The Zombie Polar Bear on Game of Thrones Was Just a Dude in a Green Suit – Esquire.com

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 7 of Game of Thrones.

On Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones, "Beyond the Wall," you knew things were getting real when Jon Snow and his crew were ambushed by a zombie polar bear. Before they could kill it, though, it mortally wounded Thoros and left the group rattled. But it turns out a zombie polar bear was a years-long dream for the showand looked pretty ridiculous on the set.

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HBO

In a behind-the-scenes video released by HBO, the creators talked about the process behind one of the scariest moments in the episode."What we had to do to get the zombie polar bear, was writing the zombie polar bear into every season of the show for about four seasons," showrunner D.B. Weiss said, "only to have Bernie [Caulfield] and the visual effects guys tell them in the nicest possible way, 'Fuck you, we cannot afford a zombie polar bear.'" But this year, they insisted upon it, and they made it happen.

Director Alan Taylor told Entertainment Weekly the bear was designed by WETA, the same visual effects company behind the Lord of the Rings movies. He called the process "incredibly daunting." But on set, the bear was, well, not so intimidating. It ended up being an actor in a full green-screen shirt, holding a structure meant to resemble its head. Sure, the "head" was on fire, but the scene was still so comical it's a wonder the actors kept a straight face.

HBO

And it was even less intimidating when Ser Jorah stabbed it, since it was just a structure on a table. Still on fire, though.

HBO

The cast seemed to fully understand how ridiculous their jobs were that day. "I've never really worked with this ping-pong-ball thing, and pretend that's a bear,'" Rory McCann, who plays the Hound, said in the behind the scenes clip. "I've had people going, 'When I'm coming towards you, I'm a bear.' No you're not. Your name's Toby."

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The Zombie Polar Bear on Game of Thrones Was Just a Dude in a Green Suit - Esquire.com

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero