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Is that a Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones?

Is that a Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones?

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Modern brew invades Winterfell

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The apparent Starbucks cup makes a cameo in a brief scene near the start of last night’s episode. This image has been brightened to show it more clearly.
The apparent Starbucks cup makes a cameo in a brief scene near the start of last night’s episode. This image has been brightened to show it more clearly.

Game of Thrones, the most closely watched and scrutinized show on TV, last night aired a huge moment of lore discontinuity, as a celebratory feast in Winterfell happened to include a distinctly modern takeaway coffee cup among all the metal goblets of wine. It’s not obvious who the offending coffee drinker on set was, or what flavor of Starbucks brew they enjoy, but the position of the cup was on the grand table of the nobles, in front of Jon Snow’s seat. It’s also not clear whether this was a mistake — which would require all the actors and producers, plus all the editors afterward, to not notice — or some deliberate tongue-in-cheek insertion to get people riled up and talking about the show even more.

The GOT producers previously shocked their audience in season 3, when the “Walk of Punishment” episode concluded with an entirely out-of-context rock song. This new invasion of modernity into the show’s fantasy realm will surely amuse as much as it bemuses, and it’s already got Twitter’s meme brigade creating jokes.

Update, May 6th, 3:20PM ET: Turns out, the Starbucks cup was a genuine mistake in production, as Game of Thrones executive producer Bernie Caulfield has admitted in an interview with WNYC.