George R.R. Martin regretted one of the scenes in Game of Thrones that let down the lore. He opened up about the first season scene where Robert Baratheon goes for his fatal hunt in the series. Martin knew that the royal hunt back in the day was a grandiose event, which saw the gathering of important lords and ladies of the land.
Martin shared that when the series aired Baratheon’s royal hunt scene, the show had a significantly lower budget. He shared that they couldn’t afford the big pavilions or that many dogs and horses. However, when the same event took place in the sequel series House of the Dragon, the makers rectified their royal mistake.
George R.R. Martin’s Least Favorite Game of Thrones Scene Was Robert Baratheon’s Royal Hunt
George R.R. Martin shared about his least favorite scene in Game of Thrones with James Hibberd for his book, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon. Fans of Emilia Clarke can breathe as it did not involve the Dragon Queen. Martin recalled the royal hunt scene in the first season of the series, where Robert Baratheon goes into the woods with Barristan Selmy, Renly Baratheon, and Lancel Lannister.
In the series, the exchange between the four royal members makes for the content of the scene, before Baratheon gets attacked by a boar. While Martin didn’t hate the scene for its content, he hated how the scene was lackluster when compared to the royal hunting parties in the lore. He shared that the scene was a letdown because of the tight budget. He shared about his least favorite scene in Hibberd’s book (via EW):
Where we really fell down in terms of budget was my least favorite scene in the entire show, in all eight seasons: King Robert goes hunting. Four guys walking on foot through the woods carrying spears and Robert is giving Renly sh*t. In the books, Robert goes off hunting, we get word he was gored by a boar, and they bring him back and he dies. So I never did [a hunting scene].
He detailed that the scene should have had hundreds of soldiers, grand pavilions, dogs, horses, and blowing horns. However, Baratheon walked into the forest as if he were on a hunting trip with three of his friends holding spears. He added:
But I knew what a royal hunting party was like. There would have been a hundred guys. There would have been pavilions. There would have been huntsmen. There would have been dogs. There would have been horns blowing — that’s how a king goes hunting! He wouldn’t have just been walking through the woods with three of his friends holding spears hoping to meet a boar. But at that point, we couldn’t afford horses or dogs or pavilions.
It is almost hard to imagine the biggest TV show in history ever had a budgetary constraint. According to E! News, the per-episode budget of the first season of the show was $6 million. The pilot of the season was filmed at a $10 million budget. In comparison, the final season had a per-episode budget of $15 million (via Variety).
House Of The Dragon Was Able To Rectify George R.R. Martin’s Regret
House of the Dragon later included a grand scene where the royal hunting party was depicted in all its glory. In the third episode of the first season, Prince Aegon’s second name day is celebrated with a royal hunt, where King Viserys goes into Kingswood to hunt for a white hart, the rare magical deer.
The scene was crucial in the series as the grand setting for the royal hunt introduced some of the major players of the series during the event. It also helped a number of plots move forward. Moreover, HoTD could easily pull off the scene due to its massive budget compared to Game of Thrones.
HBO was willing to spend a lot on the prequel series as it was made on a reported budget of just under $20 million per episode (via Variety). The budget differences were also visible during the jousting tournament, which had a grander setting in HoTD.
Both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are now available on Max. Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon is available for purchase on Amazon.
