It’s time to go behind the scenes of Game of Thrones‘ biggest battle scene to date.
“The Watchers on the Wall” drew comparisons to The Lord of the Rings in scope, with the entire episode focusing strictly on the Wall, rather than jumping around to different storylines.
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Kit Harington (Jon Snow) had a big role in the episode, going mano a mano with Yuri Kolokolnikov (Styr), who played a much larger Wildling who wanted nothing more than to kill Jon.
Harington, Kolokolnikov, director Neil Marshall and more explain the nitty-gritty details of the fight in a special feature included on Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season, which hits Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 17.
“It’s a more powerful man verses maybe a quicker man,” says Harington, “so it’s quite an interesting fight to choreograph.”
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The battle ends with Jon turning heel, spitting in Styr’s eye. It’s a move that Harington says has big implications for his character. His father, Eddard Stark (Sean Bean), was supremely honorable, and ended up losing his life because of it.
“He’s learned that the honorable way to fight is not necessarily the way you win, which is a big part of Game of Thrones. To see Jon learning that means it bodes better for him that it does his father,” said Haringtion. “He might actually have a chance of making it through this world.”
Game of Thrones season five premieres April 12 on HBO.
Email: Aaron.Couch@THR.com
Twitter: @AaronCouch
