The clever Donald Trump reference you might have missed in 'Game of Thrones'

Two things it’s pretty much impossible to ignore right now, no matter how hard you might try: Game of Thrones, and Donald Trump.

The first one, we’re very happy about. I will watch, read and over-analyse as much Game of Thrones-related content as you can throw at me. The second one, however? It’s best to try and forget about him wherever you can – for the sake of all of our health.

The two combined in the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale, with a sneaky, semi-accidental reference to the President, which takes on extra meaning when you discover the scene was filmed on the day he was elected.

It comes during the moment Jon Snow refuses to stay neutral in the war between Cersei and Daenerys, telling Cersei that he has already pledged himself to Dany (he pledges himself to her again at the end of the episode, wink wink).

This causes Cersei to storm off, and Daenerys to have a stern word, despite respecting his honour.

“When enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything,” declares Jon, when Tyrion questions why he didn’t lie to Cersei. “Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies.

“And lies won’t help us in this fight.”

“That is indeed a problem,” Tyrion replies. “The more immediate problem is that we’re fucked.”

“We’re fucked” is how a lot of us felt after Trump was elected, but it’s Jon’s lines that are the more poignant here. Obviously Trump built a campaign on not being afraid to make wild promises, and sometimes outright lying about things – something he has continued to do throughout his presidency.

And Liam Cunningham, who plays Davos, says that the actors realised the weight on what Jon was saying as they filmed the scene, as it came on the very day Trump won the election.

He told Variety: “That speech that Jon Snow gave about the nature of lies and what's been said, and what happens if we don't stick to our word.

“We filmed that on exactly the day that a certain POTUS was elected and it had incredible resonance while we were filming it.

“The results had just been announced the morning we filmed that particular scene – that particular day of that scene with Mr. Kit Harington.

“We may have been rehearsing that scene. But that was the first time that Kit had said those words on that platform in that scene. So it had a certain resonance, I'm sure you'll understand.”

It must have been very strange for the GoT actors filming scenes set in their fantasy world, while the real world around them was reeling from such a monumental shock.

The question we’re asking now: which will happen first, Game of Thrones Season 8, or Trump getting impeached? Actually, it’s pretty hard to decide which one I’d prefer…

(Images: HBO)