Game of Thrones 'trial by combat' scene between Oberyn and The Mountain to be the best yet, say creators

"The Mountain is a truly unusual specimen"

Hafthor Bjornsson plays the violent warrior and head of House Clegane (HBO)

Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weis have teased the upcoming showdown between Prince Oberyn and The Mountain, saying they think it is the best combat scene that show has had so far.

The pair told Entertainment Weekly that the scene turned out "beyond their expectations".

"It’s one of the best — if not the best — combat scenes we’ve done so far," Weiss said. "It’s not just people hacking at each other with spears and swords. It’s the culmination of 20 years of anger and hatred and thirst for vengeance coming to a head in this amazing set piece that [stunt coordinator Paul Herbert and swordmaster C.C. Smiff] have put together. The fight delivers beyond our expectations."

He added that the fight scene was not merely thrown together for this season but planned as a high point to the show even before season one.

"It’s one of those fights that from the very beginning of the process of planning the show before season one we knew would be a high point if done properly," Weiss added. "And it’s a real challenge because The Mountain is The Mountain — you need to find an enormous human being who can also deliver what you need on physical front. And you need an Oberyn who delivers what you need as an actor and pull off the extremely strenuous side of that fight, which we shot over several days.

Oberyn Martell will take on The Mountain in GoT (Picture: HBO) (HBO)

"We were lucky to find Pedro Pascal for Oberyn, who gives such a stunning, fun, and dangerous performance. And Hafþór for The Mountain is a truly unusual specimen — I believe he’s the third-strongest man in the world and a former basketball player, so he knows how to move. To see somebody who is 6′ 9″ and moving the way he does in person is a surreal sight to behold."

The HBO fantasy is going from strength to strength in its in its fourth season, the last episode attracting 8.5 million viewers in the US, along with many hundreds of thousands more watching online.