Gold Derby reports that Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) are to be submitted by HBO as lead acting contenders for Game of Thrones at the 2018 Golden Globes, an unusual move on HBO’s part. We remember back when HBO submitted Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Sean Bean (Eddard Stark – RIP) for season 1 at the 2011 Emmys, but with the show not reaching the worldwide popularity and pop culture dominance it now holds, they did not clinch the nominations. Hopefully, Harington and Clarke will fare better, but they have not even been submitted yet, let alone nominated, so hold your direwolves before celebrating!

Historically, HBO has done its best to spread the wealth instead of putting all their eggs in one basket. Clearly the runaway success has been Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), who won the only Golden Globe for which he was nominated (season 1), and has been nominated for Emmys for all 6 years of GoT, having won two (seasons 1 and 5). However, since season 3, people not named Peter Dinklage have begun to pick up steam amidst the increasingly stiff Emmy competition; Dame Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell) was nominated for guest actress in seasons 3, 4, and 5, Headey finally broke through at the Emmys with nominations for the past three seasons (4-6), and Maisie Williams (Arya) finally cracked an Emmy nomination for season 6. Even Max von Sydow (Three-Eyed Raven) got in on the action for season 6 with a one-shot guest actor nomination.

Like Williams, Harington received his first Emmy nomination for season 6, but Clarke has already received three Emmy nominations, ever since Daenerys began her freedom-tour of Essos (seasons 3, 4, and 6). However, all the major players have largely been competing in the supporting or guest categories in either awards show. Should either Harington or Clarke emerge victorious at the reading of the ballots, it would be multiple firsts for either of them, as GoT acting nominations have not been as prominent at the Golden Globes as they have been at the Emmys, nor has either of them been nominated before as a lead in either awards show.

Another reason to get excited is that Seth Meyers was just recently announced as the Golden Globes 2018 host. A well-documented fanboy of Game of Thrones, Meyers has invited Kit Harington to a dinner party, brought Melisandre to a baby shower, and thrilled us all with the continued adventures of Leslie Jones’ “Game of Jones” here and here. We will hopefully see a good dose of GoT-related humor at the telecast.

The Golden Globe nominations will be read on December 11th. What do you think their odds are? What competition do you think they’ll face? Any other Golden Globe predictions you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments below!