20 takeaways from Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon, behind the scenes of Game of Thrones

3. The first day Kit Harington and Rose Leslie met was also the first time their characters met in the show

Of all the romances on Game of Thrones, few are as beautiful and tragic as the one between Jon Snow and his first love, the Wildling Ygritte.

Actually, scratch that. There are plenty of beautifully tragic romances on Thrones. But unlike all the rest of them, Jon and Ygritte’s star-crossed romance actually worked out in the end…in a way. Seven years after meeting on the show, actors Kit Harington and Rose Leslie married in real life. In a poetic sort of way, Jon Snow and Ygritte did end up together, just as many fans always wished they could have.

Speaking to Hibberd about filming seasons 2 and 3 in Iceland, Harington opened up about the day that he and Rose Leslie first met. “I googled Rose when I found out she was playing the part,” Harington said. “Then I met her in a costume fitting — so the first time I ever saw Rose she was dressed as Ygritte. She offered me a ginger biscuit, which is very sweet. I was completely enamored. I was also bowled over by her portrayal of the character, which suggested brilliance to me.”

David Nutter, who directed the two actors in their very scene, recalled their immediate chemistry.

"I was the director the first day they met each other. The first scene we shot was when the Night’s Watch take out the Wildlings and he puts the sword to her neck and he’s about to kill her. Kit told me it was the happiest day of his life. You could tell there was a real spark."

Yes, it turns out that Rose Leslie and Kit Harington actually met on the very day they filmed the scene where their characters meet. That gives that scene above, from season 2’s “The Old Gods and the New” a whole extra layer of meaning. It’s almost like a historic document, really!