Filming on Game of Thrones Season 7 is about to start. The actors have their scripts, many of them are in Belfast, and several filming locations have been approved. Now, the spoilers have begun.
Before we get to the big news, the Twitter account for Irish Thrones, which reliably reported information about production on Season 6 last year, is active.
#GameOfThrones Titanic Studios, Belfast, Ireland, a hive of activity this week as preparations for Season 7 are continuing.
— Irish Thrones (@IrishThrones) August 26, 2016
There’s no surprise there. Game of Thrones shoots many of its interior scenes at Titanic Studios. Belfast has long been the series’ production hub, and that’s not going to change now.
Also from Irish Thrones, it seems the production is returning to the Corbet Banbridge area. That’s where it filmed, among other things, the scenes at Riverrun. (See “The Broken Man” and “No One.”)
A bit of work going at Corbet Banbridge, in Ireland this wk. Inside Riverrun courtyard, not specifically the Castle front (it's still there)
— Irish Thrones (@IrishThrones) August 25, 2016
Will we return to Riverrun in Season 7? If the castle is still there, we imagine the production will use it for something.
And now, some major SPOILERS concerning one Daenerys Targaryen. Please turn back if you don’t wish to know more.
This report comes from fansite Watchers on the Wall, which is renowned for its accuracy. According to “one of our trusted sources,” the site has learned that Daenerys will visit the Dragonpit in King’s Landing at some point in Season 7.
The Dragonpit is one of three iconic structures in King’s Landing, along with the Red Keep and the Sept of Baelor. (Well, what’s left of the Sept of Baelor.) When the Targaryens were in power, that’s where they kept their dragons. Importantly, it’s said that none of the dragons confined to the dragonpit ever grew to the size of those allowed to remain free, something Tyrion pointed out during Season 6. After the dragons died out approximately a hundred years before the events depicted in Game of Thrones, the structure fell into disrepair.
Photo: Fantasy Flight Games.
Daenerys visiting the Dragonpit has all kinds of implications. For one thing, it means she’s in King’s Landing. Did she already defeat Cersei when this scene happens? Is the battle still going on? We’ll likely have to wait for answers.
We also don’t know where this particular scene will be filmed. However, there is one location that looks like it could do nicely: the Roman ruins of Italica, outside Seville.
Click to see a blown-up version of the picture.
Image credit: Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 4.0
That looks like it could stand in for a ruined pit to me. We’ll bring you news more as it breaks.