Check out behind-the-scenes pictures from Game of Thrones Season 6

The postmortems for Game of Thrones Season 6 are rolling in, and despite a few hiccups and quibbles (Arya in Braavos, timeline line-ups), it seems like the general consensus is that this was one of the best seasons the show has done to date. From the shock and awe of the first five episodes (Jon resurrected! Daenerys liberated! Hodor a time-traveler, kinda!) to the more minor reveals (Margaery freed! The Hound returned!) to those last two game-changing episodes, this season sometimes felt like it was non-stop.

And yet, some of the best stuff is the stuff we never get to see—the behind-the-scenes work that went into making all of these episodes: the quiet moments cast members shared between takes, the goofy moments cast members shared between takes, and really cool images we didn’t glimpse because of all the CGI layered over them.

That’s why some of my favorite images are the behind-the-scenes shots. Helen Sloan, the show’s official photographer, doesn’t just snap away while the scene is being acted out. She snaps away during downtime, creating historical documentation of everything that happens, both in front of the camera and behind it. Check out this treasure trove of 11 candid images via our friends at Los Siete Reinos.

"Juego de Tronos – Temporada 6 – Detrás de las cámaras"

Sophie Turner (Sansa) and Alfie Allen (Theon) giggling away while on the run from the Boltons in “The Red Woman” makes for a charming sight, but my personal favorite photo is picture number 7, the image of actors Patrick Malahide (Balon Greyjoy) and Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy) as they meet on the rope bridge between the tower tops on Pyke in “Home.” The set walls, the scaffolding holding them up, the rain machines, the lighting, and the green screen behind the actors glowing ominously…that, my friends, is how your TV sausage gets made.

h/t TVInsider