We always assumed that the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones would be huge, but it seems producers are set on exceeding expectations. For months, we’ve watched them refurbish the Winterfell set in Moneyglass and build the biggest practical set in the show’s history in Belfast. And now, Twitter account @GoTlikeLocation has brought us new images of a massive green screen set at Magheramorne Quarry, where the show has filmed things like the Battle of the Blackwater and the Massacre at Hardhome. You can see how big it is below — it dwarfs the cranes and tractors next to it. Thing is enormous, several stories tall.
What might producers have in mind for this? We have a few ideas. Beware SPOILERS below.
Magheramorne Quarry is also the location of the show’s long-standing Castle Black set, although it’s far enough away from the new green screen that we don’t think the two are connected. If the production wants to film a big scene at the Castle Black set, they’ll use the Castle Black set.
But a green screen of this size means one thing for certain: heavy use of special effects. But to what end? Why would the production need not only a green screen, but one so tall it can basically draw a whole environment onto it? There are a couple of possibilities.
The first option would be a huge battle sequence. The show has used special effects in battle scenes before, from the Battle of the Bastards to the Loot Train Attack. But those battles were filmed in open fields in Northern Ireland and Spain respectively, and in neither case did the production build a green screen big enough to have its own zip code. This kind of construction suggests a battle with special effects on a scale we haven’t seen before. Picture the army of the dead clashing with Jon and Dany’s forces in a field somewhere in the North, dragons both dead and alive wheeling about in the sky above as zombie giants smash helpless soldiers to dust.
And also Ghost is there? We can hope.
This is the option I think is most likely. We’ll call it the Battle Royale.
The second option involves the aftermath of a battle, or of some other staggeringly destructive event. The green screen is big enough for the production to fill it with pretty much anything they want — what if it’s going to be used as a canvas for the destruction of one of Westeros’ key structures?
The most likely candidate is King’s Landing in general and the Red Keep specifically. We’ve already seen hints that dragons will visit the Red Keep sometime in season 8, and whether they’re living or dead, they probably won’t be friendly. And in the show itself, various characters have seen the Red Keep in ruins, whether it’s Daenerys vision in the House of the Undying or Bran when tapping into the weirwood network. And the Red Keep’s great height, and its location atop a hill, could necessitate a green screen of this size. Dragons burning the famous castle built by House Targaryen to the ground? We’re in.
What’s your take on all of this? Let us know!
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