Top 10 Facts about the Game of Thrones

By James Israelsen, Associate Writer

Published September 4, 2020

The original pilot for Game of Thrones was so poorly received by the studio that the show was nearly cancelled._[9]

After some recasting and rewriting, the show came together (Jason Merrit / Getty Images)

Character names from Game of Thrones are gaining popularity in the United States and Europe._[1][2]

241 babies were named "Khaleesi" in 2013, after Emilia Clarke's character, Daenerys Targaryen

Game of Thrones tourism has become very big business. Many die-hard fans take trips to some of the filming locales, including Iceland, Ireland, and Spain, all of which have reported large increases in tourism revenue since the show's debut._[3]

Tourism to Iceland, where much of the show is filmed, nearly doubled between 2011 (when the show first aired) and 2014.

Game of Thrones' need for rare, traditional, medieval farm-pig breeds has saved many failing farms

Cersei Lannister's "walk of shame" took four days to film, at $50,000 per day. Over 200 security guards and a cell phone ban ensured the scene was kept under wraps._[5]

Game of Thrones is no stranger to wildly expensive set pieces

After dire wolf Lady died in season one, Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) adopted her in real life._[7]

Turner's mother helped persuade the show's producers to let them adopt the dog, whose name is Zunni.

The writers of the show play pranks on the actors by creating fake deaths in the scripts, sometimes not telling actors for weeks that their characters weren't actually scheduled to die._[2]

A little friendly joking isn't beyond writer D.B. Weiss

Westeros fashions, Swedish prices

Game of Thrones was the world's most illegally downloaded show for six years in a row, from 2012 to 2017._[6][7]

The episodes of season seven of the hit show were illegally viewed an estimated 1 billion times

George R. R. Martin has been working on his book series A Song of Ice and Fire, the basis for Game of Thrones, for over two decades. The first volume, A Game of Thrones, was published in 1996._[8]