HBO Removes Coffee Cup From 'Game of Thrones' Scene

The citizens of Westeros will no longer be flocking to their local Starbucks for a quick caffeine [...]

By Allison Schonter

The citizens of Westeros will no longer be flocking to their local Starbucks for a quick caffeine fix, as the conspicuous coffee cup that appeared in Game of Thrones' "The Last of the Starks" has now been removed.

HBO confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter writer Ryan Parker that the now infamous coffee cup has been digitally removed from the scene and that future airings of Episode 4 will be of the updated, caffeine-less version.

The cup, nearly identical to a Starbucks disposable hot coffee cup, is actually from the production's craft services.

The odd Westerosi decal had been spotted by eagle-eyed viewers tuning into the Sunday, May 5 episode of the popular series' eighth and final season just before the 17:40 mark. As the survivors of the Battle of Winterfell gathered in celebration, among the goblets of wine and horns of ale was a single, much more modern appearing cup sitting on the table just in front of Daenerys.

Although it inspired plenty of puns, including new titles for the Mother of Dragons, the "Drinker of Pumpkin Spice," it also drew criticism from some fans who felt that the production crew and others working behind the camera were experiencing a very obvious case of senioritis in the final season.

HBO did own up to the gaffe, though, and joined in on the jokes when acknowledging the cup in a statement on Monday, just one day after the cup gained viral fame and its own Twitter account.

"The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea,'" the network's statement read.

Addressing the slip-up in a Monday interview with WNYC, executive producer Bernie Caulfield apologized.

"I can't believe it. Our prop people and decorators are so, you know, so on it 1,000 percent," she said, adding that "if that's the worst thing they're finding, then we're in good shape."

"Westeros was the first place to actually have Starbucks -- that's a little known fact," she joked.

Although minor in the larger realm of things, the gaffe was an embarrassing mistake in a final season that has been riddled with HBO Go app crashes and episode leaks. Along with all first four episodes of Season 8 having been leaked well before their scheduled premieres, details for both the penultimate episode and the series finale have also managed to leak, upsetting many fans hoping to finish the story without any spoilers.

New episodes of Game of Thrones air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. The series will conclude on May 19.

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