House of Dragons has a VFX bug

Warning: This article contains spoilers Dragon House Episode 3, “The Second to His Name.”

One of the biggest stories around game of Thrones‘The final season of the split has nothing to do with the plot.One episode accidentally included a to-go coffee mug, which led to headlines and memes for days until HBO digitally removed it, and Dragon HouseThe producers later joked that “there’s a lot of people looking for Starbucks” in their prequel series. While these efforts have been successful so far, another modern aspect managed to escape notice and make it into the episode.

“Second by His Name” is set years after the last episode, and the show showcases that fact in a number of ways. It’s set during the second naming day celebration of Prince Aegon, the eldest son of Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Allison Hightower (Emily Kelly), who is pregnant with the first two children. The Battle of the Step Stones has been going on for a while and is currently in a stalemate. And King Viserys Targaryen, the last time we saw his hands in a bowl of maggots so the worms could eat the dead skin from his cut fingers on the Iron Throne, now his The left hand is missing two fingers.

How did that come about? In the pilot, Viserys cuts his left pinky finger on the Iron Throne, and despite its size, it doesn’t heal properly (like the wound on his back). The infection spreads, and when the maggots don’t work, the maesters have their limbs amputated. fire and blood There are no wounds on the Iron Throne that refuse to heal, but cutting yourself on the throne is seen as a sign of the Iron Throne’s weakness and refusal.

Here, the throne slowly devours Viserys alive, more like a metaphor, pointing to the unfitness of Viserys to be king, when Viserys’ hunting party is so keen on the rare white deer (a symbol commonly used in folklore), This is also driven home looking for an appearance in front of his daughter Rhaenyra (Millie Alcock).

In this episode, Viserys’ missing finger isn’t immediately noticeable at first, as he wears gloves most of the time. Unless you are looking for the flatness of the glove, the fingers should be on the left hand, you may miss it. Later, when Viserys talks to Allison about trying to marry Rhaenyra to a qualified lord in Westeros and the conflict at Step Rock, the close-up shows Viserys missing two fingers. The stub still shows signs of infection.

In the scene that follows, a gloved Viserys hands the scroll to a courier tasked with reminding Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) that the crown’s help is coming. However, if you look closely (around the 46:07 mark), you’ll notice that Viserys doesn’t have two fingers missing. Instead, you can see the two green-screen finger gloves that Constantine wore, allowing the visual effects team to erase those fingers and digitize them into stubs.

Some fans noticed it shortly after it aired, if not immediately.

A few days after “Second to His Name” aired, the acceptance of the mistake was much lower than the one that emerged after the Togo Cup. game of Thrones. Any number of factors could explain this – the episode aired on the holiday weekend, so maybe not as many people watched it live or Dragon House received compared to game of Thrones Finally did (and the benefit of skepticism) – could serve as a potential explanation.

You can also learn how details are overlooked and overlooked. The Green Screen Finger Gloves appear in a brief transitional scene, and its before and after scenes (Viserys’ dialogue with Allison and Damon receiving a letter on the Step Stone) are more prominent. The king’s hand is at the bottom of the screen and is mostly covered by shadows as his good hand is holding the scroll set for the demon. Depending on your TV or device settings, it may be difficult, if not nearly impossible, to spot the bug.

It’s not an issue for the rest of the episode either. During Viserys’ conversation with Rhaenyra about marriage, the fingers are removed and his left hand can be seen in the footage. Once we head back to Step Rock to watch Daemon go head-to-head against Crabfeeder, the action turns into an impressive end-episode spectacle, so Finger Gloves is more of a distant memory.

We reached out to HBO for comment.