If you weren’t totally sold on the latest episode of “Game of Thrones,” it’s worth revisiting Emilia Clarke’s appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel LIVE” last week.
Ahead of the debut of episode four, the “Thrones” actress told Kimmel’s audience to brace themselves for the penultimate episode.
“Episode 5 is bigger,” she says, gesturing with her hands wide.
Indeed, the end of Sunday night’s episode 4 set the stage for a major showdown between Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) at the doorstep of King’s Landing.
“Find the biggest TV you can,” Clarke said.
The teaser might be welcome for fans who have not been happy with the season so far. Critics have given mixed reviews to the slow start to the show’s final season and to the Battle of Winterfell, which many called dark and confusing.
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Still, it was better than the reception to Sunday’s episode four, which veered off course on Monday morning as Twitter was consumed with jokes about what certainly looked like a to-go coffee cup left in the middle of Westeros.
Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, and Drinker of Pumpkin Spice pic.twitter.com/BOPdolRhXz
— Ira Madison III (@ira) May 6, 2019
Starbucks girl 😂#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/7DRQu440aY
— Sevde Kurt (@birinsan) May 6, 2019
That Winterfell starbucks cashier ain't ready to write Dany's name on her coffee cup #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/N4ktWH1NlJ
— Joseph (@TheGeneralSYD) May 6, 2019
How could it happen? HBO didn’t address that in a brief, cheeky statement sent Monday afternoon: “The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”
However, Clarke’s interview may have offered some insight into the apparently grueling shooting schedule needed to pull off the longest battle scene in television history.
“The director said it was 55 nights of shooting? Fifty five for one episode?” Kimmel asked, referring to the filming of the Battle of Winterfell.
“Yeah, yeah,” Clarke said. She described the schedule kept by the cast and crew as “all night shooting” to capture the nighttime scenes between the White Walkers and the armies of the living.
“It was amazing we didn’t actually kill anyone, it was extraordinary,” she said.
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Everyone survived, but perhaps they needed a lot of coffee.
Globe correspondent Isaac Feldberg contributed to this report. Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @cprignano.