Director Jeremy Podeswa tells Ghost warging theorists To “Wait and See”

Game of Thrones returned this season with a bang, a facial stabbing, a character reveal, and a resurrection. Now that the first two episodes are out there for all to see, director Jeremy Podeswa is opening up about the process of creating many of the scenes, most importantly the ones up at the Wall.

Speaking at length to The Hollywood Reporter, Podeswa calls the experience of keeping Jon Snow’s resurrection under wraps “unprecedented.”

Everybody was very concerned about retaining the mystery for the audience and giving people the opportunity to discover it for themselves, rather than having it leaked. I think that’s ultimately what people want. As much as people were asking me and everybody else on the show constantly if Jon Snow is alive or dead, I think really in their heart of hearts they didn’t actually want to know.

As for why they held Jon’s comeback to the end of the second episode instead of bringing him back right away, Podeswa says that wasn’t his call, but part of the parameters chosen by showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. That being said, he agreed with it. The first episode already had enough going on, although he things every episode is pretty stuffed. “Every episode is very dense. They’re very full. You’re servicing so many characters and stories. There’s so much anticipation coming back into all of these stories because people are so invested in them. You just want to make sure that everything lands and that the wait people had between seasons, you’ve honored that.”

Speaking of bringing back characters, Podeswa didn’t just have to bring back Jon Snow—he had to resurrect Winterfell from the past for Bran’s flashback, as well as shoot present-day scenes there. He said that the distinction between the two was even more stark than it is onscreen because, due to the schedule, they basically shot “historic” Winterfell and “present day” Winterfell back to back. “(T)here was a big changeover on the set, and you really did see how much the world and the show has changed by going back into that period of time, back-to-back. It was very interesting to experience for everybody.”

On the subject of “present-day” Winterfell, THR asked about Fat Walda Frey’s death scene, and those fans who thought the scene was unnecessary. Podeswa reminds us that directing those scenes isn’t really up to him. He has to shoot what’s in the script. And he tried very hard to make it so that we had sympathy for the plight of Walda and the baby. “You’re not making it more palatable, or making it pure entertainment. The things that are horrific are horrific.”

To him, that scene wasn’t nearly as difficult as another death scene: that of Balon Greyjoy, who died at the hands of his mad younger brother Euron. In this case, he didn’t consult the books (Balon’s death happens “offscreen” in the books, so it wouldn’t have helped him anyway), but trusted in the script. (He says there were times when he consulted the books—last season’s scene with the Stonemen, for instance.) But the physical experience of filming Balon’s death scene was hard on everyone.

We were shooting exteriors in Northern Ireland. It was very cold. The rain was very hard on the actors. The bridge was always moving. There was so much wind … the elements you see in the show that seem so extreme on the show were actual elements that we were dealing with in reality. The actors really had to deal with all that wind, that creaking bridge, all that rain. It was a challenging thing to shoot and a challenging thing for the actors to play, but they were really heroic and did a fantastic job.

Even though working in the elements is hard, Podeswa reserves his largest praise for a scene where what the audience saw wasn’t there at all: Tyrion freeing of the Dragons.

I loved shooting this scene, and I loved it entirely because of Peter [Dinklage]. And it’s interesting. That scene on the page was emotional, and lovely, but really it was completely elevated by Peter’s performance. Seeing what he did with that was so great. I hadn’t really anticipated that it was going to be quite as moving as it was, and quite as unique and special. We knew it was a big moment for him to actually meet the dragons, and obviously it was going to be something — that it was going to be a moment. But he really made it a major moment. He’s such a fine, amazing actor. Just as soon as we started shooting it, we felt this scene was taking on a life that we hadn’t even expected. It doesn’t matter that the dragons aren’t real.

And with the mention of animals, that brings us back to a moment at the very end of “Home,” just before Jon Snow wakes up, as Ghost, his faithful direwolf, wakes up. Many fans, including us here at WiC, have talked about the idea that Jon Snow’s consciousness had warged into Ghost, and if that played into how how Melisandre was able to bring him back. Podeswa doesn’t confirm that theory…but he doesn’t deny it either.

I cannot answer this question. (Laughs.) I would say if you keep watching, all will be revealed. Better to leave it to the fans to discover.

Maybe we’ll find out int he next episode? Speculators, start you engines!