April is the cruellest month, because Game of Thrones is still two months away, unlike other years when we got our annual GoT fix around this time. The next best thing to do? Tune into STAR World and STAR World HD (Monday to Friday at 10pm) to brush up on the six seasons gone by and geek up on these crazy GoT facts...
1 The time when the entire Stark family is waiting for King Robert in Winterfell is the only time in the entire show when all the Starks are seen together.
2 Contrary to popular belief, Cersei had four children, not three. Her first born and only child she had with Robert Baratheon died as a baby.
3 In the six seasons aired so far, there are only five episodes (including the one in picture above) where no one dies.
4 The role of Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain has been played by three different people (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Conan Stevens and Ian Whyte) over the course of the series. Other characters which have changed actors include Daario Naharis (Ed Skrein in Season 3, Michiel Huisman in Season 4-6), Tommen Baratheon (Callum Wharry in Season 1 and 2, Dean-Charles Chapman in Season 3-6), Myrcella Baratheon (Aimee Richardson in Season 1 and 2, Nell Tiger Free in Season 5).
5 Ian Whyte, apart from playing Gregor Clegane, has played three other roles in the series. In Season 1 and 2, he was a White Walker; in Season 3 he played an unnamed giant and in Season 5 and 6 he played Wun Wun the Wildling giant (in picture).
6 Contrary to popular belief, the official words of House Lannister are not “A Lannister always pays his debts”. They are “Hear Me Roar”.
7 The opening titles are different for each episode and focus on the places that will be seen in that episode. But four locations are always shown in the main title sequence: King’s Landing, Winterfell, the Wall, and wherever Daenerys is.
8 Charles Dance, who plays Tywin Lannister, had to actually skin a dead stag while filming this scene.
9 King Robert Baratheon is never seen sitting on the Iron Throne. The first person we see sitting on the throne is Ned Stark. The first king that we see sitting on it is Joffrey.
10 Fan theories suggest that Ned’s death was foreshadowed in the first episode. The stag horns killing the dire wolf mother are symbolic of Joffrey killing Ned.
11 The sword ‘Ice’ that Ned uses to execute Gared, the deserter from the Night’s Watch, was the same sword that he was executed with.
12 Many bands have been featured in Game of Thrones. Gary Lightbody, the lead singer of Snow Patrol, can be spotted singing The Bear and the Maiden Fair in Season 3. The Red Wedding had Coldplay drummer Will Champion as one of the musicians. Icelandic rockers Sigur Rós (above) performed the Lannister anthem, The Rains of Castamere, at Joffrey and Margaery’s wedding.
13 You can actually speak Dothraki! Linguist J. Peterson who worked with HBO to create the Dothraki heard on the show has designed a course that you can take to speak fluent Dothraki.
14 Iwan Rheon who plays Ramsay Bolton, our favourite person to hate ever since Joffrey died, almost played another fan-favourite character. Yep, the part of Jon Snow, now played by Kit Harrington, almost went to Rheon.
15 If GoT had nine actors who had a Harry Potter connect, eight are part of the Star Wars universe, thanks to roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) plays Captain Phasma, Max von Sydow (Three-Eyed Raven) plays Lor San Tekka, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed) plays Petty Officer Thanisson, Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel) plays a patron in Maz Kanata’s bar, Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand) plays Jess Testor, Emun Elliott (Marillion) is a Resistance pilot, Mark Stanley (Grenn) plays one of the Knights of Ren and Hannah John-Kamen (Ornela) plays a First Order Officer.
