HBO started filming the final season of Game of Thrones all the way back in October of 2017, and didn’t stop until June of 2018. It was, bar none, the longest time HBO had ever spent filming a season of this show, and if you believe the cast and crew, it will pay serious dividends come April of next year, when the final six episodes start.
HBO also put more time and effort into building sets than ever before, to the point where the network actually plans to preserve some and turn them into tourist attractions. For months, we watched the Game of Thrones team work its magic all over these mad-made beauties, and while that’s all over, the sets themselves remain. Twitter’s own @GoTlikeLocation recently showed off what they look like now, months after filming has wrapped. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, but beware: some of these sets give away what happens during the season, so be wary of SPOILERS, although we’ll warn you before the worst of it.
Let’s start at Magheramorne Quarry in Northern Ireland, where HBO build one of the biggest green screens in television history:
The crew spent some extremely interesting nights here filming a huge battle scene.
Also at Magheramorne is the Castle Black set, which to our knowledge the crew didn’t use for season 8. Nevertheless, it’s still standing, albeit not in great shape:
Below is the gate in the Wall at Castle Black, the one that opens to the cold wilds beyond:
Let’s move on to Moneyglass, where stands the castle of Winterfell, outfitted beyond anything HBO had done before:
I certainly hope they keep this set standing for tourists. I’m sure plenty of fans would love to walk around the real-life Winterfell.
Next, @GoTlikeLocation heads to Linen Mill Studio Studio at Corbet-Banbridge, where Game of Thrones has filmed miscellaneous stuff for years. There’s another green screen outdoors, but the most interesting thing about this set is probably the Silence, Euron Greyjoy’s ship:
Finally, we head to Titanic Studios, where the show films most of its interiors. This is where the big SPOILERS come in, by the way.
As @GoTlikeLocation points out, there are people here — it’s a working film production space, after all — but it’s hard to tell if they’re here for postproduction on Game of Thrones or something else.
The Titanic Quarter was the sight of the impressive set built for season 8: a life-size stretch of King’s Landing, including a front gate, a street lined with buildings and the front of the Red Keep. We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen to it in season 8, but by the looks of the set now, King’s Landing takes a major beating in the final stretch:
Almost looks a fire-breathing monster swooped out of the sky and blew the tops off the towers and rooftops, wouldn’t you say? Although the Red Keep, here painted a light-grey brown, seems to have avoided the worst of it:
Also on set: a huge green screen, because dragons aren’t going to animate themselves.
We can’t wait to see these sets in action in the final six episodes!
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