What does HBO’s hit “Game of Thrones” have to do with “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” anyway? Well, not a lot on the surface. But there is an unlikely link between the medieval fantasy epic and FX’s cult comedy hit. George R.R. Martin might not be a huge fan of former “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, since he thought they diverged too much from his original blueprint with the HBO show. But as we all know, based on his bromance with Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney loves to make friends, and he’s apparently quite close with Benioff and Weiss.

In fact, the two actually wrote an episode of “It’s Always Sunny,” contributing to the season 9 installment “Flowers For Charlie,” as well as showing up as “Bored Lifeguard #1 and #2” in the season 12 episode “The Gang Goes to a Water Park.” What’s more, McElhenney was one of the many small cameos in the season 8 premiere of “Game of Thrones.”

So the two shows share a small but fairly strong connection via McElhenney, Weiss, and Benioff’s friendship, and in much the same way as “It’s Always Sunny” tells cruel stories without becoming cruel itself, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss apparently have a penchant for pulling pranks on their friends that verge on cruelty.