Late-night hosts had a lot to say about the coffee cup that made a cameo on Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones.
During the fourth episode of the HBO show’s final season, savvy viewers spotted what appeared to be an out-of-place Starbucks coffee cup in a scene that took place in Winterfell, the home of House Stark.
HBO issued a statement in response to those questioning the cup on Monday. “The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea,” the network said. The pay cabler on Tuesday announced that the cup was removed from all platform re-airs.
The Late Show host Stephen Colbert shared his theory about the Starbucks beverage on Monday’s episode of the CBS program.
“The show is legendary for constantly adding surprising new characters, and last night they introduced a doozy,” he said. “Latte, of House Starbucks.”
After Colbert explained that someone left their coffee on the table, he added, “That is the biggest anachronism in popular fantasy since Gollum’s Big Gulp.”
“It also explains why last week’s episode was so dark. They were trying to hide all the coffee cups,” he joked about a dark battle scene that took place in the third episode of the season.
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The host added that the Starbucks in Winterfell meant that “Westeros is gentrifying fast!” Continued Colbert, “First they force out the ‘undesirable’ residents. Suddenly the Night’s Watch is drinking mochaccinos. Next thing you know, Castle Black has a Jamba Juice.”
While many viewers thought that the Starbucks cup was a mistake, Colbert said that he disagreed. “Game of Thrones does not make mistakes. Not even Ed Sheeran’s cameo,” he said. “George R.R. Martin set stuff up in motions years ago that’s just paying off now. That cup was there for a reason.
“I worked it all out, following our Queen’s example and pounding espresso all night,” he said before he shared his theory. “Okay, Daenerys is known as the ‘unburnt.’ Why? Because her coffee beans are always perfectly roasted and, like all Starbucks customers, her name is constantly misspelled and she’s obsessed with finding a seat.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying, ‘Stephen, this all makes perfect sense so far, but — how did she get a Starbucks cup from the future?'” he continued. “Simple. Daenerys has the Infinity Gauntlet and now you’re thinking, ‘No, she doesn’t, Stephen. That’s insane.’ Is it? Or will it make perfect sense if they would just produce my screenplay, Endgame of Avengers Infinity Thrones: Please Keep These Franchises Going. I Need This!“
Over on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the ABC host shared that he hates scenes on the show when the characters eat and drink. “It drives me nuts to hear the actors slurping the wine,” he said. “Instead of an episode you can’t see, I’d like one you can’t hear, if they’re gonna do that drinking thing.”
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Kimmel then moved on to discuss the accidental Starbucks cup. “I knew there are a lot of Starbucks. I didn’t know that they expanded to Winterfell,” he said. “I didn’t know there was a House Macchiato now.”
He added that viewers were upset about the mistake. “A lot of people online said it ruined the episode and made it seem not real. Right, because a Starbucks cup is what makes the show feel not real,” said Kimmel. “Not the dragons. Not the zombies made of ice. The coffee cup on the table.”
Jimmy Fallon briefly touched on the Thrones episode during NBC’s The Tonight Show.
After Fallon had the camera zoom in on an image from the installment that showed the coffee cup, he declared, “That is a Starbucks cup right there.
“The lighting guy was like, ‘Well, well, well, who needs me to make it darker now, huh?'” Fallon joked. “‘Saw too much? You saw too much?'”
“I can’t believe people aren’t talking about this. Did you see the castle at the end of the episode? Take a look at the castle,” he said before he showed the audience an image from the show with a Photoshopped White Castle sign.
Late Night‘s Seth Meyers shared the news with his audience during Monday’s episode of the NBC show..
“This is even crazier. They spelled her name correctly,” he joked about Daenerys.
Trevor Noah also touched on the complaints about the cup on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
“Last week, people complained that the episode was so dark, they couldn’t see anything,” he said. “This week, people are complaining that they saw too much.”
The host then shared a news clip that explained the mistake. “Oh, shit. Forget the White Walkers. The white gentrifiers are coming,” he responded. “Next thing you know, a one-bedroom in Winterfell is, like, three grand. Shit, that’s probably why there’s only three black people in the whole show. We all got priced out.”
Noah added that he loved the mistake. “I just feel bad for the intern who screwed up,” he said. “Because knowing Game of Thrones, that intern is definitely getting his head chopped off. That’s how it goes.”
The host later called out viewers that were angry with the mistake. “Oh, you’re telling me you can believe in a world where dragons are real, but a to-go cup is too crazy for you?” he said. “It’s called the power of imagination, okay?”
