Through the darkness of Game of Thrones‘ Battle of Winterfell, viewers spotted an unexpected beauty moment: the Night King’s nails. In between Twitter chatter about Arya Stark’s triumphant killing and mourning Lyanna Mormont, fans observed that the Night King—terrifying as he is—has a pretty great manicure.
During his very slow, dramatic walk toward his target, Bran Stark, the camera zoomed in on his hands:
HBO
That length! That perfect almond shape! You mean to tell me he battles and flies dragons with these talons?
Twitter obviously had a field day with this:
Jokes aside, this just goes to show how attentive to detail the Game of Thrones special effects team is—down to the hands. The creators have previously revealed that it takes actor Vladimir Furdik up to four hour and a half hours in makeup to be transformed into the Night King. They use airbrush paint and silicone pieces to make him look chilling—and makeup artists stay on set for up to 11 hours constantly doing touch-ups. No word on exactly how he gets his nails, but we’re placing our bets on gel extensions.
Learn more about the intense prosthetics process in the video, below.