Excitement is running high among Game of Thrones fans as the series' season 7 is all set to premiere on Sunday. There's lots of drama, mystery and dragons to look forward to. But closer home, the series has a unique connection with India.
Tucked away in Dehradun is Windlass Steelcrafts, a factory which provides a crucial component of the stunning battle scenes which feature in the films - the swords! Jon Snow's sword 'Long Claw', Arya Stark's 'Needle' and many others have been made at this factory along with Jon's suit of armour, Eddard Stark's ensemble and more.
Stills. Courtesy HBO
Garvita Khybri reported for The Quint that the factory has to its credit not only the swords and ensembles featured in Game of Thrones but has also contributed to the productions for Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Skyfall, The Mummy, 300 and Gladiator among others.
Watch The Quint's video here.
Windlass Steelcrafts was established in Dehradun in 1943 and initially only manufactured 'khukris' for the Gorkha regiment of the British army. The soldiers used the khukris to fight in the second world war. The factory only had 50 workers when it began.
According to Abhimanyu Mathuri's report in TOI, the Noida branch of Windlass is called RS Windlass & Sons and was created in 1991. It is a textile mill which also has memorabilia from various productions that the company has supplied for. These include Harry Potter's Gryffindor school uniform, the robe Obi-Wan Kenobi wore in Star Wars and Themistocles' cape from 300.