Video: Watch the special effects reel for “Battle of the Bastards”

Iloura, a special effects company that handled a lot of the VFX on Game of Thrones’ groundbreaking “Battle of the Bastards” episode, has released an impressive reel breaking down what was real and what was computer-generated. As you might expect, a lot of it was computer-generated. Have a watch.

Before “Battle of the Bastards” aired, Entertainment Weekly broke down some of the numbers involved. The episode featured 500 extras and 70 horses (plus 25 stuntmen to stand in for the extras and 160 tons of gravel to provide traction for the horses, but never mind that). That’s a lot of bodies, but Iloura did a great job of making it look like there were far more.

By and large, I bought every effect in the episode. The only that looked like a special effect to me was that shot that followed the arrows through the air. The rest of it—the clash of horses, the charging armies…hell, even the giant—looked pretty seamless.

Also, this is your daily reminder that this shot, of Jon being run down by a wall of horses, is completely real. #MiraclesHappen

Also, you gotta love the footage from around 2:23 of a guy running across the field of battle holding up a green ball on a long stick that stands in for Wun Wun. Working on a film set must be strange sometimes.

h/t Vincentdidier