The set of Game of Thrones season 8 is up and humming. Yesterday, we reported that Kit Harington (Jon Snow) was back in Belfast, the show’s main filming hub. It looks like Carice van Houten (Melisandre) is in the area too, as well as David Nutter, who’s directing the first, second, and fourth episodes of the season. Then we got some info about where the first scene of the final season will take place. Today, the deluge continues.
Beware some (relatively minor) SPOILERS going forward.
First, Los Siete Reinos reports that in addition to Harington and Van Houten, Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) is also now in Belfast. Note that this doesn’t guarantee that these actors are all filming scenes together, but it’s something to note. LSR also has a couple new pictures of the massive King’s Landing set being built at Titanic Studios in Belfast. This one’s a little blurry, but you can see that the city walls are looking more uniform:
But enough about Titanic Studios. Fansite Watchers on the Wall has it that the production filmed a scene yesterday at Shane’s Castle, an ancient, ruined structure that’s been used extensively throughout the series for a variety of locations. Yesterday’s scene involved two leading cast members, happens very early in the season, and is set in the crypts beneath Winterfell. What’s more, the scene ends with someone blowing a horn, which could be good, bad, or extremely bad.
We saw the crypts a couple of times in season 7, first when Jon throttled Littlefinger and again when Sansa and Arya reunited under the watchful gaze of their dead father’s statue. We’ll see the crypts again in the first two episodes of season 8, at least. According to Watchers, one of those scenes will involve characters discussing Ned’s death, a popular topic whenever people go down there.
And we may see them after that. Fabian Wagner, the director of photography on Episodes 3 and 5, has posted a picture of Shane’s Castle to his Instagram.
Episodes 3 and 5 will be directed by Miguel Sapochnik, famous for his work on big battle episodes like “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards.” Is Episode 3 the episode when the White Walkers inevitably reach Winterfell? If so, we’d recommend getting the hell out of the crypts.
And the SPOILERS aren’t done! Watchers also reports that a group of extras are undergoing stunt training in order to play Night’s Watchmen, so we’ll see that motley crew at least one more time before the White Walkers do what comes naturally to them.
Next: Maisie Williams on leaving Game of Thrones: “It’s been my safety blanket”
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