If you thought Game of Thrones battle scenes were big before, wait until you get a load of what’s coming in season 8. The HBO fantasy series recently finished shooting the largest battle in the show’s history, and considering how big its previous battles were, it’s practically a given that this new clash will end up holding the record for the biggest battle scene that the television medium has ever seen. Read more about the upcoming Game of Thrones battle scene below.
Watchers on the Wall, a popular and reliable Game of Thrones fan site, relays the news that HBO has finally wrapped production on one upcoming battle scene that took a staggering 55 straight nights to film. That’s more than double what it took to film season 6’s “The Battle of the Bastards” (25 days) and season 7’s Loot Train Attack from “The Spoils of War” (23 days), which are two of the show’s biggest battle scenes thus far.
The production featured between 400-500 extras, and took place in multiple locations: one was at the Moneyglass estate in Toome, Northern Ireland, and the other was close to where the Castle Black sequences used to be filmed, near Magheramorne Quarry. An assistant director named Jonathan Quinlan posted a photo to Instagram (and since removed it) of a note from producers thanking the crew for their hard work during the shoot. You can see a cached version of Quinlan’s image at WoTW, but in the interest of not being sued, I’ll just type out what the note said:
This is for the Night Dragons.
For enduring 55 straight nights. For enduring the cold, the snow, the rain, the mud, the sheep shit of Toome and the winds of Magheramorne.
When tens of millions of people around the world watch this episode a year from now, they won’t know how hard you worked. They won’t care how tired you were or how tough it was to do your job in sub-freezing temperatures.
They’ll just understand that they’re watching something that’s never been done before.
And that’s because of you.
Thank you,
The Producer Types
Is “night dragons” simply a nickname for those who had to work during these night shoots, or could the name indicate that dragons are involved in this battle? We know this battle takes place at Winterfell, but there’s been some question about whether or not the attack is from the Night King and his zombie ice dragon or if the battle is from Cersei sending her forces north from King’s Landing. We still aren’t 100% sure about who this huge sequence involves, but based on a recent tease from an HBO executive, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few recognizable characters bite the dust during this battle.
I just hope that the production is able to keep the characters at the center of the fight this time. The Battle of the Bastards was impressive as a piece of spectacle entertainment, but it didn’t have any heart behind it. The Loot Train Attack was a bit better in that regard, but I’m hoping the showrunners remember that while it’s always fun to see a filmed fictional battle on a scale that’s never been accomplished before, the only reason we care about any of the action is because of the characters we know as we track their motivations. Either way, it appears that we’re in for one of the most jaw-dropping moments in TV history when Game of Thrones season 8 returns, which will happen sometime in 2019.
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