HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon just launched a couple weeks ago, but it's already become infamous for an onscreen gaffe.
Fans of the show--a whole lot of them--noticed a certain CGI error in a recent episode that has people comparing the show to that time someone's coffee cup was visible in a Game of Thrones scene back in the day.
But as errors go, this one is a much bigger gaffe than a coffee cup, or the errant water bottle that eventually unseated it as GOT's most infamous mess-up.
Nope, House of the Dragon took the "go big or go home" approach to its mistake, adding back a character's severed body parts. Oops.
\u201cNot the green screen glove on Viserys\u2019s missing fingers \ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f#hotd\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
The error centers on the character King Viserys, who has struggled with a bout of a mysterious flesh-eating bacteria that resulted in the amputation of two of his fingers.
But in the photo taken from the most recent episode, actor Paddy Considine who plays King Viserys, was seen taking a scroll from another character with the hand from which the two fingers were amputated—except fingers had mysteriously returned.
Even more cringe-worthy, Considine's fingers were seen wearing green gloves—part of the process of using greenscreen technology for CGI.
Basically, it means the CGI artists just forgot to get rid of Considine's fingers, so now King Viserys appears to be some sort of lizard-man hybrid.
Perhaps he's part dragon, per the show's title?
But in the CGI artists' defense, maybe they were just trying to follow tradition after GOT's coffee cup and water bottle mess-ups? There's a legacy to uphold, after all.
On Twitter, the gaffe definitely caught lots of people's eyes, and of course they wasted no time roasting the mistake.
\u201c@SarahC_821 ffs hope it isnt gonna be as sloppy as the final season of GOT. with the way things are going i wouldnt be surprised to see a plane flying in the background in an episode\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
\u201c@SarahBKnowsBest The CGI team soo focused on the dragons they missed the small details.\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
\u201c@SarahC_821 Man, what is up with the lackluster effects work in this compared to GoT? The Dragons look noticeably less convincingly real.\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
\u201c@SarahBKnowsBest Just ghosts of fingers past. Adds to the fantasy element...\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
\u201c@GameSpot Atleast it wasn't a Starbucks cup.\u201d— GameSpot (@GameSpot) 1662602419
\u201c@SarahC_821 How can they miss it. \n\nThey would definitely be watching it million times before giving a go ahead.\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
\u201c@SarahBKnowsBest "You had one job!"\u201d— Sarah Capps (@Sarah Capps) 1662344937
And the show's CGI in general has gotten roasted pretty hard too.
\u201cwhy does the cgi in house of the dragon look like this\u201d— \ud835\ude43\ud835\ude40 \ud835\ude49\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude3f \ud835\ude4e\ud835\ude50\ud835\ude48 \ud835\ude48\ud835\ude44\ud835\ude47\ud835\ude46\ud83e\udd5b (@\ud835\ude43\ud835\ude40 \ud835\ude49\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude3f \ud835\ude4e\ud835\ude50\ud835\ude48 \ud835\ude48\ud835\ude44\ud835\ude47\ud835\ude46\ud83e\udd5b) 1662413847
\u201cThe CGI from this House of the Dragon episode was sooo bad, where\u2019d all this $200 mil go? #HOTD\u201d— fantasy burner (@fantasy burner) 1662356437
\u201cHouse of the Dragon feels like a high school play that so wants to be GOT. The costumes, CGI, & especially the dialogue reeks GOT light beer.\u201d— Spiral Staircase (@Spiral Staircase) 1662634215
It's likely HBO will fix the error and it will quickly disappear from the streaming platform, so get it while you can if you're the type who loves a good production mistake.
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