With the Dragonpit shoot in Spain scheduled to have begun yesterday but with no reported cast or crew on site yet (the cast are expected to arrive next week), our focus in the meantime moves back to Ballintoy and the Titanic Studios set, where production already commenced last week. It didn’t stop. Quite the opposite, in fact: Daenerys has arrived, ready to kick ass and majestically sit on thrones—and she’s all out of thrones.
Daenerys Targaryen’s armies are at the gates of King’s Landing again, and this time it’s probably not just another show of force. Dozens of Unsullied and mounted Dothraki were sighted yesterday at Titanic Studios, near the walls of the King’s Landing set:
At least some Unsullied and Dothraki survive the battles in the North, as they will be there for the later King’s Landing battle, which will pitch Dany’s forces against Cersei’s, at the very least—though it remains to be seen whether the North will be able to lend a hand or not; or whether the Night King and his undead army will also come to say hi.
Such a complex shoot will be filmed in small fragments, as all battle sequences are by necessity, which unfortunately means we won’t actually get to witness much of a coherent battle during filming. Glimpses of the armies and characters involved, a bit of action, and pyrotechnics are the best we can probably hope for in the days to come. Speaking of which: we don’t know whether this battle sequence will be filmed in days, weeks, or months, but in any case we’ll keep you updated on what’s going on. Stay tuned!
Concurrently, another unit is hard at work on Ballintoy, specifically at the rocky beach near the harbor. Though no Greyjoy cast members have been sighted, Ballintoy is famous for depicting Pyke, from where the Greyjoys reign over the Iron Islands. Last night, the ever-vigilant Oakleaf Photography was there to take a peek at the night shoot:
The crew before the shoot. Are those animal transport trailers? Photo: Oakleaf Photography
Many people were there, but we can’t tell who’s cast and who’s crew. Photo: Oakleaf Photography
The scene included a number of characters around a fire. Photo: Oakleaf Photography
Aside from the fact that this is a night shoot with a few characters around a fire on the beach, my non-elf eyes see little else of note. The main story here is that filming is definitely going on at Ballintoy. Hopefully we’ll get a closer look throughout the week!
