In the fourth episode of the current season of Game of Thrones, there’s a memorable scene between fan favorite characters Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen when the two venture into the cave beneath Dragonstone. What most fans likely missed was the connection between the strange paintings on the wall, and how the images connected to the White Walkers.
Snow, played by Kit Harington, explains that the paintings have special significance in telling the history of Westeros. While the images might have seemed odd at first sight, viewers have actually seen these same exact symbols already on the show. However, the patterns were previously shown as the work of the White Walkers, who formed the symbols using dismembered body parts.
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“There are a number of symbols on the walls,” says Game of Thrones series co-creator David Benioff in a behind the scenes video, Radio Times reports. “Some of them are supposed to remind us of patterns we’ve seen before, going back to the very first geometric pattern on the show which was the weird array of body parts that the White Walkers made.”
Most importantly, it’s worth recognizing that the patterns aren’t the creation of the White Walkers themselves.
“One of the things we learn from these cave paintings is that the White Walkers didn’t come up with those images, they derived them from their creators, the Children of the Forest,” Benioff said.
“These are patterns that have mystical significance for the Children of the Forest. We’re not sure exactly what they signify but spiral patterns are important in a lot of different cultures in our world so it makes sense that they would be in this world.”
So, as it turns out, every small detail on GOT is even more interconnected than anyone would have guessed.
During the same scene in which the cave paintings are shown, the King in the North and the Mother of Dragons have a tense conversation in which she demands that he “bends the knee” once again. In their exchange, there’s an undeniable “heat” between the two major characters, Benioff says.
“There’s tension on two sides. One is the political, where Jon Snow has a very specific purpose here on Dragonstone, and that’s to get the dragonglass, and if possible, convince Dany to fight with him,” Benioff says. “Dany has her own very specific purpose, which is to get Jon to bend the knee. It’s conflict. And it’s conflict between powerful people.”
“Then to make it even more complicated, they’re starting to be attracted to each other. So much of it is not from dialogue, or anything we wrote, it’s just the two of them in a small space being near each other, and us just watching that, and feeling the heat of that.”
Be sure to tune into episode 5 of Game of Thrones, titled “Eastwatch,” on Sunday at 9/8c on HBO. Also, for a sneak preview, go here to see the newly released photos for the upcoming episode.
