Here's why Jon Snow has not caressed Ghost in the latest episode of Game of Thrones

The last episode of Game of Thrones season 8 was the descent we needed after this massive (and dark) Battle of Winterfell, but there was a blatant problem: Jon Snow cracks for his trusty wolf Ghost before leaving him with Tormund and pissing south. Does Ghost have a bad smell after running with all these dead legions? Jon does not have a heart? The director of the episode, David Nutter, gave a practical explanation of the apparent lie in an interview with Huffington Post.

"Since werewolves are like computer-generated creations, we thought it best to keep them as simple as possible," said Nutter. "And I think it played a lot harder that way."

You probably have already understood that, but the terrible adult wolves of Game of Thrones are not that big. Puppies from real life actors are filmed and then enlarged with digital effects to give them their impressive size. It would have been a gamble in terms of production and emotional gain to do all the work necessary for a brief physical interaction between Jon and Ghost.

I think it would have been perfectly nice for the fans if we had just seen Jon lean over and stroke something big and hairy that was largely hidden by his cloak, but maybe it would have seemed cheaper than the moment calm that they shared. "By keeping Ghost on the side, I thought it was going better," said Nutter.

As for why he even needed to part with his trusty mega-dog, the Tormund actor, Kristofer Hivju, expressed it well.

"I think Jon is right to say that the south is not the place for a giant wolf," Hivju said. "In episode 2 or 3, they killed one of them [Lady, Sansa’s direwolf] – it's a wild animal, it's like a wolf plus two! I think the best thing is that Ghost goes north. "There is a metaphor somewhere on the danger and nobility of the lands of the North and their people who are destroyed by the intrigue and betrayal of the South.

Read about how they staged this crucial party scene of episode 4. Or watch our video overview of the entire episode to make sure no details have escaped you.