Season 8 filming: The Dragonpit takes shape

The Game of Thrones production is currently setting the stage for the next leg of filming on season 8. Starting on April 23, shooting will begin at the ruins of Italica in Spain. Fans know the location best as the Dragonpit, as first seen in the season 7 finale. Shooting won’t end until May 19. We don’t know what the crew is going to be doing for that long, but we know they’re working feverishly to rebuild the set. For example, here’s what the set looked like last week, with the pit in the center of the city’s ancient Roman amphitheater bedecked with scaffolding:

And here’s what it looks like now:

"Dragonpit preparations today from freefolk"

The team has rebuilt the base of the raised platform we saw in “The Dragon and the Wolf.” When it’s done, we expect it to look more or less like it did then:

Plenty of photogs have been hanging around Italica, snapping photos and taking video from the land…

…and the air:

Photos should get harder to take as filming begins and security tightens, but if we’re learned anything about Game of Thrones fans, it’s that they’re endlessly resourceful, so it’s unlikely the images will stop flowing completely.

In any case, it’s open season on guessing what the crew is going to shoot here. The Dragonpit meeting from “The Dragon and the Wolf” was an elaborate sequence that ate up 20-plus minutes of screentime. That only took a week to shoot. The crew will be hanging around for much longer this time. Is it another gathering of characters? Will the dead break in? Is this where the final scene of the show will take place? Or maybe we’re getting Cleganebowl?

Anything’s possible. Let us know what you think!

Next: Kit Harington discusses Gunpowder after “a grueling day” of shooting Game of Throne season 8

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