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.
The first five of these collections of videos followed gangbuster weeks feat featured multiple deaths. These last two episodes have been quieter—the pause before the slaughter resumes, most likely—but that doesn’t make them any less interesting, especially when you have a series of scenes like we did in “The Broken Man,” scenes that basically established a spin-off show for Sandor Clegane. Call it “A Hound’s Life.” Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss discuss those scenes, as well as Jon and Sansa’s fight to reunite the North behind them, and Yara and Theon’s scene in Volantis.
Both of our actor deep dives this week tie directly to the scenes broken down in the “Inside the Episode” segment. (In many cases, the show uses these videos to talk about scenes that the Inside the Episode featurette didn’t get to.)
The first features Liam Cunningham and Kristopher Hivju discussing the difficulty in selling the North, and the wildlings, on Jon’s fight, and the coming battle for Winterfell.
The second, of course, focuses on the return of The Hound. Rory McCann and Ian McShane discuss what the character’s gone through, and this little dreamlike oasis of a world he’s found himself in.
The clip the show released on YouTube is also tied to The Hound’s return.
I’m only sorry they didn’t take all the scenes with McCann and McShane and put them together in a single video. I hope someone with video skills gets on that for us, pronto.