One of the swords used in the making of the Iron Throne is a replica of Glamdring, Gandalf's sword from the Lord of the Rings films. The set team added this detail to the throne as a subtle nod to the fantasy genre.
After Sean Bean finished filming his own death scene, he played football on set with the replica of his severed head.
Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon) received a letter from author George R.R. Martin after the series aired, containing the following note: "Congratulations on your wonderful performance. Everyone hates you!"
According to George R.R. Martin, Peter Dinklage was the only choice for the role of Tyrion, and no other actor was called in to audition. Dinklage set a record by being nominated eight seasons in a row at the Emmy Awards in the 'Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series' category; he won four of them, making him the most awarded name in that category for the same role.
Gwendoline Christie (Brienne), who stands 1.90 meters tall, has stated that her most challenging scene in the series was the sword fight she had with Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane), who stands 1.98 meters tall, in season 4. For this scene, Christie trained with sword master C.C. Smiff for two months, three to four days a week, to build the necessary conditioning.
After the filming of the episode in which Sansa's direwolf Lady is executed, George R.R. Martin announced on his blog that the dog named Zunni, who played Lady, was adopted by Sophie Turner (Sansa).
For the scene in which Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) eats a raw horse heart, a heart was made from gelatin. Although it was edible, Clarke said it tasted like chlorine and raw pasta, and that it was so disgusting that the retching and facial expressions in the scene required no acting. During filming, so much fake blood got on her that she disappeared between takes because she was stuck to the toilet seat.
When Jason Momoa (Drogo) first met Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), he tackled her to the floor of a Belfast hotel in a rugby-style move and shouted "MY WIFE." Momoa also wore a pink fluffy sock on his genitals during the wedding night scene to make Clarke feel comfortable and ease the atmosphere.
Executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had established a rule when the series began: "no prophecies, no dreams, no flashbacks." However, with Bran's three-eyed raven dreams, Daenerys's visions in the House of the Undying, and the flashbacks to Cersei's childhood, all of these rules were broken over time.
Cersei (Lena Headey) was voted the most hated character of the series by fans. Headey has stated that the hatred toward her character was directed at her personally, that she was subjected to insults online and in the street, and that at signings people even snatched books out of her hand so she wouldn't sign them.
Daenerys's dragons Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion carry the names of the people she lost in her life. The black-and-red scaled Drogon takes his name from her husband Drogo; the green-and-bronze scaled Rhaegal from her brother Rhaegar, who died in Robert's Rebellion; and the cream-and-gold scaled Viserion from her cruel brother Viserys. Daenerys, noting that Viserys was her brother despite being cruel and cowardly, said that her dragon would do what he could not.
Pycelle's old and frail state is actually a mask. Pycelle, who is seen exercising in the season 1 finale, is shown in a scene cut from season 3 returning to his normal posture and manner of speech in front of Tywin; he explains that he wears this mask to appear harmless. The only moment in the series when he speaks in his normal tone of voice is his conversation with Tyrion in season 2.
Maester Aemon is stated to be blind in the books. Peter Vaughan, who played the character, was also partially visually impaired in real life.
George R.R. Martin has stated that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series had a great influence on his own works. The similarities between the fall of Númenor and the Doom of Valyria, and the Targaryens settling in Westeros, are a reflection of this influence. Additionally, a replica of Gandalf's sword Glamdring was forged into the Iron Throne, and Sean Bean, who played Eddard Stark, portrayed Boromir in the Lord of the Rings.
Daenerys's largest dragon, Drogon, is considered in the books to be the reincarnation of Aegon's dragon Balerion. Balerion was also the largest dragon involved in the creation of the Iron Throne.
Maisie Williams was upset about not getting the role in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and nearly didn't audition for Game of Thrones. However, her manager convinced her because he knew she had the talent required for the role of Arya Stark.
Maisie Williams (Arya) has said that fans often ask her to recite the 'death list' Arya reads before sleeping and to add their own names to the list.
During the filming of the pilot episode, Alfie Allen, Richard Madden and Kit Harington tried to one-up each other by doing push-ups and flexing their muscles right before the scenes in which they appeared shirtless.
In 2012 in the US, more than 160 baby girls were given the name "Khaleesi," the title of the character in the series, even though it is not the character's name (Daenerys).
Game of Thrones is the first television series in history to be shown in IMAX theaters.
Carice van Houten (Melisandre) had previously been called in to audition for the role of Cersei but could not attend due to the filming of 'Intruders'.
The names of the dragons carry hints about their roles in the series. Viserion, named after Viserys, was killed by the Night King and turned into a 'Wight', becoming Daenerys's enemy. With the death of Rhaegal, named after Rhaegar, the last remnants of goodness in Daenerys were destroyed as well. Drogon, named after Khal Drogo, became the main instrument Daenerys used to destroy King's Landing and carry out her massacre.
When George R.R. Martin was asked about the ending of the story, he said, half-jokingly, that the next book would consist only of a description of a graveyard filled with tombstones and a cloud of dust or snow blown by the wind.
In the books, Ramsay marries Sansa's friend Jeyne Poole, while in the series this story was merged with Sansa. The writers made this change because they considered the storyline in the Vale less important and wanted to keep Sansa at the center of events in the North.
Producer David Benioff wanted the series' theme music to be the Lannister song "The Rains of Castamere", but co-producer D.B. Weiss talked him out of the idea.