Game of clones? Debate rages over claim GoT copied Indian show for iconic attack scene

The dust may have settled in the aftermath of the final season of Game of Thrones, but that doesn’t mean the internet arguments have stopped, especially now that the showrunners have been accused of plagiarising Indian TV.

Game of Thrones hero and master assassin Arya Stark proved to be the evil Night King’s undoing as she leapt from nowhere, having slipped past his army of the undead with her trusty Valyrian steel dagger in hand to deliver a (literally) shattering blow to the baddie’s ambitions.

But many Indian viewers cried ‘foul play’ as they recognised the death sequence from a popular 2018 version of the Aladdin story. While Game of Thrones has only just finished airing, to mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, the final season’s principal photography took place between 2017 and 2018.

The final sequence which led to the Night King’s demise, in which Arya leaps through the air, only to have her throat grabbed by her icy foe before she performs a switcheroo sleight of hand dropping the dagger into her free hand so she can stab the enemy and end humanity’s woes (for about five minutes at least).

However, Reddit user Jugal0707 pointed out the striking similarities to a sequence in Sab TV’s show ‘Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga,’ in which the titular hero kills a skeleton in much the same way as Arya Stark.

A huge debate ignited immediately on Reddit over where the idea truly originated and the likelihood of one production copying the other.

While many thrashed out the finer details of filming times and dates of the two shows as well as the propensity of Hollywood to ripoff Bollywood (and vice versa), others pointed out that the dagger-drop death scene has existed in one form or another for years, in both films and video games.

Long story short: Stunt coordinators need some fresh ideas.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!