Alerts & Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

‘Game of Thrones’ Battle of the Bastards Was Fought with a Rubber Sword

Valyrian Steel is hard to come by, after all.
Kit Harington in "Game of Thrones."
Helen Sloan/HBO

With nearly 100,000 votes from fans, last week’s episode of “Game of Thrones” maintains a perfect 10/10 rating on IMDb. As such, director Miguel Sapochnik’s staging of the genuinely epic conflict over Winterfell, the Starks’ ancestral home, has already entered the conversation as being perhaps the HBO drama’s greatest hour yet. Not every single aspect of “Battle of the Bastards” holds up to closer scrutiny, however — namely a quick shot of Jon Snow’s sword.

READ MORE: Review: The ‘Game of Thrones’ ‘BastardBowl’ Brings About A Whole New World Order

Longclaw, as the blade is known, is made of Valyrian steel — the strongest, most precious material in all of Westeros. Since that doesn’t actually exist, certain concessions had to be made in the name of both safety and reality. My experience with swords is limited, but I’m pretty sure they don’t usually flop around like rubber.

Valyrian Rubber

READ MORE: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6 Finale Trailer: Intense Promo Promises ‘The Great Game is Terrifying’

“Game of Thrones'” sixth season comes to an end tonight with “The Winds of Winter,” its tenth and final episode.

Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Nrewsletters here.

Daily Headlines
Daily Headlines covering Film, TV and more.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Must Read
PMC Logo
IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 IndieWire Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.