Videos by ComicBook.com
The prequel revealing that Ser Arlan is a knight carrying two swords isn’t entirely unique in the Game of Thrones franchise, which has previously had full-frontal male nudity with the likes of Hodor (Kristian Nairn) and Aemon Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). But the scene with Danny Webb’s Arlan is perhaps even more eyebrow-raising, not least for how large it is. Speaking with EW, showrunner Ira Parker remarked (jokingly, one assumes!):
“Was that a prosthetic? I forget. I thought he just showed up on set that way, but maybe it was prosthetic.”
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Designer Explains How Ser Arlan’s Prosthetic Penis Was Made
Over on Instagram, after the response to Ser Arlan showing us that maybe there are dragons in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms after all, prosthetic designer Waldo Mason offered up a look at how the sausage was made. Confirming that it was indeed a 10″ prosthetic, the post goes on to outline the process in detail, while also including some additional images, just incase it wasn’t graphic enough:
“We were asked to create a 10” prosthetic penis for the fantastic Danny Webb to wear, naked. Luckily, he was a consummate professional and was happy to work with us to make it as realistic as possible, coming in for fittings that culminated in a very intimate application process in a white tent in the Belfast countryside. Because of the size we reinforced the contact area & edges with wig lace for minimal stretch under its weight and makeup designer @pipwoods and @lucille_wigs applied a knotted merkin, hiding any visible edges. It also contained tubing for urination, which we taped down the back of his leg.”
The Meaning Of Ser Arlan’s Full-Frontal Nudity In A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms
For years, nudity on TV, and particularly Game of Thrones, was largely female and often gratuitous. Both of those things have shifted in recent years – indeed, it was true later in Thrones‘ run, and has continued in other House of the Dragon and other HBO TV shows, most notably The White Lotus. AKOTSK is a continuation of that as well. And while the scene with Ser Arlan’s appendage is designed to bring more of the kind of humor we saw in Episode 1, it does carry a greater purpose. As Parker quite humorously explains, it was partly because he felt bad for the knight, whom almost nobody remembers:
“I felt bad for Ser Arlan at some point. He was the only person who’s ever looked out for Dunk and really stuck with Dunk. And he died on a muddy road in the middle of nowhere, was buried without ceremony, and now Dunk is going around trying to find somebody who just even remembers him — people that he served for, people that he bled for, these knights and these lords. They can’t even remember his name. I felt the need to give him his one special thing, to channel a little Boogie Nights, I suppose.”
