Forget “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Spoils of War,” HBO has just wrapped filming on a Game of Thrones battle sequence that far exceeds anything that’s come before.
A status report uncovered by the Watchers on the Wall (h/t Collider) has confirmed that, after a torturous 55-day shoot in Northern Ireland, the Game of Thrones production team have completed “something that has never been done before.”
For the sake of perspective, a 55-day shoot is twice as long as the time spent on “Battle of the Bastards” and the eye-popping loot train attack of “Spoils of War” that had Drogon swoop down and destroy the Lannister convoy in spectacular fashion. Moreover, this now-deleted Instagram post from Game of Thrones AD Jonathan Quinlan alludes to Toome and Magheramorne, two locations that double as Winterfell – both the castle and its snow-covered grounds – throughout production.
And as if that wasn’t telling enough, Quinlan’s post arrives mere weeks after the prying eyes of the Internet uncovered fiery set photos of a suitably huge battle involving the White Walkers and the Dothraki that appeared to be taking place on the grounds of the Stark stronghold. So many questions, so few answers…
Whatever the case, fans are in for quite the treat once Game of Thrones returns in 2019 – even if its total episode count has shrunk to just six following last year’s seven-episode installment.
For Game of Thrones, it’s the beginning of the end, what with season 8 tentatively slated for a premiere in April of 2019. And after that? Multiple successor series, providing HBO green lights any one of the five prequels said to be gestating in the bowels of development.