Inside HBO's Game of Thrones

by C. A. Taylor

  Sansa’s bridal armor in full.

  — costuming sansa —

  The lion head and direwolf detail work in the collar of the gown.

  CRAWFORD MCKENZIE (COSTUME CUTTER): We try to reuse as much as possible, so the cape was actually made of the sleeves and skirt from a gown that belonged to Cersei in an earlier season. There was enough to piece them together to form the drape.

  Sansa’s gown was quite labor-intensive and made with Cersei in mind as a style influence. Handcrafted in imported Italian silks, it took the seamstress Nicki Varney close to two weeks to make, as the fit had to be perfect and was first made up in muslin. The costume armorers hand formed the metal plating on the hips of the dress, first cut and styled in card.

  [Costume designer] Michele Clapton then designed the embroidery on the crossover bands, which were then handmade by our embroidery specialist, Michele Carragher.

  MICHELE CARRAGHER (EMBROIDER): The straps were created with a more freestyle satin stitch, but I tend to use several colors and metallic threads to create a more 3-D effect. I tend to begin by sketching or painting the plan onto a piece of crêpeline. Then I’ll add beads or braiding or little metal rings because, on screen, it can be quite heavy and still not read the detailing.

  Michele [Clapton] took her inspiration for the bands from the title sequence of the show, with Sansa’s story being told in the imagery. It begins with wolves and fish, and then the wolves are tangling with lions reaching her neck, where a lion head is stamped on the back of her collar.

  Sansa Stark contemplates her future in King’s Landing.

  — building the sept of baelor —

  “I’d love to see their tombs, really. It’s like taking a walk through history.”

  —Margaery Tyrell

  Original art department scale model of the Sept of Baelor set design.

  * * *

  The Great Sept of Baelor, named for the Septon King Baelor the Blessed, the ninth king of House Targaryen, sits high on Visenya’s Hill in King’s Landing. As the center of the Faith of the Seven, it holds the tombs of the kings of Westeros. All major religious events that occur in the royal houses of Westeros, like weddings and funerals, take place within its grand interior. The interior of the Sept of Baelor was designed by production designer Gemma Jackson and built for season three in one of the vast cell stages of the Paint Hall in Belfast, next to one of the other key sets for the season, the Wall.

  The usable space in Cell 4 of the Paint Hall is a little over 104 feet wide, and the set for the Great Sept took up nearly half of it. It is a massive structure, complete with marble floors with an inlaid seven-pointed star, towering pillars, and handcrafted statues that represent the Seven Gods of the Faith. Of the Sept’s fourteen sections, six were built for filming; the remaining walls and ceiling were created and extended by the VFX team in close conjunction with the art department.

  * * *

  GEMMA JACKSON (PRODUCTION DESIGNER): The Sept of Baelor probably represented the greatest challenge for me on Game of Thrones. In the end, I found my inspiration in the remains and bones that are said to sit below the Sept. I thought of the burial walls I had seen in the cemeteries of Italy and France, little cabinets placed in stone that hold the urns of ash. I planned the base of the pillars to have little doors and latches, holding within the remains of all that had gone before.

  We had huge expectations and extremely limited space, but it was extremely important that we kept the theme of the Seven to represent the Faith. I incorporated the seven-pointed star and the seven pillars, but in doing so I created something of a complication for myself—it’s never a straight line of sight from one door to another because the building isn’t evenly balanced.

  My original design held a good deal more color, but in reality it didn’t really sit right. I adjusted the set to a more monochromatic palette, which ended up being an excellent backdrop for the lush colors of the costuming in King’s Landing. It also meant that each section was slightly more anonymous, which allowed each area to be used from a multitude of angles and redressed where necessary.

  STEVE KULLBACK (VFX PRODUCER): When we look at the breakdown for any episode, we have to ask, is the scope of what the shot is supposed to be something that could never be realized in construction? Looking at the Sept of Baelor, it needs to be the most extravagant, the most magnificent, the largest, the richest, the most opulent . . . you just can’t build St. Patrick’s Cathedral on a stage and go and shoot in it. So there is a natural collaboration between the art department and the VFX department to really hone in on what the build will be and what the hand-off to VFX will be.

  VFX exterior of the Sept of Baelor, an interior only set.

  THE FAITH OF THE SEVEN: A BRIEF HISTORY

  it is said that around six thousand years ago, the Seven appeared to the Andals of Essos, who lived in the eastern hills of Andalos. The Seven encouraged them to pursue great conquests, and so the Andals invaded Westeros, bringing their new gods along with their wars.

  The Faith of the Seven actually worships a single god who contains seven aspects. Each aspect governs a different part of life. To simplify the concept of aspects, ordained leaders often refer to them as gods in their own right. The highest office or personage is the High Septon, a man who, once in power, discards his common name. Lower orders of the ministry are known as septons, and their female counterparts as septas. The seven aspects or gods are the following:

  —THE FATHER—

  who represents justice and presides over the souls of the dead

  —THE MOTHER—

  who represents peace, mercy, fertility, and childbirth

  —THE WARRIOR—

  who represents courage and dominance in battle

  —THE CRONE—

  who represents wisdom and is the knower of fates

  —THE SMITH—

  who represents the creator and presides over craftspeople and farmers

  —THE MAIDEN—

  who represents innocence, love, and beauty

  —THE STRANGER—

  who represents the unknown and death

  The principles of the Faith decry incest and regicide as two of the worst acts of immorality. The laws of hospitality are seen as the duty of all true followers. Due to the dominance of the religion, these principles have become woven into the laws of the land.

  The seven aspects of god lend themselves to many seven-numbered symbols, most particularly the seven-pointed star, which adorns religious buildings and many homes across Westeros. The religion’s book of scripture is also known as The Seven-Pointed Star. All weddings take place within a star and at the foot of and between the statues of the Mother and the Father.

  The Faith of the Seven is the most commonly practiced religion in the Seven Kingdoms. The seat of the Faith is the Great Sept of Baelor in King’s Landing. While other faiths and beliefs are practiced, such was the success of the Andals’ invasion that to this day the majority of people south of the Neck believe in the Seven.

  The statues of the aspects of the Seven surround the seven-pointed star in the Sept of Baelor.

  Daenerys looks over the harbor as her ship sails into Slaver’s Bay.

  PART THREE

  the mother of dragons

  * * *

  “The Dothraki follow strength above all, khaleesi. You’ll have a true khalasar when you prove yourself strong, and not before.”

  — Jorah Mormont

  Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen is gathering an army to take back the Iron Throne from the Lannisters and all the would-be imposter kings of Westeros. Having escaped imprisonment and worse in the city of Qarth, Daenerys sails across Slaver’s Bay to Astapor, where she plans to purchase an unstoppable army of the Unsullied. Although Dany finds the idea of slavery repugnant, this slave legion is hard to resist, for its members are trained brutally from childhood to be the ultimate soldiers.

  Astapor is ruled by a guild of slavers known as the Good Masters, whose gol
den harpy sigil is seen all over the city. as she deals with the slave master Kraznys mo Nakloz and his slave Missandei, Daenerys learns how the Unsullied gained their merciless reputation and, further, what her own limits might be.

  THE UNSULLIED: A BRIEF HISTORY

  “They will stand until they drop. Such is their obedience.”

  —Missandei

  The Unsullied lines disappear in the valley.

  taken from their mothers at the age of five, the unsullied are drilled as long as the sun is in the sky each day. They must master all the skills of a short sword, a shield, and three spears. Three of every four boys die during training, leaving the surviving boys with an unquestioning loyalty and no fear of what may happen to them. Made into eunuchs, they are meant to have no desires of their own. They are said to have no life outside their duty; their lives are to be used to fulfill the desires of their masters. Indeed, they are no longer men. To win his shield, each Unsullied must go to the market and kill a newborn child.

  When Daenerys lands in Astapor to buy the entire force of eight thousand warriors, they have yet to be tested in battle, nor have they yet killed the required children. She is advised to blood them early . . . which she does, to their former masters’ despair.

  The Unsullied forces follow their new queen from the city.

  — costuming dany —

  The costume designs for Dany show the running theme of color and shape specific to her character.

  MICHELE CLAPTON (COSTUME DESIGNER): The inspiration for Dany’s costumes and their evolution is very much her story. The color choice was dictated by the fact that the Dothraki precious color is blue, so that’s really been the basis of her palette. The change in her clothing style is partly about her journey of becoming a woman and a leader, but also the practicality of it. She has been leading a nomadic life and with the riding she has to wear boots and she has to wear leather trousers. The fact that they lend such strength to her look is great, but I wanted the shape to create a sense of her femininity. We looked at so many elements, and we played with dragon scaling embroidery and the sleeves seem almost like the hood on a snake. I wanted to draw in the dragons, but also create a sense of armor, something protective about the choices she makes. After Qarth, where it was designed so that it felt like she had made a mistake in style choice, Dany starts to take on more elements from the male style of dress—because that’s where she feels the power is—and then make them her own.

  It’s a very organic process, so when she gets to Meereen, you start to see similarities between Missandei and Dany. She is still a young woman and she would want to dress like the woman she perceives as her friend, someone who has proved herself as they have traveled together. Dany wants to erase the idea of slave and the separation it causes and that is part of it as well.

  EMILIA CLARKE (DAENERYS TARGARYEN): Every season I am completely blown away by not only the beauty and detailing of Dany’s costumes, but also the standard. I’ve been lucky enough to experience couture now and I’m telling you, I look at the costumes and I think—we’re better. For me though, my favorite item will always be her boots. It’s a love/hate thing: they may be difficult to put on, but they have been everywhere Dany has. They have been filled with blood, they have been filled with snow, they have been filled with sand and mud—they have had it all. They are my favorite bit of Dany. At drama school, it’s one of the first things they tell you—if you can’t find a character, walk in their shoes—now, those boots, they just make you feel strong.

  Daenerys takes control and leads her newly acquired Unsullied army.

  — burning kraznys —

  episode 304: “and now his watch is ended”

  “A dragon is not a slave.”

  —Daenerys Targaryen

  The Slaver’s whip with the molded harpy handle.

  * * *

  At the end of episode 304, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) demonstrates her growing strength and determination as a leader. In a spectacular and surprising strategic move, she double-crosses the Astapor slave masters who sell her the Unsullied in exchange for her largest dragon. She simultaneously frees the slaves from their masters, claims her army, and recovers her dragon in a way no one, especially her stunned advisors Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney), will forget.

  * * *

  ALEX GRAVES (DIRECTOR): Dany’s final sequence in the episode was such a massively technical undertaking. It was undoable, unaffordable, and being shot in Morocco on an incredibly tight time scale. I knew from Alan Taylor’s season one finale that Emilia was really great. I basically built the whole scene with the idea that she would arrive and then expand every single moment I gave her. I also knew I was going to have fun with Iain [Glen] and Emilia because I had watched the dailies that Dan [Minahan] had shot on the first day, and they were like Hepburn and Tracy.

  What I wasn’t expecting was for Iain to follow me around for the whole day. I discovered he loves directing and the process. I’d go down to the plaza to talk to Emilia, and I turned round and he was sitting right there. He wanted to know what I was saying that changed her performance. We had a lot of fun. I’m still really proud of that scene because I feel it looks great as the smallest version of what I could have done if budget was no object. One of the biggest challenges was, how do you film eight thousand guys around one girl when you have only a few hundred extras? I can’t even tell you the planning that went into it. I took letter paper representing eight-by-five columns of Unsullied and laid them all over my living room floor with a shot glass as Dany on her horse. I shot them from every possible angle. Then we got to Morocco and some extras didn’t show up—so I lost a column and a wide shot. I still think about it.

  I set it up so you are seeing her from many different narratives. You see Dany from the Unsullied, you see her standing alone, you see her from the point of view of the masters and Jorah. The audience is left with a feeling of victory, but it’s not that straightforward.

  There is a subtle moment at the end that I think is important, too—Jorah doesn’t fully understand what’s going on and warns Dany against her actions. It’s a moment where he realizes he’s useless to her now. She’s just pulled off the greatest military victory in twenty years and Barristan got it. Jorah didn’t and that’s not good for him.

  Daenerys makes a deal with Kraznys for the Unsullied army.

  DAVID BENIOFF AND D. B. WEISS (CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AND WRITERS): From the moment we read the scene in the books, we knew this would be a crowd pleaser. The world of the show is so often grim, but this is a place where someone we love triumphs over someone horrible, and does so in a way she completely earns. It’s a perfect showcase for her intelligence, her refusal to be backed into false dichotomies, and her ability to find novel (if brutal) solutions to the problems that face her. Emilia was so convincing, by the end of that speech, we really thought she was going to start a revolution.

  We were very excited by the possibility of our first real glimpse of the dragons as weapons of war, and director Alex Graves shared our enthusiasm. He even tossed in a freebie shot—which happened to be the plume of dragon-charred guards rising up behind a bad-ass Dany that was one of the key images for the entire third season. The explosion was pretty damn loud, but it was well worth it.

  EMILIA CLARKE (DAENERYS TARGARYEN): Season two was quite a frustrating season for Daenerys, because she didn’t really get anywhere and her naivety had her coming up against some brick walls. Before we started on season three, David and Dan had talked to me about how there were scenes coming up for Dany that they had been excited about since the very beginning of the whole show so I knew something great was going to be happening. In episode four you get to see Dany take things into her own hands and surprise herself, her advisors, and everyone else around her. The fact it all comes together seems like a sign of things to come. She had started out by asking for advice before making any decisions, although she had proven in season one that she is capable of making bol
d moves like this by walking into the fire. She’s ready to take the risks when that needs to happen. She’s also beginning to put the barriers up and beginning to not trust anyone but herself. If she’s going to do that, then she really needs to trust in her own instincts.

  Daenarys is surrounded as the former slaves call to their new Mhysa.

  — creating the armies of the unsullied —

  An Unsullied extra poses for VFX modeling.

  * * *

  Under the heat of the Moroccan sun, with about five hundred extras marching in formation, the VFX department’s task was to somehow create the vast Unsullied army in the epic numbers we see on screen.

  * * *

  JOE BAUER (VFX SUPERVISOR): The original intent was to set up the camera at the desired height, which was dictated by the biggest crane available, or 150 feet, and then march everyone through it to capture every possible element.