‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 4 Premiere: Fun Facts From Tywin Lannister In New Behind-The-Scenes Trailer

The Season 4 premiere of the “Game of Thrones” is only a few weeks away from making its small screen debut on April 6. That means fans of the HBO series better start bundling up now, because soon the Westeros will be facing one of their harshest winters yet. But the characters of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy aren’t the only ones scurrying around before the drama continues. New fans of the show are also frantically trying to prepare themselves for Season 4 of “GoT” by gaining as much knowledge as they can before the premiere.

If you’ve ever dove into one of Martin’s books before, then you know there’s a lot to be learned. That’s why HBO has decided to create a video to condense one of the longest, most intricate stories we’ve ever heard into a five-minute clip. So pay attention, newbies, because you’re about to get a 101 lesson in “GoT.”

The short clip, narrated by the terrifying Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), explains just exactly how “GoT” was turned into an HBO series. According to the soothing voice of Dance, Dan Weiss and David Benioff, the executive producers of “GoT,” have been friends for 17 years, probably because they share a passion for writing. One day, nearly seven years ago, Weiss and Benioff received a package of books.

“I thought, there’s no way in hell I’m going to read it,” Benioff admitted. “The shortest one is 800 pages and then longest one is 1,100 pages.” But after reading the scene of where Bran gets pushed of the window by Jaime, the writers were hooked! “I didn’t see it coming,” Benioff said.

That’s when the two decided to turn “GoT” into a TV show. “It’s a chance to tell a human story on an epic scale,” Weiss said. But before they could spin Martin's novels into a visual series, they had to sell the seemingly impossible idea to him, and then to HBO.

“Somehow they convinced HBO that two writers who have never done TV before knew what they were doing,” Dance explained.

So, how did the novice television writers manage to compact such a complex story into their pilot? Well, they didn’t. According to Weiss, they had a massive problem while filming the pilot when they were told that some of the things that were crucial for people to understand weren’t clear.

Martin didn’t help the situation when he revealed he thought his series was unfilmable due to the sigils, new languages and names that aren’t exactly easy to roll off the tongue. Seriously, what’s the proper way to say Daenerys? But, despite the odds, Weiss and Benioff were able to pull it off creating one of the most beloved series to ever hit HBO.

In “Long Story Short,” the writers also reveal their writing process, pranks on set and just exactly how much blood, sweat and tears they put into the series. In a nutshell they used 100 locations, 3,000 costumes, 4,000 props, 257 cast members, 703 crew members and 87,014 VFX Frames.

Now that you’re all caught up on your “GoT” knowledge do you think you’re ready for Season 4 to premiere? Let us know what you’re most excited for in the comments section below.