“Things can get forgotten on set.” – Hauke Richter, Game of Thrones art director (2019)
Starbucks was the hot topic on Sunday and no, it wasn’t because of a new product or anything they were offering. The coffee giant GoT a huge shoutout when a humble takeaway cup (probably a Starbucks cup) made its way to the medieval ages of Winterfell in Game of Thrones’ latest episode from the final season.
If anything we have learned in the eight seasons of Game of Thrones so far is that the makers like to do things larger than life. The dragons, the dead army sequences, the frozen lake, the Battle of Winterfell, the ships. Heck, even the furry dire wolf and Jon Snow’s loyal pet Ghost is a CGI marvel.
With such elaborate and extravagant production at the display, it was only a matter of seconds that a Starbucks coffee cup sitting next to Daenerys Targaryen during the celebrations after the “Long night”, spread like wildfire on the Internet. Remember Sept of Baelor?
Responding to the massive backlash that the episode has received following the embarrassing and completely avoidable oopsie, Hauke Richter, GoT art director, in an email to Variety said, “Things can get forgotten on set. [The coffee cup gaffe] so blown out of proportion, it has not happened with ‘Thrones’ so far.”
Some, however, saw a lighter side to the entire fiasco.
HBO, in an official statement, acknowledged the goof up in the most HBO way possible.
“The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered a herbal tea,” HBO’s press release read.
The only winner in all of this, Starbucks (duh!), took the opportunity to plug their new product. Because why not?
Here’s how it all unfolded:
Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Davos Seaworth, Brienne, Jamie, Tyrion, Sansa, Hound, Tormund Giantsbane among others sat together and partied at Winterfell when the long, dark and dreadful night came to an end after Arya slew the Night King.
One person in the room, though, was clearly not having the best time – Dany – who has been left conflicted after learning that she’s the aunt of the love of her life, Jon Snow, who also happens to be Aegon Targaryen, the rightful heir to her beloved Iron Throne. It seemed even the Mother of Dragons needed some extra help to deal with these complications. And what could be a better substance to clear one’s head than coffee?
While others in the party scene can be seen indulging in alcohol before marching to the final battle, we see Dany settling for some caffeine.
Sure enough, the entire web gathered to laugh at the expense of Game of Thrones, unarguably the biggest show on television history.
