Yesterday, German studio Karakter released some of the gorgeous concept art it made for Game of Thrones Season 6. Artists Kieran Belshaw and Jessica Sinclair also worked on the season, and their work is just as impressive. Let’s take a look, starting with Belshaw.
(Click on any of the pictures for a blown-up version. They deserve it.)
An overview of the siege of Riverrun, with tents on tents on tents.
Cersei looks out the window of her “new chamber,” trusty wine bottle in hand. And the reverse:
Half a world away, Daenerys gets used to her own new digs. That’s oddly appropriate, considering that these characters are headed for a clash.
But before Daenerys could get to that point, she had to undergo some trials. Belshaw did a couple renderings of her talk with the Dothraki in “Book of the Stranger.” Here’s an early conception.
That fire pit in the center didn’t appear in the final version, below.
But for Daenerys, all’s well that ends well.
Those are some badass mastheads.
Speaking of boats, Belshaw did some conceptual work for the Iron Islands scenes. Here’s Balon’s death scene…
…and here’s his original idea for Nagga’s Hill, where the kingsmoot took place.
This is much closer to what Nagga’s Hill looks like in the books, where there’s a hall built in the skeletal ribcage a long-dead sea dragon. That would have been completely awesome, but the show went for something simpler.
This idea, of a ship’s prow shooting out of the ground, also wasn’t used. We can’t have everything.
Moving to North of the Wall, Belshaw did a lot of work on the sequence where the Night King attacks the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave. Here’s the wights following Bran and crew down the tunnel…
…here’s the aftermath of Leaf’s self-destruction…
…and here’s Meera and Bran escaping out the back door. Hodor’s not pictured, so I don’t have to start crying again.
Here’s the sight of the Night King’s creation, before…
…and after.
There’s plenty more where this came from.
Next: Battling bastards, Braavos, and one huge library
Let’s move on to another hugely important scene: the Battle of the Bastards. First, Jon had to gather his army, with a visit to the wildling camp outside Castle Black…
…and then Bear Island, where he picked scene-stealer Lyanna Mormont.
Davos’ discovery of Shireen’s remains is just as heartbreaking in concept and it was in its final form.
Then, after Ramsay Bolton says hello in the only way he knows how: chaos.
Welcome to Bolton country.
The horror…the horror…
In slightly happier renderings, Arya hangs out with the Waif and gains +1 to her poison-making abilities.
Sam didn’t have a ton of screentime in Season 6, but he went on quite a journey. He started on a squalid boat somewhere in the Narrow Sea…
…and ended up in the biggest library in the world, much to his delight.
Belshaw has more Game of Thrones artwork on his website.
Let’s move on to Sinclair, who seems to have a flair for designing props. For example, here’s her conception of the carriage in which Sam and Gilly traveled to Horn Hill.
She also designed the siege weapons arrayed outside Riverrun.
Most interestingly, she designed the sled-thing that Meera’s going to have to haul Bran in now that Hodor’s gone.
Her design for Balon Greyjoy’s boat coffin is pretty cool, as well.
Going back to Horn Hill for a second, Sinclair contributed the design for Heartsbane, the family’s Valyrian steel sword.
I love this one: Sinclair’s rendering of the chains Rhaegal and Viserion show exactly how diminutive Tyrion is next to the beasts.
Sinclair may specialize in props, but she has a few more tricks up her sleeve. Here’s her conception of Jaime Lannister at Riverrun.
And here’s her rendering of Coldhands. They kind of look like a mirror image.
Finally, she depicted the way Mrycella looks laid out in the Sept of Baelor.
There’s some gorgeous stuff here. If only we could see what the artists are cooking up for Season 7.