The Dragonpit as it looked in season seven’s “The Dragon and the Wolf.”
The Dragonpit will return in season eight and we may see more of it than last time. Filming in Santiponce, Seville will commence before the end of April, so production is already underway to make the Roman amphitheater of Itálica look like the Dragonpit of King’s Landing. Below, we bring you a first glimpse at how that work is going!
Last Sunday, Dani Llanos visited Itálica’s ruins in Santiponce and, as you can see, the crew was already on site, with the amphitheater partially off-limits during construction:
Restricted access notice just outside the amphitheater. Photo: Dani Llanos (@dllanosg)
Scaffolding is already present, but props aren’t. Photo: Dani Llanos (@dllanosg)
Part of the amphitheater is already off-limits. Photo: Dani Llanos (@dllanosg)
Additionally, va stark shows the pit in the center of the arena is already being covered:
Photo: va stark (@varcradel)
The pit, once used to hoist animals to the arena, wouldn’t really belong in a structure built to keep dragons, instead of to entertain the people with blood games. But that’s not the only reason for hiding it: just as in season seven, as you can see in the screen capture at the top of the article, a platform is being built over the animal pit.
In “The Dragon and the Wolf,” Cersei used this dais for her summit with her many enemies. Is it being rebuilt just so the Dragonpit looks just like it did last time we saw it? Or will this central stage be put to use again? If that’s the case, will it be for a similar purpose—another parley? Or a more bloody affair, like a duel or trial by combat?
I’m really not that hyped about this filming, I hope it’s not another parlay but can’t really see what else it could be and given how few characters there are in Kings Landing right now it has to be a scene in the latter episodes.
Jon SnowedQuote Reply
I saw that picture of the ‘pit filling’ yesterday and noticed they’re constructing it differently than last time. I searched for a good picture for comparison but couldn’t find one. I’m not suggesting it means anything necessarily. They could have just decided on a cheaper, faster, easier, or more sturdy method for it after the first build. *shrug*
ClobQuote Reply
Hmmm…I really really really want a trial of seven. I don’t know who v who but something bloody better happen and the show hasn’t done a trial by seven!
castyQuote Reply
Rerun of last year’s parlay, but this time the Night King will get to put his two cents in. I don’t think he’ll care whether Cersei’s pregnant though.
JoeyQuote Reply
Could it be where Jon will be crowned? 🙂
ValQuote Reply
Clob,
They’re taking less time in building it, that’s for sure.
Luka NietoQuote Reply
Nvm, I just read the last article abut the dragon pit where this theory got sorta shut down lol
ValQuote Reply
Clob,
Me too (have been scouring social media for updates on how things are progressing at Santiponce as how the central pit is prepped could be key).
And you’re right.. that’s a flimsier scaffolding rig they’re putting down as opposed to the steel girders from before.
So I’m also wondering whether this is because they won’t need such a stable, load bearing platform this time around (less cast members) and instead they’ll just cover the ground with sand.
ApolloQuote Reply
I’m interested to see if it will be set-dressed for a frosty winter.
LadyGoodmanQuote Reply
Biggest chess board ever.
PigeonQuote Reply
Or their comparable game, cyvasse. 🙂
http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Cyvasse
ClobQuote Reply
They’ve also laid down plywood boards along the entrance corridor, which they didn’t use when I was there when they prepped in 2016. Could it be for fake snow?
ApolloQuote Reply
Jon Snow VS The Night King
Joe WeaverQuote Reply
It’s dang-near mid-April yet there’s still plenty of the real stuff outside my window right now. They can take it all!! 😛
ClobQuote Reply
Maybe we’re making too much of this… Perhaps they’ll simply use the Dragonpit as the place to burn all the bodies like was done for the Great Spring Sickness. 🙂
no, probably not
ClobQuote Reply
Clob,
Well, this is another valid option TBH. They can scatter plenty of corpse props from before.
That structure sure won’t support Cleganebowl! 😝
ApolloQuote Reply
Nah. There will be a small trap door leading to the underground pit. With most of the main players in the audience waiting in breathless anticipation, a solitary figure will emerge from the underground chamber. The diminutive orator climbs up the steps, applause erupts, and when the cheers subside, the speaker’s voice reverberates among the hushed and anxious audience:
“I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel…”
Ten BearsQuote Reply
Ten Bears,
Ahh… Tyrion on tour for his one man comedy show! I wonder if the tickets will be reasonable enough for the common folk.
ClobQuote Reply
I figured it would be the first show of Marillion’s comeback tour. Derp.
Mr DerpQuote Reply
I don’t know how the producers expect those little barriers to keep the dragons out
Making the 8Quote Reply
Putting Cersei on trial would be fun
House MontyQuote Reply
It could be for the Red Panda…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSB4O_p6pxw
ClobQuote Reply
Apollo,
It maybe wights running into the pit, when the WW r storming KL.
SuperNorthenerQuote Reply
Here’s an off-the-wall suggestion – is it possible that Cersei, being so irritated with the grandness of Dany’s entrance last season, has decided SHE wants a try at having a dragon? I may be wrong, but as far as we know, she has no idea about an underlying psychic connection between Dany and her dragons. All Cersei would see is that another female has successfully tamed dragons, so why wouldn’t she be able to have Qyburn figure a way to drop one from the sky so she could have a try at controlling it. Maybe she figures if she gets one, she can put the pit back to its original use.
Other than that, I have no idea about what the use for the pit would be. Maybe another parlay, maybe a crowning, maybe executions. Maybe she will go full Aerys and start burning people alive for the spectacle. These speculations are the fun part of the off-season. This site is about the only thing that makes the wait tolerable.
ThronetenderQuote Reply
Clob,
Where is your window?
SuperNorthenerQuote Reply
Cleganebowl!
thorne garnetQuote Reply
Compared to Thronetender’s vision of Cersei trying to tame one of Dany’s dragons sounds Cleganbowl rather boooooring.
cos alphaQuote Reply
Funeral (cremation) is a good guess. Valar morghulis after all. And that may take some time to film: getting the righ expressions from the survivors, etc. I like the idea.
IngaQuote Reply
I could see that, actually.
Enharmony1625Quote Reply
Fewer.
PortQuote Reply
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