Iain Glen has played exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont for all seven seasons of Game of Thrones. With production on the eighth and final season in full swing, the veteran actor teased the twists and turns to come while speaking with the India Times. “Always expect the unexpected in Game of Thrones,” he said. “That is what works for the show, and season eight has loads of surprises.”
Jorah had an eventful season 7. Samwell Tarly cured his greyscale, he reunited with the (unrequited) love of his life, and joined Jon Snow on a mission to capture a wight north of the Wall. Per Glen, season 8 will find him back in his comfort zone. “In the next and last season, Ser Jorah will happily become a permanent fixture in Daenerys Targaryen’s inner circle, as the battle between good and evil draws to a spectacular finale.”
We can get behind a spectacular finale. Could he be more specific?
"The scale on which the final season has been mounted is amazing. Game of Thrones is the biggest TV show ever and the finale will reflect that. The production values are immense and the shoot is taking long because the sequences are more complicated."
According to Glen, “the six episodes of the final season are taking roughly the same amount of time to shoot that 10 episodes on an average would take in the past seasons.” Everything we’ve seen of filming behind the scenes backs up what Glen is saying about the scale of this shoot. The production is stepping things up this year, whether it be with the massive green screen at Magheramorne Quarry or the million-dollar King’s Landing set in Belfast. Unfortunately, all this ambition means that fans will have to wait longer than usual to see the final episodes, but Glen just think that this will “increase fan frenzy.”
Glen also reflected on what Jorah Mormont means to him more generally. “To me, Jorah stands for loyalty. He is admirable for the way he supports goodness at any cost.” Let’s hope the cost won’t be too high. Anyone can go in the final season, after all.
But no matter what happens to Jorah in season 8, Iain Glen will be moving on from the role, although it will probably remain the most notable thing he’ll ever do. “I am surprised and delighted by the popularity of Ser Jorah,” he said. “Ser Jorah is a massive global hit, I know. It is bigger than anything I have done.”
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