Fans of “Game of Thrones” flooded the internet with japes about a scene in Sunday night’s episode that showed an out-of-place coffee cup in the show’s fantasy world, but now HBO has rewritten Westerosi history.
Less than 48 hours after Episode 4 of Season 8 dropped, the cup was edited out of the scene on HBO’s streaming platform, a spokeswoman confirmed. (Future rebroadcasts on cable TV will also exclude the cup.)
That’s right. While the big, bad Night King failed to “erase the memory of Westeros,” as Bran Stark put it, HBO was able to do so using the magic of digital editing.
The Verge was among the first to report the change and even made a cool GIF, because that’s how we consume and reconsume entertainment media now.
In the episode, titled “The Last of the Starks,” an early scene showed a group of characters celebrating by candlelight after defeating an army of the undead in Episode 3.
For a moment, a coffee cup could be seen on a table in front of Daenerys Targaryen, also known as the “Dragon Queen,” who is on a mission to rid the world of tyrants at any cost.
The show’s obsessive fan base was, of course, quick to make light of it on social media.
Many fans joked that it was a Starbucks order, and the coffee company itself piled on with a joke about its “Dragon Drink,” a sweet, pink concoction. But it was apparently a humble craft services to-go cup.
HBO eventually made light of the error, too, saying that Daenerys had actually “ordered an herbal tea.”
The New York Times
Where to watch "Game of Thrones"
Watch it on Mondays at 3am on (repeat at 10pm) on M-Net, or straight after with the DStv Now app .
You can also binge-watch all previous seasons of "Game of Thrones" on Showmax. Sign up for a 14-day free trial at Showmax.com