That Epic Battle of the Bastards Scene on 'Game of Thrones' Was Kit Harington's Idea
June gave us one most satisfying episodes of Game of Thrones yet (even if it wasn't very GoT-like): Battle of the Bastards. Jon Snow and Sansa not only defeated House Bolton, but Sansa got her sweet, sweet vengeance after watching Ramsay being torn apart by his own pack of dogs. That said, the episode wasn't without its suspense; the episode also is known for one of the show's most gorgeous shots when Jon almost suffocated underneath a pile of dying men, only to emerge on top and take a massive, frantic gulp of air.
The episode landed Harington his first Emmy nomination, the HBO star told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview-probably because his fear in that penultimate scene was very, very real. In fact, Harington came up with the idea himself:
"That piece came about with me and director Miguel Sapochnik having a conversation. Everything had backed up a bit and we were running out of time to shoot what we had intended. Miguel and I talked about what my greatest fears are. And as it happens, one of my greatest fears is a human crush - those horrible stories you hear about stadiums where people literally suffocate to death because they can't get out of other people panicking. I thought if we could do that in this sequence, that could be really terrifying for the viewer."
The scene worked well, clearly-so well that Harington and Sapochnik couldn't have predicted its success.
"Strangely enough, without even thinking about it too much, when he breaks free and climbs his way back up, in a way it's like a rebirth for him," Harington continued. "He doesn't give up. He doesn't stay down. He fights his way out. It looks a lot like the shot when Daenerys [Emilia Clarke] is being held aloft by the free slaves. That was a happy accident. We didn't realize how those two would be compared."
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