Over the course of eight seasons, HBO's Game of Thrones brought many memorable moments from George R. R Martin A Song of Ice and Fire novels from page to screen. Now, Martin has revealed that a key sequence from the first season involving Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon is his least favorite scene in the entire series.
The Game of Thrones story centers on the civil war between multiple powerful families of Westeros as they vie for the Iron Throne in wake of King Baratheon's death. In the series and the first Game of Thrones novel, King Robert's demise is the result of a fatal wound sustained during a hunting accident orchestrated by his wife, Cersei Lannister.
While only the aftermath of King Robert's hunting trip is included in the novel, the series featured a sequence in which the doomed King is seen traversing through the woods with a small group consisting of his brother Renly, Ser Barristan Selmy, and Lancel Lannister. Unfortunately, the sequence did not live up to Martin's expectations due to budgetary restrictions at the time. "Where we really fell down in terms of the budget was my least favorite scene in the entire show, in all eight seasons: King Robert goes hunting," Martin said in an interview for the behind-the-scenes book titled Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Untold Story of the Epic Series. ″Four guys walking on foot through the woods carrying spears and Robert is giving Renly s—. In the books, Robert goes off hunting, we get word he was gored by a boar, and they bring him back and he dies. So I never did [a hunting scene]. But I knew what a royal hunting party was like."
During the early run of the series, the Game of Thrones creative team was limited to a budget of roughly $6-million-per-episode. According to Martin, the hunting sequence would have been a more epic outing had the series been given a larger budget to work with from the beginning. "There would have been a hundred guys. There would have been pavilions. There would have been huntsmen. There would have been dogs. There would have been horns blowing — that's how a king goes hunting," Martin explained. "He wouldn't have just been walking through the woods with three of his friends holding spears hoping to meet a boar. But at that point, we couldn't afford horses or dogs or pavilions." The budget for the series wouldn't be increased to $10 million-per-episode until the sixth season.
The death of Robert Baratheon wasn't the only sequence to face challenges due to the relatively low budget during Game of Thrones' early seasons. In the same behind-the-scenes novel, showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss revealed that they pushed hard for HBO to grant the necessary budget for the Battle of Blackwater in season two.
When it comes to Game of Thrones, disappointment is hardly a rare emotion felt by viewers and even those who have worked on the series. Fortunately for Martin, perhaps, he has the benefit of knowing how fans have reacted to the series' conclusion as he continues to write his novels.
Game of Thrones is now available on HBO Max.
Source: Entertainment Weekly