Game of Thrones may be about to end production for one last time (with a definitive wrap party in the days to come—get the details below!), but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the frenzied shooting at the King’s Landing set throughout this past week. If you’re keeping score, by this point this climactic battle (and whatever other mayhem is going on there) has become the second largest action shoot in Game of Thrones history, rivalled only by the Moneyglass battle shoot from earlier in the year. And it’s still going, with a record number of extras running around the blazing destruction of the capital!
As usual, A Red Priestess was there to witness the action from afar… but, with this scale of destruction, it was more than close enough to get an idea of what was going on.
Better quality video. I hadn’t seen the small fire on the left #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/o5VWOccD06
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) June 22, 2018
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) June 25, 2018
The set has been transformed into a destroyed King’s Landing. Photo: A Red Priestess
This landmark Dubrovnik dome was set aflame. Photo: A Red Priestess
The tower also suffered damaged. Photo: A Red Priestess
Incidentally, the Red Keep gate was repainted to look like sandy stone; though this may seem confusing, only now it’s in line with how we’ve seen it before. Photo: A Red Priestess
According to Los Siete Reinos, this won’t be the typical battle scene of exclusively armed soldiers: this particular scene, which began filming two weeks ago, features more than 600 extras—among them women, which points to civilians being caught in the crossfire. Reportedly, the scene will resume filming this week and will wrap in early July. By the end, at least three weeks of filming will have been allocated for this portion of the larger King’s Landing battle sequence, which has been about a two months shoot, overall!
Speaking of wrapping: though the cast gathered for a party in early June, that was at least a month before the end of production. According to our sources, the true final wrap party will be on June 30th in Belfast, with all former cast members included.
Game of Thrones coming to an end may be quite sad for all of us, but they are, of course, right to celebrate. For nearly a decade, they have produced eight season of peak TV and, with a doubled shooting schedule for little more than half the episodes, it appears the writers, cast, and crew were given the best possible chance to create a worthy end for Game of Thrones. I for one am excited to watch the fruits of this Herculean labor!
