Joffrey and Margaery are bound together in marriage.
“Our alliance with the Lannisters remains every bit as necessary for them as it is unpleasant. The Iron Throne may be the worst chair in the world, but they’re not through sitting in it.”
— Lady Olenna Tyrell
After the Red Wedding, the main threat to the Lannisters’ hold on the Iron Throne has been eliminated. Robb Stark is dead, his forces have been massacred, and his alliances are in tatters. Yet peace and security remain elusive at King’s Landing. Stannis Baratheon still pursues his claim to the throne, and across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen is nurturing dragons and gathering an army in preparation for her own arrival in Westeros. Meanwhile, unsettling news from the North indicates twin dangers: an advancing wildling army followed, so rumor has it, by the legendary undead White Walkers.
Further, even the Lannisters’ most important alliance, with House Tyrell, remains fraught with political gamesmanship, and new players, such as House Martell in Dorne, are stepping out from the shadows, eager to make their own moves.
Concept painting of the completed forge.
The opening episode of season four (Episode 401, “Two Swords”) includes a scene that is only a few minutes long. There is no dialogue. There is no violence. Instead, we simply watch as Ned Stark’s iconic blade Ice is melted down to create two new swords for Jaime Lannister and King Joffrey. This represents something that by now all viewers know—the Lannisters have subdued and, for the moment, vanquished the Starks.
The scene’s brevity belies the immense work that went into filming it. Over several months, a working forge was built into the cellars of one of the buildings of Shane’s Castle, just outside Belfast, and numerous technical tests were run by the SFX department. Offsite, prop elements representing every stage of the smithing process were ready to be used: billets (unfinished blades) swapped in or out to be worked on depending on the requirements on a shot, some pre-forged with fullers (grooves along the length) and some ready to have them added. The stage was set.
The first day of filming was an unusually hot day in July, and the temperatures inside the confined set were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). As the heat rose to the arched ceilings, hundreds of tiny spiders threaded down into the room, dangling only a few inches above the heads of the crew, while the blacksmith (armorer Tommy Dunne) and his assistant (assistant armorer Steven Murphy) worked on the blades.
TOMMY DUNNE (ARMORER): Playing the blacksmith was a bit of an in-house joke, which I wasn’t sure was going to really happen, but it was great to be involved on screen. Both Steve and I had a great time on the day. During filming, we couldn’t really work as we would in reality. We had plenty of premade swords: one billet of full fatness, semi-beaten, half beaten, half drawn, quarter drawn (which is essentially a thinner blade), no fullers, partial fullers, and completed fullers, which could be swapped into a shot as needed. The original Ice blade is quite safe. SFX created a wax melt and aluminium bronze alloy to “cheat” the process.
STUART BRISDON (SFX SUPERVISOR): We wanted to get the fantastic look of the real metal pour, so we made our own smelter and melted down bronze in a ceramic crucible. A lot of the work was done by Laurence Harvey, one of our senior SFX technicians. We chose to use bronze for this element of the shoot, even though it was the wrong metal, because it had the lowest melting point and that made it easier to work with. The crucible that held the molten alloy could withstand heats of up to 1,200 degrees Celsius [2,190 degrees Fahrenheit], and when full it weighed around twelve pounds. To add to the visual impact, we added charcoal dust to the areas the metal would run, causing tiny flares as it ignited. We fixed a cinnamon shaker on a long pole above the forge, which sprinkled coal dust over the pour and forge to create sparks for the camera.
Originally, we had hoped to do the melt of the blade for real, but in the end we found that it was simply too impractical. So we started working with wax that could be melted quickly and efficiently. During the testing process, we discovered that if you added fluorescent orange dye to the wax and then lit it from beneath with an ultraviolet light, it took on the appearance of molten metal. The only downside was that this could not be done on the actual forge, so for the actual melt, we had to build a special heatproof glass mold insert with heated elements and the light underneath creating the glow.
The VFX team oversees the pour of molten bronze for the close-up shot.
Laurence was also responsible for building the forge. In a real forge, the hot area is actually a very limited space, but we wanted a larger flamed area. The forge got up to such temperatures underneath that a cooling system was constantly running to cool the gas pipes and run through the jackets that surrounded the burners so they didn’t melt in the heat. The tank reservoir outside was actually boiling at some points during the day.
TOMMY DUNNE (ARMORER): The final blades for Joffrey and Jaime were my designs. I like to design things in my head, knowing the Lannisters and the need for them to be both ornate and highly luxurious. Incorporating the lion’s head in a way that hadn’t been seen before was a bit tricky. Previously, it’s been an impression—this year I wanted to create something that included the whole head and had the cross-guard coming out of a pommel textured with the lion’s fur. I was very fortunate to work with the concept artist Peter McKinstry, who realized my design by looking at the elements in the workshop and an in-depth description.
“Roses are boring, dear. ‘Growing Strong.’ Ha! The dullest words of any house.”
—Lady Olenna Tyrell
The Tyrells watch a royal wedding that makes them grow even stronger.
ruling over the rich and fertile lands of the reach from its seat in Highgarden, House Tyrell is the foremost noble family in Westeros, with their wealth and military strength second only to the Lannisters. Historically, the Tyrells were stewards to the kings of the Reach, but this changed when the last king, Mern IX, was killed by Aegon the Conqueror during the blood-soaked battle at the Field of Fire. After Aegon’s victory, it was the duty of the steward, Lord Harlen Tyrell, to surrender for his fallen king. When Tyrell pledged fealty to the new Targaryen ruler, Aegon granted the Tyrells dominion over the Reach and named them Wardens of the South, lending the family all the power and wealth of the position.
Later, when Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark rebelled against the Mad King Aerys, the Tyrells remained steadfastly loyal to the Targaryen royal family. However, their loyalty didn’t outweigh their pragmatism. After Lannister forces claimed victory at the Sack of King’s Landing, and the Targaryen dynasty was all but annihilated, the Tyrells swore allegiance to the new king, Robert Baratheon.
Most recently, after the death of Robert Baratheon and the subsequent battles for rule of Westeros, the Tyrells allied themselves with Robert’s charismatic youngest brother, Renly. They arranged for Renly to marry Margaery Tyrell, who would become queen if Renly succeeded and thus put Tyrell heirs on the Iron Throne. This hope was foiled when Renly was murdered, but the Tyrells adeptly shifted their marriage plans. Margaery arrived in King’s Landing and, guided by her grandmother Lady Olenna Tyrell, usurped Sansa Stark as Joffrey’s intended bride. Now, Margaery wages her own campaign to win over the people for the unpopular young King Joffrey.
House Tyrell family tree.
The indomitable Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg).
“The world is overflowing with horrible things, but they’re all a tray of cakes next to death.”
—Lady Olenna Tyrell
Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), known as the Queen of Thorns for the sting of her words, is the matriarch of the powerful Tyrell family and a masterful strategist. Sharp-tongued and keenly intelligent, she has little patience for idiocy and is rather disdainful of those she finds weak-witted. A superior player at court games, she has come to King’s Landing to attend the wedding of her granddaughter Margaery Tyrell to King Joffrey and secure all possible advantages for House Tyrell. This includes encouraging Margaery’s brother, Loras, to marry Sansa Stark, and thereby claim a strong foothold in the North for House Tyrell. Yet this attempt is thwarted by Tywin Lannister, who marries Sansa to Tyrion Lannister instead. Deeply mistrustful of everyone, Olenna’s only true motivation is loyalty to her family.
Two masters of strategy spar while walking the garden paths.
DIANA RIGG (OLENNA TYRELL): I didn’t know the books or the show before I met with David and Dan about Olenna, but I loved her immediately. She’s just a ballsy old bag; she’s subtle and witty and sophisticated and at the same time so brutal. I love all those mixtures. She’s a tremendously strong woman, and I think that has to do with breeding. In my mind, she comes from a long, long line of strong women, and she just isn’t daunted by many people. It’s partly age as well—she’s lived through a lot, survived more than most, and I think that makes her feel very strong.
CHARLES DANCE (TYWIN LANNISTER): Olenna is like the female Tywin Lannister. She’s really the only one who can truly spar on the same level.
DAVID BENIOFF AND D. B. WEISS (CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AND WRITERS): Olenna is an iron lady in a man’s world. She can’t hold office or any title beyond “Lady,” but that doesn’t stop her from being the driving force behind the second most powerful family in the world. She’s a spectacularly fun character to write for. At heart, both of us have always been tough seventy-year-old women.
The fact that Diana would grace us with her presence seemed unlikely. Then she agreed to meet us with Nina Gold for a drink in London. We asked her what she thought about it. She said, “An awful lot of bonking, isn’t there? I love it.” You can’t put on presence like hers. She really is Olenna, only she is a tremendously sweet woman who, to our knowledge, has never had anyone killed.
“Tell your father I’m here. And tell him the Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts.”
—Oberyn Martell
Tyrion and Bronn meet the Martell delegation.
unlike the other six kingdoms of westeros, Dorne was not conquered by Aegon Targaryen and his dragons. The Dornish denied Aegon a victory by using guerrilla tactics and pursuing a war of attrition in the desert. Ultimately, Aegon left Dorne without getting the Dornish to bend the knee. The Martells’ pride over this is reflected in their sigil’s words: “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.”
Many years before the Targaryen invasion, House Martell successfully united the bundle of conflicted Dornish states. Lord Mors Martell married Nymeria, a Rhoynar warrior queen, and the alliance of their forces was unstoppable. Afterward, Dorne adopted a number of Rhoynar customs, such as calling their rulers “princes” rather than “kings” and allowing the oldest child to inherit titles and lands regardless of gender. Eventually, House Martell allied with House Targaryen through marriage, and Dorne became one of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, while still retaining an unprecedented level of independence from the Iron Throne.
Sadly, not all such alliances in Westeros end so peacefully. Elia Martell was wed to Rhaegar Targaryen and bore him two beautiful children, but when Rhaegar abandoned his wife and kidnapped Lyanna Stark, Ned Stark’s sister, it helped spark Robert’s Rebellion, which ended in the overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty. During the final siege of King’s Landing, Lannister forces raped and killed Elia and murdered her two children, the rumored actions of the Mountain. Afterward, House Martell withdrew from all alliances, left the capital, and nursed a deep mistrust and hatred of the Lannisters.
Fiercely independent, Dorne’s support remains vital to the security of the crown. To help secure House Martell’s support, Tywin Lannister arranged a marriage between Cersei’s daughter Myrcella and one of the Dornish princes. In recent years, little has been seen from Dorne except its wine, but when the royal wedding between King Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell is announced, a Dornish delegation arrives in King’s Landing to join the festivities and revisit unsettled scores. Elia’s brother, the seductive and earthy prince Oberyn Martell, has decided this is an excellent opportunity to visit the capital, with an agenda all his own.
House Martell family tree.
“People everywhere have their differences. In some places, the highborn frown upon those of low birth. In other places, the rape and murder of women and children is considered distasteful.”
—Oberyn Martell
Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) is the younger brother of the current Prince of Dorne, Doran Martell. A famed warrior, Oberyn is known as much for his lusty appetites as he is for his prowess in battle. He has fathered eight illegitimate daughters in Dorne, all of whom he loves and protects. Traveling with his bastard-born paramour Ellaria Sand, Oberyn is ostensibly in King’s Landing for the Royal Wedding, but he makes little secret of his true purpose: to discover the truth about the rape and murder of his sister Elia at the hands of the Mountain and, he suspects, on the orders of Tywin Lannister.
Brute strength wins out over determination and grace as the Mountain and Oberyn Martell duel.
PEDRO PASCAL (OBERYN MARTELL): Coming onto an established show can be incredibly daunting, especially when you have to play someone as badass as Oberyn Martell. There were a lot of things to think about in terms of Oberyn’s mind-set: living passionately, not caring about what anyone thinks or does, not compromising, having such a single focus and pursuing it relentlessly, while still somehow being a decent human being. He’s a man that seems made of contradictions. He’s driven by hate, but he’s a great father and a loyal life partner. He’s impulsive. He has a cold fury and a charm. He can seduce you or kill you. He’s uncompromising and painfully honest. It’s a decision he has made. He will not compromise on anything that he thinks or feels, and because of that he knows he won’t live very long. It doesn’t make any sense to him to not live that way. It’s not worth it to him.
ALEX GRAVES (DIRECTOR): The way I see the character, he’s a hedonist because he’s so tortured by what has happened. He’s also a thorn in Tywin Lannister’s side. He’s a seriously dangerous guy. Pedro is so adorable and likeable; what he managed to do was humanize the character in such a significant way that it becomes even more interesting to watch.
Casting a show like Game of Thrones has particular challenges. In the books, George R. R. Martin has created a world of vivid, immense detail, with extensive histories, exotic cultures, and unique characters. Finding the right actors to play each role requires fulfilling both the needs of the story as well as the imaginations of viewers.
Oberyn Martell played by Pedro Pascal.
FRANK DOELGER (PRODUCER): David and Dan have written exceptional parts for actors, and Nina Gold’s and Robert Sterne’s taste is excellent, so we really were in a privileged position of just seeing the actors and deciding who fits in. We look at different acting styles and for the right look. Some actors seem quite modern, others are comfortably period. Some people are wonderful, but for some reason don’t seem believable in this world. Others are perfect for the world, but don’t have quite the right acting style—it’s about bringing the right people into this beautiful world that has been created.
ROBERT STERNE (CASTING DIRECTOR): We knew that the character of Oberyn was the character event of the season. Part of his importance was that he was the introduction to an entirely new part of the world, namely Dorne. We knew that we were looking for someone Mediterranean, Egyptian, or South American who could fight and would really bring sensuality to the role.
PEDRO PASCAL (OBERYN MARTELL): When I got the audition, I felt it was an unobtainable gig. I was highly aware of the show and was completely up to date. For three seasons I allowed myself to be emotionally traumatized because I had to see what was going to happen to Joffrey. Then I get the audition sides and found out how and when he was going to die. I genuinely thought the fourth season was ruined for me.
I had filmed my first audition on my iPhone, and David and Dan wrote me this extremely generous and articulate email asking me to film it again to show a different color in Oberyn. I call it generous because they took the time to really communicate with someone they hadn’t met, but who they thought might fit into their vision. So I taped it again—not on the iPhone this time! In my head, I was still a million miles away from getting the role. Eventually I was flown out to Belfast to meet with everyone. I took it as a good sign when I was going to stunt rehearsals and costume fittings when I arrived. It was only when it was made official that I dared tell anyone I got the part.
Costume designs for the Dornish.
In the southernmost region of Westeros lies the exotic and seductive kingdom known as Dorne. Made up of large expanses of mountains, stretches of vast desert, and rich coastal lands, Dorne is a kingdom of luxury and indulgence. The warmest climate on the continent inspires a very different feel to the highly constructed fashions of King’s Landing.
MICHELE CLAPTON (COSTUME DESIGNER): The costumes for Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand are some of my favorites this season. The introduction of Dorne is something I’ve been waiting for, and I’ve been deliberately holding back on using their colors—the ochre yellow and the wonderful tans. We wanted them to have very distinctive looks; it’s incredibly important to have those immediate visual cues to help you as the viewer. It was great to have these two characters lead into the next season, when we’ll be going to Dorne and we’ll have a chance to really push things creatively.
There are a lot of Indian influences, particularly with these fabrics. We sourced a lot of the fabric for the Dornish characters in India. I like the sand-washed silks, the weight of it and the depth of color.
Ellaria was an immensely interesting character to me. I think she moves a bit like a sidewinder—I always picture her disappearing over a dune or something. I liked the strength of her outfit, being able to lift the cape away to this very simple, sensual elegance, cut to the navel without revealing too much. It’s a very assertive piece, both in movement and color. I love to think of what Cersei’s reaction is when she sees it—after all, her daughter is now in Dorne.
Despite the substantial nature of some of the fabrics and the inclusion of metal sigils, Oberyn’s costumes were in some ways quite feminine. There is something about the way that Pedro [Pascal] wore it, his masculinity, his total lack of fear of the feminine element, that made it so strong and deeply masculine on him.
His armor was one of my favorites of all the armors—the contrast between the weight of the Mountain’s armor versus the lithe soft leather covering during the duel is visually exciting. Giampaolo [Grassi, the armor master,] and his assistants stamped all the leather with the design and hand cut all the elements. Being able to talk about it on the dummy, manipulate it around the shape of the body, the changes in the ratio of the symbols— it evolved in the workroom, and their input is immense. I think being part of that process leads to some of the most creative work. You can make replicas of Roman armor forever, and it can be beautiful, but it’s not the same.
[top] Oberyn and Ellaria adorned in the rich colors of the Dornish style. [bottom left] Ellaria’s costume realized. [bottom right] The influence of the desert snake scales can be seen in Oberyn’s lightweight armor.
Sansa escapes from King’s Landing.
Hotel Belvedere transformed into the dueling arena.
Though filming in Northern Ireland can provide many things, the vast world that George R. R. Martin has created in Game of Thrones includes an abundance of different environments—some of which require slightly better guaranteed climates. In previous years, parts of Westeros and Essos have been found in locations which included Malta and Morocco, but season four concentrated filming in just three countries: Iceland, Northern Ireland, and Croatia. Two cities in Croatia played significant roles: Dubrovnik hosted several scenes in King’s Landing, providing the alleys Sansa escapes through, the site of the Royal Wedding, and the amphitheater for the fateful trial by combat between the Mountain and Oberyn Martell. The amphitheater set was built out of the remains of the famous Hotel Belvedere, which was heavily shelled during battles that took place in October 1991. Farther north, the city of Split stood in for Meereen, the slave city that becomes Daenerys’s latest conquest, an entirely new location for the Game of Thrones team.
DUNCAN MUGGOCH (UK PRODUCTION MANAGER): Working with Embassy Films in Croatia is extremely helpful. For much of the Croatian crew, working on the show is more of a summer job—the film production industry is still in its infancy. There is a core group of professional film people that work on everything. The logistics of filming in some of the locations are incredibly complex—250 people arriving with trucks in a city that isn’t built for it can cause chaos. Dubrovnik is such a beautiful city. They are very welcoming. I give [line producer] Erika Milutin a huge amount of credit for that.
Of all our locations, I’m thrilled with the way the amphitheater turned out—it began as a bombed-out, 1970s, graffiti-filled hotel overlooking the bay and became something unrecognizable.
Split had its own challenges. The city was not a place that had experienced filming on anything like our scale before. Finding things like caterers was something of a challenge. There is no extras agency, but we were able to do everything within the company. We had open calls and trawled the streets for people who might fit the more particular requirements, like the Unsullied. There is such a passion that surrounds the show that many people traveled to Croatia to be involved. It was quite an international crowd in the end.
DEB RILEY (PRODUCTION DESIGNER): When we discovered the city of Split, and more particularly the Fortress at Klis, it really informed the design of Meereen in a way that I’m not sure could have been achieved through just books and trawling the Internet. Klis gave us just enough architecture to build around it and create Meereen.
With Dubrovnik there is a very particular look that is resonant of King’s Landing and that is clear in previous scenes. When we traveled north to Split, there was a feeling that this could be the basis for Meereen: there was a different color to the rock. There was a beautiful organic nature to it, with wild sage growing out from the brick.
The unknowing delivery of a poisoned chalice.
“A royal wedding is not an amusement. A royal wedding is history.”
—King Joffrey
Concept art for the Sept of Baelor dressed for the wedding.
With the royal wedding between King Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell, a new alliance is formed that promises to finally bring lasting security to King’s Landing. Tywin Lannister and Lady Olenna Tyrell have gotten their way, and all seems well. The wedding participants leave the Sept of Baelor to join the crowds of guests for a celebratory feast of epic proportions.
Yet Joffrey’s pleasure often rests in others’ pain, and at the feast he hosts a spectacle designed to humiliate both his former fiancée Sansa Stark and his uncle Tyrion. A troupe of performing dwarves burst through the lion’s head stage and reenact the War of the Five Kings and the death of Robb Stark in the most vulgar fashion. Joffrey also demands that Tyrion, antagonized beyond reason, service him as a cupbearer, but timing is everything. Secretly poisoned by his drink, Joffrey begins to choke, dying in agony before the horrified crowd and his stunned family.
In the confusion of Joffrey’s death, Sansa escapes with Ser Dontos, a man she believes she can trust, unaware that her flight makes her appear guilty of murder. Tyrion, too shocked to move, is immediately seized for regicide at the command of an hysterical Cersei.
JACK GLEESON (JOFFREY BARATHEON): There is no question that Joffrey had to die in a way that was something like this. He can’t just fall off a ladder and go splat. The audience needs and also really deserves a nice drawn out choking death. It’s the most painful way one can imagine to die, and it’s shown in a very visceral way, so it offers something of a catharsis for all the years of Joffrey that have come before.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): When Joffrey dies, it is the worst possible timing for Tyrion. The wedding celebrations begin with a humiliating pageant, and then Joffrey is killed. I honestly don’t think Tyrion saw either coming, however much he might have hoped for the latter.
LENA HEADEY (CERSEI LANNISTER): Even before Joffrey dies, Cersei’s world is beginning to crumble. She began the series as an invincible force, married to the king and very much in control. That has begun to shift. She’s hugely threatened by Margaery, this beautiful young girl who is taking Joffrey’s attention. She knows she is losing her grasp on him. He can’t really be controlled. When he dies, Cersei comes apart in a way you would never expect. It’s the beginning of a descent into madness. Being a parent is both a gift and a curse—there is no love like that of a parent for their child. You open yourself to something extraordinary. When I was lying over his body, I was thinking of the loss of no longer having Jack around—this warm, funny, intelligent being, so beyond me in wisdom. I couldn’t look at him on the day without tearing up. Cersei was Joffrey’s one true ally, and he never saw it. Now she’s completely alone.
With his dying breath, Joffrey makes an accusation.
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU (JAIME LANNISTER): Cersei’s reaction is that of a mother who has lost her son. Jaime’s isn’t. I don’t believe Jaime has ever had that connection with Joffrey. He’s never been blind to what sort of person Joffrey is. His reaction is for her. There is no love lost.
BRYAN COGMAN (CO-PRODUCER AND WRITER): Cersei has devoted her entire life to the advancement and protection of her children, particularly first-born Joffrey. I love the way Lena played the scene—but it’s consistent with how she’s always played Cersei. She’s never a villain, never the ice queen. She’s a flesh-and-blood person who loves her family and feels the same all-consuming grief at losing Joffrey that a “heroic” character like Catelyn felt at losing Robb.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): Cersei truly believes Tyrion was guilty; there is no question. She loves her children so much. She is a true scorpion to defend them. The madness that comes with it makes sense. The instant she believes it, she is pure venom. Everyone else is simply following the big fat liar that is Tyrion’s father.
DAVID BENIOFF AND D. B. WEISS (CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AND WRITERS): Although Joffrey’s death was indeed grotesque, it wasn’t meant to be triumphant. We knew many people would take it that way, but it’s not played as a victory. If we’d ended the episode on Joffrey’s death, it might have, but the accusatory fingers point right at Tyrion before we have time to savor Joffrey’s demise. For Joffrey’s final moments, Jack and Lena stripped their characters down to the bone—he was a son in trouble begging his mother for help, and she was the mother who couldn’t help her son when he needed her most. Something definitely snaps in Cersei at this moment—her “anger” phase kicks in right away, and hits Tyrion head-on.
JACK GLEESON (JOFFREY BARATHEON): In terms of the experience, the run up to my death was great fun to do. The actual death was very technical—we had different stages of makeup, and everything had to be shot repeatedly, so it was a little harder to do. For me, though, it was wonderful to be able to do my final scenes with so many of the cast around me, just to be able to see them all before I went.
The royal couple dressed in full regalia.
MICHELE CLAPTON (COSTUME DESIGNER): Margaery’s wedding dress is actually quite a traditional dress. Unlike Sansa, who is being forced into something and feels quite oppressed, this is a wedding Margaery wants. She knows the power she will gain despite the fact that she is marrying someone grotesque. It’s quite demure so as to appeal to people, but her sigil is all over the dress. I wanted to capture the idea of the twisting and strangling and taking over of the Lannisters. Even Joffrey’s wedding crown has elements of that, with the Baratheon elements being overtaken by the roses. It looks beautiful and soft from a distance; it’s only when you look at the details that you realize it is covered in thorns and is not at all what it seems.
The dress is made of silk linen printed with a beautiful pattern of leaves and a two-tone gray feel that gives it a steely edge. The embroidery was done by Michele [Carragher], who has a wonderful organic sensibility. At times it would get too heavy, so we would pull it back and remove elements, or it would go too far the other way and be too pretty. We adjusted until we found the right balance. I then decided that the roses should be added to the train. I really had no idea how many would be needed.
MICHELE CARRAGHER (EMBROIDERER): It all begins with Michele’s sketches. We discussed at length how it couldn’t just be pretty, it really needed to have this harder edge. For the dress I made over 350 individual roses by hand for the back of the skirt and train. I could do one in about ten minutes, which meant that it took about sixty hours in total to do them all. The stems were made from a metallic cord that was then covered in an Italian mesh wire to create the thickness needed. The thorns were a combination of Czech glass spikes and hand-folded leather that was painted silver to match the scheme. Some of the more delicate branches were also leather, braided and hand-finished in the same silver. Each of the leaves were made of velvet, cut and individually placed. From start to finish, the detailing on the dress took about ten days to complete.
The wedding dress complete with details reflecting the elegant power and vicious prick of the Tyrell sigil.
MICHELE CLAPTON (COSTUME DESIGNER): When I saw that there were steps in the shot, I was worried that the skirts would end up bouncing and looking too theatrical—the skirt was bowed slightly to give a lift to the design. But in the end it lay beautifully because of the weight in the train. Director Alex Graves said it was the only time he had ever changed a shot for a costume— to capture it as Margaery ascended.
“Men only want one thing from a pretty girl.”
—Shae
A skilled and charming prostitute, Shae (Sibel Kekilli) does not share her secrets easily. She has learned the hard way to be careful of whom she trusts. The ambitious Shae becomes the singular companion of Tyrion Lannister, traveling with him to King’s Landing in secret when he is named Hand of the King. In order to protect her identity from Cersei Lannister, Tyrion arranges for Shae to become Sansa Stark’s handmaiden in the castle. Shae and Sansa become close, and Shae tries to protect her from both herself and her enemies. Shae is no stranger to the games that people like to play with innocent young girls.
Tyrion is deeply in love with Shae, but he constantly fears for her safety. Tyrion tries to send her away repeatedly, before the Battle of Blackwater and later when he realizes he will be trapped in a marriage to Sansa. Angered by Tyrion’s acquiescence to his father’s machinations, Shae becomes jealous of Sansa. Increasingly erratic and confrontational, Shae begins to doubt if Tyrion ever truly loved her at all.
There is nothing more dangerous than a woman with a broken heart.
SIBEL KEKILLI (SHAE): I love the character of Shae. She’s a very complicated young woman who hasn’t had an easy life, but she is smart. If she wasn’t clever, she would never have found herself as the companion to Tyrion. In the beginning, maybe there was a strategy to it; it was a job to be with Tyrion. She’s been hurt a lot, and it’s only when she begins to trust him that she begins to love him. She was prepared to risk her life to be with him. She never would have betrayed him the way she did at the trial if she didn’t have deep feelings. Hate and love are so close in so many ways. When he was so dishonest at the end, even though he was trying to protect her, she knows he is lying. When he calls her “whore,” I think it truly breaks her heart. That is the moment that she truly begins to hate.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): He’s fallen in love with Shae, and that’s his vulnerability. I don’t think Tyrion had ever truly been vulnerable until he met this woman. I love that David and Dan expanded on her character because I think it shows a different side to him when he is with her. Everyone needs to have their own kryptonite. She needs constant protection to hide her identity and their relationship, and he goes to great lengths to do that. I don’t think he would do that for much else, other than to perhaps protect his own life. It’s made him weak in a way, and he hates it.
“My bloody honor is beyond repair. But the answer is still no. I don’t want Casterly Rock. I don’t want a wife. I don’t want children.”
—Jaime Lannister
Jaime must get to grips with having a new, inferior sword hand.
Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) returns to King’s Landing a changed man. Everything—being captured twice, the loss of his hand, his time on the road with Brienne (Gwendoline Christie)—has affected Jaime. Having always been known as the Kingslayer, a great warrior, and a Lannister, Jaime is reluctantly questioning what he believes about himself. While Brienne confronts him over the promises he’s made, which represent who he’s become, Jaime really only has one goal in mind—to reunite with his sister the way they once were.
Yet Cersei (Lena Headey) has changed as well. Her feelings for Jaime are conflicted; she feels deserted by him, and now he’s returned wounded, in her mind a lesser man than before. Further, Tywin wants Jaime to quit the Kingsguard and take up control of Casterly Rock, the Lannister stronghold, to continue the family legacy. Instead Jaime refuses, deciding to remain in the Kingsguard, and in King’s Landing, in order to be close to Cersei and in doing so faces a new reality: disowned by his father, repulsive to his lover, a one-handed warrior with no claim to his old skill as a fighter. Who is he now?
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU (JAIME LANNISTER): I think there is part of Jaime that wants to pretend that nothing has changed, and that when he returns to King’s Landing, it will go back to the way it was. There is a moment with Brienne when she confronts him about his promises, and he just wants her to leave him to return to his life, but he knows he can’t.
GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE (BRIENNE OF TARTH): There is this thing in Shakespeare that when people go into the woods, it’s often symbolic of confusion. This to me feels like that—they go off together to find themselves. I think it’s very brave of Brienne to remind Jaime of his promises, but she’s also reminding him of their relationship, this friendship they developed. It’s a hard thing to be that open, but his acknowledgment of his promises and then endowing them with physical form [her armor] is incredibly symbolic. It shows his acceptance of who she is as a woman and the trust he has in her as a warrior.
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU (JAIME LANNISTER): Sometimes you hear these stories of great trauma, or in this case the loss of his mastery of swords, and the loss of his hand. I think that forced him to find who he is. I think his understanding of people and morality has been there all along, but the situation is dragging it out of him. He also knows that his sister is not how he wants her to be—it’s like she’s revolted by him, and the gift of the gold hand is an attempt to make him whole again. There’s something quite wrong in that. Her outrage at his leaving shows their relationship is very one-sided. It’s about her needs, about when she can fit him into her life. I think he finds it unfair, but accepts it. It’s how they’ve always been.
LENA HEADEY (CERSEI LANNISTER): I know Jaime loves Cersei. I question if she loves him, or if she finds a safety in him. I have always maintained that she really would like to be him, to have the freedom to fight. She believes she is smarter, but she is confined by being a woman. I think that, missing the part that she probably admired most in terms of what his sword hand represented—his sexuality, his strength—that is where envy lay, and now it’s gone. She doesn’t like his vulnerability.
Cersei and Jaime try and relearn each other.
“I didn’t kill Joffrey, but I wish I had. Watching your vicious bastard die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores.”
—Tyrion Lannister
Tyrion Lannister has always known his father hated him, but even he is surprised to be accused of Joffrey’s murder by his own sister and put on public trial for a crime he did not commit. However, Cersei, seemingly mad with grief, is intent on destroying her brother for murdering her son.
Tywin Lannister sees this as an opportunity to rid himself of the son he despises. Meanwhile, Tywin also uses Tyrion’s life as a way to control Jaime and force him to accept the role of Lord of Casterly Rock. Jaime Lannister is caught between loyalty to a brother he knows to be innocent and feelings for a sister whom he still loves beyond reason. Since he can’t stop the proceedings, he agrees to Tywin’s terms in exchange for a promise of Tyrion’s safety.
During the trial, in a court full of sycophants and secret agendas, witness after false witness stands to accuse Tyrion of malevolent intent, and he begins to realize his life is in true danger. Worst of all, the woman he truly adores— Shae—betrays him and lies to the court. Her testimony sends Tyrion over the edge, and in a moment of pure rage, he throws away the deal that would see him banished to the Wall and leaves his fate in the hands of the gods.
This contest would be unwinnable, except that Oberyn Martell agrees to fight on Tyrion’s behalf. Oberyn is less interested in saving Tyrion than in fulfilling his own desire—to learn the truth about the murder of his sister and to kill the Mountain. In this, Oberyn succeeds just before the Mountain returns the favor.
The judges sit for the trial of Tyrion Lannister.
DAVID BENIOFF AND D. B. WEISS (CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AND WRITERS): Tyrion is watching all the contempt of his father and sister—and all the anger he’s thrown back at them in turn—come home to roost. For something he didn’t do. On some level, he’s too worldly to dwell much on the fact that he’s innocent. But on a deeper level, the fact that his own family wants to have him executed for something he didn’t do . . . it cuts him deep, as the end of the season proves.
BRYAN COGMAN (CO-PRODUCER AND WRITER): Writing the trial sequence was a lot of fun and hugely challenging. I got to play with all the tropes of the classic “courtroom drama,” but I had to be careful it didn’t seem anachronistic or turn into a spoof. The trap was creating Law and Order: Westeros. We made the decision to make the case against Tyrion largely based on actual events that happened on the show (with one or two exceptions), albeit distorted by Cersei to make Tyrion seem guilty of Joffrey’s murder. But, in the end, the trial theatrics and plot are secondary to the fact that this long sequence is essentially a scene between the Lannister kids and their father—a scene that exists almost entirely in the looks and reactions between them and the family history boiling under the surface. Director Alik Sakharov was particularly mindful of this—getting tons of reaction shots from Peter, Nikolaj, Lena, and Charles that really end up being the spine of the sequence. Peter is extraordinary in that scene—he finally can’t take it anymore and lets his father and the people of King’s Landing know what he really thinks of them. “I am guilty of being a dwarf!” is such a powerful statement—a terrific line of George’s taken directly from the book.
CHARLES DANCE (TYWIN LANNISTER): I’ve gotten quite used to the way Tywin behaves now. What I’ve realized is that he will genuinely stop at nothing to reach his goals. As time has gone on I have wondered if there is a tiny moment of regret in that, but that little element is just a color. That’s all. The people he recruits for the trial to sit in judgment are those he has chosen as puppets. He doesn’t think Tyrion is guilty, but he wants him out, and this is convenient.
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU (JAIME LANNISTER): In my mind, it’s quite simple. If Jaime thought Tyrion had killed Joffrey, he might understand his sister’s utter obsession with killing their brother, but he knows Tyrion didn’t do it. He thinks she’s playing two games at the same time—she’s hurt and grief stricken, but I’m not sure he really thinks she truly believes it. He suspects it’s about control of the kingdom by getting Tyrion out completely, leaving only Jaime and her father.
LENA HEADEY (CERSEI LANNISTER): In that moment when Joffrey dies, there is no question at all in my mind that Cersei believes Tyrion is guilty. If she were able to open herself up to the reality of how others saw Joffrey, it might be different, but in her mind it’s completely logical. The trial is her only point of sanity now. If she can lynch him, if she can cause him pain, she might find some peace again. She’s taken everything she has left and is focused on one single goal. To destroy Tyrion, she’s prepared to even destroy herself. She holds him responsible for everything, the death of her mother and sending Myrcella away, and she wants to hurt him. The fact that Jaime, the man she trusts the most, will not take her side is a betrayal that leaves her completely alone in King’s Landing.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): Everything up until the moment in which Shae arrives is fully expected by Tyrion. He knows exactly how everyone is going to behave. He’s smarter than them.
Before the trial began, Tyrion tried to save Shae by sending her away and making her believe that he did not care. He was prepared to sacrifice his own happiness to save her. As the season went on, I thought a lot about people who feel entitled to certain things, and Tyrion certainly feels entitled to his birthright as a Lannister, but I’m not sure he feels like he’s entitled to be loved. It’s incredibly sad, but I just don’t think he knows how to fight for her.
When Shae stands before him and betrays everything, lying to the court, it’s a game changer. He didn’t think she was capable of it. When it comes down to it, that’s the moment when it all becomes a nightmare for Tyrion. When he starts to talk about what he’s really on trial for, it’s because of Shae. He has nothing to lose; he’s screwed either way, so there is a release there. It’s interesting, though, because no one seems to think it’s anything other than the little man ranting, apart from Oberyn. He’s the only one who leans in to take notice.
PEDRO PASCAL (OBERYN MARTELL): My first scene ever on Game of Thrones was in a cell with Peter Dinklage, agreeing to fight for Tyrion in the trial by combat against the Mountain. It was very much a baptism of fire. Oberyn shouldn’t really be standing for a Lannister, but there is something in Tyrion that Oberyn respects. Despite his name, Tyrion is a man who was born with nothing in his favor, and Oberyn sees something of a kindred spirit in him. Ultimately, though, what this choice comes down to is a chance to get to the Mountain, who for Oberyn has always been the target. He’s completely driven by hate, but unlike Cersei, he’s not blinded by it. He can see that Tyrion is someone who transcends his family name, or social convention, and despite his disadvantages is more courageous than everyone around him. Being able to save a man like Tyrion is an added bonus to him.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): When the Mountain finds the strength to kill Oberyn, it looks very much like all hope is lost. It’s the end in many ways. For sure it is the darkest moment in his life so far, but Tyrion hasn’t lived so long without finding a glimmer of hope. I wonder if even in that moment he knows that Jaime will come through for him.
PEDRO PASCAL (OBERYN MARTELL): Dying was different for me on Game of Thrones. I’ve been killed before, and I think it’s kind of cool, but with this I couldn’t disassociate from what it meant in the narrative, which has never happened to me before. I couldn’t let go of Oberyn being on this journey to avenge his sister and her children—how emotionally brutal it was for someone so elegant and good to go down like that. It was horrifying to listen to Ellaria scream the way she did. It’s the absolute embodiment of the pain of that moment.
“Trust me, my friend. I’ve brought you this far.”
—Varys
Jaime leads Tyrion to his escape.
Nothing goes according to plan during Tyrion’s trial by combat. The Mountain, near death and made to confess to the heinous crimes that Oberyn Martell accuses him of, still manages to kill Oberyn. As the last echoes of Ellaria Sand’s screams fade in the arena, Tywin Lannister sentences his own son to death, and Tyrion is returned to the cells to await execution.
Jaime Lannister, however, is unable to stomach the thought of his own brother being put to death for a crime he had no part in. Jaime arranges with Varys to smuggle Tyrion out of the country and over the Narrow Sea to Essos. Rather than fleeing immediately, though, Tyrion seeks out his father’s chambers first. There, he finds Shae, whose presence makes clear that her betrayal of Tyrion is complete. They fight, and in their struggle, Tyrion kills Shae. Shocked at what he’s done, and boiling over with emotion, Tyrion next finds and kills Tywin in a way, and place, each least expects.
Tyrion finds himself at a crossroads.
The most powerful man in Westeros is brought to an undignified end.
ALEX GRAVES (DIRECTOR): We had a long rehearsal before shooting Tyrion and Shae because I didn’t want anyone getting hurt. I also hadn’t found the way of expressing the awfulness of this situation for them both. It started with Tyrion on top of Shae and choking her, but then I came up with the idea of Tyrion falling off the bed and not letting go. It was incredible, with Sibel finding the perfect way to be pulled back. It just came together into something perfectly terrible.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): The way that the killing of Shae is written is how I think violence happens in real life, actually. She had a knife and would have killed him— it just happens so quickly, and then someone is dead, and no one really knows how it happened. He’s not really apologizing for killing her so much as for bringing her into the world at all. Realistically, how long was a relationship with his father going to last before Cersei got her or something? She would have survived the world outside the Lannisters, for sure. But he knew that the day he met her and brought her into this horrible community of people, from that moment she was doomed.
SIBEL KEKILLI (SHAE): There is definitely something deliberate in Shae’s choice to be with Tywin. He’s the most powerful man she can be with, but he is also Tyrion’s father. It is the worst thing she could do to him. In those last moments, when Tyrion discovers her in Tywin’s bed, there is such a feeling of sadness and shame. They both seem so vulnerable in that moment. Going for the knife almost seems like a reflex to me. When he starts to strangle her, she fights, but then there is almost a moment of acceptance. It feels like a loss to me—that they could have been happy if they had just been left alone.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): In that moment, when Jaime sets Tyrion free and he goes the other way from freedom, I don’t think he has any intention of killing his father. David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] feel differently, but in my mind, it’s actually a very pure moment. It’s only after he’s killed Shae that he finds the crossbow, and in that second he needs to hear the truth from his father. That’s all he needs. I hate the word, but he needs closure on the situation.
CHARLES DANCE (TYWIN LANNISTER): I’ve loved working on the show. In a way I wish it wasn’t so soon, but Tywin always had to go in a spectacular way. It was so right for his end. House Lannister has sort of imploded in on itself this season. I think people will miss Tywin after he’s dead and gone, but they will revel in how he goes.
ALEX GRAVES (DIRECTOR): After the death of Shae, I think Tyrion’s gone a little mad. I never felt comfortable with the idea that he could kill a woman he loved that much. I wanted there to be the long hallway we could follow Tyrion down to really bring out the idea that whoever he ran into was going to be in very serious trouble. I was really unsure of how finding Tywin in the toilet was going to play dramatically. It’s so uncomfortable visually, but you are also looking at someone who does not really know what they are dealing with. In the end, I wanted to focus on the intensity of their relationship by shooting closely in on their faces—to catch every look in the eye.
PETER DINKLAGE (TYRION LANNISTER): There’s nothing dignified in Tywin’s death. I think it’s perfect. He couldn’t die on a battlefield because he’s too good. He’d never die of a broken heart; he’s too cold. It’s just perfect. It’s the only place he’s vulnerable, but what was amazing was there was no trace of embarrassment in the performance. It was just Tywin, dealing with what was being presented to him. It was Charles’s last scene of the entire series, so it had a certain tragic sadness to it. I will miss working with Charles, he is quite simply one of the best actors I have ever worked with.
DAVID BENIOFF AND D. B. WEISS (CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS AND WRITERS): Tyrion has been sitting in his cell, helpless, almost certainly thinking futile thoughts about murdering the father who’s letting him fester there . . . but the actual decision to kill Tywin has to happen in the moment, since the opportunity comes upon him so quickly and unexpectedly. It’s a disastrous move in so many ways . . . but Tyrion definitely has an impulsive streak. Murder is often an impulsive action, of course. But it’s equally true that this particular impulse has been building in him for a long time.
We’ll have to see where he picks up in season five . . . but these murders definitely break something in him. These two people defined him in so many ways, for good and for ill. Killing them is like killing large pieces of himself.
Charles Dance was one of the three actors we knew we wanted from the moment we finished George’s first book (the other two were Peter Dinklage and Sean Bean). His death creates such a void in the world of the show. He may not have hesitated in making unpopular decisions . . . but wait to see what happens when the one guy who was truly in charge isn’t around anymore. We will miss Charles terribly.
