The Witcher Almost Had A Game Of Thrones Coffee Cup Moment

There were many genuinely shocking moments throughout HBO's hit fantasy epic "Game of Thrones," including the Red Wedding at House Frey, the resurrection of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and the transformation of Viserion the dragon into a White Walker. But for many fans, the most surprising moment involved an ordinary to-go Starbucks coffee cup. In Season 8, Episode 4 ("The Last of the Starks"), as Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), and their friends celebrate after their Winterfell battle against the White Walkers, the cup can be briefly spotted on the table in front of Daenerys. Though Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, pointed the finger at Clarke, the Mother of Dragons shifted the blame to Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) and, two years later, to "Game of Thrones" co-creator Dan Weiss.

Typically, an accidental Starbucks cup in a scene wouldn't be a big deal. However, in an archaic era of knights, castles, and traveling for months on horseback to reach a destination, it's safe to say Daenerys and the gang won't be ordering a grande hot latte for a few more centuries. A show that employs similar fantasy worldbuilding is "The Witcher," which came close to experiencing its own version of the coffee cup debacle.

Netflix's "The Witcher," which follows Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) as he takes on monstrous creatures and magical beings, is often compared to "Game of Thrones." Given its elements of fantasy, bloody battles and complex family ties, it's easy to see why. Yet the creators of "The Witcher" differentiated their show in a major way after catching something that might concern Geralt more than a striga — car headlights.

In an interview with GamesRadar, "The Witcher" showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich proudly shared how a potentially devastating error was caught. "I was in VFX a couple of weeks ago and someone's keen eyes – we were all watching something for something else – and someone said, 'Are those car headlights?,' and you're like, 'Yep, those are car headlights,'" she reflected. "There are not a lot of cars in 'The Witcher.'"

Hissrich added that, in theory, these mistakes eventually get weeded out because of how many people watch the episode before it's put in front of fans. Still, on such a busy set, some things can fall through the cracks — a fact that Hauke Richter, the art director for "Game of Thrones," stressed (via Variety). "Things can get forgotten on set," he said. "[The coffee cup error has been ] so blown out of proportion [because] it has not happened with 'Thrones' so far."

Given the publicity surrounding the stray coffee cup, it's likely that creators of "The Witcher" and similar fantasy shows now take extra care to rid sets of any 21st century items.