Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss took the stage in Brazil today for a panel discussion at the Comic Con Experience (CCXP). Cast members Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and John Bradley (Samwell Tarley) joined them for a fun Q&A session.
The panel opened with a live orchestra playing the show’s opening theme:
We’re live at #GOTXP panel.
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
Follow along for real time updates #ForTheThrone. pic.twitter.com/h4Wx0FJ58V
The men, the myths, the legends appeared on stage, and welcomed Williams and Bradley to join them:
#GameofThrones creators, David Benioff and Dan Weiss take the stage at the #GOTXP Panel. pic.twitter.com/PDQ4w97CPI
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
#GoT creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss welcome @Maisie_Williams and @johnbradleywest to the stage. #GOTXP pic.twitter.com/QGq0euPt8e
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
John Bradley recalled when he first realized Game of Thrones could become something special:
”The big table read in Belfast when we got a sense of what a huge deal this show would be...that’s when it started to feel really real.” - @johnbradleywest on his first #GoT memory #GOTXP
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
Maisie Williams’ first Game of Thrones memory was a sweet one:
“Meeting Sophie...and to having this decade long friendship with her.” - @Maisie_Williams tells #GOTXP what her first #GameofThrones memory is
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
And what of casting, Benioff and Weiss?
Who was the hardest to cast and who was the easiest to cast?
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
“@Maisie_Williams as Arya was the hardest to cast and Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon was the easiest to cast.” - Dan and David at #GOTXP
If the role of Arya was hard to cast, Maisie Williams erased Benioff and Weiss’ fears when she got in front of the camera. Quoth Dan Weiss, per the HBO Brazil Twitter account:
"I remember, at the beginning of the recordings, when she was still small and we only had 3 more minutes of sunshine to record a scene and more than 100 people on the team… she needed to hit first. And that’s exactly what she did."
Soon, the panelists got down to discussing the important questions:
#GoT creators, David Benioff and Dan Weiss ask @Maisie_Williams and @johnbradleywest, “If you could marry any character on #GameofThrones who would it be and why?”
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
Maisie: “Sansa Stark because she’s fit and fierce”
John: “Gilly”#GOTXP
This next one may have been the most interesting thing to come out of the panel:
“Out of genuine curiosity, when did you first figure out how you would end #GameofThrones?” - @Maisie_Williams
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
“Sometime after we finished the third season is when we knew.” - Dan Weiss and David Benioff at #GOTXP
So they’ve had a long time to plan. Here’s hoping season 8 is worthy of the build-up.
Next, the discussion turned to weaponry.
“My favorite #GoT sword is the Tarly sword.” - David Benioff #GOTXP
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
Naturally, Maisie Williams said she missed Arya’s sword, Needle.
Finally, HBO premiered a cool CGI promo teaser for the show’s final season:
Fire and ice. #GoTS8 pic.twitter.com/ixHIsPjyhW
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) December 6, 2018
If April could be here now, that would be great.
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