With filming at Ballintoy having finished without so much as a peep and Itálica still a few days away from hosting any of the cast for the Dragonpit shoot, we turn our attention back to the project that’s taking more than six months to finish: the King’s Landing set. Since production appeared to start, we haven’t heard much (for good reason, we now know), but there’s still progress on set, such as the weapons posted along the city walls.
Titanic Studios has been quiet lately, despite significant movement around the King’s Landing set, on which we reported as recently as a week ago. According to our sources, more recently production has been either very unassuming or non-existent. In other words: the big battle shoot hasn’t begun in earnest yet, or else we would have noticed.
However, that doesn’t mean there are no developments! GOTlikeLocation shows the set is still getting new props, such as more flags (is Cersei compensating for a lack of actual power?) and, posted along the walls, spear racks and arrow-filled ground quivers:
Arrows will have to do for now, as the anti-dragon scorpions we saw being tested are nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, we still expect them to be mounted on the three wooden platforms built on top of the city gate, which you can see in the first photo.
That’s it for now! Production will heat up once again when the cast arrives in Spain for the Dragonpit scenes and the King’s Landing battle shoot truly begins at Titanic Studios.
If you look at the comments under the Cairncastle post, Irish Thrones have figured out that the filming there isn’t for Game of Thrones, but for a mini-series called “Mrs. Wilson”. The signs always have initials of the production, hence “MW”.
Gravemaster,
I JUST missed that. Thanks. I updated the article to reflect this.
So we know Cersei will still be in charge of Kings Landing in the final few episodes (this is supported by the fact Jamie/Tyrion are heading North and Kit/Lena filmed together in Dubrovnik a few months back.
The only real question now is whether then Nights King or what remains of Team Targ are the ones doing the attacking – not sure I want to know the answer to that until the start of 2019 though as it could become a very big spoiler.
Long May the Mad Queen reign.
Jon Snowed,
Or they just don’t give a shit about the flags anymore.
Nice spot with the arrow quivers.. I scanned those pics on Twitter and never noticed them.
I see that they’ve also erected a huge shipping container screen on the other side of the set (Queens Rd) over the weekend, so looks like future photo opportunities will be greatly reduced. 😕
Luka Nieto,
Luka, did you Saw the pilou asbaek Interview where he says that usually they film for 6 months for 10 Episodes, but now is 10 months for 6 Episodes, so If the filming started in october , It Will end August 2018. Right?
Lol,
I saw that, yes. Whenever we get a concrete date, we’ll report on it. But if Pilou was correct, that would mean they will film until late August, as originally reported, contrary to what Headey said about June. We’ll see the truth soon.
Luka Nieto,
Of course everyone is thinking that Lena might have meant herself and she’ll be done in June… I mean, so many of us, closer to ‘everyone,’ thinks that Cersei has to die before the end. If not then at least be banished from Westeros. There has to be some post-war scenes in nice Summer weather stuff that needs to be filmed, right?
Clob,
I imagine Cersei will still be around for most of the shooting of the season.
If she dies, she most likely will die towards the end of the penultimate episode (episode 6 most likely).
Lena might’ve just been talking.
Clob,
HelloThere,
Remember that Lena’s scenes are almost all interior studio scenes, with perhaps the exception of the castle walls/ possibly Dragonpit (one filmed, one to go). So she could easily wrap much sooner than most of the cast.
I imagine the same will apply to Sophie, now that the WF set is being dismantled.
When Headey finishes filming doesn’t relate in any way to Cersei’s survival. The show isn’t filmed in sequence. At all. Some characters may survive the season and be done filming very early because their scenes were all filmed early on.
I imagine most of the scenes filmed indoors (i.e. in interior sets) have already been filmed, so actors like Headey who aren’t involved in as many outdoors scenes may have already shot most of their stuff. What Apollo said, basically.
Luka Nieto,
I’m well aware of all that. It was just a suggestion with a bit of hope laced in. Still, I feel like there’s something there in thinking that some of the final exterior scenes could be filmed at the height of our Summer to aid in “Winter is over” being conveyed best.
I’ve been hoping that she would become the Night Queen and then have to be outside with NK a bunch. 😉
__________
Can’t say I wasn’t a bit disappointed to see the red Lannister banners. I had hoped we’d see the grey baby seal sigil of House Giantsbane adorning the city walls.
I think after the heavy losses in the battle against the Night King and his army in the North, Dany will get mad and attack Cersie but she lose…
I’ve realised something upon rewatch. The recreated section of KL is basically the same we saw in Bran’s vision with a shadow of a dragon over it. So, whatever sequence happens here, it will be the continuation of Bran’s vision of the future and a dragon will be involved, too. In turn, that means a lot of shooting with fire etc. And a shooting of such scale should take at least a month. Besides that, there should be other more peaceful scenes happening at this set, too. They may be starting to shoot them now and continue through May, but still June looks the most appropriate time for the beginning of the main action. And if that takes longer than a month, wrap up in August becomes very realistic.
Inga,
Yes you can see many of the same buildings in established shots of KL… for example, when Cersei watches the Sept of Baelor blowing up from her window, you see the same street in the foreground. Kudos to the production team on excellent continuity.
OT… and spoilery…
Red Priestess has noticed a returning GoT actor in Belfast via instagram.
…and then what? There’s gotta be more to it…
I know there are many people that expect Daenerys to fail and die, and some that really desire it for some reason. It’s anticlimactic failures suggested that I have to question. With her we have an entire books and cable series pov protagonist character, on her own side of their world for a majority. She has been beaten down on several occasions but fought her way through it all to achieve her goal of getting to Westeros with the power to take back the throne. She and her story are too big and too tied to the backbone of the entire story to just “meh, you’re dead,” like the early story dropouts.
fun note: Daenerys’ first pov chapter was the third chapter in ASoIaF, Jon’s was the fifth. Cersei didn’t even have a pov chapter until the 4th book. Davos has been a bigger pov character than she.
Hmmm… interesting…
Clob,
The earlier video from the set showed that Dany’s froces (the Unsullied and the Dothraki) will come to KL peacefully through an open gate. Therefore, all the speculations about Dany attacking KL can be excluded. The story won’t be about Dany turning into a villain (it never was) but rather about the extent of damage a villain (or a useful idiot) like Cersei can do. As for Dany, she still may be forced to attack the Red Keep to take out Cersei pro bono publico and the situation might mirror the one which occured at the climax of the Robert’s Rebellion, but once again someone will assassinate Cersei and the situation will be resolved.
Inga,
I’m not entirely certain the video was that conclusive? At least not to the point where we can say with certainty that the Dothraki and the Unsullied come to KL peacefully.
All we saw was some short footage of both armed forces in costume and seemingly lined up in formation. I’m not even sure there were any cameras filming at the time?
I could be wrong of course, but so far I think all we can ascertain is the fact that the Unsullied and the Dothraki will be in KL some time post war.
Mia,
I reckon it’ll be pre-battle of KL as the scenes with an intact city wall will obviously be filmed first. After that, they’ll remove the facade to reveal the destroyed gate/walls that they built underneath.
Although it’s hard to say where that battle falls in regards to the war for the dawn..
Mia,
I guess you are in denial. The Unsullied appoached the gate in columns – it’s not the attack formation. An the Dothraki were supposed to follow them immediately afterwards which makes no sense in case of attack. If there were an attack, the whole sequence of the Unsullied breaching the gate would take several days to film, and the cavalry wouldn’t be hanging around during such filming. Moreover, the gate was intact, there were no scorpions on the platforms, and no Lannister extras on the walls. So, everything hints that the Unsullied and the Dothraki were entering the city peacefully and not after the war.
Hmm. Really? The video showed that?
That is very revealing plot wise if true.
Inga,
The video showed the Unsullied marching in rehearsals. They were surrounded by modern equipment, buildings, and crew. The Dothraki were waiting behind them. They weren’t even filming. So how they were marching is a bit irrelevant.
Luka Nieto,
Yeah, it was so short and containing b.t.s. type activity that nothing could really be confirmed from it. All it really did was provide us with some speculation material. It may be a very good assumption that it shows Unsullied and Dothraki do return to KL. Being at that set location does make it highly probable they were there for something to do with KL, considering we didn’t see them actually filming anything it’s still an assumption though. Inga is working on a speculation that might be close to accurate since we didn’t have any sign or word of further activity and filming there at the time. Still, it’s all guesses right now.
Luka Nieto,
Yes, this is what I was saying. There was nothing in that video that suggests anything particularly decisive other than the fact that the Unsullied and the Dothraki will be in KL at some point during the season.
Inga,
I’m not too sure what I would be in denial of? You made a statement and I responded by saying that I wasn’t too sure if what you were claiming to be positive fact was accurate. That’s all. And at the end of the day, we’re all just speculating at this point.
In fact, I haven’t even hazarded a guess as to what the Dothraki or the Unsullied are doing in KL because there was so little to go on from that video alone.
Jon’s chapter was 5th, because that’s when he was heading to The Wall. There was no one else to follow there may be except for Benjen who ended up going missing. No point in making Jon’s start earlier if you want Ned to seem like he’s the main character of the story.
Luka Nieto,
Clob,
Mia,
OK, sorry, if I sounded offensive but I stick to my point. Even if that was a rehearsal, it was pretty telling, because, when you rehearse, you film right afterwards. And that’s what we saw: the Unsullied were approaching the gate which was intact with the Dothraki supposed to follow them.
Once again, let’s imagine a scenario of a possible attack. Dany has dragons (there were rumours that the arrival of the dragons was filmed next day). So, step one: she would destroy the gate with dragonfire. Step two: the Unsullied would come in to clear the surviving Lannister soldiers on the walls. And only afterwards the Dothraki can ride in to clear the streets or whatever. But each of the scenes would take at least a day to film and the set would have to be rearranged taking out the section of the gate arch, which means the Dothraki wouldn’t be hanging around. Horses are expensive, aren’t they?
Moreover, Dany’s army entering KL peacefully makes every sense characterwise and storywise. Dany, with all her flaws, has a strong instinct of helping people, especially the poor common folk, and so does Jon. If they learn that the Night King is going to attack KL – and the whole point of giving a dragon to the Night King was to facilitate such attack – they would come to help. As for Cersei, she knows that she can’t beat the Targs in a battle and she intends to fight them smart. So, luring them into the city with wildfire cashes underneath would be the smartest thing to do (she won’t believe in the good intentions of the Targs and think that they are going to do exactly what her father did during the Robert’s Rebellion). I guess we are going to be very aware of this plan (in fact, we already are), and when we see Dany’s army marching throught the gate of KL we’ll know that they are walking into a trap and crying noooo!
Why has no one mentioned the success of George RR Martin’s latest writing project: https://www.studentproblems.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/avengers-infinity-war.jpg
And people thought it was written by Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Luka Nieto,
Thanks for clearing that up.
Remember that the concealed set shows the gate in ruins, i.e. smashed to pieces, with very detailed, shattered brickwork. So whatever breaches those gates, it won’t be dragonfire, as the set would resemble molten and charred stone.
I assume it’ll be one of the dragons smashing them, as I can’t picture any man made siege weapons being able to cause such extensive damage.
Apollo,
I could imagine Dany choosing to use physical force rather than Dragon Fire, which would be much harder to contain, damage wise.
I think the show wants to contrast Danys ability to hold back her destructive impulses with Cerseis indulgence in them.
Inga,
Well, I’m glad people have come to say that this isn’t definite, but I ask that you please cover this speculation/spoiler with the spoiler tag next time! I try to only click on certain articles here, ones that aren’t major spoilery, but if this was true it would definitely be a MAJOR spoiler, one that I wouldn’t have wanted to stumble upon.
I’m trying to stay as in the dark as I can while still seeing some (particularly non-spoilery) filming news!
Jaehaerys,
Sorry, I’ll definitely do that next time. After all, it’s just a specullation and I think that the show will find a way to surprise us one way or another.
Inga,
Yup, I can always assume that if it was an actual spoiler Luka or someone else would’ve reported it and put all the spoilers “below the cut,” and would’ve explained the situation in the title, but in the off chance that you have found information before them, I appreciate a cover-up! I like to learn new filming information to speculate with, but as soon as something becomes a definite thing, I try to stay away. For instance, I was a little peeved to find out the outcome/state of affairs that Winterfell was in after that battle, as that is a definite thing now, but in the end it was something I saw coming so I wasn’t that mad.
We’re all good though 🙂
HelloThere,
For season after season they’ve depicted Dany on the precipice of committing some atrocity or other, only to be talked down by her advisers.
When she ignores her advisers, people tend to die, generally in flames – (Astapor, the Khals, the Tarlys).
And they made a point in Season 7 of stating that the difference between Dany and Cersei is that she chooses advisers to check her worst impulses.
But they also made a point in Season 7 to show Dany’s sympathies shifting to Jon as her key adviser.
She turns to him on the beach in Ep4 after accusing Tyrion of working against her best interests. She ignores Tyrion’s advice in Ep6 not to go rushing off north of The Wall at Jon’s request. And she ignores Jorah’s advice in Ep7 about the safest way for her to travel to Winterfell in favour of Jon’s plan.
So if Jon is now the person whose advice she pays most heed to, what if he were to… oh, I don’t know… turn out to be a rival for her throne? What if he were to “betray” her somehow?
What if Jorah dies fighting in The North? What if Tyrion can no longer influence her? Varys is pretty much nailed on to die. Will he die at the hands of the woman who threatened to burn him alive if he betrayed her in his pursuit of what he considers best for the realm?
What if she doesn’t have or listen to the sort of advisers who have repeatedly been depicted talking her back from the brink?
Have they been laying it on thick, season after season, that she relies on her advisers to tame her worst impulses just to prove that she’s better than Cersei, or Joffrey or Stannis? Which is a pretty low bar to surpass!
Or, alternatively, to make it more believable when the advisers aren’t there and she does finally cross that line?