Ben Crompton (Dolorous Edd) discusses the “different atmosphere” on the season 8 set

Filming on Game of Thrones season 8 continues apace, and cast members keep dropping hints about how it’s going. Ben Crompton (Eddison “Dolorous Edd” Tollett) has been particularly chatty of late. He recently spoke to Metro about the mood on set, the heightened security, and more.

“There is a slightly different atmosphere on set [this year],” Crompton said. “In previous seasons, whether you survived that series or not, you knew the show was continuing. Now whether you survive or not, it’s coming to an end.”

"It’s something I’m very proud of. To be honest, there’s so much work to be done, you can’t really have time to sit down and get nostalgic yet."

There may not be time to get nostalgic, but the cast let themselves get a little emotional after reading through the whole season together a while back. “There was some tears the other week during a well-deserved standing ovation to [showrunners] David Benioff and Dan Weiss, and that was quite special being there for that final read-through.”

Last we left Edd, he was at Castle Black. Now that the White Walkers have broken through the Wall at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, we don’t love his chances of surviving the series — you’d figure the Night’s Watch would be one of the Night King’s first targets, right? But with “so much work to be done” yet, who can say for sure?

Another issue that’s long plagued Game of Thrones, particularly over the last couple of years: spoilers. Happily (or unhappily, depending on who you ask), HBO has been better about keeping leaks to a minimum this year. Part of that is due to the actors being extra-vigilant:

"We’re quite protective as a cast. Apart from being contractually obliged not to say anything, we’ve got a real affection for the show. We were filming the other week and there seemed to be something flying above. Everyone was suddenly going, “Is that a drone? Is that a drone?” It turned out it was from the SFX department on the other side of the set trying something out. But there was just this moment there thinking, “Don’t let there be any spoilers or anything, just let it happen.”"

Had that been an actual drone, I like to think the cast would have picked up rocks and brought it down together. What a great team-building exercise.

Outside of Game of Thrones, Crompton is currently narrating a balletLORENT production of Rumpelstiltskin, which is directed by his wife, Liv Lorent. You can watch the whole thing below:

Best of luck, Crompton, And best of luck, Dolorous Edd. We’re rooting for you, slim as your chances for survival are. Weirder things have happened in Westeros.

Next: Game of Thrones is getting a line of postage stamps from the Royal Mail

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