Inside the Episode: “Blood of My Blood” (Video)

At the conclusion of every Game of Thrones episode, the production airs and then releases a spate of videos detailing the behind-the-scenes work that went into making it. These videos explore the thought process that went into the creation of particular scenes, and highlight what the writers and directors see as the key moments of the episode.

This week’s “Inside The Episode” features for “Blood of My Blood” interestingly describes Bran’s visions as him absorbing “the entire history of the world.” Benioff and Weiss also discuss the return of Benjen Stark (who Weiss actually calls “Coldhands”) as well as Arya’s choice not to kill Lady Crane and Dany’s dramatic speech.

I was really surprised at what the “Inside the Episode” doesn’t discuss: King’s Landing and Margaery’s huge play that basically undercuts the power of everyone in the Red Keep. Lucky for us, the first actor deep dive, with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Jonathan Pryce, does discuss that scene.

But, again, very frustratingly, Natalie Dormer isn’t included in this discussion. Everyone has complained that Margaery’s motivations are unclear, but it strikes me that this is the first time in the show that Margaery has been inscrutable, which is how she usually is in the books. Perhaps that’s why the producers don’t discuss her in the main segment, and she’s not interviewed—this way, they can keep those motivations under wraps for a little while longer.

Our second actor deep dive is with John Bradley and Hannah Murray on what was, surprisingly, perhaps one of the best scenes the show has had all season: Sam’s homecoming.

And finally, the clip that the show posted for the week is Dany’s flight in on dragon back. Let us all marvel once again at the sheer size of Drogon.

Goddamn, he got big.