George RR Martin's Least Favorite GoT Scene Suffered From Budget Constraints
$6 million dollars per episode is no drop in the ocean, but when you're trying to bring to life the author's vision in one of the highest-grossing TV shows of all time, it's considered a budget restraint. And that's exactly what happened all those years ago when the first season of Game of Thrones was still in production.
For the most part, George RR Martin was a fan of the writing, casting, and acting throughout all eight seasons of the show. But there was one scene that really bugged him.
Cast your mind back to when King Robert Baratheon sets off on a hunting trip and ends up gored by a bore, and you'll be reimagining what, in Martin's eyes, was the worst scene in the entire show.
Why? Because this was supposed to be a royal hunting party. Just think about it – we should have seen hundreds of men on horseback, trumpets sounding, and dogs snarling. But what did we get? In Martins' words. "Four guys walking on foot through the woods carrying spears."
Now, Martin never actually wrote the hunting scene. In A Song of Ice and Fire he mentioned that the king returned injured from a hunting trip and subsequently died.
But when the hunt itself was included in the show, it's fair to say the scene failed to live up to his expectations. And you can see why.
Of course, at the time, those dipping into their pockets to fund the production couldn't have envisaged just how huge the franchise would be. But that didn't matter to Martin. He just knew that scene didn't look right.
Which may be why it was given something of a makeover in episode 3 of House of the Dragon. This time, it's King Viserys setting off on a hunt. And, in contrast to King Robert (who technically went hunting around 200 years later), Viserys is surrounded by all the things George RR Martin had in his mind when he imagined what a royal hunt should look like.
And let's face it, the scene didn't detract from the success of the show. And it certainly caused much less of a stir than the final episode. So, maybe when he looks back on it, Martin will realise that the budget constraint didn't taint the series at all. Although I suspect he'll still be over the moon that King Viserys' hunting scene made up for what King Robert's was lacking.