“Battle of the Bastards” director talks Ramsay Boltons’s death scene

Miguel Sapochnik is nominated for an Emmy for his work directing “Battle of the Bastards,” aka the one with the Jon Snow-Ramsay Bolton smackdown. According to the internet oddsmakers, he’s favored to win. Anyone who watched that landmark episode of Game of Thrones will probably agree.

With the Emmy telecast looming, Sapochnik has been making the round in the press. The Wrap, which recently talked to stars Kit Harington and Lena Headey about their nominations, chatted with him about the key final scene of “Battle of the Bastards”: the death of Ramsay Bolton.

Ramsay Bolton’s death scene was a big moment for fans, but the cast and crew members were just as eager. “There’s always a level of excitement or anxiety when shooting the death scene of any of the characters in the show,” Sapochnik said.

"That said, it was also a complicated scene because it was late in the shoot and therefore late in the year. Iwan [Rheon, who plays Ramsay] was covered in sticky blood and actually tied to the chair. And then there were the dogs who were pretty ferocious in real life."

Sapochnik filmed the scene on a cold winter night, so add that the list of discomforts. It was also very cramped, with around 40 cast and crew members crammed into the small kennel while filming.

"That kind of overpowered ‘what’ we were shooting. And it should. Part of a crew’s strength is the way they behave in difficult shooting conditions and the Dragon unit of ‘GoT’ are impeccable when it comes to being even-keeled, whether it’s [shooting] the death of a main character, the biggest, most expensive shot of a battle, or an intimate two-hander. It also allows the actors to set the tone a bit and I think this was a tough scene for Iwan because it was the death of a character he’s lived with for years. I thought he did a great job as did Sophie [Turner]."

As for the dogs, they’re a breed of hunting hounds called the Cane Corso, aka the Italian Mastiff. According to the American Kennel Club, they were bred to hunt down wild boar. They really can be vicious, and it’s recommended they be socialized at an early age so they know the difference between friend and foe. We don’t know how Ramsay treated them as puppies, but we know he starved them for days before his final scene, with unfortunate results.

The Emmys air on September 18. We’ll keep our eye out for more from Miguel Sapochnik before then. We wish him luck.