Game Of Thrones season 8: Behind the scenes secrets from episode 5’s The Bells

They had to recreate Dubrovnik streets so they could burn it down.

Typically, King’s Landing has been shot in the beautiful Croatian town of Dubrovnik.

However, with plans to burn it to the ground (more on that in a bit), they had to recreate the city over in Belfast in order to get what they needed.

‘There’s no such thing as a set you can just walk onto and shoot when you’re planning on destroying it,’ Miguel Sapochnik, the episode’s director explained. ‘There was so much thought that went into every single section, because it had so many requirements.’

The set creators added that each building’s creation had to come with destruction plans as well – so when things literally went up in smoke, it was safe.

‘They’ve built Croatia!’ Lena Headey said at the impressive efforts. ‘Not just like, a street. 17 streets and alleys.

Vary’s fiery death was originally rained off (and took seven months) 

Nothing quite like a bit of irony to send a set into a catastrophe, eh?

The set of Varys’ death-by-dragon sequence was forced to be postponed after heavy downpours of rain meant that they couldn’t film it.

Miguel explained: ‘It was one of the first scenes we shot. We got to a certain point and then it started raining and it started pouring.

‘It was the only times I’ve been on Thrones where it got shut down because it was torrential rain!’

Unfortunately for actor Conleth Hill, who played the advisor to the queen, he wasn’t able to be killed off from the show quickly.

‘So basically it was shot over seven months, and every time poor Conleth [Hill] had to kind of had to show up and Varys had to be like: “OK I guess I’m dying again.”,’ Miguel added.

It’s actually horrifically annoying being lit on fire

If being a stunt man sounds like fun, try being in a group of 22 people who all get set on fire on their own set of limited levels in one go in the name of getting the right shot.

For the shot, each person had to wear two wetsuits, three layers of underwear soaked in gel, grey suit, boiler suit, and then the costumes.

Some had to also wear fireproof masks they couldn’t see out of so they could be completely immersed in flames. Which is, you know, pretty brutal.

‘We know its fiction but to see that many men on fire, I found quite distressing at times,’ they said.

‘I remember the smell,’ Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, revealed. It was horrifying.’

Emilia Clarke was completely by herself during that dragon scene

Now, apologies if we really ruin the magic here – but there aren’t actually any real dragons used in the series (it’s a shocker, we know).

But this meant that while everyone was in fake Dubrovnik getting fake burned alive, Daenerys herself (Emilia Clarke) was by herself in a studio, reacting to nothing as she rode a glorified green-screen bucking bronco.

And there was us thinking acting was glamorous.

‘Emilia is really nice and she really cares. She’s a whole bunch of things that Dany isn’t so reaching this part of Dany was a tough call for her,’ Miguel admitted.

Jaime and Euron are actually BFFs

‘Finally after 15 years of being colleagues, I’m given two days to kick his a**!’ Pilou Asbaek laughed as he spoke about his fight scene with Nikolaj Coster-Waldaeu.

As their characters Euron Greyjoy and Jaime Lannister brutally fought to the death for the love of Cersei Lannister, the two actors actually had a lot of fun on what they dubbed the ‘Danebowl’.

While their off-screen characters might not have got on, the pair are clearly close friends and laughed off what was to become Euron’s final moments on screen.

To wind up the production team even more, they would sometimes speak in Danish to change moves without them knowing.

Game Of Thrones continues Sunday on HBO and Sky Atlantic.