Jeremy Podeswa may not be in the same echelon as, say, Alan Taylor or Neil Marshall when it comes to Game of Thrones‘ roster of directors, but he did helm two of the most crucial instalments of season 7: “Dragonstone,” and Sunday’s epic finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf.”
That brings Podeswa’s total GoT episode count to six – other high-profile Westeros gigs include “Home” and “The Red Woman” – though while conducting a post-mortem of Game of Thrones season 7 with IndieWire, the filmmaker touched base on what it was like to shoot Jon Snow (real name: Aegon Targaryen) and Daenerys Targaryen’s long-anticipated love scene. Incest be damned, Jeremy Podeswa believes destiny brought the two fan-favorites together aboard the Targaryen ship, which has plotted a course for the Northern Kingdoms to deal with the oncoming Night King. Or should that be Bran Stark?
Fan theories aside, when quizzed about the Jon/Dany sex scene, Podeswa revealed that it was shot “very, very simply,” with no dialogue to emphasize the big reveal: Jon Snow Aegon Targaryen is the true heir to the Iron Throne. Not only that, but Robert Baratheon’s rebellion was built on a lie.
It was shot very, very simply. It’s basically just one steady push in shot to Jon and Dany and then that very important look between them at mid-level. And then a one-shot looking at Jon, then looking down at Dany. It wasn’t about shooting a big lovemaking scene. Once they’re making love, that’s the story. There’s no reason to kind of linger on that.
The conflict that ensued – aptly titled the War of the Five Kings – was briefly referenced during the Winterfell arc, which culminated in the death of Littlefinger.
In terms of those two Targaryen lovers, though, Podeswa wanted to pinpoint the “understanding between [Jon and Dany] that even though they know in some part of them that they shouldn’t really be doing this, they cannot not do it. There’s some element of destiny that’s brought them together, and they can’t fight it.”
Those ramifications will likely be felt long into Game of Thrones season 8. Exactly when it’ll arrive is yet to be determined – summer 2018 is the tentative window – but we understand David Benioff and D.B. Weiss hope to get the cameras rolling for the final time this October.
