Video: Watch the full Game of Thrones panel from SXSW

(Photo by Amy E. Price/Getty Images for SXSW)

Last month, a quartet of Game of Thrones heavyweights — showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss together with actors Maisie Williams (Arya) and Sophie Turner (Sansa) — visited the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX to talk about the show. We reported on everything that went down, from the discussions of what’s coming in seasons 7 and 8 to the casting process to the funny behind-the-scenes shenanigans. Now, JasonJyeah has uploaded a video of the panel to YouTube.

The panel is nominally a question-and-answer session, with Williams and Turner asking the questions and Benioff and Weiss answering them. It often breaks down, though. We’ve compiled a little guide to some of the more interesting moments below. Watch away.

A guide:

1:10 — On the difficulties of casting the Stark girls. They looked at 300 girls for Arya before finding Maisie Williams.
2:25 — Williams and Turner tell the story of their joint audition.
3:30 — Sophie Turner to the showrunners: “Which one of us do you like better”?
6:50 — On Mark Addy being incredibly easy to cast as Robert Baratheon.
7:35 — That time Turner and Williams cried at the pilot wrap party because they were afraid HBO wouldn’t pick up the show.
9:40 — Benioff on the worst scene he and Weiss ever wrote.
10:40 — Benioff and Weiss explain their writing process for season 8. The outline for the final season is 140 pages, even though it’s only for six episodes.
13:10 — Williams to Turner: “She’s dead.” Terrified laughter. “Kidding.”
14:45 — David Benioff pontificates on the differences between Sansa and Arya, why fans react differently to the characters, and how they’ve changed over the years. Dan Weiss: “I think Sansa has to face, in a way, harder choices.”
17:00 — Weiss talks about the time they were going to kill a character but enjoyed him so much they decided to put it off.
18:00 — That time Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) broke David Benioff’s hand.
20:00 — If the showrunners could bring one actor/character back, who would it be?
21:16 — Benioff and Weiss talk about the practical jokes they’ve pulled on the actors, including when they wrote a scene for Kit Harington “where his face melts off.” There are also real scenes the actors think are practical jokes, like when Sansa had to sing a hymn in “Blackwater.”
26:05 — What props and costumes does everyone plan on stealing from the set when the show is done? Oathkeeper, Needle, Heartsbane and Ice all come up. Keep an eye out, HBO.
28:50 — Ed Sheeran cometh. “He was very fun,” said Maisie Williams.
30:00 — Benioff and Weiss discuss the staggering logistical complexity of the show. Weiss didn’t even realize the show had a fourth production unit until he asked.
32:30 — In another universe, what show would Benioff and Weiss write for? “Rick and Morty,” Benioff answers immediately.
35:35 — Benioff asks and answers an important question. “Is it possible to have a dragon White Walker? Maybe.” He points out that the terminology’s a little off, though. It should be “dragon wight.”
37:15 — Tyrion will probably have the best line of dialogue in season 7.
38:15 — The panel ruminates on their favorite deaths, and Weiss reveals which was the most expensive.
41:40 — What characters should get together again? Benioff thinks that getting Jon Snow and Daenerys together is too obvious.
43:00 — The group ruminates on the many compelling female characters in the series, and how that’s still a rarity in the industry.
45:53 — The group reveals their favorite shows other than Game of Thrones. Could be good between-season viewing.
46:50 — Everyone reveals their proudest moments on the show. Turner names the discussions that followed Sansa’s wedding night scene with Ramsay Bolton, because it “turned me in to kind of an activist.”
51:10 — How does the crew keep plot leaks to a minimum? Benioff: “It’s virtually impossible.” But as the producers points out, everyone knew the outcomes of the first few seasons, and those still worked.

Home/Dan Weiss