‘Game of Thrones’ Called out for Reusing Season 4 Ghost Scene

The Game of Thrones series finale seemed to give the direwolf Ghost a proper sendoff, some fans think it was a CGI shortcut.

Warning! Spoilers for the Game of Thrones series finale lie ahead!

Game of Thrones fans have been livid all season at the lack of direwolves in the show. The outrage really hit a boiling point in Episode 4, when Jon Snow sent Ghost north with Tormund and the wildlings without even petting him goodbye. At first, fans were pleased to see Jon correct this issue by petting Ghost in the series finale, until they looked closer.

Some claimed the shot of Jon scratching Ghost’s fur on Sunday seems to be a reused shot from way back in Season 4. Fans put the two pictures side-by-side on social media, revealing that the horses, wagons and snow behind them are positioned exactly the same. The only thing changed was the brightness of the image.

The image has not been verified yet, and some are calling it a conspiracy theory. There were several beloved moments between Jon Snow and Ghost in Season 4, starting when they were reunited at Craster’s Keep in Episode 5. There, Jon pet ghost on the other side of his head in a completely different shot.

Later, in Episode 9, Jon did wear the same furry black cloak as in the series finale, but there appears to be no scene where he kneels down to pet Ghost, as he is preoccupied with the wildling siege of the Wall.

That did not stop the shot from making its way through social media on Monday, outraging many fans in the process. users argued over the legitimacy of the shot endlessly, although either way, the fact that so many fans believed this was possible was a bad sign.

The direwolves have also gotten less to do on the series than they do in the books. In the past, producers have said that the wolves are more difficult to do than even the CGI dragons, and director David Nutter echoed that sentiment in an interview with Huffington Post this season after Jon and Ghost’s farewell.

“Since the direwolves are kind of CG creations, we felt it best to keep it as simple as possible,” he said of their goodbye in Winterfell in Episode 4. Later, a New York Times reporter asked if it was a “CGI issue” and Nutter replied: “very much so.”

Jon’s return to the wall was also controversial in and of itself. The once-King in the North murdered his queen in the series finale, and was then taken as a prisoner by her armies. The show skipped ahead weeks — perhaps even months — until they could arrange for his freedom on the condition that he return to the Night’s Watch. To some fans, this was a poor punishment, as Jon already said that he would rather be in the far north in Episode 4.

Next weekend, HBO will air a feature-length documentary on the making of Season 8 titled Game of Thrones: The Last Watch in the place of the series. It airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. The next novel in the series is expected soon, although no release date has been announced yet.