3:47 – “Game of Thrones” is done, but I’ll be back with “Resident Evil: Retribution” at 4:05pm!
3:45 – One last little “treat,” a painfully short tease of season three which merely consists of the show title and the season three air date, March 31, 2013.
3:44 – Last question is for Emilia. What do you see as Daenerys’ insecurities? Emilia says she’s got a huge amount of them and her self doubt is highlighted in the second season. “She needs to be as strong as she can and not show her fear, but she definitely feels it,” and that’s something she thinks keeps the character human.
3:43 – Robert tells a fan it’s a gift to have such fantastic source material. Michelle says that the books help give you the thought process of what’s going on with the characters internally.
3:40 – A fan from Iceland asks George about his turtle sigil. George explains, “Turtles have always been my sigil.” He recalls growing up in a federal housing project where he couldn’t have a traditional pet, so got turtles. “I had an entire toy castle filled with dime store turtles.” He imagined they were all knights and killed each other. He jokes that “Game of Thrones” actually came from turtles.
3:36 – A rather long winded question ends in, do you think some of the episodes hint at the darkness in the real world today? Emilia takes it and calls the show, “incredibly relevant,” noting that it deals with family, war, death and more. Gale adds that the characters are very complex and human, and suggests that what the fan is responding to is complex human emotion, which drives everything. “It’s not just the production value and shooting in four different countries.”
3:35 – Robert says they burn incenses on set and every place has a distinctive smell. “When I was at Winterfell, I think I was at my happiest.”
3:34 – Robert says his sigil would be a wolf, Rose would have an eagle, Michelle would have a horse and Emilia sticks with her dragons. The crowd eats it up!
3:33 – A fan asks Rose to tell him he “knows nothing.” She complies. The audience cheers.
3:32 – George points out that Daenerys’ gown is different in the show than the book. I’ve never read the book so don’t quite get the humor in this, but then George jokes, “it’s a warmth issue.” I figured it out.
3:30 – A question about the costumes – Richard says he loves his costumes. “When I’m in all my armor and leather and fur it changes the way I walk.” However, he does admit that by day 39, when the costume stinks a bit, it can be a drag. Michelle calls the costume designer a genius, pointing out the vast amount of research she puts into every design. “Because it’s on television you can’t focus in on it so clearly, but the detail, the embroidery, everything down to the … it’s perfect.”
3:27 – Of shooting the Khal Drogo flashback, Emilia says it was so wonderful reuniting with Jason Momoa, but the baby didn’t really like filming with her “and she also liked to break wind a lot.” Richard says that he loves working with Michelle. “We have a great time in our tents.” She jokes, “Naked.” A few giggles from the audience.
3:26 – Honestly? The panel isn’t flowing as well as others. Lots of awkward silences. Not sure George was the best choice to host.
3:25 – Emilia remembers having lime green sausages for dragons in season one, but in season two there were “live scale dragon models that I got very protective over.”
3:24 – Richard says the direwolf is really “a silver ball on the end of a wooden stick.”
3:23 – Michelle says, “Gwen’s just brilliant,” and that “she’s got so much armor on.” No fake armor here. Gwendoline Chrisitie has to bear all the weight.
3:20 – George points out that Kristian Nairn who plays Hodor is actually in the audience. He stands. For being on the show, he doesn’t have the greatest seat.
3:18 – George goes back to Alfie and says, “I understand you died this season.” Alfie replies, “We’ll see what happens.” Not sure if this is a joke, but Alfie seems a little confused. The back and forth finally leads into talk of some fake script someone wrote in which Bran kills Theon.
3:16 – Emilia is asked to compare how much she’s recognized after this season as compared to the first. She once said she hardly was after season one because few recognized her without her blond hair. Emilia says it still only happens occasionally, “but when it happens it really happens.” She tells of being in a department store elevator and, all of sudden, the person next to her said, “Khaleesi!”
3:14 – George asks Rose about going to Iceland. She says, “A lot colder than Scotland.” George points out that she’s the only member of the cast to be born and raised in a castle. She laughs and says, “It’s definitely not Winterfell.” George asks if there’s a dungeon and Rose jokes that there is and that “hide and seek would last for days.”
3:13 – George brings up Catelyn’s arc and how it’s getting progressively darker. “For me, personally, I love the big emotional stuff.” Michelle loves to get really involved in it so that she forgets she’s on a set.
3:11 – Sticking with the sex topic, Richard says he prefers the violence. “Swinging a sword’s a bit more fun.” Giggles from the crowd.
3:09 – More on Theon, George says he has a strong libido. What’s it like doing all those sex scenes? Alfie notes that they’re all with prostitutes so it’s not like he’s a “stud muffin.”
3:08 – George brings up Theon Greyjoy who Alfie calls “misguided,” something he can relate to.
3:06 – The discussion with Carolyn who remembers the start of the show. She recalls the screenwriters bringing her the story and while she doesn’t consider herself a fantasy reader, she was intrigued. She calls it a “genre buster,” something with the pillars and posts of a genre, but a piece that takes it in a new direction. When she gave them the thumbs up to write the script, they did and while changes were made it “stayed great.”
3:02 – George introduces the panelists – Carolyn Strauss, Richard Madden, Michelle Fairley, Alfie Allen, a surprise guest, Rose Leslie and lastly, Emilia Clarke. Sadly no Lena Headey or Kit Harrington.
3:01 – The piece ran from the highlight reel into a featurette showing off the series newcomers. They announce their characters and talk about how excited they are about joining the show.
2:52 – Before bringing out the cast, we get a season two highlight reel. Big cheers for moments featuring Arya, Daenerys and scenes from Blackwater.
2:50 – Things begin with George R.R. Martin. He steps on stage and notes, “There are even more of you than last year!” He thanks everyone for coming. He says he spoke with the showrunners this morning and that they regret they cannot be at the panel today, but gets some cheers when he announces they’re off shooting season three.
Ready for another big one? Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, Michelle Fairley, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Richard Madden, George R. R. Martin and executive producer Carolyn Strauss are all due to hit Hall H at 2:45pm for the “Game of Thrones” panel. Season two only wrapped a month ago, so the group very likely won’t have any visuals to share, but the conversation still should be packed with details, or at least hints at details, of season three.
It’s business as usual, so be sure to keep refreshing the page so you can catch the latest information as it pours in.