Game of Thrones director David Nutter has revealed the real reason why Jon Snow didn’t give Ghost a proper goodbye.
The lack of compassion between the former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and his direwolf in Episode 4 of the show’s final season has been highly controversial. Many fans have pointed out how Jon said goodbye to many other characters, but not Ghost, who has fought in two major battles and saved numerous lives.
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Nutter, who directed the episode, spoke to HuffPost about the situation, admitting, “Since the direwolves are kind of CG creations, we felt it best to keep it as simple as possible.”
He was also asked by the New York Times if a “CGI issue” was the reason why we didn’t see Jon tell Ghost goodbye, to which Nutter replied, “Very much so.”
Nutter directed Episodes 1 and 2 for Season 8 of Game of Thrones, then he took a break and Miguel Sapochnik directed Episode 3, “The Long Night.”
Episode 4, “The Last of the Starks,” saw Nutter’s return for the final time, as Sapochnik directed Episode 5, and Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss directed Episode 6, the series finale.
If this week’s discussion over Jon saying goodbye to Ghost being scrapped for budgetary reasons teaches us anything about storytelling, it is this:
Audiences prefer emotion to spectacle.
Fans would trade several dragon scenes to have one tender, teary goodbye between them.
— C. Robert Cargill (@Massawyrm) May 8, 2019
Ghost’s ghosting is not the only Game of Thrones-related moment Nutter has opened up about lately, as he also recently shared his thoughts on how nearly every episodes of Season 8 has leaked early.
“I don’t know what [HBO does] or how they do it, so that’s kind of out of my purview,” he told The Wrap. “But as far as leaks are concerned, I think a lot of fans of the show might hear about leaks but they don’t try to find out what they are, because I think fans of the show don’t want to encounter them.”
“I’ve never come across, as a casual internet person, a spoiler that I wasn’t trying to look to find. But leaks have grown out of proportion, I think,” Nutter went on to say.
The director also shared his thoughts on the title of Episode 4, “The Last of the Starks,” saying that he thinks it’s called that “because people are leaving Winterfell.”
“And you do see the four Starks together, in a scene together. So I think that kind of answers that question,” Nutter explained. “We’ve been through four episodes at Winterfell and we’re on a bit of a journey, and it feels like ‘The Last of the Starks’ really is the four of them together and the best example of them as a family. But I’m not going to bring up anything going forward.”
Game of Thrones airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. The show is currently in its final season and only two episodes remain.
