Before this past Sunday, most people knew Matt Shakman — if they knew him at all — as the director behind episodes of shows like Fargo, Mad Men, and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. He had a respectable career, but little in it would suggest that he was up to directing an action specular like “The Spoils of War.”
But direct it he did, and it’s been a huge success. Shakman spoke to Inverse about how the battle at the end of the episode — Daenerys’ attack on the Lannister supply train — was different than other times we’d seen the dragons in action.
"We definitely need Daenerys’s point of view in the battle, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t the same as the battle in Meereen, where we see her burning the slavers and their ships from up above, and that’s a purely heroic moment. In this one, we wanted to see someone who saw all of her allies decimated and was finally taking action. She’s finally doing what she’s come to Westeros to do. That point of view was important, but I wanted to keep it focused more on what it was like to be on the receiving end of that fire and blood."
I daresay viewers got the idea.
With his success, some fans may be wondering if Shakman will return to direct an episode of the show’s eighth and final season, but no such luck.
"I will not be [returning for season 8]. Before I started I went to lunch with David Nutter, who is another director who has done some incredible work on the show. He said, “You’re about to be given the keys to the best Ferrari in the world; all they want you to do is put the pedal to the metal.” I took those words to heart."
According to Game of Thrones cinematographer Robert McLachlan, David Nutter was originally scheduled to direct “The Spoils of War,” but had to back out because of complications from surgery, so Shakman got the gig. Nutter directed “The Dance of Dragons,” the one where Drogon attacks Daznak’s Pit in Meereen, so it would make sense to bring him back for another episode heavy on the dragon carnage.
Even though Shakman won’t be back for season 8, he directed another episode of season 7: this upcoming Sunday’s “Eastwatch,” which McLachlan promises has “some lovely crowd-pleasing scenes in it.” Stay tuned.
Circling back to “The Spoils of War,” Shakman confirmed to Mashable that Ed Sheeran’s kindly Lannister soldier — the one we met in the premiere alongside a bunch of other friendly, booze-sharing Lannister soldiers — probably wasn’t present for the Loot Train Attack, which should please some fans and bafflingly infuriate others. “I don’t think literally those soldiers were there,” Shakman said.
"I did not meet Ed Sheeran. The idea behind the question is an interesting one and I think the earlier scene that was so great with Arya meeting those Lannister soldiers, where we humanize what those Lannisters are like, that they’re generous with her, only helps this sequence because it helps you feel for the men who are shaking in terror as their death is upon them."
Play on, Ed Lannister. Play on.
Next: 'The Spoils of War' is the highest-rated episode of Game of Thrones ever
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