Game of Thrones will film action scenes in a Roman ruin for Season 7, return to the Water Gardens
By Dan Selcke
Image Credit: Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 4.0. This image has been cropped.
Earlier this week, HBO released information about where it would be shooting material for Game of Thrones Season 7. There were a lot of Spanish locations on the list, and the Spanish press is now chiming in with more details.
First up, Europa Press spoke to Antonio Muñoz, the municipal delegate of Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism of the City of Seville. Although he didn’t provide many details, Muñoz revealed that HBO would be filming at the Real Alcázar de Sevilla “between autumn and winter.” The Real Alcázar stood in for the Water Gardens of Dorne back in Season 5. There were a couple of Water Gardens scenes in Season 6, but they were filmed elsewhere. If the production is returning to the Real Alcázar for Season 7, it could mean that the location will play a larger part next year. Seeing as Daenerys and Olenna Tyrell have made allies of the Sand Snakes, this makes sense.
Near Seville are the Roman ruins of Italica, another place HBO confirmed it would be filming Season 7. According to ABCdesevilla, officials from HBO have visited the site, focusing on the ancient amphitheater, which was able to seat 25,000 people in its heyday. That’s one angle on it up at the top of the post. Here’s another.
View from inside the Italica amphitheater.
Image Credit: Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 4.0.
At first glance, the amphitheater looks like it belongs on Essos. It recalls Daznak’s Pit, where Drogon torched the Sons of the Harpy in “The Dance of Dragons.” But Daenerys has left Meereen behind, and unless we’re going to check in with Daario’s stewardship of the place, it’s probably standing in for a different part of the world.
It could be somewhere in Dorne, which shares a sort of sandy color palette with parts of Essos. Daenerys may very well land in Dorne, and she’ll need somewhere to keep her dragons. But if the Season 6 special effects reel released earlier today has taught us anything, it’s that computer graphics can completely transform a location. Who knows what the amphitheater will look like after the special effects technicians have been at it?
As for kind of action scene might be filmed here, the floor is open. Might this be where Cersei’s forces clash with Daenerys’? Will the dragons be doing more roasting? We’ll keep our ears to the ground.