HBO/Game Of Thrones screencap
Jon Snow’s direwolf Ghost is one of the most beloved characters in ‘Game of Thrones’ which is why fans were outraged when Jon Snow gave him away to Tormund and didn’t pet him while saying goodbye during last week’s episode.
https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/1125888254098546688
Me: Jon is the most purely good and worthy character on the show and I would like to see him sit the-
Jon: *doesn’t pet Ghost*
Me:
— 〽️🐐🅱️ (@RilesMcGuiles19) May 6, 2019
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Today, the episode’s director David Nutter revealed that the production team decided they didn’t want to spend their CGI budget on Jon Snow petting Ghost.
Director David Nutter says CGI prevented Jon Snow from giving Ghost a proper goodbye — ‘Since the direwolves are kind of CG creations, we felt it best to keep it as simple as possible … It played out much more powerfully that way.’
(via @HuffPostUK | https://t.co/J972KThtyX) pic.twitter.com/ItxsNy7iG5
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) May 7, 2019
Via HuffPost
Since the direwolves are kind of CG creations, we felt it best to keep it as simple as possible,” said Nutter. “And I think that it played out much more powerfully that way.”
“Game of Thrones” visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer previously explained the difficulties of bringing the direwolves to life ahead of Season 8, saying real wolves need to be filmed and scaled up. And unfortunately, those wolves “only behave in certain ways.”
“Keeping Ghost off to the side, I thought that played out better,” said Nutter, adding that it gave Jon a chance to be with Tormund and Gilly before having one last moment with his wolf.
Many felt Nutter’s excuse was lame considering Jon SNow has been CGI riding dragons this season.
Thrones: jOn PeTtInG gHoSt WoUlD hAvE lOoKeD wEiRd
Also Thrones: pic.twitter.com/sxrWeDahby— Riley McAtee (@RileyMcAtee) May 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/CountOnVic/status/1125908158008971264
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“We couldn’t have Jon pet Ghost cuz we blew our CGI budget on the blood spraying out of Rheagal’s throat. And Starbucks.”
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) May 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/lamberto_12/status/1125904808714616833
Bulls??t. If they can get someone to ride a dragon for 5 minutes, Jon could have hugged the dog. #GOT #GhostDeservedBetter Perennial good boy Ghost didn't get pets because of CGI difficulties https://t.co/9bhBL0hStn
— Rene Segal (@ReezieReen) May 7, 2019