Author George R.R. Martin kind of made a cameo appearance in the Targaryen-focused Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, but you probably missed it.
The face of the fantasy author can be seen carved into a tree in the backdrop of Harrenhal, the ruined location that has served as the home of Daemon Targaryen’s (Matt Smith) subplot for much of Season 2. It’s easy to miss, but only because the creative team behind the HBO series wanted viewers to do a double-take if he was ever spotted.
Martin’s cameo – his first in any Game of Thrones show – was revealed in the latest episode of The House that Dragons built, a behind-the-scenes companion show for House of the Dragon (via GameSpot). Game of Thrones features a library of epic trees and the lot seen in House of the Dragon is no exception. The sturdy tree seen in the Red Keep is maybe the most notable example, but Harrenhal’s orange-leaved tree also manages to stand out – and for good reason. If you take a close look, you’ll notice that the face of the Game of Thrones creator has been carved into its side.
“The brief was to make it feel enough like him, but you’re never really sure,” supervising art director Dominic Masters explained. “The idea is that you don’t look at it straight away and thank ‘That’s George R. R. Martin,’ you do a second take, and say, ‘Ooh, is that?’ ”
Martin’s sorta cameo works around a rule he set for himself a few years back. During a San Diego Comic-Con panel in 2022, the fantasy writer said he would not make any appearances in shows based on his work until he finishes working on his “late” book, The Winds of Winter. Of course, fans have joked for years that he will never actually publish the book (he made no progress on it between 2022 and 2023), so his appearance on the side of Harrenhal’s tree allows him to continue the delay while still showing up for a quick cameo.
Unlike Martin’s work on The Winds of Winter, House of the Dragon Season 2 will soon be completed. The show will premiere its eighth episode and finale this Sunday. Episode seven, The Red Sowing, premiered on Max just last night, and as we stated in our review, we gave it a 9/10. We said, “An episode with momentum, drama, and consequence, "The Red Sowing" sets all the pieces in place for a grand finale.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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