Facts you need to know about "Game of Thrones".
1.The average episode costs HBO $6 million to make.
Game of Thrones is one of most expensive shows on TV. It costs three times as much to make an episode of GoT as it does to make an episode of The Big Bang Theory. (However, it is still costs $1 million less than it did to make any episode on the final season of Friends).
Some GoT episodes cost even more than $6 million to make. Season 2's action-packed "Blackwater" skated in with a reported price tag of $8 million.
2. It is filmed in three continents and six countries.
To date, producers have traveled to the United States, Croatia, Morocco, Malta, Iceland and Northern Ireland for filming, with locations often overlapping in order to meet deadlines. Rumor has it GoT will add Spain to that list for Season 5.
3. Northern Ireland says "Game of Thrones" has brought more than $100 million to their economy.
The Northern Irish home base of Game of Thrones isn't the only location to benefit from the massive production. The ancient Moroccan city of Ouarzazate is said to have had a 100% increase in bookings after becoming the face of Yunkai and Pentos.
4. George R.R. Martin already told Benioff and Weis the ending of Game of Thrones.
Benioff and Weiss say they have the "broad strokes" of what Martin plans to do with the book series ending, but none of the specifics. Martin hopes he'll be able to finish the books before the show ends.
5. The show almost didn't make it to air because the original pilot was so bad.
In the original pilot, Jennifer Ehle (Pride & Prejudice) played Catelyn Stark and newcomer Tamzin Merchant starred as Daenerys Targaryen. Producers decided to reshoot the entire pilot with five roles recast, including Michelle Fairley and Emilia Clarke stepping in for Catelyn and Daenerys.
6. Emilia Clarke's Daenerys has become so popular, 146 baby girls were named Khaleesi in 2013.
It seems the recast was the right choice. The made-up name Daenerys didn't exist outside of Martin's novel before the HBO show aired. Parents, however, have not been unified in the name's pronunciation. It should be pronounced KHAH-LEY-SEE not KHAH-LEE-SEE.
7. More than two feet of human hair is used to make each of the show's Emmy-nominated wigs.
Kevin Alexander, one of Game of Thrones' hair designers, says that each piece can cost up to $7,000.
8.Two languages, Dothraki and Valyrian, were created for the television show from only a few words.
In the books, Martin only provided a few examples of the foreign tongues spoken on Game of Thrones. So the show's producers enlisted linguist David J. Peterson, founder of the Language Creation Society, to develop Dothraki and Valyrian into full, grammatical languages that the show's actors could actually speak.
Despite having created the 4,000-word Dothraki dictionary, Peterson says fanboys still try to correct him on his pronunciation.
They've just been dead for millennia. The ancient breed is said to have been 25% larger than today's grey wolf. To recreate the beasts, the show uses Northern Inuit dogs that are digitally enlarged by visual effects specialists.
Kristian Nairn, the Irish actor who plays Bran Stark's hulking escort, came out earlier this year, making him the first openly gay actor of the show's 100-plus member cast.
