Director Dan Sackheim on why Arthur Dayne dual-wields, and other tidbets from his Reddit AMA

Daniel Sackheim directed “Oathbreaker” and “Book of the Stranger,” the last two episodes of Game of Thrones. Now that they’re both aired and done with, he went on Reddit to answer questions from fans. We dug into the conversation and pulled out the best bits.

The AMA was wide-ranging, but Sackheim gave plenty of specifics. For example, he revealed that the sword Arthur Dayne sticks in the ground before he and Ned Stark’s men mix it up at the Tower of Joy is indeed Dawn, the legendary greatsword he carries in the books. (Incidentally, the fight took three months to choreograph and the better part of three days to shoot.) Sackheim also talked about how he and the producers came to the decision to have Dayne dual-wield blades.

"We were looking for something that Arthur Dayne could do that would exhibit almost superhuman prowess. While we tried, we could not achieve that using one sword."

The genesis of that idea came from an unexpected place.

"I showed the producers and stunt coordinator a Bruce Lee video (not sure of it’s authenticity) with him playing to men at ping pong, and Lee using a pair nunchucks. It was jaw dropping and that kind of led to the idea of two swords."

Sticking to “Oathbreaker,” some fans have pointed out that the direwolf’s head Smalljon Umber presents to Ramsay seems a little small. Sackheim had something to say about that:

"Your right it does seem small. I had the same question, but I was assured by the creature maker that was responsible for crafting the head that it was the correct size. Good question."

The correct size for a direwolf or the correct size for a secret Umber conspiracy? You decide.

Apologies for making you look at this.

Later, Sackheim weighted in on what it was like to film the emotional Jon-Sansa reunion.

"The characters had not seen each other for a number of years (six seasons) and so what we discussed was that it should seem almost dream like to them, and that there would be some tentativeness to their actions. It was about stringing along the anticipation of the reunion as long as possible to create the feeling of longing and so that the moment they hugged would feel earned and satisfying."

Also, did Sansa find out that Jon had died and been brought back? We kind of came in the middle of their catch-up conversation. “I assume she does,” said Sackheim. That’s nice and open-ended.

Sackheim continued to clear things up when a fan asked him about Jorah’s fight against the Dothraki soldier in “Book of the Stranger,” a fight he lost badly.

"He’s very effective against a normal size opponent when he is armed. Last time he took on a Dothraki he had a sword. In this case is simply wasn’t a fair fight."

While we’re in Vaes Dothrak, is Daenerys completely immune to fire or what?

"She’s completely immune to fire. Check out Episode 10 from season 1."

It seems the show has made itself clear on this front.

Surprisingly (to Sackheim, anyway), one of the biggest things to come out of “Book of the Stranger” was the hint of romance between Brienne of Tarth and Tormund Giantsbane, a mismatched pair if there ever was one. Dropthebassclef asked if that was written into the script or something Sackheim developed on set.

"That was definitely written into the script, however we did play around a bit with it on set, tonally. I will say I was amazed by the reception that flirtation received on the internet. It was surprising certainly because Brienne’s character has been driven largely by duty and honor, and we’ve never gotten to seen her as a sexual being. Torment, is… well he’s a Wildling, so enough said there. It was a very unexpected development."

Sackheim had some more general things to say about the directing process, as well. Here’s his opinion on the difference between directing for TV vs directing for film…

"TV is a producers medium so you work to help fulfill the vision of the show runners. Film is a directors medium and is all about the Directors vision. This is not to say that you don’t have some creative freedom as a TV director, but it’s a different process."

…and here he is on the difference between directing for Game of Thrones versus for normal TV shows:

"Yes, they do shoot all the episodes at one time, with two crews, so each director is up at bat at different times over the course of production. The result is that it takes approx six months to complete two episodes. I did get a chance to meet and collaborate with the other directors."

There are more questions and answers over on Reddit. Sackheim left open the possibility of returning to film more episodes of Game of Thrones in the future, and considering how well his recent episodes went over, I’m sure most fans would be pleased to have him back.