Director Jeremy Podeswa on the set of “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.” Photo credit: Helen Sloan/HBO
This past June, HBO announced its lineup of directors for Game of Thrones Season 7. They included veterans Jeremy Podeswa, Alan Taylor, and Mark Mylod, plus a new kid on the block: Matt Shakman, best known for directing episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. However, we were not told which director would helm which episode, keeping in mind that Season 7 will consist of seven episodes rather than the usual 10.
Watchers on the Wall has cleared that up a bit. According to its sources, Podeswa—who directed two episodes each during Seasons 5 and 6—will direct both the premiere and the finale. Podeswa was the guy who directed “Home,” where Jon Snow back from the grave, so we have no doubt he has the chops to deliver the goods during the new season.
The Emmy-nominated Podeswa, a Canadian who has also directed episodes of The Tudors and Six Feet Under, also directed the Season 6 premiere. Back in May of this year, he talked about the unqiue responsibility of handling a premiere to The Hollywood Reporter:
"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. You’ve honored the waiting."
Watchers also reports that Mylod (“High Sparrow,” “The Brokan Man”) will handle Episode 2, while Alan Taylor (“Baelor,” “Fire and Blood”) will lens Episode 6. Finally, while Watchers couldn’t confirm this last bit, it’s heard that Shakman will take the big chair on Episode 5.
So here’s how the lineup is looking at the moment:
- Episode 1: Jeremy Podeswa
- Episode 2: Mark Mylod
- Episode 3: ????
- Episode 4: ????
- Episode 5: Matt Shakman…?
- Episode 6: Alan Taylor
- Episode 7: Jeremy Podeswa
Interestingly, Season 7 appears to be breaking with the Game of Thrones tradition of plugging directors into two episode blocs, though the brevity of the season is probably the main reason for that.
Notably, fan favorite directors Miguel Sapochnik and David Nutter are absent from the Season 7 roll call, but hopefully they’ll join back up for Season 8.
And now, a SPOILER.
Image: Fantasy Flight Games
Watchers also reports that Archmaester Ebrose, a minor character from A Song of Ice and Fire, is going to appear in Season 7. Ebrose pops up in A Feast for Crows. He’s a maester of the Citadel who specializes in healing. Watchers feels that this might be the character that Jim Broadbent will play (remember that Entertainment Weekly teased he would have a “significant role”). That sounds reasonable to us. He’ll probably come into contact with Samwell Tarly, and who knows how else his healing abilities may be used?