Game Of Thrones Has Easter Eggs From The Best Fantasy Comedy
In the Game of Thrones episode, "Breaker of Chains," fans can hear a man taunting Daenerys with the exact insults used by the French guard in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Game of Thrones may have had its ups and downs, but its creative teams weren’t afraid to throw in some comedy references at the peak of the show’s popularity. During the fourth season of the series in the episode “Breaker of Chains,” the show managed to get some direct quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in a scene. According to CBR, if you’re fluent in Low Valyrian, you’d notice that the knight from Meereen shouts insults at Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) which are the same insults the French Taunter shouts at King Arthur and his knights.
Linguist David Peterson was asked by Game of Thrones executive producer D.B. Weiss (and co-writer of the “Breaker of Chains”) to throw in some Monty Python references for the Meereen knight’s lines. Peterson was responsible for helping iron out many of the languages in that universe, including Dothraki, Low, and High Valyrian. He definitely took the request to heart, leading to the final product of a GoT character telling the Queen of Dragons, “your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries.”
Although Game of Thrones took a nosedive in subsequent seasons, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a timeless property that fans revisit time and time again. It’s certainly appropriate that one of the most popular fantasy series of all time paid homage to one of the greatest fantasy comedies of all time. If only the latter seasons of GoT had the Hound cutting off all the limbs of the Black Knight or the White Walkers battling an encampment of the Knights Who Say “Ni!”
When Game of Thrones made its Monty Python references, the show was still widely loved by fans and was the flagship series for HBO at the time. Now, the series has returned to screens with the prequel House of the Dragon. The prequel adapts George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood and depicts the Targaryens at the peak of their powers along with the subsequent civil war that causes them to lose their grip on Westeros.
While Game of Thrones‘s prequel series may not have many Monty Python references (yet), the first season was critically acclaimed and seems to be the return to form that the franchise needs. The first season of House of the Dragon was an undeniable success, both from a critical and viewership standpoint, which means we’re getting another season. The second season is reportedly coming out sometime in 2024 and will further depict the decline of House Targaryen.
While we wait for the next season of House of the Dragon, make sure to revisit Season 4 Episode 3 of Game of Thrones if you want to check out this Monty Python reference for yourself. You’ll have to learn some Low Valyrian if you really want to understand all of the insults, or you can just watch the French Taunter scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail if you want to get an idea of what he’s saying. Stay tuned for more news about House of the Dragon and other upcoming HBO series.
