IT’S ALMOST HERE guys.

Season three of HBO’s Game of Thrones will air in the US on 31 March, and will hit Sky Atlantic the day after, on April Fools Day.

Here’s the latest trailer:

YouTube/GameOfThrones

So, we have an inkling of what’s coming in season 3 (if you haven’t been watching you still have time to catch up) but there are also some behind-the-scenes nuggets that might get you fired up…

1. Prince Joffrey went to Trinity

Jack Gleeson, who plays that hateful little so-and-so Prince Joffrey not only went to Trinity College Dublin, but was also made a scholar at the university.

To become a scholar you have to sit a special exam and demonstrate excellent knowledge and understanding of your subjects.

Jack Gleeson (right) with friend Mark Atkinson at Trinity College (Photocall Ireland)

2. He also goes to Electric Picnic

It’s a bit blurry, but that’s him in the middle. He’s a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah fan apparently.

Derek Byrne/Facebook

3. Emilia Clarke isn’t really blonde

There are plenty of blondes in Game of Thrones, what with all of those Lannisters running around, but the most famous blonde of them all isn’t really blonde.

Emilia Clarke, the actress who plays Daenerys actually has long, very dark hair.

According to one of the show’s hair wranglers:

We have to tightly plait her hair first. Then we have to put a bald cap on and smooth out all the edges. Then we have to put a skin tone over that, and then put the white wig over the top.

Matt Sayles/AP/Press Association Images

4. Jon Snow’s broken ankle

Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, broke his ankle last July trying to get into his flat via the first floor window (he’d lost his keys).

That means that he was in a cast for a lot of the filming for season 3.

Costume designer Michele Clapton told Entertainment Weekly that there were quite a few challenges in covering up his “great big white foot” and that he was in a lot of pain.

What a trooper.

Jon Snow in season 3. Just out of shot:his great big white foot.

5. There’s a Game of Thrones drinking game

Here are some of the rules, according to TMZ:

• Drink every time someone calls Jon Snow a bastard
• Drink every time there’s a beheading
• Drink every time someone says “winter is coming”
• Drink every time a woman is naked
• Drink every time someone has sex
• Drink again if it’s incest

Peter DRINKlage. See what we did there? (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

6. Filming in Ireland

Much of Game of Thrones of filmed on location in Northern Ireland , and in studios in Banbridge and Belfast.

Post-production facilities in the Republic are also used, and the series stars Irish actors Aidan Gillen, Liam Cunningham, Michelle Fairley, Jack Gleeson, Conleth Hill and Ian McElhinney.

Sandry Brae in the Mourne Mountains, Castle Ward in Co Down, Saintfield Estate, Ballintoy in Co Antrim, Tollymore Forest in Co Down and Cairncastle in Antrim are among the locations that have been used.

Castle Ward in Co. Down, which served as Winterfell in Season One of Game of Thrones (Image: William Marnoch/Flickr/Creative Commons)

7. What if the most important character dies?

No, not one of the on-screen characters… the writer, George R R Martin.

The author of the Game of Thrones series of books is currently writing book 6, and has a seventh planned.

He’s said that he knows the ending “in broad strokes” but is not fully certain of how he will get there.

Martin has some kind of contingency plan in place though:

[ The Game of Thrones producers] David Benioff and Dan Weiss know some of [the ending] too, which the fans are very worried about in case I get hit by a truck.

No pressure Benioff and Weiss, no pressure.

George R R Martin, watching out for buses (Matt Sayles/AP/Press Association Images)

Pssst no spoilers please, they’ll be deleted.

Did you know these TV shows were filmed in Ireland?

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