Over the past several weeks, HBO has been releasing episodes of The Game Revealed, a documentary series that goes behind the scenes of every episode of season 7. They mostly focus on how the crew members put the episodes together from a technical perspective — sets, fights, special effects, etc. — but there’s plenty of input from the cast members and showrunners about the characters, as well. It’s put short clips up on the Game of Thrones YouTube page, but the full clips have only been available to people with HBO Now, the network’s over-the-top streaming service.
And that’s still the case. However…this is the internet, and some enterprising folks have taken the full episodes and uploaded them to YouTube.
First up, HBO dives into “Dragonstone,” and looks at Arya’s reintroduction, that cool map room in the Red Keep, Dany’s arrival at Dragonstone, Sam’s poop-themed montage, and more.
For “Stormborn,” we get some insight into Sam’s adventures in experimental surgery, the making of Qyburn’s dragon-killing device, and Euron’s assault on Yara’s fleet. Also: Peter Dinklage outtakes.
Naturally, the episode for “The Queen’s Justice” opens with a thorough discussion of the meeting between Jon and Daenerys, because how could it not? Beyond that, we get looks into the new walk of shame, Cersei’s revenge, and the grand finale — everything from the invasion of Casterly Rock to Olenna’s mic drop death. To hear showrunner David Benioff tell it, Diana Rigg chugged 12 glasses of wine for this scene, which is just fantastic.
The episode for “The Spoils of War” covers lots of interesting topics, from Arya’s return to Winterfell to Jon and Dany’s spelunking adventure on Dragonstone. But we’re all here for the ludicrously complicated process of shooting the Loot Train Attack.
Those poor dusty soldiers…
Moving on to “Eastwatch,” we spend some time on Jaime and Bronn’s dip into the river, which is way more complicated than you’d think. I mean, they had guys with cameras in scuba diving gear! The meat of the episode tackles Tyrion’s conflict when Daenerys burns the Tarlys, Jaime and Cersei’s deteriorating relationship, Jon’s close encounter with a freaking dragon, and more.
Next up is “Beyond the Wall,” where the cast and crew dives into the laborious process of shooting in Iceland and creating something on the scale of the Frozen Lake sequence.
I love how stunt coordinator Rowley Irlam just straight-up admits that the people traveling with Jon and company are redshirts.
Finally, learn all about ins and outs of “The Dragon and the Wolf,” from the meeting at the Dragonpit to Littlefinger’s death to the fall of the Wall to Incest-palooza 2017.
There’s no telling how long these clips will be up. You’ll always be able to find them on HBO Now.
Next: A visual guide to Robert's Rebellion
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