Location shooting in the Croatian town of Sibenik for Game of Thrones season 5 began today, and several of the show’s actors were on hand for filming.
Slobodnadalmacija.hr snapped several photos of the scene being shot in front of the historic Cathedral of St. James. There was reportedly controversy over the use of the site but that appears to have been resolved.
The scene filmed involves Mark Gatiss as Tycho Nestoris, Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Mace Tyrell, and Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant. With the characters present and the costuming of the extras, we can see that Sibenik’s square by the cathedral will be standing in for the Free City of Braavos.
Warning: spoilers below the cut!
The actors are wearing the same costumes as they were when they were filming on the waterfront in Kastel Gomilica, so this may be a continuation of that scene.
Filming is expected to continue until the 23rd of this month. Sets at the Fortress of St. John are being prepared.
Sibenik.in also photographed the action in the square today, catching a broad view of the filming.
Even the Deputy Mayor of Sibenik, Danijel Mileta, joined the show as an extra, shown below. 
One more thing! The other day, Emilia Clarke and Michiel Huisman were spotted on set in Split, with pics taken. Some more photos turned up later on that day, confirming the appearance of another character in that location shooting: Hizdahr zo Loraq, played by Joel Fry.
Update! DalmacijaNews has posted several more photos of today’s production showing filming with Maisie Williams and Ian Beattie. Looks like Arya may have spotted the Kingsguard knight…
Hodor?
Ser Barristan!
Posted this under the previous article, but anyway, just so everyone can see: here’s a closer look on Arya in new costume and Mace chatting with David Nutter, among other things.
http://imgur.com/a/qxeSs
http://imgur.com/a/qxeSs
New images with ARYA! She should be on the title of this article, too! 🙂
Also, the director should be pointed out. I’m pretty sure that’s David Nutter, so it’s either episode 9 or 10.
Look at all the wee Leia’s!
Probably a season closer then.
breakfastfestival,
What are you talking about, exactly?
Maisie looks in pain. I wonder if that bun she’s wearing is extremely uncomfortable
Anyone thinking with
These are all goddamn awesome! David Nutter confirmed!
LordLannister,
Mercy is Coming….
On a side note, how funny is that photo of Joel Fry? Like he accidentally stepped out from behind the trailer or something and got photographed.
LordLannister,
So it seems Mace Tyrell is taking the place of Harys, and Meryn Trant the place of Raff. In the books Arya’s reason to kill Raff is that he killed Lommy, but in the show he doesn’t exist, since Polliver not only took Needle but also killed Lommy, and he has already been dealt with (in a manner similar to Raff, too.)
What’s brilliant about this is that Trant is also in Arya’s list, since he killed Syrio Forel, and it makes sense a Kingsguard would protect the Master of Coin (or whatever Mace’s role is), particularly if he is the King’s father-in-law. Honestly, I prefer this version of events to the original TWOW version.
What do you think will be the iron bank respond to the crown’s envoy?
On the left of the broad view picture of the filming…
LordLannister,
Yeah, when the news first surfaced about these actors filming in Kastel Gomlica many have people speculated that
I think that it’s a safe bet, and I’m strongly in favor of it.
Lady Nym,
They lent money to Stannis, but they aren’t exclusively funding him instead of the Lannisters. Bryan Cogman confirmed it in the GOO podcast.
No
Yay! Maisie has a new dress (though drab).
D&D know what they are doing, the more I think about it.
They did the same thing with the Iron Bank, repeatedly mentioning throughout the second, third and fourth seasons so that even the most casual watchers at least had an inkling of who they were when Stannis came to ask for money.
Also, this makes me think the seemingly random mentions of the Golden Company have a point. I firmly believe fAegon is gone, but they must be doing something with the Company this season, because in Season 4 Davos suggests them to Stannis, and Jorah mentions he had been a member right after his exile, even though in the books he hadn’t (he had been a mercenary, but it’s not specified more.) I wonder what their role will be, in the absence of the Griffs.
LukaNieto,
Key word in those pics is “Pixsell.” Pixsell is a photo agency- you have to purchase their photos.
And please, everyone, cover your spoilers!
^
Sorry won’t happen again ! I was worried about Stannis and forgot
How might Tycho knows that Meryn
Sue the Fury,
Oops. Sorry. Hopefully other people have snapped some photos of her as well. I’m sure you’re on it, anyway.
LukaNieto,
This all Braavos except one pic.
Interesting costuming, except for hair styles , which I never had an image of, this does indeed look like 14 and 15th century Europe.
Costume colors could have stepped out of a 15th Dutch painting.
Lady Nym,
He doesn’t
I love the look of the braavosi women! amazing style.
Lady Nym,
Presumably that’s going to happen in the future. My impression is that Cogman’s clarification is to indicate that the Stannis/Bank interactions so far were just the groundwork for it-
Also, wanted to comment that I really like the Braavosi outfits. Very Renaissance-y, and I like how everyone is neatly dressed and you can’t easily judge social class.
Oops- sorry for the double posting. Wasn’t seeming to load at first.
Sue the Fury,
I don’t know how it all works, but aren’t these ones free for use? When you register on their website they are available. You have to purchase the full resolution versions, though.
Gravemaster,
Only smaller thumbnail versions are available. (And they are still owned by Pixsell.) And we really can’t post imgur photos with watermarks all over them.
LukaNieto,
I really hope D&D can improve that scene with better quality of writing then from whats in TWoW. One of GRRMs worst chapters IMO.
Gravemaster,
Maisie looks so grown up.
What I find most interesting about those pics is; If that is in fact the Nutter,
Bravos looks great so does Maisie and the kingsguard Armour is awesome as always. Only one minor complaint is wouldn’t it make sense for the lord of Highgarden and the reach have some Knights from the reach as a guards not Lannister men.
rudie,
Arguably, but he’s in Braavos on official business, so it makes sense he’d be traveling with royal guards (who granted, happen to be Lannisters/Lannister toadies). Knights from the Reach are more likely to be with Maragaery at court.
Ser Matt the Sullen,
LukaNieto,
Jared,
Yeah I agree with you all,
is a much more interesting option, can’t wait
Tyrion spotted filming in Seville! 🙂
And no, he’s not suddenly in Dorne, obviously. It’s probably Volantis. They always use their new locations for more than the obvious (Iceland for the Vale and some of the North, for example.)
The original Spanish tweet has already been retweeted by The Watchers on the Wall; since they’ll be making the article soon, I won’t bother posting it here. I’ll just say this: Peter Dinklage looks amazing as a disguised, bearded, drunken Tyrion.
This seems to be episodes 9 or 10 and Maisie is 17 , and if this is ‘Mercy’ , makes sense.
Luka Nieto,
Felt Pelt,
Hm… I’m pretty sure that comment came along with the “I don’t want to play a stereotypical fantasy dwarf.” So I think he meant the typical long beard, along with every other dwarf stereotypes.
Braavos is shaping up to be a lot of fun this year!
Each set of photos I see impress me more than the previous I think….
Kudos to the production crew!
Luka Nieto,
When did he film there, because wotw has also retweeted a tweet about him now being in Split airport…
Anyways, today is just great. After so many slow GoT newsdays we get so much now.
I really like the consolidation of Arya
His Door Solar Rack,
Hopefully the latter. I don’t think it will work well in TV.
Wooop! Arya looking…different. At last!
I think it’s excellent and one of the best Arya chapters he’s written in a while, and certainly stronger than any of the other released TWOW chapters.
And D&D must also like it, since they copied the dialogue from it for episode 4.01.
Why wouldn’t it work?
I hope they don’t cut it, it’s an interesting part of her training, and
was an important and really cool moment
No, we won’t be. Not right now anyway. It’s been denied by good sources that there is any sort of GoT filming taking place in Spain at the moment. So the photo is either a decent fake, or Dinklage was in Spain just doing a photo shoot, as the tweet referred to. I’m still checking around, but there’s no verification that the pic is real, at this point.
Sue the Fury,
It was pretty clearly him. That costume was the same one he was in right here. I don’t think it was actually from Spain but it looked very legit.
Sue the Fury,
Let’s hope it’s real then. I mean, his garb and everything else makes sense, but if the place doesn’t, well, that’s tricky. Maybe it’s Croatia.
Greenjones,
It could well be legit from a photo shoot, which seems more likely. But they’re not filming this month, as far as we know from some very good sources.
Sue the Fury,
Apparently, the photo was taken on set in Belfast.
But it is not confirmed
Think of it as their shorting the market or creating a hedge fund…
H. Stark,
That may just make more sense.
H. Stark,
That works way better. Especially since they just filmed with that brothel guard and young Clea. I take it he’s sitting on the establishment’s porch in the now-hard-to-find photo sorrowfully chugging from the wineskin. Good stuff.
Annara Snow,
The Theon chapter was the best TWOW sample, IMO.
His Door Solar Rack,
H. Stark,
Has it been deleted from its source? I can’t find it on twitter anymore.
Here’s that photo, still up: SPOILERS
Lady Nym,
It doesn’t matter. A large lending institution will take on whatever risk it sees as most viable. It does not have to choose sides.
Greenjones,
https://twitter.com/juegotronosplus/status/512604588059680769
Felt Pelt,
Dolorous Ned,
Thanks. I just searched “Peter Dinklage filming” and “Peter Dinklage” and it didn’t come up, so I assumed it had been gotten rid of. It shows what I know about twitter.
New pics added of Maisie- even better ones.
Sue the Fury,
Awesome! And she’s got her cart of cockles!
In the last photo it looks like a production assistant has to push the cart around between takes. Lazy actors.
That one was pretty good, too. I’d put it as second best of the released chapters.
I love that she’s staring him down in plain sight.
As Sue pointed out the photo seems to be fake as the tweet says it’s from today’s filming. If anyone can refine my horrible Spanish translation:
“Friends of GameofThronesTM, Greetings from Seville(Volantis) photo of filming GOT this midday. Long teeth?”
“Long teeth”? Also, has anyone seen a few ‘shops in their time and would be able to comment on pixel arrangement?
Felt Pelt,
“Dientes largos”, or “Long teath”, means “Anybody jealous?”, basically.
The new Arya and Meryn photos are great. If there was any doubt about Meryn taking the place of Raff, there is not any now.
Lady Nym,
Greatjon of Slumber,
Yep, I believe it’s sometimes called “hedging your bets”–they’ll win no matter what side comes out on top. Banks do it all the time.
Lol, what has happened to WiC? I was just over there and I won’t give names but the editor of the post believes the shooting in Sibenik is for K.L. and thinks Tycho is visiting not the other way around. They keep scouring the pics for Lena Heady and her entourage, lol. They don’t even realize looking at the costumes it’s not K.L., fashion trends changes aren’t that fast.
Alba Gu Bràth
The fourth from last pic – see a green screen in front of the catherdral entrance – my guess is that it serves for the I B of Braavos entrance.
Felt Pelt,
That looks like they photoshopped Peter Dinklage’s face onto another person’s body if you ask me…
Annara Snow,
Are you talking about the
Luka Nieto,
Thank you. It’s an neat phrase. From Googling it apparently comes from the idea of a hungry animal opening its mouth to shows its fangs when it wants to eat. That’s cool.
tyjon,
I wanted to make a post on how ill equipped the new editors have been on handling even the simplest of news, but I bit my tongue (or keyboard).
Dame Pasty,
I believe it was a reference to her
Hehe, how long before
The extra in costume with his arms behind his back watching everything by himself makes me think of the King’s Landing Page, who was also a casting director and who introduced people when they walked into rooms for a little bit in the first season.
It would be cool if he showed up for some reason again, to be tortured by Cersei and then dragged along to Braavos, though I’m sure it’s just an Braavosi extra.
Petar Dinklage actually did a scene in ….
Klis, with Oberyn
So I’m assuming
Those set pics are amazing! Ser Meryn better watch his back, there’s a cockle vendor following him. 😉 This is going to be so great!
Laura,
Omg I laughed. It should be that EXACT line. XD
Dame Pasty,
Where did Maisie get those awesome boots? Good boots are hard to find!
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
Oh, now I remember! Thanks for the info….Apparently I DO need to go re-read so it’s more fixed in my decrepit brain.
+1 !!! Has she finally hit her teen growth spurt or is it just the costuming and hairdo?
LukaNieto,
It was my assumption that Stannis has hired the Golden Company. Since Davos suggested it to him, and then he shows up to the wall with what can only possibly be a group of sellswords. It just seems really unlikely to me that the writers would have Davos mention the GC by name, only to have Stannis hire a totally different group of sellswords. What would be the point of that?
Alejandro,
Huh… no. Not at all. Stannis says he has 4000 men of his own. About 4000 men show up to the Wall (not even that many, actually.)
Luka Nieto,
I can’t confirm or deny your 4000 number without going back and re-watching the pertinent scenes in the episodes. But I was under the impression that Stannis didn’t have crap for men, which is why Davos suggested the GC in the first place. It seemed like a rather substantial army to me that he had at the wall. Looked like a hell of a lot more than 4000 even.
Alejandro,
I was under the impression he needed the money to keep the men loyal and bankroll ships, provide supplies (possibly for the Northern lords he wanted to get onside), etc. I think if the Golden Company had joined him they would have made it more prominent.
Ian Beattie…
Arya in Braavos makes me smile….
Queenofthrones,
I don’t think so. As I said above he’s wearing the same costume he wore when filming on the shore in Antrim. Compare today’s image with this one.
I seem to recall them saying something about the Golden Company being unavailable in one of the Meereen scenes. Does anyone else recall that? I don’t think they were hired by Stannis.
I fully expect the GC to be introduced when they invade the “Blank” with “Blank” next season. I doubt they would namedrop them so much if they were to be omitted.
Where the frank is the spoiler button? It seems to have disappeared
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Knocked my socks off! Loved it.
AHHHH! Arya in Braavos is the story line I am looking forward to most! Lots of intricate details they could take in different directions. I am hopeful her training won’t be short changed.
LordLannister,
He’ll probably be the substitute for Dareon.
Ice Dragon,
That’s what I’ve been saying all along. He may have some simliarities to Raff, but in the story, he’ll take Dareon’s place. Note how much hair Arya has in these pictures. Meaning, she’s not bald. Meaning, she’s not Mercy.
LukaNieto,
Fancy word for a sellsword,
Ok, you guys forced me to go back to watch the scene when Davos mentions the Golden Company, and I am now 100% certain Stannis does have the Golden Company. I’m not going to quote the entire scene word for word, but it went like this:
Stannis has Davos read the message that Joffrey is dead, credits the leaches, and yells at Davos for releasing Gendry.
He tells Davos “I am now faced with a great opportunity, and I am powerless to take advantage of it.”
Davos replies, “We’ll find you an army, Your Grace. I’ve been working day and night…”
Stannis cuts him off and demands, “What progress have you made?”
Davos lists three houses he’s enlisted.
Stannis then replies, (and I can’t believe I forgot this because it’s such a great line!) he replies, “They don’t have enough men between them to raid a pantry.”
Davos then says, “Westeros isn’t the world, Your Grace. We need to look East for ships and men. 10,000 skilled soilders fight for the Golden Company.”
“The Golden Company?” said Stannis
“They’ve never broken a contract,” replied Davos.
“They’re sellswords!” yelled Stannis.
Davos then goes off on a speech about how they’re willing to use the Red Woman and black magic so why would you not pay soilders. He admits the Red Woman’s visions and prophecies are real, but says that visions and prophecies don’t win wars, soilders win wars.
Stannis says, “We don’t have any gold.”
Davos says, “Not yet.”
Then Stannis goes off on his speech about how he needs to press his claim now, he won’t be a page in someone else’s history book, etc.
So a couple things I note here. I don’t hear anything about 4000 men. I hear he doesn’t have enough men to raid a pantry. And I’m pretty sure 4000 men could raid a panty. Secondly, Stannis seems to concede that Davos made a point about soidlers winning wars, and seems open to purchasing the GC when he says “We dont have any gold.”
Of course, they do get gold, and suddenly the have more than enough men to raid several thousand pantries. So why would the writers have Davos specifically suggest the Golden Company, say that they have 10,000 men, and have never broken a contract, only to have Stannis show up to the wall with entirely different army? It doesn’t make any sense. So I’m absolutely convinced now they have the GC, and it will probably be clarified again within the first couple of episodes of Season 5.
Alejandro,
I think they mentioned the 4000 men and the 32 ships at the Iron Bank, not during the scene you just referenced.
Alejandro,
If they have the Golden Company, then say goodbye to
Alejandro,
Well… I can only say you’re just wrong, to be honest. Tycho asks Stannis and Davos about their resources, and they admit they have 4000 man, but nothing to feed them and only 30 ships to transport them. Also, the number of mounted men that appear on the Wall is fewer than 4000. It just seems more, but it isn’t. They are perfectly aligned; it’s not difficult to do a rough estimate.
They don’t have the Golden Company. They paid Sallahdor for his ships (which we DIRECTLY saw after their scene at the bank; they couldn’t have been more obvious, although apparently they needed to, for some people) and bought resources for his already existing army, which you can COUNT on-screen in episode 10. And it’s not even the whole army Stannis says he already has, in episode 6!
And why mention the Golden Company then? The same reason they did it in the case of Jorah; the showrunners are doing something with them next season, and they want to set them up. I doubt it’ll be their role in the books, since that character seems to have been cut, but still, they may find a use for the Company.
Alejandro,
I strongly suspect that they’re going to get through all of Arya’s existing storyline this season, up to and including their adaptation of the Mercy chapter, and as a result, some elements may need to be condensed or cut. I think it’s quite possible that the Blind Beth and Mercy identities could be cut, and Arya could go through her whole Braavos storyline as just Cat of the Canals, or perhaps only wear other disguises briefly (such as during an assassination).
The Mercy chapter seemed to imply that after killing Raff, Arya would have to abandon the Mercy identity, which means that that disguise probably isn’t relevant outside of that isolated chapter. The victim’s role and identity have been given to Meryn (with Arya clearly in her “Cat of the Canals” disguise in these photos) and the method of the kill (as well as the reason for that specific method) was already given to Polliver, so there’s really nothing else relevant left of the Mercy chapter to adapt, and thus no reason to include the Mercy identity on the show at all. If the Mercy identity is cut, then Arya’s hair is not relevant (not to mention that they might not do that anyway. For example, Daenerys never got her hair burned off in the show like she did in the book).
Likewise, the Blind Beth identity is primarily relevant to Arya’s warging ability, which so far they seem to be eliminating entirely (no wolf dreams, no Nymeria and her pack). If they’ve cut Arya’s warging, cutting the Blind Beth identity makes sense too.
Circumstances seem to be adjusted a bit (pushing a fish cart rather than acting in a play), but the core action (killing the guard of the Iron Throne’s envoy to the Iron Bank) is very much more like the “Mercy” chapter than the “Cat of the Canals” chapter, even though she’s wearing the Cat of the Canals disguise.
Since these scenes with Meryn & Mace are apparently in episode 9 or 10, they’re likely after Cersei’s walk (like Raff & Harys Swyft’s visit to Braavos). Mace is obviously going to meet with the Iron Bank (as Harys did), and Meryn is going to guard him (as Raff did). In terms of his own actions and purpose, Meryn is definitely more like Raff than Dareon. In terms of timing (being apparently right at the end of the season), it’s also more like Raff than Dareon. In terms of how they interact with Arya’s training, both Dareon and Raff are people who Arya kills for her own reasons rather than for the Faceless Men, so in that sense, Meryn could be filling either/both roles.
So overall, Meryn is much more “Raff” than “Dareon”. It’s certainly possible that they are cutting Sam & Dareon’s visit to Braavos, since Sam hasn’t been spotted in Braavos yet (though I haven’t entirely given up hope on this), but that doesn’t mean that Arya’s storyline is being held back. I’m pretty sure Meryn is being Raff, and Dareon will either be cut entirely or included basically as he is in the books. The Sam/Dareon/Arya scenes seem like a good mid-season storyline for all of them, so I hope they leave that in.
If they were really using Meryn as a replacement for Dareon in Arya’s storyline, that would basically mean ending S5 with her blindness cliffhanger from AFFC. I just can’t see them doing that because it would put her way too far behind everyone else chronologically. By all appearances, they’re going to be pushing through pretty much all of Feast & Dance this season, and even digging into Winds a bit so they can finish the series in seven seasons.
Casso,
I think your analysis is 100% correct. I was going to give pretty much the same answer to Alejandro, but I’m glad you did it first.
Ser Matt the Sullen,
Oh, I had the exact same thought. They’ve been switching things around so much, this would be the Mercy chapter on the show, albeit with a different target.
You know nothing, Jon Snow!
Greenjones,
Hm, maybe… his face there reminds me of one of the promotional posters from awhile back. Well, I guess we’ll see. Or maybe not!
Waxfoot,
Hodor!
Casso,
Good analysis! I agree with pretty much all your thoughts and rationale for how they’ll adapt this particular arc.
Queenofthrones,
But he didn’t have that goatee in the promo photo. It’s a legit picture but it isn’t from Spain.
So Cersei sends Jaime to Dorne and Mace to Braavos. Littlefinger is away and Varys is with Tyrion. That really just leaves Cersei alone with Qyburn… What could possibly go wrong?
Tenesmus,
Of course, Cersei vs Margeary will be a big thing next season. She will also probably interact with Olenna, whenever she comes back to King’s Landing, and Mace will interact with her as well for most of the season (the scenes between Mace and Tycho were directed by David Nutter, who is directing episodes 9 & 10.) From filming reports and such, we know Jaime won’t go to Dorne until episode three or so, so Cersei has him for the first couple episodes. Then, as you said, Qyburn will be present, as will Pycelle, in her new Small Council. Also, if Kevan comes back, well, that’s another person.
There’s enough people to make the storyline interesting. But yeah, in story terms, Cersei only has Qyburn and Pycelle as her loyal servants, and Pycelle has been spurned repeatedly, so who knows.
Luka Nieto,
I’d say the Kingsguard are still very much her creatures too…well they would be if there was any of them!
tyjon,
She’s not going to be seducing anyone.