Last week, scores of “Game of Thrones” fans complained they literally could not see the Battle of Winterfell because the episode was too dark. Things were brighter in Westeros this week, but some GoT viewers spotted something unexpected: a disposable coffee cup.
The decidedly modern object appeared during a celebratory post-battle feast about 17 minutes into “The Last of the Starks.” It’s but a minor detail in an episode that saw the gruesome death of a major character, but the idea of a grande triple shot soy latte making its way into a medieval fantasy was too distracting for social media to ignore.
The sighting prompted “Starbucks Cup” to trend on Twitter Monday morning, though eagle-eyed viewers noted it didn’t actually look like it was from the ubiquitous chain.
On Monday afternoon, HBO released a statement: "The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”
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Many fans indeed thought the cup was a pretty major mistake for the big-budget show, which took two years to make its final season — especially in light (pun intended) of last week’s issues. (As Polygon notes, the cup also happened to appear in the scene that featured a cameo by GoT showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff.)
“GOT producers were quick to point out that is not a Starbucks cup in front of Daenerys, ‘viewers just didn’t properly adjust their televisions to Wine Goblet,’” one fan quipped.
The fact that there was a Starbucks cup in tonight’s Game of Thrones that no producers or editors noticed throughout multiple cuts merely 1 week after the DP yelled that the show’s not too dark to see is truly *chef’s kiss*
— Jen D'Angelo (@jenlikespizza) May 6, 2019Others felt it made sense in the grand scheme of things.
That Starbucks cup is not nearly as improbable as the scene with Bronn.
— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) May 6, 2019And because this has become an Internet story, there were also conspiracy theories:
I’m not saying the Starbucks cup was intentionally put there to make memes and free publicity but I’m not taking off my tinfoil hat either
— Dave Jorgenson 👨🏼🍳 (@davejorgenson) May 6, 2019This post has been updated to include HBO’s statement on the coffee cup.
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