Warning: This post contains minor behind the scenes spoilers for Game Of Thrones
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We’re only ten weeks (!) away from the return of Game Of Thrones, and while fans are mourning the end of the show after this season, they’re also going wild with fan theories and speculation about what is going to happen in season 8. There have been plenty of comments from the cast to suggest that, unsurprisingly, the final season is going to be the biggest, the most shocking, the most incredible season yet – and though the ending is going to be ‘bittersweet’, it’s also going to be absolutely amazing.
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As if there wasn’t already enough action to look forward to, the biggest battle of the season has been confirmed to be taking place up North – the (second) Battle of Winterfell. The show is well out past the story of the books at this point, so there’s no knowing what this battle has in store, but thanks to a number of leaks, official reports, and other details, we’re able to put together a pretty good picture of what to expect.
The Biggest Battle Of The Series
A battle at Winterfell hasn’t just been confirmed, it has been confirmed as the biggest battle in the entire series (and will likely take up an entire episode of season eight). The battle at Winterfell took fifty-five days of outdoor filming – confirmed by an Instagram post of a note thanking the cast and crew for their hard work (now removed). 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.
These 55 nights involved hundreds of extras, but those were also just the outdoor shoots – further shots took place at indoor sets, as well. (For comparison, the Battle of the Bastards took only 25 days to film.) Showrunner David Benioff has also revealed that this is the ‘big one’, as the Night King’s army attacks. Benioff said of the battle “We’ve been building toward this since the very beginning, it’s the living against the dead”. The battle will follow multiple characters as they try to survive, and given how many major players will be involved (more on that later), that just makes sense. Finally, Peter Dinklage also described it as “brutal”, and said that it would make the Battle of the Bastards look “like a theme park”.
The Battle Of The Bastards Director Will Return…
The Battle of the Bastards was, until this season, the biggest battle scene in Game of Thrones – and there is no doubt that it was one of the most incredible. It was also directed by Miguel Sapochnik, who has been confirmed to be returning for the final season. David Benioff confirmed that Sapochnik would be directing the big battle scene at Winterfell when he said:
Having the largest battle doesn’t sound very exciting — it actually sounds pretty boring. Part of our challenge, and really, [director] Miguel [Sapochnik’s] challenge, is how to keep that compelling…
While Sapochnik is a great director for episodes that aren’t all about the big fight scenes (he also directed ‘The Winds Of Winter’), but it’s exciting to know that the brilliant mind behind the Battle of the Bastards is going to be taking on the biggest battle of the series.
Which Means It Will Happen In Episode 3 Or 5
Because we know who will be directing this episode, we also know that there are only two possible episodes that it could be: the third, and the fifth. According to Winter Is Coming, Sapochnik will only be directing these two episodes, with David Nutter taking episodes 1, 2, and 4, and the finale directed by David Benioff and Dan Weiss.
It’s difficult to guess which of the two episodes will see Winterfell attacked, though, as there are compelling arguments for both. Given that the seventh season ended with the army of White Walkers bringing down the wall (with a little help from their new ice dragon), it’s likely that they would march on Winterfell sooner rather than later, which points to an episode 3 battle. However, given that this is the big moment that the entire show has been building towards, it also seems likely that it would be saved until the end of the series. This also leaves four episodes of build up, and a final episode to deal with the aftermath.
Page 2: The Castle Will Go Up In Flames
