Game of Thrones is well known for its epic battle sequences. A standard for the show was to boast an incredible, large-scale battle scene every year, on par with a big screen movie. The Battle of Blackwater, the Battle of the Bastards and the clashes in the final season were always amazing.
The must-watch extras on the various season Blu-Ray sets highlight the care that goes into these sequences. That’s no surprise, given they involve hundreds of extras, numerous cameras, and the possibility of things going wrong. Well, it looks like something did.
While there had been reports of the odd minor injury over the years on the show, Game of Thrones and HBO are now under fire thanks to newly uncovered evidence of a serious injury suffered by a stunt worker that sparked a major lawsuit.
What happened in “Hardhome?”
Season 5’s “Hardhome” was a major highlight of that year, featuring an epic clash as the Night’s Watch and the Wildlings take on the army of the dead. There are scores of epic stunts in that episode, which is where we come to the big issue.
Deadline has revealed video and still footage of an accident suffered on set by stunt performer Andy Pilgrim. A wall held by a crane was meant to be lowered with Pilgrim on top to mimic it falling. Somehow, the crane ended up dropping forward, with Pilgrim landing hard and shatterer his ankle.
The accident would spark a lawsuit by Pilgrim against HBO and Fire & Blood Productions, the HBO subsidiary responsible for producing Game of Thrones. Per Deadline, it was settled out of court for $686,000.
What’s notable is that the footage comes from Wayne Michaels, the father of Casey Michaels, a stunt performer who suffered a career-ending injury while filming a sequence for the episode “The Long Night.” Casey Michaels sued HBO, with the producers claiming the accident was due to her own negligence and bad luck. Michaels countered with claims that the stunt workers were not told of changes that included swapping protective mats they were supposed to land on after a jump with thinner material.
The lawsuit involved Michaels bringing in multiple stunt experts who testified that they agreed the conditions were unsafe. HBO settled with Michaels for a whopping $9.3 million in 2023, with Michaels opening up about the accident earlier this year.
Now, the Pilgrim injury has combined with other reports about poor conditions in a way that may shake up how people think of the show.
Was Game of Thrones an unsafe working environment?
Coming under fire is stunt supervisor Rowley Irlam, who coordinated those stunts and continues to work on the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon. Deadline also reports that there were injuries on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which Irlam also supervised. Irlam himself issued a statement:
"As an experienced stunt coordinator of over 20 years, I have successfully and safely managed hundreds of complex stunt sequences across film and television. We put great care into designing stunt sequences with safety as the top priority. In the rare instances when an injury does occur, it is deeply upsetting for everyone involved. The unfortunate incident involving Mr Pilgrim took place 11 years ago. The matter was resolved between Mr Pilgrim and the production company and there were no rulings or findings of fault against me personally. Mr Pilgrim continued to work within my team for two additional seasons following the incident, serving as stunt performer and stunt safety professional only. The accusations you put forward are simply untrue and unfounded."
HBO added their own statement about the Casey Michaels incident: “We take these matters very seriously. Mr. Irlam is a celebrated and respected stunt coordinator and has an extensive history with HBO productions. As an expert in such a physically demanding field, we remain confident in his abilities and know he has always done everything possible to maintain the high safety standards that are required on our productions.”
HBO has issued a new statement now that Deadline has written about Pilgrim's claims, saying that Irlam had “always done everything possible” to maintain high standards.
It should be noted that neither accident was formally investigated by the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland (HSENI), who supervise the set conditions of productions filming in the country. It’s also unusual for stunt performers to be so upfront about accusations of an unsafe set out of fear of being blackballed in the industry or looking “weak” in a field that requires toughness.
The fallout is still ongoing, and it’s likely the new media scrutiny will lead the House of the Dragon producers (and especially Irlam) to tighten up procedures on set and make sure such an accident doesn’t happen again. It still doesn’t look good for this iconic show to know that some of the major battles of Game of Thrones involved severe injuries behind the scenes.
Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are streaming on HBO Max.
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