‘Game of Thrones’ reigns over this year’s Emmy nominations; Casts and directors go head to head for the awards

‘Game of Thrones’ is winning the game again. On Thursday, HBO’s epic fantasy drama received a staggering total of 23 nominations, just one short of its 24 nominations from last year.

As one of GoT’s catchphrases says, “The north remembers,” and everyone won’t surely forget that the show became an official record-holder having won a total of 12 Emmy awards last year. While that’s great enough for any show to achieve, GoT continues to prove its reign as one of the best shows through this year’s Emmy nominations.

Among some of the nominations GoT is listed on are awards for casting, writing, cinematography, sound mixing, special visual effects, stunt coordination, costumes, makeup and production design to name a few. Of course with great effects like the sept blowing up, dragons breathing fire and White Walkers attacking, different areas in the production of GoT are bound to be highlighted in the Emmy’s.

With the crew behind the scenes receiving nods of appreciation for their skills, the faces and frontrunners of the show definitely get their deserved nominations too. In fact, having shown and proven their individual talents, GoT casts and directors are going against each other for the awards they’re nominated in.

Starting with the Outstanding Supporting Actor award, former nominee Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, goes against Kit Harrington, who plays Jon Snow. The three actresses coincidentally portraying characters in three prominent houses in GoT are fighting for the Outstanding Supporting Actress award. Lena Headey, who plays Cersei Lannister, and Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, are former nominees to the same award and are again competing for the title. Joining the two is Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in GoT. Meanwhile, directors Jack Bender, who directed “The Door” episode, is slated to go against Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the "Battle of the Bastards" episode, for the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award.

While the cast and crews may be going against their teammates, their camaraderie remains as they congratulate one another for their nominations, simply thrilled to receive so many nominations. Finally, amongst other things the GoT production is looking forward to, aside from the number of wins they make, is whether they will win the coveted Outstanding Drama Series again or will another show takes the title.

Results for this year’s Emmy Awards will be announced on Sep. 18.