Like a maester unearthing a lost scroll in the Citadel, there’s a special thrill we feel when the Emmys post an official Game of Thrones script online. They offer us a chance to discover concepts that didn’t fully come across on screen, see things that were only meant for the cast and crew, and read about scenes that were cut out entirely. That’s how we discovered Stannis’ original, much sadder death. And because this year the show’s season seven finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” is nominated for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series,” we got to learn a whole lot of very important facts about the Night King’s dragon. But that wasn’t the only part that caught our eye, because there were plenty of other goodies in the script (that you can read here), some that are very important to the show, some that were only there for the actors, and some that are absolutely hilarious.
A Dothraki’s Humble Brag That Doubles as a Threat (page 5)
QHONO and nine other DOTHRAKI march with them, keeping a watchful eye. They wear the burnt, torn, bloodied coats of Lannister officers they murdered in ep.704.
I have watched every single episode of the show more times than any human being should, and I had to read this script to notice this awesome detail. When Tyrion, Jon, and the rest of the Daenerys’s crew goes to King’s Landing for the meeting with Cersei at the Dragon Pit, ten Dothraki go with them. All of them are wearing the leather coats they took from dead Lannisters after the Loot Train Attack, which works as the best dual brag/threat ever. No one knew if this meeting was all a trap, and the Dothraki found quite a way to remind the Lannister forces who they were potentially going to be messing with. (Yes, I am mortified I didn’t notice this before.)
The Script Loses Its Mind When Jorah Gets Scorned (page 35)
Jorah nods in deference. But he’s not smiling at all. Fucking punkass little shitburger stole my khaleesi!
It literally says that in the script, after Daenerys says she’ll sail to White Harbor with Jon instead of flying there on her dragon like Jorah advises. Now we demand someone on the show call Jon a “fucking punkass little shitburger.” (Sounds like a perfect line for The Hound.)
Sophie Turner Gets Homework (page 41)
Sansa stands alone, staring across the snow-shrouded moors. She wears a hood to protect her from the wind and the snow, making her look like the French Lieutenant’s Woman, a reference Sophie Turner will just have to Google.
One of two things just happened when you read that: 1) it made you burst out laughing because you immediately got the reference or 2) you had to look it up like I did. Either way, it’s amazing David Benioff and D.B. Weiss gave Sophie Turner an actual homework assignment instead of just telling her in the script what they meant.
Oh, and for you lazy people I think this is what they were talking about:
Littlefinger Get a Poetic Ending–Literally (page 45):
Littlefinger realizes too late that the best laid plans gang aft agley, an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain.
This is the moment when Baelish realizes he can’t talk his way out of Sansa turning on him and he starts begging for his life, and the script finds a clever way to honor him and all of his schemes by quoting the original text of the Robert Burns poem “To A Mouse,” which is more famous for the line that comes right before this one.
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
There’s literally no way they could have directly referenced this poem in a story set in Westeros, but it’s a fantastic touch in the script, the kind that makes us want to read all of them.
The Fate of Tormund Giantsbane and Beric Dondarrion (page 62):
We see a few Wildling stragglers who didn’t make it down in time fall hundreds of feet to their death.
I never thought Tormund and Beric died during Viserion’s attack on the Wall, because someone cast a magical spell over Westeros in season seven that suddenly made it nearly impossible for characters to die. It was up for debate though, but this seems to confirm they made it, since the script took the time to specifically mention some unnamed characters did die. Re-watching this scene it appears that instead of running down they ran across the Wall, which was very smart.
When you also add in everything from this script we learned about Viserion it’s clear HBO needs to let us read all of them.
They should let us start with season eight.
What do you think of these? Which one is your favorite? Script yours in our comments below.
Images: HBO
