Referenced By / A Song of Ice and Fire

Emilia Clarke watching Kristen Wiig playing Daenerys Targaryen as part of a skit on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Game of Thrones, being a very popular show based on a popular series of books, has been referenced, along with A Song of Ice and Fire, many times by other works since its 2011 debut. Here are some of them.

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Fan Works

• Boldores And Boomsticks:
  • Blake reads A Game of Thrones and is shocked by the part where Ned Stark gets executed.
  • While channel surfing, the group finds a Pokémon-flavored version of the Game of Thrones opening. Casey immediately tells them to change the channel, saying Weiss will never forgive them if they let her adoptive sister Whisper watch that.
• In the Arrow queencest fic The Forest by Dalphinia, while on a flight Oliver notices Thea enjoying some awful show involving a sword throne. Her enjoyment might well have something to do with their recent Brother–Sister Incest.

Film — Live-Action

• Logan Lucky: A fake Prison Riot is staged to cover for the prison break of inmates Joe Bang and Clyde Logan to participate in the heist. Among the prisoners' demands, they ask for a copy of The Winds of Winter. The prison's warden does research and finds out the book has yet to be finished and published by George R. R. Martin, and that the TV show has overtaken the books.
• SHAZAM! (2019): Freddy Freeman namedrops the show to Troll protagonist Billy Batson. Interestingly, Jason Momoa (Drogo), Ciarán Hinds (Mance Rayder), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont), Francis Magee (Yoren), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Malko), and Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell) are all part of its shared universe, with Momoa being one of its central characters.
• Snatched (2017): Jeffrey threatens to text Morgan Game of Thrones spoilers, as he's read all the books. Later, he lists Dothraki as one of the languages he speaks.
• Space Jam: A New Legacy: One of the planets in the Serververse is a Game of Thrones world. Foghorn Leghorn was found there riding a dragon while dressed as Daenerys.
  Foghorn: Winter, ah say, winter is comin'!

Literature

• The Expanse: In Abaddon's Gate the electrochemical technicians are named "Ren, Stanni, and Bob".
• Connie from You Have a Match is sometimes mistaken for the actress who plays Sansa.

Live-Action TV

• The Big Bang Theory: The main characters are huge fans and often reference the show as being great and them watching it. Even Penny, usually not a nerd, likes the show as it has "dragons and people doing it". Howard says he doesn't want to watch the show with his mother who would keep asking "WHO'S THE THRONES"; they compare their table tennis match for who gets a TARDIS replica to a trial by combat, or they have a viewing party, and Sheldon asks Penny whether she's up-to-date, to which she replies, "Mm, I think so. Dragons, snow zombies, and all the hot guys are dead."
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine:
  • Charles worries that he's accidentally planned the worst wedding in history, to which Jake responds, "Second worst. Red Wedding, Game of Thrones."
  • Gina mentions having dated a "guy who looked like Tywin Lannister".
  • The show has a fictional book series The Skyfire Cycle — 12 books chronicling the war between sky and sand, clouds and rocks, and other fractions and nations written by DC Parlov. When Charles says it's like a Game of Thrones type thing, Terry angrily replies that Game of Thrones is a Skyfire type thing.
  • In episode "The Box", Jake wants to play angry in order to get a murderer to confess. Captain Holt advises against it because Jake doesn't "get angry well". Jake replies, "What? That's not true. Remember how angry I got about how fast Daenerys got from Dragonstone to north of the Wall? That was intense."
• Cobra Kai: Demetri is a fan of the show and so is Daniel who uses their show knowledge to help Demetri in his karate lessons by referencing various events from the series.
• The Expanse: Avasarala's contact list shown briefly in "Tribes" contains "Who, Dr.", "Stevens, D.", and "Clegane, G.", among others. All names of characters in shows that had been recast (like her husband's character had been).
• The Flash (2014): Mason Bridge makes a brief reference to the Dothraki language, comparing it to Technobabble from his perspective. Interestingly, Rila Fukushima (a Red Priestess in Season 5) was a Recurring Character in that show's universe, while Dean S. Jagger (Smalljon Umber) played a Villain of the Week in one of its sister shows.
  • Said sister show referenced the Red Wedding in its season 5 premerie.
• Good Omens (2019): “The Black Knight” from the soundtrack resembles Ramin Djawadi’s score for Game of Thrones - another show that deals with supernatural forces that threaten to end the world.
• The Good Place: In its final season, Tahani mentions her attitude to be like "one of the five characters in the show".
• How I Met Your Mother: When Barney finds out that he may be related with his fiancée Robin, he argues that "King Joffrey's parents were brother and sister and he was a fair and wise leader!". Interestingly, show co-creator David Benioff's wife, Amanda Peet, guest-starred there in its fifth season.
• Inside No. 9: The episode "Simon Says" is clearly based on the backlash after the Season 8 finale and the clamoring for it to be retconned. The Ninth Circle is also depicted as being a very popular, much theorized about high fantasy show.
• The Office (US): Dwight decided to teach Erin Dothraki to boost her reputation.
• Parks and Recreation: Ben is a massive fan of the show (to the point his wife Leslie gives him an Iron Throne replica as a gift) and can even speak Dothraki. Donna Meagle, one of his coworkers, likes it too (though mainly for the Fanservice) and is a little bemused that Ann Perkins doesn't get the references.
• Servant of the People: The opening scene of Season 2 is a parody of the scene where Jon Snow gets stabbed in the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, with Vasily dressed as Jon.
• Suits: The show gets a nod in the series, which is interesting, as both Conleth Hill (Varys) and Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark) are Recurring Characters there.
• Supergirl (2015): The titular character and her adoptive sister are fans of the show. Interestingly, Esmé Bianco (Ros) plays the former's childhood friend.
• Supernatural:
  • Dean is shown having just finished watching an episode with Charlie, prompting him to call Joffrey a dick.
  • While attempting some small talk with his sister, God mentions "How about that Game of Thrones finale? Pretty great, right?"
• Sesame Street, somehow, were able to get away with a Affectionate Parody of the show, Game of Chairs, that directly reference beheading, the Red Wedding and the adult content of the show.
• Titans (2018): Rachel Roth is a big fan of the show, with Daenerys being her favorite character. Interestingly, Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) plays Bruce Wayne in the show.

Other

• Jon Snow (the Channel 4 news anchor, not the character played by Kit Harrington) opened a report on the 2017 UK general election, in which the Conservatives unexpectedly lost their majority, with, "I know nothing. We, the media, the pundits, the experts, know nothing. We simply didn't spot it."

Video Games

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was actually initially going to be Game of Thrones: The Game and the references to the show are clear. The rebelling Nords after peace with the Empire...the Starks and the Lannisters? This over the death/murder of the previous king...Jon Arryn? The myth of dragons returning coming true...Danereys Targeryan? The bandits and Forsworn...Wildlings and Thenns? The Drauger...White Walkers? The Dark Brotherhood...Arya and the Faceless Men?
• While Dragon Age: Origins already counted A Song of Ice and Fire among its inspirations, including the Legion of the Dead/Grey Wardens as stand ins for the Nights Watch it's Inquisition that directly addresses the show.
  • Cole can reply to the concept of the villain controlling him as being, "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" which should resonate with fans of the show.
  • A romance with Dorian (Ramon Tikiman who had a small role as a bandit) can lead to the suggestion of the Chantry stripping the Inquisitor and flogging him in the street for repentance. Despite not being nearly as bad as what Cersei did.
  • Try and ally with the mages and you will get a Bad Future storyline where, among other things, Vivienne will accuse your rescue attempt as a trick intended to break her, virtually a repeat of Theon and the Dreadfort. For bonus points Vivienne is Ellaria Sand.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
  • The Bloody Baron's appearance, mannerisms, and habits greatly resemble Mark Addy's portrayal of Robert Baratheon.
  • In the keep-turned-prison Kaer Almhult, you can find the corpse of a halfling with dark blonde hair, dressed in a red tunic. The cell has no bars, just a big hole with a great view on the nearby deadly cliffs instead of one of the walls.
  Geralt: Sky cells... nice idea for a prison without bars. Shame he didn't know how to fly.
  • Occasionally, Geralt can come across a steel sword named Longclaw.
• The World of Warcraft Expansion Pack Mists of Pandaria (2012) added an item called Syrio's Gloves of Tutelage. "What do we say to death?" is written on it.
• In Grimms Notes, the humanoid Black King resembles Lord Eddard Stark, and even shares the same overall stoic demeanor. The artist behind the Black King's design even admitted to have been inspired by the show's portrayal of Ned.
• When starting up Forza Horizon 4, a short race is played through each one of the four seasons. Winter is introduced as "A Song of Ice and Tires".

Web Animation

• How It Should Have Ended: In How Avengers Age of Ultron Should Have Ended - Part 1, Thor is pissed that he can't watch the show anymore since Ultron has caused a massive power blackout.
• Red vs. Blue:
  • In "Previously On", it's said (and then shown through flashback) that Grif was able to convince Simmons that Game of Thrones really happened.
  • In "Lost Time", Sister lists "that Daenerys Targaryen chick" among the famous people she wants to have sex with.
  • In "Docudrama", after learning that Kalirama is both Atlus' sister and his wife, Wash remarks, "This is some Game of Thrones shit."
• A robot called MO from a Romanian web series, Robotzi, cosplays Khal Drogo and Ned Stark.

Webcomics

• El Goonish Shive: NP: "An NPC by any other name", the naming of the Cleric has tons of shout-outs running through Ellen's head◊, with the last line starting with "Sean Bean Game of Thrones".
• Metompsychosis Union: One of the boards in Chotsky's displays bits of a conversation which include references to Hodor, Sansa, Jon, Ygritte and Arya.

Web Video

• In The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, Jane and Mr Rochester are both fans of the series and especially the books. They geek out and discuss it in episode 11. In "Q&A 3", Jane gets asked what character from the universe she would be. She says she thinks she was like Arya when she was little, but now she sees herself as Jon Snow. Mr Rochester disagrees and says that she's Daenerys.
• The fifth season of Epic Rap Battles of History kickstarted with "George R. R. Martin" rap battling "J. R. R. Tolkien". Naturally, their works and their Fandom Rivalry are mentioned.
• Freshy Kanal pits Daenerys against Wonder Woman in a rap battle, which naturally references the plot points in Daenerys' story arc and takes shots at the show's writing.
• Hat Films routinely make jokes about Jon Snow and the pronunciation of his name.
• Honest Trailers:
  • The first two seasons were each given their own trailers.
  • In the trailer for Cinderella, it is said that Lucifer got "Bran Stark'd out the window" at the end.
  • In the trailer for Shrek, Dragon is nicknamed "Mother of Donkeys".
  • The trailer for Avengers: Infinity War gives it the alternate title Game of Stones.
• In Medlife Crisis' video titled Why heartbreak hurts and how it can be fatal: Broken Heart Syndrome a clip of Robb Stark and his brief wife Talisa is quickly shown while the doctor is talking about how married people generally live longer than single people, for the irony.
• The Nostalgia Critic: In his review of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, the Critic says that Linus' acting as "Minus" is "giving Joffrey a run for his money".
• Daenerys appears in Princess Rap Battles (played by Yvonne Strahovski) rap battling Maleficent.
• React covered the show thrice (first by the Teens in 2015, then by the Elders in 2017, and then by the Kids in 2019). Before all that, Maisie Williams was a frequent guest in the web series.
• Sjin is a huge fan of the show and routinely makes references to it, most prominently in his Chivalry series.
• Within Lapenko has lots of them:
  • In season 2, Colonel Zhilin dies after getting shot. Gvidon tries to revive him with a weird ritual. When all hope is gone, everyone leaves the room. The episode ends with half-naked Zhilin opening his eyes.
  • In the same season, the final battle between Natella's supporters and La Résistance starts with Natella trying to shoot running Tatiana with a bow and Yuri running to save her. Like Rickon, Tatiana gets shot, but the arrow doesn't kill her, but makes her smarter.
  • At the end of the same battle, wheelchair-bound Grigoriy Strelnikov stays alone, protected only by Shershnyaga as his last line of defense. Grigoriy says: "You are a good man, Shershnyaga", before the latter does the same thing Theon did protecting Bran, but gets distracted by a bottle of vodka instead of dying.
  • In season 4, young Zakhar climbs up a tower and finds Richard and his girlfriend (who have a Secret Relationship) dancing. After finding out that Zakhar is not one of the kids from their summer camp so he won't tell anyone, Richard offers him to dance with them. But Zakhar slips and falls off the window anyway.

Western Animation

• American Dad!: In "Familyland", Steve and Hayley dress as Joffrey and Daenerys while leading their faction of the ruined Familyland.
• Bob's Burgers:
  • In "World Wharf II", Bob and his landlord are tied to a pier and left to die by drowning in the incoming tide. As the tide comes in, Bob mournfully sings about missing the ending of Game of Thrones. Thankfully, they're rescued by the end.
  • In "The Gayle Tales", Louise's story is a pastiche of Game of Thrones.
• The Dragon Prince: When King Harrow tells Callum to go the winter lodge, he points that it isn't even winter. Harrow replies that "Winter is coming... eventually".
• Family Guy:
  • In "The Most Interesting Man in the World", a newly-cultured Peter tries to introduce his kids to novels that inspired various films and TV shows, including Game of Thrones.
  • A Cutaway Gag from "Hot-Pocket Dial" has Peter making Quagmire walk through a medieval town naked while he shouts "Shame!", eventually singing it to the tune of "Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin.
  • In "Hot Shots", Stewie tells the viewers that Lois will have a major role in the episode and recommends they switch over to Game of Thrones.
  • A cutaway "The Peter Principal" shows Brian's time serving in the Night's Watch.
• Futurama: There is an episode titled "Game of Tones".
• Molly of Denali has an episode titled "Winter is Coming."
• Rick and Morty: In "Rixty Minutes", there is a Blink-and-You-Miss-It moment that shows an interdimensional cable channel airing a version of "Game of Thrones" where everyone except Tyrion has dwarfism.
• The Simpsons:
  • The Couch Gag for "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart" is a parody of the title sequence.
  • In "The Marge-ian Chronicles", a logo for Game of Thrones: The Ride is seen as one of the sponsors for the Mars colonization mission.
  • In "Treehouse of Horror XXVIII", Lisa introduces the third segment by warning the viewers that it's so disturbing, they'll need to watch Game of Thrones to calm down.
• South Park: The "Black Friday Trilogy" is based on the show, with Cartman's Xbox One faction based on the Lannisters, Stan's PlayStation 4 faction based on the Starks, and the mall security guards based on the Night's Watch.

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