Pilot episode

The Game of Thrones pilot episode was the first episode of the series filmed, but has never been aired. The pilot was shot between 24 October and 19 November 2009 on location in Northern Ireland and Morocco. A heavily re-shot version of the pilot serves as Episode 1 of the series itself. It is not known if the original pilot will ever be publicly screened or released.

Differences between pilot and series
The pilot episode has a notably different cast to the rest of the series. For a number of reasons, HBO replaced several actors, major and minor, between the filming of the pilot and the series itself:


 * Tamzin Merchant played the role of Daenerys Targaryen in the pilot. For the series she was replaced by Emilia Clarke.
 * Jennifer Ehle played the role of Catelyn Stark in the pilot. For the series she was replaced by Michelle Fairley.
 * Ian McNeice played the role of Illyrio Mopatis in the pilot. For the series he was replaced by Roger Allam.
 * Richard Ridings played Gared in the pilot, but was replaced for the series by Dermot Keaney.
 * Jamie Campbell Bower played Ser Waymar Royce in the pilot, but was replaced for the series by Rob Ostlere.

In addition, the role of Grand Maester Pycelle was originally planned to be in the pilot episode in a new scene and the role was cast with Roy Dotrice. The scene was cut but Dotrice was retained for the series itself. Shortly before filming began Dotrice fell ill and was replaced at short notice by Julian Glover.

Another change was that the pilot featured scenes shot in Scotland, using Doune Castle to stand in for Winterfell. Other footage was also shot in Morocco for the scenes featuring Daenerys. In the series itself Winterfell was created through several locations in Northern Ireland and filming on soundstages, whilst Malta was used for the majority of the scenes involving Daenerys in Essos.