Game of Thrones has finished. You may have noticed.
But while we argue amongst ourselves about how it could have been done better (or, alternatively, that it ended perfectly), let's take a look back. The following extended or deleted scenes range from intriguing to pleasing to essential – and all of them provide fresh insight that would be lost to the sands of time if it wasn't for good old YouTube.
You can watch them all below.
1. Littlefinger and Varys – season two
Talk about foreshadowing. Following one of season seven's biggest shocks, the death of Littlefinger, Varys' deleted curse-talk has become even more relevant.
But this brief scene packs even more than that in – Littlefinger's boasting about his allies (while diminishing Varys' friends) came back to bite him more than a little. Basically, as it turns out, Varys has much better taste in pals than Lord Baelish.
This lost moment feels like some classic George RR Martin scene-setting that the showrunners deemed surplus to requirements.
2. Sansa and The Hound – season two
This one will be a weird watch for people who've forgotten what an arsehole The Hound used to be.
But, while we're actually glad this scene was deleted (it goes a bit tooooo far, and the Hound grabbing Sansa with his armoured hand is awkward) it's interesting to revisit it, especially as it gives an early glimpse at Sansa toughening up. The seeds of Lady Sansa of Winterfell are sown here.
3. Loras and Margaery – season two
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We've included this one not just because it demonstrates that Finn Jones can actually act if he's given the right material (sorry Iron Fist / Defenders defenders), but because it also would have given fans an early look at Margaery's motivations.
She's clearly already trying to plot and plan her next move, even as she comforts her heartbroken brother about the death of his true love, who also happens to be her husband (man, this show is awesome).
4. Tywin and Pycelle – season three
We've got absolutely no idea why this one was cut, it's brilliant. Possibly the showrunners felt that the sight of Tywin casually fishing was too distracting for the Thrones audiences. Maybe it made too much of a meal of Pycelle's deception. But whatever it was, we're sad they lost it.
It's a lovely moment for both characters – an opportunity for Tywin to demonstrate his intense intelligence, and for Pycelle to finally reveal his.
Oh, and it contains the fairly important reveal that Pycelle is almost *entirely* responsible for the Lannisters' current power position.
Also, TYWIN IS FISHING (while dressed like a pirate?), which should have made it an essential inclusion in our book.
5. Shae and Bronn – season four
It was a little bit sudden and weird when Shae showed up to testify against Tyrion during his season five trial, mainly because this scene – which contains essential character motivation – was cut.
The show messed around with Shae's character quite a bit. She's strong to start with, then gets more inconsistent as the show goes on. This scene would have helped explain that trend by giving us a key glimpse at her emotional state, so we're gutted it was cut. But at least we can bang on about it here.
6. Lady Olenna and Mace Tyrell – season six
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If you're missing Lady Olenna, then the above sequence is basically a best-of compilation featuring her wit, scheming skills and Dame Diana Rigg's constantly superb performance.
But it's not just what's going on in the carriage that makes this one intriguing – that final shot of Sparrows on the streets of King's Landing adds significantly to their general atmosphere of menace, showing how prevalent they were at this point. It's a cool shot, and it's a shame it had to be cut.
7. Ser Alliser and Tormund – season five
A lovely bit of foreshadowing, which was potentially cut because Tormund technically partially caused Jon Snow's murder(!). How so? By winding up Northern grump Ser Alliser Thorne and cheerfully pointing out that he has no power over the Wildlings at Castle Black – thanks to a certain Mr Snow / Targaryen.
This conversation could have directly inspired Ser Alliser to kill Jon, so it's weird it was taken out.
Tormund is easily one of the top five best Game of Thrones characters, so we'll take any excuse to see more of him. As for Ser Alliser? Well, any time he gets a comeuppance is totally fine by us.
8. Cersei’s miscarriage - season seven
There was plenty of debate amongst fans during Game Of Thrones’ final season around Cersei’s baby. Was she pregnant or wasn’t she? Fans were confused by her tearful moment in the season eight premiere when Euron promised to put a baby in her (charming) and she glugged some Arbor wine (despite her turning down wine in front of Tyrion is what clued him into her pregnancy in the first place).
But with her pregnancy continuing to be a plot point throughout the season, surely they’d have told us if the baby didn’t exist?
As it turns out, the show knew exactly what happened to Cersei and Jaime's baby, it just didn’t want to tell us. Like, ever. Unlike everything else on this list, the season seven deleted scenes still haven't been made available but descriptions can be found on YouTube, and one of them is fairly significant.
As it turns out, a miscarriage scene was scripted and shot but ultimately cut from the show. Possibly because season seven had another birth sequence, part of Jon Snow's lineage reveal. But the miscarriage sequence really should have stayed in, because it completely transforms Cersei's season-eight story arc.
In fact, it's so significant, it might be the reason we've still never seen it.
9. The death of Ser Pounce - season eight
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Now, this one may be a joke (let’s face it, it’s probably a joke), but as it comes direct from showrunners Benioff and Weiss themselves, we’re going to have to accept it as canon. Cat lovers, brace yourselves.
Yes, according to D&D, Ser Pounce is dead, murdered by Cersei.
"Cersei hated the name 'Ser Pounce' so much she could not allow him to survive," Benioff said. "So she came up with her most diabolical [execution]. Ser Pounce's death was so horrible we couldn’t even put it on the air."
Weiss teased fans with the possibility of some cat-death deleted footage. "If you buy the super-extended, super-charged Game of Thrones box set that comes out," he said, "the death of Ser Pounce will be in there. Just one whole episode devoted to the death of Ser Pounce."
All jokes aside, if this scene is indeed real, then it certainly would have sucked any remaining sympathy we had for Cersei (and Benioff and Weiss) out of the final season, so we’re glad we didn’t get to see it.
Game of Thrones aired on HBO in the US, and you can also catch up on the show via Hulu. Viewers in the UK can catch up via Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
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