HBO has quietly scrubbed the misplaced coffee cup out of the “Game of Thrones” episode that aired Sunday night.
The premium cabler acknowledged the gaffe Monday after fans spotted the takeout cup on a table in front of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in a scene in episode 4 of season 8 just before the 17:40 mark. It resembled a Starbucks cup but in fact came from the production’s craft services — and where someone left it behind in Winterfell.
“The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea,” HBO said in a statement.
As of Tuesday morning, the streaming version of the “GOT” episode available on HBO Now and HBO Go had removed the offending cup from the scene. A rep for HBO didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Pictured above is an image from the newly edited scene. Here’s how it appeared in the original airing:
The blunder has been an embarrassment for HBO and its flagship original series, especially as it comes down the home stretch in its final season, but the boo-boo isn’t likely to damage the “Game of Thrones” brand in the long run.
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Hauke Richter, an art director on “Game of Thrones,” on Monday told Variety that the brouhaha over the coffee cup was overwrought, pointing out that it’s not uncommon for such anachronistic elements to accidentally make it into TV shows and movies on screen. The reaction to the error has been “so blown out of proportion [because] it has not happened with ‘Thrones’ so far,” according to Richter.
During season 4 of “Game of Thrones,” images of Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) holding a coffee cup went viral in 2014. However, those were from a behind-the-scenes clip and didn’t appear in the show itself.
Some “GOT” fans assumed the rogue cup that landed in Westeros was from Starbucks (leading the hashtag “Starkbucks” to trend on Twitter). Looking to capitalize on the moment, Starbucks chimed in Monday, quipping in a tweet: “TBH we’re surprised she didn’t order a Dragon Drink,” its new tropical-inspired drink that the chain says includes “a scoop of real diced dragon fruit.”