Although filming on Game of Thrones season 8 is underway, news from the set has been pretty scant, whether because the cast and crew have the show’s well-documented leak problem under better control or just because they haven’t filmed much in public yet. (More on that later.) But stuff is still afoot. Let’s review.
First, you may remember that Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) recently visited Belfast, the nerve center of Game of Thrones filming, and took the opportunity to hang out with members of the main cast. Naturally, there was alcohol involved.
Because Game of Thrones fans live on speculation and conspiracy, this raised some questions. Was Momoa in town to visit friends, or was he going to film another scene as Drogo, a character still beloved even though he died all the way back in season 1? After all, death didn’t stop Drogo from turning up in a dream sequence (or vision sequence, technically) in season 2, when Daenerys visited the House of the Undying. To this day, he is the ONLY Game of Thrones cast member to have been brought back after their character died to play something other than a corpse. Might it happen again?
According to Momoa, no. Speaking to Mario Lopez of Extra TV, Momoa said he was simply there to visit his buddies. Cause he loves them, man.
Aw. Of course, that’s exactly what someone who was filming a secret cameo would say, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for the next three seconds or so.
Elsewhere, Game of Thrones hair and makeup maven Candice Banks posted this amusing season 7 callback on her Instagram:
“Flashback to season 7 when we could feel our toes.” We can only assume that, for season 8, there’s a lot less feeling in the extremities, probably on account of the crew filming in wintery environs. Daenerys and company were heady to the snowy north last we checked.
Speaking of that, there are rumors floating around out there that could explain why we haven’t seen much in the way of on-set filming yet. Harken to Twitter:
@WiCnet @WatchersOTWall I’ve heard rumors that the filming of the actual big stuff, with the main cast, like battles etc is due to start in January. The company that also do the tours said that HBO requested 44 vans for the next few weeks. 2/2
— Monika || depressed Chelsea fan (@monika_subasic) November 14, 2017
At the end of the day, rumors are just that, but this would make sense. With the White Walkers having broken through the Wall and the main cast congregating near Winterfell, battle scenes will likely involve a lot of snow, and snow tends to fall more reliably the deeper into winter one gets. This reminds me of the reason producers gave for holding off on filming the bulk of season 7 until later in the year: because they wanted to wait until it got cold and snowy, the better to preserve verisimilitude.
Also, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has a nice big beard now, the better for enduring winter:
Met these two proud irish boys at the airport om saturday. Promised to share their pic. Good luck tonight lads. May the best team win. #Wc2018 #prediction1-2 pic.twitter.com/YQJ1RhpCVN
— Nikolaj CosterWaldau (@nikolajcw) November 14, 2017
“Coster-Waldau hair watch” just doesn’t have the same ring to it…
Next: Yes, Amazon is making a Lord of the Rings TV show
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