YULEE, Fla. — Millions of people are still talking about the ending to HBO’s hit series "Game of Thrones."
Some are sad, disappointed and angry with the show’s ending on Sunday.
This is not a spoiler, but the show’s loudest characters, the dragons, have a First Coast connection.
I went to the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee to see how some of the sounds of the fire-breathing monsters were created.
Bully is a 28-year-old male white rhino at White Oak Conservation.
He was used to having microphones around him.
That’s how Paula Fairfield, sound designer for Game of Thrones captured some of the noises used to create that perfect dragon sound.
She spent three days at the site in 2017 following rhinos and cranes in their everyday routine, according to White Oak Conservation.
“She had this great idea of using the last of the dragons to symbolize endangered species and in peril species like rhinos and cranes at White Oak,” Brandy Carvalho, development and sustainability manager at White Oak Conservation said.
The squawking of Mississippi Sandhill cranes and the deep sounds of a rhino.
“Mating calls, basic chit-chat between the animals … we were able to capture sounds that most places would not be able to,” Carvalho said.
Carvalho says those can be heard, in the dragons’ intimate moments on the show.
The last dragons in the seven kingdoms were voiced by the last of animals on our seven continents.
While millions of those people cared for their favorite TV show, Carvalho hopes it can get people to care for the real animals who need help.
“We need people in all industries to pay attention to what’s happening to those species, Carvolho said. "Just like the dragons, these are the last of their kind, and if we don’t take care of them, no one will.”
Like a Mother of Dragons, we can all show love to wild animals.
You can help contribute to White Oak Conservation’s efforts by visiting their website and clicking the “Donate” tab.
Carvalho says there are specific moments in Game of Thrones’ final season where the rhinos are featured prominently.
SPOILER ALERT
Carvalho says when Jon Snow got on the dragon for the first time in ‘Winterfell,’ some of the muted low tones of the dragons came from the rhinos.
There are other moments in the final season where you can hear the rhino sounds through the dragons.
“The first dragon we lost, when they shot the dragon with the big arrows … that sound,” Carvalho said.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT
Another dramatic moment for the dragons in which White Oak rhinos were featured was when Daenerys Targaryen died in the show’s finale.
“The cries from when Daenerys died, there’s sounds the dragon made -- like that last breath of fire and that anger -- that was from White Oak animals,” Carvalho said.
“Those points where the dragons felt the most anguish, the point where they felt the most danger -- that was the sound of the endangered species at White Oak,” Carvalho added.