireland and Morocco. But the ambitious project was not easy to implement.
“No one knew what we were doing or what the hell that was,” recalls Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the actor who played Jaime Lannister. While filming the arrival of King Robert, a key scene in the first episode, he felt ridiculous the entire time. “There was not a shred of a chance that this project would be a game-changer for anyone,” he describes the feeling back then. Luckily, he was wrong about that.
The reasons for failure
What exactly went wrong in this pilot episode? “At first, we thought everything would go well. But that was only because we didn’t know any better,” explains David Benioff.
Above all, the episode failed to explain essential details of the plot. If one was not familiar with the source material by George R.R. Martin, important moments of the story were simply not understandable. It seems it was not clear that Jaime and Cersei Lannister are siblings. This made the “incest scene”, which was supposed to be a major revelation, completely trivial.
There also appeared to be problems with the scenes featuring Daenerys, who was still portrayed by Tamzin Merchant. From a horse that wouldn’t jump over the campfire to sexually aroused horses distracting the actors during Daenerys’ wedding night shoot. Nothing seemed to work quite right.
Technically, the production unfortunately could not convince either. “It looks like it was filmed in my backyard,” someone reportedly noted.
Additionally, it seemed that many of those involved did not fully grasp the genre of the series. “Is it fantasy with a drama influence? Is it a drama with a fantasy influence?” They attempted to keep the fantasy element as low as possible and especially aimed to make the dialogues “more realistic”.
However, the result apparently did not fit, as it fundamentally remained a fantasy story and not a purely historical retelling.
Despite a decent budget, the production overall felt too “small” – not like the epic fantasy saga it aimed to be.
Who got to see the episode? After the pilot episode was filmed, Benioff and Weiss presented a rough cut to some friends and family members. The reactions were rather modest.
I showed the episode to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and observed their reactions. You could see on their faces how bored they were. “This is kind of nothing,” they said. They really tried to be nice.
David Benioff in an interview with Entertainment Weekly
Besides the lukewarm comments, they also received some honest feedback. The experienced TV producer Craig Mazin put it bluntly: “You have a huge problem.”
A 10 million dollar rehearsal
What happened next? Despite the numerous problems, HBO gave the series a second chance after this disaster. Benioff and Weiss were allowed to reshoot almost all the material. At that time, the company had already invested 10 million US dollars into the dragon drama.
There were some changes, including in the cast. Only now did actresses Emilia Clarke and Michelle Fairley take on their roles as Daenerys Targaryen and Catelyn Stark.
Moreover, efforts were made to enhance the overall comprehension of the storyline for both the audience and the actors.
The most significant change lay in the tone and focus of the series. Where it was previously difficult to find the right balance between “seriousness and expensive cosplay”, the series became as dark as we know it today.
This did the series good, even though it probably also meant the wonderfully quirky cameo appearance of George R.R. Martin in an exaggerated Pentoshi costume was cut. In my opinion, a truly tragic loss.
Overall, the pilot episode can probably be seen as a major exercise through which all those involved learned a lot and thus paved the way for the final series. “We were incredibly lucky to get a 10-million-dollar rehearsal,” summarizes the actor of Viserys Targaryen, Harry Lloyd, aptly.
Even later, there were often funny situations during the production of “Game of Thrones”.
For example, Pedro Pascal, the actor who played Oberyn Martell, fell asleep during the filming of the famous fight scene between him and “the Mountain”. You can find out more here on MeinMMO:
Pedro Pascal fell asleep during the filming of a famous scene with “the Mountain” in Game of Thrones
