50 Game Of Thrones Facts That You Probably Didn’t Know

During the series you can see characters wearing belts with a particular knot twisted after the buckle, this is clearly visible in most knights. The knot is actually correct and was used in medieval times, is often referred to as a garter and used to fix leg armor pieces to the knights' legs below the knees. It is one of the symbols of the English "Order of the Garter", the highest chivalric order.

Women in Westeros typically take their husband's surname upon marriage, with the exception of the house holding the Iron Throne, where the surname is only inherited by birth and not marriage. This is why consorts to kings and heirs of the Iron Throne retain their own name, e.g., Cersei Lannister instead of Cersei Baratheon, Margaery Tyrell instead of Margaery Baratheon.

Before season 1 aired and we all became familiar with the TV show, there was an unreleased pilot episode. The unaired pilot was very different from what the actual first episode "Winter is Coming" turned out to be, with the most notable differences being in the cast. For example, instead of Emilia Clarke, young princess Daenerys was played by Tamzin Merchant. Also, author of the book series, George R. R. Martin was playing a Pentos nobleman with a giant hat! We'd pay good money to see that!

In Westeros, bastards (also "natural child" or "baseborn") born to nobles are given surnames different than their father's, according to the region where they were born. The surnames are mostly associated with the geographic or climatic features of the respective regions: Flowers (The Reach), Hill (The Westerlands), Pyke (The Iron Islands), Rivers (The Riverlands), Sand (Dorne), Snow (The North), Stone (The Vale), Storm (The Stormlands), or Waters (The Crownlands). Special surnames apply only to noble-born bastards who are openly acknowledged by their noble parent. Noble-born bastards unacknowledged by their noble parent (like Gendry), or those whose parents are commoners, can't use the special surname. A noble-born bastard can be legitimized by royal decree and change their surname to the father's. However, the social stigma may not always be lifted even after legitimization.

Gregor Clegane, better known to us as The Mountain, or Cercei's monster, was recast twice throughout the show history. He was played by Conan Steven in season 1 and Ian Whyte in season 2. Whyte went on to play the lovable giant Wun Wun, while an Icelandic professional strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson ended up playing the Mountain in the remaining seasons.

When we meet Tywin Lannister in season one, he definitely leaves a sense of authority after him, masterfully skinning a stag (an allusion to Robert Baratheon's fate) while lecturing his son Jaime about family and legacy. Actor Charles Dance was actually skinning a deer in the scene! A butcher gave him a quick tutorial on how to do it the day before they started shooting, and Dance reports that he thinks he did a great job. Too bad he didn't get a nice cut of venison as the carcass was quickly snatched away after the scene was done.

While most of the characters have direct counterparts in the books, there are several characters that are composites. The most notable is the prostitute Ros, who is a composite of several named (Alayaya, Chataya, Kyra) and unnamed characters from the books. Another composite character is the trader Spice King in Qarth, who appears in Season Two.

Starting off in the series, Carice van Houten, who plays Melisandre and Liam Cunningham, the actor behind Davos Seaworth, play enemies. However, they previously starred together in the film "Black Butterflies", playing lovers.

Yara Greyjoy, introduced in the second book and season, is named Asha in the books. The name was changed for the television series to avoid confusion with Osha. However, in the German dubbed version she is called Asha, like in the books. Similarly, Lysa Arryn's son Robert is named Robin in the series to avoid confusion with Robert Baratheon.

Four locations are always shown in the main title sequence, regardless of if the episode has scenes set there: King's Landing, Winterfell, the Wall, and wherever Daenerys is. King's Landing is always shown first, with the crowned stag of House Baratheon. Winterfell is shown first in the hands of House Stark, then sacked and torched, and later with the House Bolton sigil. The Wall is the last main shot before the camera pans to Essos. The sequence shows up to six locations.