Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4 Coffee Cup Was ‘A Mistake’, HBO Confirms

Eagle-eyed viewers spotted a modern, 21st-century coffee cup on Game of Thrones season 8 episode 4 “The Last of the Starks”, which helped Starbucks trend on Twitter for a while as many assumed it was from the well-known coffee company. In a statement on Monday, HBO confirmed that it was “a mistake” and tried to have a laugh about it.

“The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea,” HBO said in a press release on Monday.

The coffee cup in question can be seen for a couple of seconds in Game of Thrones season 8 episode 4 “The Last of the Starks”, starting at 14:48 on Hotstar, visible on the table in front of Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, looking at her beau Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who's having a chat with Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju).

Game of Thrones art director Hauke Richter addressed the matter as well, claiming these mistakes happen all the time on TV and film, but they usually go unnoticed.

“Things can get forgotten on set,” Richter told Variety over email. “[The coffee cup error has been] so blown out of proportion [because] it has not happened with [Game of] Thrones so far.”

Game of Thrones season 8 has just two more episodes to go: the penultimate episode 5 on May 13 in India, followed by the series finale on May 20. Both will premiere 6:30am IST on Mondays on Hotstar, and air on TV at 10pm on Tuesdays on Star World.