so is the Starbucks mermaid one of the Old Gods or the New?

Unbelievable.

Apparently, fans watching Season 8 of "Game of Thrones," Episode 4, reacted with varying degrees of amusement and vexation when they caught an enormous gaffe: in a scene involving a table, viewers saw what appeared to be a very incongruous Starbucks coffee cup:

It’s a faux-medieval fantasy world of magic, dragons and heroic warriors … and possibly at least one coffee shop.

Fans of Game of Thrones have been reacting with bemusement and anger after a coffee cup from present-day Earth made an erroneous appearance in one of the latest episodes of the TV juggernaut, which has returned for its final season.

The offending item was spotted on a table in a scene where metal goblets and hollowed-out animal horns were the utensils of choice during a celebratory feast at Winterfell castle.

The show’s legion of fans were quick to react, with a general consensus soon forming that the cup, which appeared in episode four of the show’s eighth and final season, was from the Seattle-based coffee firm Starbucks.

However, HBO told Buzzfeed it was not from Starbucks.

“The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake,” HBO said in a statement. “Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”

At some point, I'll see the episode for myself. Unfortunately, the adjective "celebratory," above, is a spoiler that tells me how the Battle of Winterfell must have gone in Episode 3. But again, this was to be expected because the real threat in the series is Cersei Lannister, who has adopted the mantle of Mad Queen, making it likely that her brother Jaime will once again have to save the realm by becoming the Queenslayer.

There's a moment in Season 1 of "24" when one camera pulls back and accidentally reveals another camera and its wheeled dolly. I don't know how I missed that the first time I watched the series; it's a glaringly obvious mistake. I also can't imagine how the showrunners missed the problem and failed to reshoot the scene. It is what it is, I guess; these things happen, and such problems put a piece of work in great company: there's a scene in the Civil War-era "Gone with the Wind" in which a character picks up a lamp that has an electric cord. D'oh.