Confirmed: Game of Thrones not returning to Croatia for season 6

Dubrovnik
Old Town, Dubrovnik, Croatia

After months of speculation, one question about Game of Thrones has been answered: the show will not be returning to Croatia for season 6.

HBO confirmed today officially that, “based on story and location needs,” Game of Thrones will not be shooting in Croatia this year.

HBO said, in an official statement:

 The question of whether the production will return to Croatia in the future will be decided once additional seasons are officially set by HBO.  At that time, the production, along with HBO, will assess their location needs based on the scripts and storylines. HBO remains grateful to the HAVC and the Croatian crew for all of their continued support.

It had been rumored that GoT would return to the country for possibly a few days of filming, but it appears that did not come to pass.

Croatia and particularly the city of Dubrovnik have been essential in location shooting for Game of Thrones since season 2. Dubrovnik’s Old Town has stood in for King’s Landing, and nearby cities such as Klis, Split and Sibenik have seen filming over the last few years.

No need to film in the country this year could hint at a reduced presence of King’s Landing outdoor scenes in season 6, with no equivalent of Joffrey’s wedding, a large funeral procession or the Walk for next season. There have also been reports that some locations will shift over to Spain, with Braavos being filmed in Girona this fall.

The details of the location deals and decisions will likely remain behind closed doors. Whether the show returns to Croatia or not, the country and its people have been an integral part of Game of Thrones and the world of Westeros.

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

114 Comments

  1. I assume that they have plenty of footage they can reuse in order to show an outside view of KL, if necessary. Most of the indoor KL work would be in the Paint Hall, right?

  2. aurane waters,

    Not necessarily. Use the part of your brain that generally governs abstract thought and imagine her staying inside the walls of the red keep for a season. Either that or bouncing for the rock. But the show runners are not just going to abandon her after her walk.

  3. aurane waters,

    I would not necessarily say that..
    She could still have Small Council scenes, or basically any scene inside the Red Keep which would be filmed at the studio in NI…. etc.

    Here’s hoping!

  4. Sounds like they are going to be consolidating all of the southern / Essos location shoots in Spain. Makes sense from a logistical perspective, but there will be a noticeable difference in the appearance of some locations. Hopefully, it won’t be as jarring as it was when they moved from Malta to Croatia between seasons 1 & 2.

  5. RpCola:
    Guess it won’t be needed much after Cersei burns King’s Landing to the ground.

    Haha yeah, and Jamie has to kill another psychopath to save the city.

  6. Anyone else read between the lines here and think this is, at least partially, due to the incident in Croatia where the whole walk of atonement was initially banned due to the complaints of a priest and they had to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to shoot the scene? D&D and the other producers were always very complimentary of how easy Spain was to work with. Maybe they just said screw it, we don’t want to deal with the Croatian headache again so we’re going to just go over to Spain where we’re getting someone who is much easier to work with, and is probably giving them a sweetheart deal.

  7. Maceless Fan,

    Except he’s too late getting back from hunting his outlaws and all he can do is wrap his hand(s) around her pale white throat. Then they kiss amidst the wildfire, and he turns to ashes in her mouth.

  8. TD:
    Anyone else read between the lines here and think this is, at least partially, due to the incident in Croatia where the whole walk of atonement was initially banned due to the complaints of a priest and they had to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to shoot the scene?

    Yes, exactly!

  9. This probably means Peniscola will be used for the King’s Landing shoot now. It’s an ideal setting for it.

  10. People also need to remember that nearly all of GoT’s interior scenes are shot on soundstages in Belfast, so we could have a ton of King’s Landing stuff next year, just using exterior stock shots and Belfast filming.

    After all, everything relating to Jaime & Brienne’s journey was filmed in Europe *except* the inside of the bear pit during “Bear and the Maiden Fair” which was shot in LA. 🙂

  11. Maybe winter is finally coming in Season 6 and croatia just looks too warm? I always wondered how the show would deal with the long winter: Whether by shooting only in northern countries or by digitally adding snow in post-production. So, all scenes that play in the Riverlands can be shot in Ireland or even Iceland due to the snow, and Kings Landing will probably only play a minor role in forthcoming Seasons anyway.

  12. TD,

    Or, ya know, maybe they are just saving a little money by filming in as few countries as possible, and we’ll get the savings in even bigger and better VFX.

    DROGON………..try thinking positive.

  13. Lol, just when I’m in Dubrovnik to look at the filming locations, they stop filming. 🙂
    Joking aside, I kind of worry about this; if we have a changed KL like between S1 and S2 it would look even more jarring because of the amount of seasons filmed in Croatia. And Meereen has some iconic places as well: think the city wall where Dany executed Mossador, Tyrion watched Daario + Jorah leave and Hizdahr and the Wise Masters watched Dany besieging Meereen, and the catacombs where the dragons are locked.

  14. TD,

    Well, unless they have more scenes in store requiring a lot of public nudity, I don’t see that that would be a huge consideration.

    From what people have been saying, they got a better deal in Spain, financially, so it makes sense for them to avail themselves of that.

  15. Interior shots are filmed in North Ireland, So i expect just as much KL as ever.
    For some street shots, they can easly film in spain, in girona for example.

  16. RBloodworth:

    Makes sense from a logistical perspective, but there will be a noticeable difference in the appearance of some locations. Hopefully, it won’t be as jarring as it was when they moved from Malta to Croatia between seasons 1 & 2.

    It wasn’t jarring to me. Honestly, I didn’t even notice any changes in appearance between S1 & S2.

    CGI backgrounds can take care of it.

    TD:

    Anyone else read between the lines here and think this is, at least partially, due to the incident in Croatia where the whole walk of atonement was initially banned due to the complaints of a priest and they had to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to shoot the scene? D&D and the other producers were always very complimentary of how easy Spain was to work with. Maybe they just said screw it, we don’t want to deal with the Croatian headache again so we’re going to just go over to Spain where we’re getting someone who is much easier to work with, and is probably giving them a sweetheart deal.

    I agree. This is probably the major reason.

  17. Sam the Slayer,

    Yeah but Dany’s not in Meereen anymore and Daario and Jorah already were headed out to look for her.

    And they already have establishing shots of all those places, they don’t need to go back to Croatia for more.

  18. Greenjones,

    What resemblance? There is none… It’s a small port town and is full of whitewashed streets, it has no resemblance to Kings Landing at all.

  19. I’m really sad to hear this. Croatia is gorgeous and I was inspired by Game of Thrones to visit it. Lots more than just King’s Landing exteriors are shot there, a lot of stuff for the Dany storyline as well. I don’t think we can make any assumptions about plot from this news, but I do hope they return in future seasons. Also the locals there are huge fans of the show, love being extras, and interacting with cast and crew, at least from what I saw in Dubrovnik. Fingers crossed for future seasons, and if you get the chance, go to Dubrovnik and take the GoT tour because it’s beyond fun and a really gorgeous city! It’s amazing to see the spaces they are filming in, alongside photos from the show while you’re standing right there, in the same places where the actors were!

  20. TD,

    Yeah, right. As if the people of Girona Cathedral would have been more tolerant of naked women in their church’s grounds.

  21. Jaime’s girl,

    Croatia looks amazing. I am trying to plan a visit there in the near future. Based on your recommendation, I would certainly take the GOT Tour. Thanks!

  22. Paul,

    It has a peninsula that one could easily put the Red Keep onto. And it has walls that look quite a bit like KL’s. They will have to use CGI to insert components that look more like Dubrovnik into the establishing shots but if you look at the s5 VFX reel, you’ll see that they’ve gotten quite good at doing that.

    Mihnea,

    It was used in s3 and s4 as well actually. In s3 they shot there in the autumn for the pre-Craster’s North of the Wall scenes and in s4 they shot there in the summer for the Vale and the Gift scenes.

  23. Obviously they can still do a lot of stuff indoors, like Red Keep scenes but it does seem to fit with the way the show is starting to move away from KL as the heart of the story…and KL may even be about to burn so Cersei can flee to the Rock.

  24. When I think of who is left in King’s Landing, basically, Cersei, Margaery, Loras, Kevan, Lancel, and The High Sparrow, I could easily see most of their scenes being indoor scenes. Perhaps Lancel and the High Sparrow (and his accompanying host) would have some outdoor scenes, but I’m sure some places can be found which look enough like the twisting streets of Dubrovnik, we won’t even notice a difference. As others have already said, they have plenty of footage of establishing shots for KL which can be reworked/worked into this season.

    I am sorry for those who received such benefit from GoT being shot in Dubrovnik.

  25. Sue the Fury,

    Tyrion’s still there though. And the dragons need to be freed somehow… I also think we will get a simplified Battle of Fire, and the big wall would look very cool for that.

  26. Nymeria Warrior Queen:
    I am sorry for those who received such benefit from GoT being shot in Dubrovnik.

    Me too. I will forever have that shot of Dubrovnik and the Red Keep as the screensaver on my Toshiba PC ………. Jaqen H’ghar is of course on my Apple MacBook Pro. 🙂
    >
    BTW, carrying over from the previous post, if you have the time, do try to watch “Mr. Robot”. You won’t be able to take your eyes off Elliot, you’ll probably become a little paranoid about things …………… like why did the Stock Market just crash today by over 360 points?? Is it the Chinese “Dark Army” hackers???? And how does my computer know that I like to wear Victoria Secret thongs and so it keeps plastering advertisements for them all over every site that I try to go on? The “Mr. Robot” paranoia is setting in! 🙂

  27. Tereeza777: BTW, carrying over from the previous post, if you have the time, do try to watch “Mr. Robot”. You won’t be able to take your eyes off Elliot, you’ll probably become a little paranoid about things …………… like why did the Stock Market just crash today by over 360 points?? Is it the Chinese “Dark Army” hackers???? And how does my computer know that I like to wear Victoria Secret thongs and so it keeps plastering advertisements for them all over every site that I try to go on? The “Mr. Robot” paranoia is setting in! 🙂

    Just watched the latest episode of Mr. Robot… Wow! Great show indeed.

    I constantly see ads that try to persuade me to buy GRRM’s books, hehe… 😀
    It’s because the last time I wanted to buy something online, it was one of his books. I just checked the prices on various sites, but I didn’t buy anything. Since then, they’re trying to make me buy the damn books (that I already bought somewhere else).

    It’s called personalized retargeting, it seems…

    I presume you wanted to buy Victoria’s Secret thongs online, right? Well, now they’ll bombard you with their ads until you do it! 😀

    The only way to get rid of these ads is to take some pics of you wearing sexy thongs and then you post them here…

    Sorry, just kidding! 😀 😛

    Here’s an interesting article: How do advertisers show me custom ads?

    And here’s an illustrated guide, if you prefer.

  28. Even though I’m biased bc I’m from Croatia and hate to see my fave show no longer be associated, this is a good thing. We have seen KL as portrayed in Dubrovnik, lets see something fresh, new visages. It doesn’t mean they won’t ever return to it in seasons 7 and 8, they didn’t film in Iceland for season 5 either, and I get the feeling they will be going back to it if we’re going to see the lands of always winter.

  29. Tereeza777,

    LOVE that show! After the most recent episode, I feel like I need to re-watch the whole season with this new information in mind. Really, folks, if you haven’t tried this show, you really MUST!

    I didn’t notice the difference between S1 KL and S2 KL either. When I’m watching it, I’m in KL, not Croatia or Morroco or Spain. I have faith that this show will pay attention to the details and not yank us out of the world.

  30. I can’t say I’m too disappointed by all this. Reducing the presence of KL has felt like the right organic shift for the story. That written, I’m hopeful that there’s still something outdoors for the city, and that whatever substitutes for it (Spain, most likely) does an admirable job.

    Need Cersei!

  31. RpCola,

    Guess it won’t be needed much after Cersei burns King’s Landing to the ground.

    Ha! Seriously, that’s going to happen, right? Both Dany and Bran had the same visions about KL being burnt down to the ground. I always assumed this was the work of dragons, but after watching Dany’s vision again it seems that KL already was a big pile of ashes when she and her dragons arrived. Hm, maybe that wasn’t even snow but rather ashes raining down…
    Then we got Varys’ quote about how LF would be “king of the ashes”, so that might have been some foreshadowing. And of course we have Jamie stopping the Mad King once, only to be too late the second second time?

    Makes sense and I really want this to happen! It’s not like there are a ton of likable characters anyway. The Tyrells will either be executed by the FM or go back to Highgarden, at the latest when Tommen dies (wouldn’t even be surprised if he’s starved himself to death off-screen), leaving us with Cersei, Kevan (who seems okay, but he’s a dead man walking anyway), Pycelle, Qyburn, FrankenMountain plus those religious nuts. Maybe Jamie and Trystane do arrive there instead of returning to Dorne, but I guess Cersei will send the former far, far away (presumably the Riverlands so he’ll get to do some of the remaining book stuff) and the latter… well, he’s not long for this world. So yeah, you go girl, burn it down! Damn, I’m starting to root for Cersei *lol*

    OT: I get a “ReferenceError: swfobject is not defined” message since recently. I guess it’s because NoScript is blocking something, but even if I allow all scripts on the site, it’s still the same. I’m using the latest Firefox plus NoScript and Ghostery. uBlock and RequestPolicy are also installed, but deactivated on WotW. Error doesn’t occur on my vanilla Chrome install. Anybody got the same problem?

  32. Conan Troutman: I guess Cersei will send the former far, far away (presumably the Riverlands so he’ll get to do some of the remaining book stuff) and the latter… well, he’s not long for this world.

    I don’t see why Trystane would go to Kings’ Landing after that. Moreover, is Jaime going to make it back to King’s Landing? He might go off after Ellaria and the Sand Snakes. (Of course, goodness knows who is supporting them: I wonder if it will turn out to be Euron or something.) Trystane might well join him: after all, both he and Jaime have the same feud now, and Trystane’s father will want Ellaria dead. It’s possible that B&W saw something in the Kings Guard Knight pursuing the Bad Dayne plot that they thought would work well for telling Jaime’s part of whatever the story is for next year.

    At any rate, I doubt that they’ll do any of the Riverlands stuff from Crows. They managed to tell Jaime’s story without it, and none of the rest of it affects any of the main characters. That would make it just plot for the sake of plot, and B&W have shown a strong aversion to doing that.

    As for Kings’ Landing, it is just possible that it will not be anywhere near as prominent next season (or next book) as in prior seasons/books. We are down to one main character there and there is no indication that any other major characters are going to get (back) there any time soon.

  33. I don’t see why Trystane would go to Kings’ Landing after that. Moreover, is Jaime going to make it back to King’s Landing? He might go off after Ellaria and the Sand Snakes. (Of course, goodness knows who is supporting them: I wonder if it will turn out to be Euron or something.) Trystane might well join him: after all, both he and Jaime have the same feud now, and Trystane’s father will want Ellaria dead. It’s possible that B&W saw something in the Kings Guard Knight pursuing the Bad Dayne plot that they thought would work well for telling Jaime’s part of whatever the story is for next year.

    At any rate, I doubt that they’ll do any of the Riverlands stuff from Crows. They managed to tell Jaime’s story without it, and none of the rest of it affects any of the main characters. That would make it just plot for the sake of plot, and B&W have shown a strong aversion to doing that.

    In my humble opinion, there is little to no chance of Jaime *not* returning to King’s Landing next season. I think they substituted Dorne/Riverlands as a detour, but not an entire reworking of his plot. There’s just too much dramatic potential in having him be in King’s Landing *after* all of the stuff with the Faith has gone down, with Kevan being there, with Cersei having done her walk, with Myrcella being dead, etc. I think they are going to exploit that and then have him leave and go approximately wherever he was supposed to end up in the books (and I don’t think that’s anywhere near Dorne, just a hunch). In any case, if they turn around it’s not going to be for long. Jaime is going back to KL; I would bet on it.

  34. Flora Linden: It wasn’t jarring to me. Honestly, I didn’t even notice any changes in appearance between S1 & S2.

    CGI backgrounds can take care of it.

    Yeah, I originally binged S1 +2, and never noticed the difference.

  35. the shape of the city of peniscula , is similar to the kingslanding. but the houses and the architecture in general do not have Nothing Dubrovinik

    i have read in WiC that Girona will serve as Kingslanding as well, As we know Girona will be Oldtown and Bravos.

    And i dont think a city with the size of girona can be Oldtown, Kingslanding And Bravos.

    im each day more worried about season six,only two countries in use. interviews without any excitement on the part of directors (Jeremy Podeswa) and actors ( Fin Jones and Kristian Nairn) .

    OBS: They are not sad or something like this, they talk the season will be really good, and everything but i dont fell they excited too. ….season 3, 4 for example we saw the cast really excited, DD too. and the directors praising basically everything .

    Just emillia clark looked really excited about season six at one interview.

    i just, dont know more what to think.

  36. Sergio,

    It is not confirmed that Girona is King’s Landing. Anyone how has stated otherwise is misleading. There is some speculation and some rumors; Los Siete Reinos have heard some things, which we translated and linked, as usual. The most recent Girona locations info

    I think people who think the actors and directors aren’t excited are just wanting to see trouble. The actors aren’t even *allowed* to say anything about season 6. So what can say except “Yeah it’s gonna be awesome.”

    And complaining about the show only filming in two countries (with dozens of locations still) seems a little silly to me.

  37. Emilia Clarke:

    “It’s just go, go, go, go,” she tells the LA Times. “Shocking moment to shocking moment. Epic moment to epic moment. It’s mental; it’s epic. And definitely Dany’s a part of it.”

    Clarke acknowledges this departure from past seasons — though some have taken a slower start to introduce characters and plotlines, she says this won’t be the case this time around.

    “We’re just going to hit the audience with every episode, coming up with something more mental that the last,” she continued. “I can’t believe some of the twists in store.” See what I mean? You don’t break out words like “sick” or “mental” unless you’re really enthused.

    THIS is what make me excited.

  38. kit_hepburn: There’s just too much dramatic potential in having him be in King’s Landing *after* all of the stuff with the Faith has gone down, with Kevan being there, with Cersei having done her walk, with Myrcella being dead, etc.

    Ultimately, it depends a lot on what Winter’s story is: and we just do not know! Because of that, we just do not know if there is dramatic potential for Jaime returning to KL. After all, we know that

    in the book, it does not look like Jaime is going back to Kings Landing anytime soon. However, the show seems to be doing away with the source of Jaime’s detour in the books. So, it should not surprise us if they are using a different detour instead. And if B&W (who, unlike us, know what story GRRM is trying to tell in Winter) have seen how Jaime can contribute to the story using a plot-line not involving Lady Stoneheart but also not involving Kings Landing, then they will use it.

    The big kickers here are that we do not know what the Winter story is, and we do not know what the primary plot threads are. But I would not be surprised if nobody spends much time in King’s Landing next season: I could see Cersei’s attempts to strike back at the Tyrells and the Faith simultaneously leading to her being out of the city by the middle of the season.

  39. Sue the Fury: And complaining about the show only filming in two countries (with dozens of locations still) seems a little silly to me.

    but… but… isn’t there a correlation between how good a show is and in how many countries they film the show?!?!?

    😀

  40. Sean C.: Well, unless they have more scenes in store requiring a lot of public nudity, I don’t see that that would be a huge consideration.

    Well, there is the rumored mass orgy scene. It’s not a very reliable rumor: in fact, I am just starting it now. But GRRM has noted that it’s silly that people don’t think that his books have as much sex as the show does, so this leads me to conclude (using Internet “Logic”) that he is going to write the sexed-up chapter of all sexed-up chapters for Winter. In fact, it’s going to be what melts the Wall, and is the Meereense Knot of Winter (which will be replaced with “the Kings Landing Debauchery” here after) as he tries to figure out exactly how Sansa would think to do that… thing….

    Here’s the kicker: this probably isn’t the silliest thing that you’ll read on the Internet today! (It is, however, the silliest thing that I’ve written, well… ever… 😀 )

  41. Wimsey,

    I don’t see why Trystane would go to Kings’ Landing after that. Moreover, is Jaime going to make it back to King’s Landing? He might go off after Ellaria and the Sand Snakes. (Of course, goodness knows who is supporting them: I wonder if it will turn out to be Euron or something.) Trystane might well join him: after all, both he and Jaime have the same feud now, and Trystane’s father will want Ellaria dead. It’s possible that B&W saw something in the Kings Guard Knight pursuing the Bad Dayne plot that they thought would work well for telling Jaime’s part of whatever the story is for next year.

    I thought I read somewhere they would go to KL. But you’re right, it seems more logical in-universe that they’d go back to Dorne first to go after Ellaria and the SS and if you’re going to have Dorne in the show, that at least seems like a potentially good story.

    At any rate, I doubt that they’ll do any of the Riverlands stuff from Crows. They managed to tell Jaime’s story without it, and none of the rest of it affects any of the main characters. That would make it just plot for the sake of plot, and B&W have shown a strong aversion to doing that.

    I didn’t mean it in the way that they’re doing Jamie’s entire plot from the books, more like that they’re bringing him into the location (or somewhere else up north) so that his arc can move in roughly the same direction as it will in TWoW and beyond. I guess he’ll meet Brienne again in the show at some point and I don’t see how she could wind up in Dorne, so he’ll have to go there eventually. Of course B&W could make that happen outside of the Riverlands and it’s totally possible that he spends some time in Dorne and/or KL before that. It also depends on how many episodes are left – if it’s only 20 episodes from now on, I don’t see how he could spend half a season or more in Dorne.

  42. I just don’t see why they would set up a boat on its way back to KL with a dead Myrcella, Jaime, and the Prince of Dorne if that’s not where they intended them to be next season. They even set up a reminder in the dialogue before Myrcella died: “So glad Trystane’s coming!” “Yeah, do you think mother will like him?” “Uh…” It doesn’t matter if one doesn’t think it makes logical sense in the real world as to why the boat won’t turn around, or even in the show world; if it doesn’t happen that way, the writers’ own dramatic set-up would be totally void, seeing as they could have had Myrcella die in an entirely different way without them ever leaving Dorne. Turning the boat around is therefore illogical because of the very fact they wrote them getting on a boat in the first place, which is why I don’t think they are turning around. JMO.

  43. Wimsey,

    Here, let me help you start this rumor. The Meereenese Knot is not actually a metaphor for George’s writer’s block, it’s more of an actual plot point. He was going to have that major orgy in Meereen, where all kinds of people are intertwined during sex, lego-like, but he had no idea how to actually write it in a way that people would be able to picture it. He solved the problem by moving the orgy to Winter. Dany is going to return with a bunch of Dothraki as well as Jorah and Dario, and the rumored red priestess is going to suggest the Meereenese Knot as a way to sway the Red God.

    Also, in King’s Landing – since so many stories in the books parallel each other (see “Kill the Boy”) – there will be a parallel orgy of epic proportions. With Littlefinger’s brothels closed, many of the prostitutes (in the show notably Olyvar, who helped Cersei out last season) will find shelter in and around the Red Keep, and now that Cersei has nothing to do and feels ugly without her hair, she will try and find her self-confidence again by orchestrating an orgy of her own. Cersei, a returned Taena, and several other lickspittles of the court as well as some comely young knights will participate, and it will enrage the Faith in a dark mirror-image sort of way to the orgy in Meereen pleasing R’hllor.
    There you go, perfectly logical.

  44. Conan Troutman,

    Just started to re watch S1 and there is the scene in e4, “Lord Snow”, where Barristan, Jaime and Robert are discussing their first kills. Robert then ask Jaime about the time he killed the mad king, and if he begged for mercy (or something like that). Jaime told him that the mad king repeated the words over and over….”burn them all…” The same thing Jaime told Ned in the throne room an episode earlier…both times Jaime seems a bit regretful at the same time as he knows that he did the “right” thing.

    Is it just me or will this be Cersies last words as well? Before Jaime kills her (and maybe even himself)..?

    He sees the mad queen that will “burn them all” and history repeats itself 🙂

  45. I hope this doesn’t affect Croatia (especially Dubrovnik) too negatively from a financial point of view. Though having said that I guess the financial support brought in would have ended after the final season anyhow. All good things come to an end. Girona does have the red roofs that Dubrovnik has and similar narrow streets. Hopefully Dubrovnik will still be able to earn some money from guided tours and maybe with it having been used as a location for GoT, other makes of other TV shows and/or films will perhaps use it.

  46. Mack,

    That’s a great motivation for him to kill her and it may very well go down like that. Only that he can’t really succeed with saving the city a second time if Dany’s vision is supposed to be taken at face value, i.e. KL is already burnt to the ground by the time Dany and her dragons arrive.

    Either way, I can definitely see the burning of KL and the fall of the Wall happening as soon as next season (maybe season 7 if we’re getting 8). The former would officially end the game of thrones by destroying the very throne itself (maybe not the physical throne, but the titular kingdom and it’s power base in KL) and the latter would force everyone to finally pay attention to the real threat. Both will need to happen one way or another and those two events would be a spectacular way to do it.

  47. TD,

    Exactly. Spain has a new law (since 2014) with tax breaks and other benefits, and it’s likely that shooting there is better financially than in Croatia.

    Besides, it’s hard to imagine a more breathtaking Tower lf Joy than the Castillo de Zafra…

  48. Does anybody think there is a faint chance we might see Casterly Rock next season? I know there were pretty strong hints for Cersei to have a trial by combat which would be set in KL presumably. But I wondered if there was the smallest possibility that show Kevan might send Cersei there to at least postpone the trial by combat.

  49. Aww Dammit!

    I was looking forward to spending all of season 6 annoying family and friends saying – see that street? I’ve been there. See that square? I had a lovely pizza there… had a glass of wine there… I did this there….

    Gah. Game of Thrones ruins everything… 😉

  50. Dame of Mercia:
    I hope this doesn’t affect Croatia (especially Dubrovnik) too negatively from a financial point of view.Though having said that I guess the financial support brought in would have ended after the final season anyhow.All good things come to an end.Girona does have the red roofs that Dubrovnik has and similar narrow streets.Hopefully Dubrovnik will still be able to earn some money from guided tours and maybe with it having been used as a location for GoT, other makes of other TV shows and/or films will perhaps use it.

    It won’t hurt us in any way since Dubrovnik (and all of coastal Croatia) has been a major tourist destination for decades and has never depended on GoT financially.The total amount made from filming here so far,and I’m not exaggerating on this one,could be recouped in a mere two or three days.We’ve had bumps in arrivals annually since 2000,but GoT did bring a wider recognition to Dubrovnik in the sense that a lot of tourists actually know where they’re going now,instead of just wandering around.The guided tours are a nice touch,but also something we could do without.

    For what it’s worth.the Croatian Ministry of Culture actually did sign a 2-season deal with HBO,but no years,seasons or dates have been explicitly specified.HBO Croatia also reported that filming is expected to continue later,but season 6 wasn’t mentioned in any way.I think the production will return next year because Croatia’s already established as a major shooting location,Some interiors have been shot here as well.
    As for the Church controversy thing,it was all blown out of proportion by the press.I know on good grounds that Lena Headey and the producers actually had an amicable sitdown with the clergy.
    The stairs on which the beginning of the Walk took place in the end are actually Church property as is the building which was CGIed into the High Sept,not to mention that the shoot took place a mere five feet away from an actual church and a Catholic highschool.The production got permission from the Church to shoot there on the condition that the naked body double wasn’t permitted to shoot INSIDE the actual church.If anybody thinks Spain or Northern Ireland,both of which are prominently Catholic nations,would tolerate naked women running around their churches,then they’re seriously deluded.The Dubrovnik clergy was pretty understanding in the end.

  51. Conan Troutman,

    Yes, i think your right. The Iron Throne will burn with the rest of KL, Cersei and whoever might be there. Dany and her dragons isn’t there to sit on th IT in the end, I don’t think anybody will. The real threat will be the end of “The game of thrones” and form a (the) new world. What will be left there we can only guess, either way, some kind of pact will be formed..

  52. kit_hepburn,

    I think def Jaimie will return to KL with Tristane in tow as Prince Doran was intent that his sone take his uncles place on the small council to “keep them in the fold”

  53. I think this is good news, enough of King’s Landing…. I mean they already took out Young Griff, he was going to probably take over KL.

  54. Dame of Mercia:
    I hope this doesn’t affect Croatia (especially Dubrovnik) too negatively from a financial point of view.Though having said that I guess the financial support brought in would have ended after the final season anyhow.All good things come to an end.Girona does have the red roofs that Dubrovnik has and similar narrow streets.Hopefully Dubrovnik will still be able to earn some money from guided tours and maybe with it having been used as a location for GoT, other makes of other TV shows and/or films will perhaps use it.

    Dubrovnik is major tourist destination since 19. century. Long before GOT.
    Dubrovnik will be just fine.

    Also many other series and movies in the recent years are filmed in Dubrovnik.
    American series Borgias and Dig too.

  55. Oh dear. King’s Landing’s setting has served to bring an uplifting effect for me in all the dreary darkness.

  56. aurane waters:
    so there’s going to be very little cersei next season? ugh

    Not necessarily. All inside castle scenes are filmed in Belfast. Since getting that stylish haircut it’s pretty certain that Cersei won’t be venturing out of doors too often!

  57. You can notice immediately when they changed from malta to croatia. it throws me off so much and is such a huge disconnect between season 1 and the rest of the show.

    now again there is going to be a huge disconnect for me. this sucks. its the equivalent of re-casting Daario. they think people won’t notice, but we do.

  58. Ravyn,

    Don’t bother. They will defend that Daario to the end, because looks more like in the books. Even tough he is quite a bad actor.

    2nd Daario is batter in acting, has a batter chemastry with the other characters, like Dany and Jorah(can’t wait for them in S6). But alas book readers will hate him, because he looks differant, then in the books.

  59. I wouldn’t have minded the original Daario so much if he didn’t look exactly like Barry Pepper’s character from Battlefield Earth (I’m not just being funny or exaggerating either). It’s really distracting and all I can think about is John Travolta shoving a dead rat in Ed Skrein’s face and shouting “DO YOU WANT LUNCH?!”

    So… yeah, I’ll take Michael Huisman instead, thanks.

  60. Could someone who pays closer attention clear something up for me please:

    I don’t recall if Cersei wrote and sent Jaime a letter begging him to come back while she was a prisoner of the HS on the show as she did in the books. Imo that is a petty big deviation because in the books he just kind of says FU I’m tired of yo bs you crazy bitch and burns the letter but in the show he still loves this crazy bitch?
  61. Making the 8,

    You recall correctly.

    Jaime is quite oblivious to all of Cersei’s court/prison/WoS trauma and other KL shenanigans. He received no desperate letter and the Dorne mission itself was a show contrivance that Jaime put upon himself to be a “fatherly” hero, somehow save Myrcella, and somehow satisfy Cersei’s concerns. The adventures of B & J! As far as we’re concerned, there is no rift between the two as in the books. I assume that when Jaime gets back in KL with Myrcella’s body we’ll have another lustful sex scene next to a corpse.

    “Why do I love such a hateful woman?”

  62. Making the 8,

    She did not.

    The main story point is that they will break, does it matter how? I’m very certain that this will play a part in Jaime’s story in S6. I doubt they will be the same after what happened with Mycella.

    Jaime breaking from Cersei in this season would have been pointless… He will break with her in the season that story is told.

    For example: Jon as LC, in the books he was elected at the end of ASOS, end of season 4. But that was not his story in S4, it was to fight the wildlings, and his love for Yngrite. So in the show he is made LC in S5, as thats his entire story that season, trying to be a good LC/saving the wildlings.

    I expact the same with Jaime.

  63. Hodor’s Bastard,

    Jaime, when asked how he wants to die, he says:”in the hands of the women i love”, and Bron asks:”but does she want the same?”.

    i think this is quite the forshadowing.

    they will break, that is cartain. Only the reason, cheating in the books, Mycella’s death in the show, will be differant.

  64. Making the 8,

    No. Jaime is still very much in love with “that hateful woman”. At the end of season 5 Show Jaime’s attitude is quite different towards his siblings than book Jaime’s:
    – He’s still loyal to Cersei while book Jaime has had more than enough of his Sis and her shenanigans.
    – He hates, or claims to hate Tyrion after Tywin dies, while in the books it’s Tyrion who hates him.

    I suspect Show Jaime’s opinion about Cersei in season 6 will change though: her confession to sleep with Lancel and her wanting revenge on Dorne will take care of that. I’ve no idea how the Jaime/Tyrion relationship will evolve, but I guess that will be adressed in season 7 or 8.

  65. Avon Restal,

    Much the same us in the books i suppose.
    Tyrion hates Jaime in the books….he will forgive Jaime
    Jaime hates Tyrion in the show…..he will forgive Tyrion
    That is if they will ever meet again!

    What i want to say is that the dynamic is bassicaly the same. What Tyrion will do about Jaime in the books. Jaime will do in the show.

    As for him and Carsei, it will happen in S6, as there was no pont for that story in S5.

  66. Kay,

    My issue with Daario 1 had almost nothing to do with how he looked and almost everything to do with, at least imo, how horrible he was in the role. Yes, at first it was quite jarring to have the new Daario, but I was so glad the first one was gone, I got over it very quickly.

  67. Mihnea: i think this is quite the foreshadowing….
    they will break, that is certain.

    Interesting…could it be that the death of their “bastard” kids (as foreshadowed) could be the death of their relationship? But will J ultimately be Cersei’s “valonqar” and essentially repeat history (as he did many years back with the Mad King)? It does seem likely, but will GRRM go through with it? Will Brienne come back into the picture as he “dies in the arms of the woman he loves?”

    Hmmm…the show could go in interesting directions here. I must admit that Jaime’s book events are 10x more interesting for me, especially since Brienne, LS, BwB and J are about to have dinner together. The only thing I got out of the show Dorne trip for Jaime was his whimsical and affectionate gaze as they passed Tarth. Hmmmm…

  68. Mihnea,

    Good point about Jaime – Tyrion: it might be as simple as that. I do hope they’ll meet again before the end. I like their relationship and how it helped to humanise Jaime a bit in season 1.

    About a possible Cersei – Jaime fall out: early season 6 I guess. Dead Myrcella will drive Cersei completely over the edge…and possibly towards a stash of wildfire.

  69. Sam the Slayer:

    I think Stannis will take Winterfell… only to be betrayed and killed by a bunch of northern lords some time later.

    And what would be purpose of that?

    Stannis will die, because war between Jon and Ramsay is far more interesting.

  70. mau,

    Stannis’s fans thinking he could/should have won, but was betrayed by ”evil northeners”. Because Stannis can never loose a fair battle, only when the opponent fights dirty, like wildfire at Blackwater.

    P.S. this is sarcasm if you can’t see it. 🙂

  71. Mihnea:
    mau,

    Stannis’s fans thinking he could/should have won, but was betrayed by ”evil northeners”. Because Stannis can never loose a fair battle, only when the opponent fights dirty, like wildfire at Blackwater.

    P.S. this is sarcasm if you can’t see it.

    “Stannis is the best military commander in Westeros! ”

    Stannis has many book fans, because GRRM made almost every main character unlikeable or boring in AFFC and ADWD. He was the only character in the last two books that was doing something important.

    His popularity is a consequence of bad writing in the books. D&D didn’t make the same mistake in S5.

  72. Mihnea,

    I can’t disagree, but it still seems like odd rationale for Jaime himself embarking on the Dorne trip, given the risk of public discovery that he is M’s father (although everyone seems to know anyway). I guess the show wanted to ultimately explore the idea of a “fatherly” Jaime and NCW handled it satisfactorily. That was a major shift from the steadfast narcissist he is in the tomes. It is interesting that GRRM intentionally kept any interaction between Jaime and his bastards to an absolute minimum (for obvious reasons). I only recall one brief moment between Tommen and J in AFfC after Tywin’s stinky funeral.

  73. mau: His popularity is a consequence of bad writing in the books

    I disagree. Stannis’ respect in the fandom is because he has an amazing PoV from Davos. Davos’ distrust/hate for Mel balanced with his respect for Stannis/Shireen (enhanced wonderfully for the show) is great mental theatre. Sadly, Stannis (via his deluded ego) didn’t realize that his greatest moment was his time at the Wall. I eagerly await how his fall in TWoW will come about.

  74. Hodor’s Bastard,

    At the end of AFFC he says he needs to get Tommen away from Cersei, he clearly starts caring for his children, exept of course Jofrey who no one likes.
    but you can easly see in the finale that he cares about his children, he tries to keep them safe, that is the reason he never told them he is their father.

    Really the only one he didn’t felt some connection is Jofrey, but can you blame him? He knows how bad a mad king can be.

    As to why goes to Dorne? His girl is in a foreign country, that hates their family, and just openly threaten them. He goes to save her, her life is more inportant then the ”secret” that he is the father.( that would also draw no suspicion about the parentage..He can easly say that he went to save his niece. Would you not try to save your sisters child? Whats the problem here?)

    And everyone, really everyone knows the truth in the books too.,, Ollena makes jokes at the wedding…i would say only Mace is clueless, but he is like that about everything.

  75. But will J ultimately be Cersei’s “valonqar” and essentially repeat history (as he did many years back with the Mad King)? It does seem likely, but will GRRM go through with it?

    Nah. Too neat, pat and obvious. More likely if Cersei burns down King’s Landing, Jaime won’t be anywhere near it. And if KL is destroyed by the hands of his own sibling and he couldn’t prevent it this time, it really makes the action of killing Aerys, and the sacrifice he made for his reputation seem even more pointless; that is a more likely direction this story would go.

    Really, the only reason Cersei/Jaime haven’t broken up yet is because the show has held back him finding out about her “infidelities” with Lancel, which means they are saving it for (most likely) this season. They clearly thought it was important for whatever longterm arc they have for him that he connect with one of his children AND have him be away from KL during the Faith stuff the way he is in the books. But the writers have basically orchestrated it so he can come back and have a falling out with her in person before I assume he leaves once more to pursue whatever remaining character development is left for him – probably for good – which is more dramatic (though really, their relationship has been falling apart since the beginning of Season 4 anyway, even NCW and LH have said in interviews it’s basically beyond repair – it just needs that final nail in the coffin).

  76. kit_hepburn: the sacrifice he made for his reputation seem even more pointless

    I like how you put that….Cersei’s trial run/reaction with the Tower of the Hand may indeed be foreshadowing! I can see Cersei following the MK’s path to ultimate fruition.

    kit_hepburn: him finding out about her “infidelities” with Lancel

    I guess they could explore this further but should her past dalliances really affect Jaime? That would be a bit hypocritical, even for J, imho. I do think Lancel and J will have an altercation at some point though, to some measured effect. I would like to have J witness some sort of severe mental deterioration/spiralling by Cersei that he can’t do anything about or walks away from.

    kit_hepburn: I assume he leaves once more to pursue whatever remaining character development is left for him – probably for good – which is more dramatic

    I wonder about that as well. There is the Brienne factor that I am very keen about, regarding book/show tie-in. If Jaime dies in the riverlands in TWoW, then he may not make it out of KL in the show.

  77. Hodor’s Bastard,

    I guess they could explore this further but should her past dalliances really affect Jaime? That would be a bit hypocritical, even for J, imho.

    Well those dalliances sure affect his mindset and his feelings towards her in the book, that’s for sure! I don’t see how it’s hypocritical – much has been made of the fact that Jaime has never been with another woman (show and book). Every terrible thing he’s done that we’ve seen has been because of his devotion to her; you think he’s not going to have a reaction once he (finally) realizes once and for all that this has been tremendously one-sided? He will.

    If Jaime dies in the riverlands in TWoW

    He won’t. I’m calling it now and placing money on it: he won’t.

  78. kit_hepburn: you think he’s not going to have a reaction once he (finally) realizes once and for all that this has been tremendously one-sided

    Perhaps for the show it will escalate accordingly. Lancel told J about the dalliances directly while in Derry (AFfC) but I think J was more upset about Cersei’s empowering the FM (and that Tyrion wasn’t lying to him about the dalliances) than he was about actual “infidelity.” Since Tyrion and J are cool on the show, and since Lancel is a churchy thug on the show, I’m sure the Lancel issue will escalate accordingly, along with J’s realization that his lifelong lover has become the mad queen regent with a mountainous defender by her side.

  79. I find this quite curious, as I figure the Tyrells are going to destroy the joint as they take on the Sparrows

    Which means heaps of outdoor slaughter scenes

    Of course the alternative is that Croatia is good for Summer Kings Landing scenes, if we are getting winter Kings Landing scenes then they either have to push Croatia filming back, which may be back too far late in the year or alternatively they have to film in a different country more suitable to a wintery Kings Landing environment.

    No surprises then that Belfast is being used a fair bit then? Not sure what the weather is like in the areas of Spain they are filming in

    Could be merging Oldtown scenes with Kings Landing scenes

  80. Mihnea:
    Ravyn,

    Don’t bother. They will defend that Daario to the end, because looks more like in the books. Even tough he is quite a bad actor.

    2nd Daario is batter in acting, has a batter chemastry with the other characters, like Dany and Jorah(can’t wait for them in S6). But alas book readers will hate him, because he looks differant, then in the books.

    I don’t even really care for Huisman. I don’t hate him, I just find him bland, and not particularly engaging (as an actor and a character). But I think given what he’s had to do lately, including trying to influence some of Dany’s decision making, it was a blessing in disguise they had to go out and find a better actor. Dario’s scene where he stabbed the Harpy through the wall, and when he suggested Dany gather and kill all the masters in the arena, were really well delivered.

  81. Dame of Mercia,

    Dame of Mercia:
    I hope this doesn’t affect Croatia (especially Dubrovnik) too negatively from a financial point of view.Though having said that I guess the financial support brought in would have ended after the final season anyhow.All good things come to an end.Girona does have the red roofs that Dubrovnik has and similar narrow streets.Hopefully Dubrovnik will still be able to earn some money from guided tours and maybe with it having been used as a location for GoT, other makes of other TV shows and/or films will perhaps use it.

    Believe me, the filming or not of Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Split, Klis and the other locations along Croatia’s coast is by no means a do or die for Croatia financially. There are 12 million tourists visiting Croatia every year, and the number is increasing year by year. The little income generated from GoT is – believe me – not noticeable in the total. On the other hand, many Croatians truly are sad for GoT not filming here for season 6, and probably won’t be returning either after establishing a new base in Spain. It’s a shame, as Croatia has even more spectacular cities and locations than what has been used during the filming of GoT.

  82. kit_hepburn: He won’t. I’m calling it now and placing money on it: he won’t.

    Between prophecy and foreshadowing, we can bet that where Jaime dies will depend heavily on where someone else is.

    That written, it is very possible that Jaime will not return to KL in either the books or in the show.

    Hodor’s Bastard: I’m sure the Lancel issue will escalate accordingly, along with J’s realization that his lifelong lover has become the mad queen regent with a mountainous defender by her side.

    Of course, it’s possible that Jaime won’t even be in King’s Landing to worry about this. There are many directions this can go, and some of those include Jaime going off after Ellaria & Co., or something like that. (I would find it rather incredible if the ship carried on to Kings Landing after Myrcella’s death: my bet is that Trystane would be against it, and I doubt that a Dornish captain would be eager to deliver Myrcella’s body to KL.)

  83. To the people predicting that King’s Landing is going up in wildfire in the first few episodes of the season…uh…well, no.

    We know that

    Tommen is also going to die before Cersei based on the “Three shrouds” prophecy. Not to mention the fact that we know Jaime is going to the Riverlands in the latter part of the season. It seems VERY likely that the Valonqar is Jaime. And if Cersei is going to go all Mad King on us (with slightly more success this time) Jaime is going to end up in the flames as well. This couldn’t possibly happen until he comes back to King’s Landing. I expect the Westerosi capital to be nothing but ashes by the end of Season 7 but I’m not sure I could see it being much sooner than that.

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