The most-anticipated trial by combat on television has just happened.
On Sunday, the savage fight between Oberyn (Pedro Pascal) and The Mountain (Hafthor Julius Bjornsson) for the brother-and-sister nemesis Tyrion and Cersei has unfolded on the television screen. As viewers have predicted, the recreation of the brutal fight from the books to the screen was difficult for the actors, despite the fact that one of them has been a runner-up in the World's Strongest Man competitions, The Hollywood Reporter said.
When asked about faking his fight against Pascal for the television show without hurting his co-star, Bjornsson said, "There were no holds barred and there were retakes upon retakes to hone the scene to perfection. We had to be careful during rehearsal but during the fight itself, while filming, we had to go all in and that is where all the hard work paid off so no one got hurt, but we were able to create this amazing fight."
Pascal, who needs to hold his stand against the hulking Icelander who stands at 6'9", told THR, "They were kind of enough to send me to a Wushu trainer in Los Angeles before flying out to start shooting. It was certainly movement my body was completely unfamiliar with. They started me off there, and while I was on set, there were extensive fight rehearsals with fight choreographers and Hafthor. I was in Ireland and Croatia through most of the shoot of the fourth season, and so there was downtime for me to rehearse and train."
As the books dictate, Pascal's character is expected to die fighting the Mountain. However, Forbes commends HBO for portraying the Red Viper's skills throughout the series up until his grisly death. Director Alex Graves, who also helmed the "Purple Wedding" episode might have been rooting for Oberyn if not for the fact that he is tasked to remain faithful to the books, Forbes said.
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