Game of Thrones readies for Spain and returns to Winterfell

Photo: ElCorreo/Maika Salguero
Photo: ElCorreo/Maika Salguero

HBO has arrived in Spain to start their preparations, getting ready for Game of Thrones season 7 by hiring local crews before shooting begins. The company has put out notices in the Basque Country towns of Bermeo and Zumaia, and also in Trujillo and Malpartida, both found in Cáceres province. All the aforementioned places are confirmed shooting  locations for the new season.

Hoy reports that they’re expecting more than 500 production crew members involved in the Cáceres filming, and that it will likely begin in November. They say the local work may last until December, so we’re beginning to get an idea of how long filming may take in the area.

 San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

Up north in Bermeo, it’s expected that filming will only last “two or three days,” which makes sense, since Game of Thrones has opted for only for one shooting location there: the uniquely beautiful San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.

As Modexpor International noted in August, their extras casting in the northern Basque area will only include men. They’ll publish more specifics in October, closer to casting and filming time.

But for now we can speculate with that bit. A casting call for only men points in a few directions: a horde of Dothraki warriors, Dany’s Unsullied army, or some other character who has a group of soldiers with them. Bermeo and Zumaia are not locations suitable for battles, though, so I suspect the extras will wind up being Unsullied or Dothraki accompanying Daenerys.

Back up to Northern Ireland for one last piece of locations news: activity is resuming in the area of Moneyglass.

The small village is home to the Winterfell set every year, and it looks like crews are getting it ready for filming once again. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for Winterfell-centered cast members in the coming weeks!

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

79 Comments

  1. OT:
    https://t.co/wrAyo3asdv

    Sophie Turner’s interview with an Italian website. I used Google translate to read what she says. No idea how accurate this is, but this is what she says about S7 according to Google Translate:

    “I can not say much … as you know will be only seven episodes, but reading the script, I realized that it was the most beautiful script from the beginning of the series. It will be the best season of all . It will make the acquaintance of many people. There will be people who you would not expect to see. Many will meet and will narrow new alliances. A lot of nodes will be home to roost. For Sansa in particular will be a very seasonal, very, very interesting. Please do not make me say any more. “

    I found the part about there being people we would not expect to see and new alliances interesting.
    Somebody who speaks Italian may be able to provide a better translation.

  2. Sue/Watchers Peeps,

    Can you please address this Angela Lansbury thing that keeps popping up on Reddit and elsewhere. Today it was in The Independent via some German paper, and before that some other would be reputable site (I think it might have been The Daily Mail or something like that) was saying Dianna Rigg pushed for Lansbury to land said role and would be in a couple episodes.

    This is awesome news if true, but I’d love to hear it from some more hardcore source, like you guys or EW or something. Any sources saying anything? If its BS, it would be helpful if you quashed it too, so it stops popping up. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I’d really love to know for sure.

  3. ghost of winterfell,

    Yeah more or less that is the meaning of it.I am also intrigued by the people we don’t expect to see.I take that to mean people that at least weren’t in this season.And new alliances is interesting.I wonder if it’s too soon for Jon and Dany.The article says that next season starts the 25th of June.I wonder where that rumour came from because I’m sure it’s not official

  4. Flayed Potatoes:
    ghost of winterfell,

    My guess is the BwB + The Hound will end up in Winterfell by the end of the season. They’ll probably also find out about Dany.

    Agree re: BwB + The Hound – definitely fits into the things coming home to roost theme. Sansa may have kept Littlefinger’s involvement in the deaths of Joffrey and Lysa to herself, but I doubt she will take his side when The Hound is able to say that Littlefinger held a knife to Ned’s throat when he was arrested in season one.

    As for Dany – you’d think that they hear about her arrival an episode or two after she lands. And they did make a point in 610 of Littlefinger saying that news of The Battle of the Bastards would spread quickly, suggesting that it will be common knowledge throughout Westeros in 701. So I guess Dany will find out about Jon not long after her arrival. And luckily for Dany, she has Theon with her – someone who grew up with Jon.

    I am still holding out hope that someone, somewhere will come across Gendry.

  5. Inga,

    Yeah I’m sure it’s fan made.The only official news would come from ew or HBO themselves and it would have been reported here.The premiere date is not announced until much much later

  6. Flayed Potatoes,

    Yes, very likely. I wonder how aware will Jon and Dany be of each other, whether they will form any sort of understanding/ alliance.

    Jenny,

    That’s what interested me the most too, people who Sophie thinks we don’t expect to see. My first thought had gone to an adult Howland Reed, who knows. Or maybe she means Gendry ?.
    I saw that they mentioned June 25th too.

  7. Rhaenys Stark,

    I am not getting my hopes up for anything more than 60 min episodes, lol. Except maybe the last one or two episodes. That way I won’t be disappointed 🙂 .

  8. ghost of winterfell,

    Yeah who would Sophie think we wouldn’t expect to see?Only Howland Reed Rhaegar and Gendry come to mind.I don’t think there are any others left behind.We touched on most people in season six

  9. OFF TOPIC:

    Apparently, The Winds of Winter book release date got leaked on Amazon, for a March 19th, 2017 release. Not confirmed yet.

  10. A Man Grown,

    Yes, that was my thought too. Now I think what if Cersey leaves KL after learning that Daeny is coming or seeing that the battle is lost and orchestrates the resistance from Casterly Rock? There was a bit of foreshadowing in the Winds of Winter when Daario was talking to Daeny. Besides that, Casterly Rock is much closer to the Iron Islands and Euron, and it’s also provides a good basis for attacking the Riverlands and the Vale. Hence, my bold prediction is that S7 will concentrate on 3 main locations: Jon will be in Winterfell and/or CB (in his situation, it would be rather reasonable to move the seat of the KITN to the front-line); Daeny – in KL (which she will take rather easily), and Cersey – in Casterly Rock. The castle of Almodóvar del Río might serve for Casterly Rock too. It could be used for closer shots and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe for panoramic views… But it’s all a pure speculation, of cause.

  11. Mama, I’ve made it.

    Nah, but seriously. This is getting me incredibly pumped. I really do hope one day after the show is ended, they keep the sets open and let us tour them. Winterfell is private property so doubtful on that front, you can just spot it as you drive by. But Castle Black etc. Those I want to see badly.

  12. Jenny:
    ghost of winterfell,

    Appart from the finale I don’t think we will get more than 60 minutes.Why wouldn’t they just have more episodes then?It’s not like HBO is stopping them

    They feel they have 13 hours of the show left, I guess an extra 4 minutes on an episode is nothing compared to writing up another new hour or two of filler.

  13. Connor,

    Nah, that’s not legit. Amazon uses placeholder dates all the time. The publisher has stated clearly time and time again, they do not have a date yet.

  14. Connor:
    OFF TOPIC:

    Apparently, The Winds of Winter book release date got leaked on Amazon, for a March 19th, 2017 release. Not confirmed yet.

    It’s the French Amazon site that it’s on it seems:

    https://www.amazon.fr/Song-Ice-Fire-Winds-Winter/dp/000648610X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473167337&sr=8-1&keywords=winds+of+winter

    Amazon dates are notoriously changeable but the fact that they’ve listed it at all does suggest there’s a publication date on the horizon.

  15. Jenny,

    With all respect, Sophie’s understanding about the ISOIAF/GOT has always been on a level of a casual viewer at best, so, I don’t think that she even knows who the hell Howland Reed is. Gendry would be a closer guess but even that may be a stretch. So, for her unexpected appearance may mean Euron in Cersey’s court or Melisandre in the Riverlands or similar. Don’t count on Sophie’s deep insight – she is not Liam Cunningham.

  16. Inga,

    “(in his situation, it would be rather reasonable to move the seat of the KITN to the front-line);”

    It wouldn’t be reasonable at all. CB doesn’t have the supplies and resources WF has and the Wall will just come crashing down and kill him instantly when the WW finally get through.

    I agree with the rest.

  17. Cathair:
    Mama, I’ve made it.

    Nah, but seriously. This is getting me incredibly pumped. I really do hope one day after the show is ended, they keep the sets open and let us tour them. Winterfell is private property so doubtful on that front, you can just spot it as you drive by. But Castle Black etc. Those I want to see badly.

    I hope so too- I’d love to get into Titanic studios and see the throne room etc. As for the WF set, it’s fairly easy to get on site when there’s no filming. I managed to sneak in last September, although it is technically private property. The only ones bothered by me being there were the sheep! 🙂

  18. ghost of winterfell,
    It is a pretty accurate translation, even if the wording is a bit wonky (the curse of Google translate 😉 ).

    The only two slight things are
    – “un sacco di nodi verranno al pettine” : I have no idea what “a lot of nodes will be home to roost” may mean ( ^^ ) but it should probably be “chickens will come home to roost”, so trouble ahead and;
    – “ci saranno personaggi che non vi aspettereste di vedere” : for having seen quite a few English-to-Italian translations, it seems there is frequently (though not always) a confusion by Italian journalists around the use of the word “like” in English… So Sophie Turner may have said “There will be characters we have never seen before” or “The characters will be like we have never seen them before”…

    San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is uniquely gorgeous and the overall local would indeed fit Casterly Rock pretty well. However, the hermitage looks a bit small for the Lannisters’ stronghold. It is supposed to be quite formidable, if memory serves right. Though, with the magic of CGI, I suppose the show can make the humble church look like an imposing fortress ^^

  19. Apollo: I hope so too- I’d love to get into Titanic studios and see the throne room etc. As for the WF set, it’s fairly easy to get on site when there’s no filming. I managed to sneak in last September, although it is technically private property. The only ones bothered by me being there were the sheep!

    LMAO, I guess I made the mistake of being a good little angel and asking the owners first (whom declined). I should have been a little Lyanna Mormont ninja.

  20. Red Viper,

    Cersey won’t be on the run: I would rather imagine that as a strategical retreat. Cersey knows that there is a lot of wildfire hidden underneath the city and she knows that burning enemies feels good. So, all she has to do to lure Daeny into the Read Keep by yelding King’s Landing without much fight and then have the candles lit. That will not work: Tyrion will wreck her plan somehow and Daeny will march on Casterly Rock but before she gets there, Cesrey will have plenty of time to enter the alliance with Euron and make a lot of bad things.

    IMO, such scenario could serve the show better than dragging the siege of King’s Landing for 6 episodes and also fit with the rumors about the Dragon Pit etc., though I may be totally wrong, of cause.

  21. Sue the Fury:
    Connor,

    Nah, that’s not legit. Amazon uses placeholder dates all the time. The publisher has stated clearly time and time again, they do not have a date yet.

    Womp womp… hopes crushed.. again.. keeping my fingers crossed it will still come out before S7 airs!! Thanks for the clarification Sue!

  22. ACME,

    San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is uniquely gorgeous and the overall local would indeed fit Casterly Rock pretty well. However, the hermitage looks a bit small for the Lannisters’ stronghold.

    My guess is that they may “replace” the hermitage with the castle of Almodóvar del Río and use the later for closer shots of the siege or whatever they are going to do with the Casterly Rock.

  23. Flayed Potatoes:
    Inga,

    “(in his situation, it would be rather reasonable to move the seat of the KITN to the front-line);”

    It wouldn’t be reasonable at all. CB doesn’t have the supplies and resources WF has and the Wall will just come crashing down and kill him instantly when the WW finally get through.

    ACME, let’s think it through.

    1) Compared to the Wall, defenses of Winterfell are negligible. Supplies? In S5 Roose Bolton said something about having supplies for 6 months, and then he had 5 thousand men. Umbers and Carstarks should have eaten some of those supplies, so Jon got Winterfell with even less. Of cause, now he can replenish those supplies with the assistance of other northern lords, but every northern lord will be primarily interested in the survivals of his own house; therefore, the most reasonable solution would be bringing all human and non-human resources to the Wall which provides a common defense for the entire North. In S4 Jon has learned that some 50 or even less men were able to repel the attack of 100 thousand wildlings, so why would he neglect his best fortification with numerous castles etc.? The Wall is still the best defense they have.

    2) We know nothing whether the Wall will fall and when, and Jon knows even less. It’s a popular theory that the spells will be nullified as soon as Bran enters the tunnel; however, this theory developed based on the assumption that the Wall would fall in the S6 finale, and that did not happen. Of cause, it’s still possible that Bran will cause the collapse but IMO the Night’s King will have to grab him again in the greendream. There is a common rule that magical protective barriers are broken, when someone “invites” a force of evil from within. I think that was what Bran did in the cave: he was searching for the Night’s King in his greendream and that allowed the Night’s King to establish the required mental contact which nullified the spell (the appearance of the mark was sort of a psychosomatic reaction). Now Bran knows the consequences and will try to avoid the Night’s King; however, circumstances may force him to do some surveillance or something and then we will have an intense race in the green nightmare etc. Or it will be Euron and/or Cersey who will invite the White Walkers to Westeross causing collapse of the Wall. If the Wall falls, the survivors will run to Winterfell where Daeny will rescue them in the best traditions of GOT. But the Wall won’t fall at all – D&D may decide that showing devastation of the North would be too expensive and locate the Battle for Dawn at the Wall. Or maybe, there won’t be any battle – just a stand after which the White Walkers will retreat and go to sleep for another ten thousand years or so (very bitter-sweet). Anyway, there are a lot of paths the story may take and nobody knows which one it will take except of GRRM and D&D. But as for Jon, he knows that he has to hold the Wall at any cost, so there is a big possibility that he will return to the Castle Black, if he has enough time.

  24. Inga,
    You’re definitely onto something, I believe. They may “composite” the hell out of it and we would get a very impressive Casterly Rock ! ^^

    Out of left field : what about Storm’s End ?
    I know the Stormlands have not been a plot point so far but, with House Baratheon now extinct, who inherits the region ? Cersei, as the last “Baratheon’s” mother ? It would be quite interesting for her to keep it because it forms one, big territorial block with the Crownlands and it gives her access to both the Reach and Dorne.

    I guess it all depends on where the hell on earth Euron is at the moment. Is he still building his ships on the Iron Islands or is he already on his way to Meereen ?
    If the former, up to Casterly Rock we go !
    If the latter, Euron might cross path with Daenerys’s navy in the Narrow Sea. When he fails to impress the Mother of Dragons with his allegedly huge appendage, we might get a naval battle between him and Daenerys and it may prove advantageous for Cersei to back Euron up from the Baratheons’ former bastion… Euron “I am the storm” Greyjoy receiving help from the Stormlands (and dying in Shipbreaker Bay, below Storm’s End maybe ?) would be strangely appropriate ^^

  25. Inga,

    I don’t think we’ll see Cersei at Casterly Rock. She’s been all about King’s Landing and being queen since day one. She’ll go down fighting at King’s Landing.

    Casterly Rock has very much been a Jaime / Tyrion thing, what with Tywin trying to convince Jaime to take his place there and continue the Lannister legacy and refusing to let Tyrion take on Casterly Rock as his birthright in Jaime’s absence.

    If there’s going to be any showdown at Casterly Rock then I would put money on it being between Tyrion and Jaime.

  26. ACME,

    Well, everything is possible but: 1) contrary to Casterly Rock, Stormlands were hardly mentioned in the show; 2) taking into account that Cersey’s sins are now a public knowledge, lords of the Stormlands would hardly recognize her as a legitimate heiress; and last but not least Stormlands host a different plot in the books.

  27. Sue the Fury:
    HouseMartellBitches,

    We’ve said repeatedly that it’s a false rumor. It was denied months ago. Unfortunately, we can’t control when German tabloids decide to kickstart rumors again.

    http://ca.ign.com/articles/2016/09/06/game-of-thrones-angela-lansbury-reportedly-joins-cast-for-season-7

    IGN is reporting on that now. Someone should really get on top of this. I think they’re like the top 100 most visited sites or something like that. This is gonna get out of hand fast.

    I know D&D probably don’t want to comment on every rumor, but this’ll get stupid otherwise. She’s a big name, and that’s a major site!

  28. Inga: With all respect, Sophie’s understanding about the ISOIAF/GOT has always been on a level of a casual viewer at best, so, I don’t think that she even knows who the hell Howland Reed is.

    The majority of the show’s viewers are casual fans – they probably wouldn’t know who Howland Reed is either, or even care.

    I don’t get why some people expect the actors to have “deep insight” into the franchise in order to give a casual, personal opinion.

    Back on topic, it’s exciting to see so many beautiful Spanish locations being used. I hope Casterly Rock will make an appearance in S7.

  29. Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,

    No offense, but I think we tend to underestimate Cersey. Yes, she was all about King’s landing since day one, but she was all about her children too. I have never imagined and never heard anyone else predicting that she will claim the Iron Throne after Tomen’s death. I was 100% that Jamie will find her devastated and begging to be killed. Shame, shame, shame! Now I try to prepare myself to anything.

  30. ACME,

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see Storm’s End. Not sure if San Juan de Gaztelugatxe will be it though.

    It makes strategic sense for Daenerys to invade the Stormlands.

    The Storm Lords have no ruler. They’re weak after the Battle of the Five Kings and Stannis’s doomed foray up North. And of course Storm’s End was the seat of the Usurper, Robert Baratheon.

    To take the Stormlands would not only be symbolic but tactically shrewd too.

    It would unite a third kingdom out of the seven behind her, give her dominion over the southern third of the continent and offer a point from which she could support the Reach and attack King’s Landing.

    There’s no point landing in Dorne or the Reach. And it’s unlikely that she would sail all the way round to attack the Westerlands and Casterly Rock. She’s not going to land in the Vale or the North either.

    So that leaves either a direct attack on King’s Landing, which Tyrion would probably advise against considering what he did to Stannis’s fleet, or landing in the Stormlands.

    I think we could see Storm’s End, even if it’s just for a few scenes where we’re informed that the Storm Lords have bent the knee and update us on where Daenerys plans to attack next.

  31. Apollo,

    My uniquely amazing GOT experience was when one of our good friends was an art director for season four and he took us round Titanic studios a few weeks before filming began. Amazing amazing amazing! Sat on the iron throne with my then one-year-old son on my lap. It’s a memory that will always stay with me.

  32. Flora Linden,

    Viewers think that actors read scripts and know what’s happening several episodes further (which is true). However, it’s their work: some may like the overall story and get deep into it (like Liam Cunningham), some may hate it (Stephen Dillane). Sophie Turner definitely likes it but she is not an analytical type, and nothing wrong about that, of cause. I just wanted to say that conclusions from her words should be drawn taking that into account. Sorry, if it came out offensive in any way.

  33. Inga,

    Fair enough.

    Personally, I see more potential for drama in Cersei having her psychotic downfall at King’s Landing before Tyrion and Jaime (if he’s still alive) fight over the remnants of their family/legacy and who is to blame for its downfall.

    I’m also not sure if there’s any point in drawing out Cersei’s role in the remaining couple of seasons, with so little time left.

    I’m not sure if there’s any need for her reign in King’s Landing to be brought to an end only for her to hole up at Casterly Rock for a second part to her downfall. I think her downfall and that of King’s Landing would be more shrewdly rolled into one.

    Just for example, I could see Cersei’s death and the destruction/capture of King’s Landing being the traditional, big Episode 9 (probably Episode 5 or 6 next season) high point of the season, with a Tyrion/Jaime showdown being part of the finale, reminiscent of Tyrion and Tywin’s showdown.

  34. Wow sounds fantastic!

    With the tourism revenue that the show has brought to Northern Ireland, I’d be very surprised if they don’t develop some GOT attractions once the show is over. And I’d be first in line 🙂

    Che:
    Apollo,

    My uniquely amazing GOT experience was when one of our good friends was an art director for season four and he took us round Titanic studios a few weeks before filming began. Amazing amazing amazing! Sat on the iron throne with my then one-year-old son on my lap. It’s a memory that will always stay with me.

  35. ghost of winterfell,

    Does anyone else think that maybe it won’t be Dany/Jon who try to form an alliance but rather Sansa and Tyrion? I mean they were married first…. :/

    I wonder how Sansa would feel about Jon joining forces with Dany if Tyrion is there??? Plus… Varys is with Dany and Littlefinger won’t like that.

    And if Littlefingers has declared for the Starks then the Lannisters are his enemy. Littlefinger doesn’t have anyone else to back him other than Robin. I wonder what that sneaky jerk’s plan is now -_-

  36. A Sansa/Tyrion reunion is top on my list of most anticipated season 7 moments. However, whatever either does alliance wise it would be as a agent for their respective King/Queen.

  37. Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,

    Yes, if Cersey remains in KL, her downfall should come in episode 6. But that’s the problem: D&D can hardly keep Daeny on the boat for 5 episodes. And if she is to encounter Euron, the naval battle will have to take place in episode 2 or 3. That would not be good for the show structurally etc.

    However, if Daeny sits on the Iron Throne with a wildfire cache underneath and Cersey ready to command little birds to light a candle, the viewers will be kept on the edge until the very end.

    To say the truth I also don’t see much point in drawing out Cersei’s role any further – I expected her to die in the Winds of Winter, but if she didn’t, there must be a point just as for the universally hated sandsnakes.

  38. Also, I think Daenerys’ first offensive into Westeros would be against Dragonstone, her birthplace and entrance to Blackwater Bay.

  39. Inga,

    Yeah, I see what you’re saying, but I think it’s hard to predict the structure of this season compared to previous ones.

    Given how short it is they are unlikely to devote too much time to politics or strategy (which is a shame, in my opinion), so the set pieces could come thicker and faster than previously. That’s also why I think it’s unlikely that they would split Cersei’s downfall into two parts.

    I could picture a structure like this with regard to Cersei / Daenerys:

    Episode 1: Lannister forces wreak death and destruction on the Reach/Dorne – Daenerys is closing in on Westeros / making final preparations for invasion – Cersei learns of Daenerys’ armada – Euron turns up to offer his services

    Episode 2 / 3: Cersei and the Lannisters intensify their attacks on Daenerys’ allies in Westeros – Euron and Daenerys’ armadas do battle and the Iron Islands subplot is concluded

    Episode 4 & 5: Daenerys lands in Westeros, conquers the Stormlands and comes to the aid of her allies

    Episode 6: Siege / capture / destruction of King’s Landing, with Cersei going down in flames (possibly literally)

    Finale: Tying up loose ends (e.g. Tyrion /Jaime) and Daenerys turns her attention to the real war in the North

    That’s just an example, it probably won’t be as straighforward as that. But I think it’s possible to delay the King’s Landing set piece / Cersei’s downfall until the later episodes while still fitting in a Euron / Daenerys sea battle and a fair bit of screen time featuring the war and conquest of Westeros.

  40. Jenny:
    ghost of winterfell,

    Appart from the finale I don’t think we will get more than 60 minutes.Why wouldn’t they just have more episodes then?It’s not like HBO is stopping them

    There can be very good reasons for going over 60 minutes in an episode. I think one or two other ones in Season 6 went over. You have to tell a story. It needs to fit correctly. If they didn’t, they could have moved things between episodes casually so none went past 60.

    You want the endings to be right. We had the awakening of Jon Snow, the reveal of the age of Melisandre, the death of Hodor, the death of Ramsey, all at the very end of episodes.

    When designing a season, it is likely that D&D want a dramatic unity not only for the season but for each episode.

  41. Inga,

    Oh, no problem, Inga, no offense taken. 🙂

    It’s just I’m puzzled about the expectation a few fans have that actors are supposed to be experts about the franchise they’re working in and love it like they do. It’s cool if the cast members are superfans too, but it’s not a big deal if they’re not.

    Sophie clearly enjoys her role, but like you say she doesn’t analyze every detail we do.
    🙂

  42. I don´t know if it´s been already said but Gaztelugatxe means Gaztelu=Castle and Gatx=Difficult + article… in Basque.

  43. Myname:
    It looks like Kit is in Belfast.

    Well alright, finally. ? His arrival and the increased activity at Moneyglass/Winterfell is making me jittery with anticipation for filming leaks. I hope the poster who commented last week about living near that location remembers us and shares any info they may ‘stumble’ upon. ?

  44. Ramsay’s 20th Good Man:
    There’s no point landing in Dorne or the Reach.

    Yes, there would be. Her allies are there, and thus she can land her forces unmolested, unite all her forces, and then proceed northward by land, which is much safer than traveling by sea.

    Now, obviously the characters are guided by whatever the writers want to happen dramatically, but purely in terms of realism, any invasion force traveling that far would land at the earliest possible opportunity.

  45. Jon Snow, King in the North predictions for season 7? I personally see either a Jon vs Night King showdown in episode 7 after they invade the North or a Jon vs Littlefinger battle after Sansa discovers he betrayed Ned Stark.

  46. Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,

    Your scenario is also possible. Just a few corrections: 1) Cersey won’t be able to wreak death and destruction on the Reach/Dorne – based on what Bronn said in S6Ep7, Lannister’s forces are in a rather bad shape and she has to do something about that first; and 2) she has to sort out her relations with Jamie. So, I hope you don’t mind, if make a few alterations to your scheme? Here they are:

    Episode 1: Jamie confronts Cersey and tries to kill her in rage; the Mountain protects her, Jaimie ends up in a cell or on the run. He may die in Cersey’s hands too, but I think they will save him for later. Meanwhile, Daeny still sails.

    Episode 2: Cersey appoints a new commander of her forces (it may be a new character or even Bronn) and starts preparing for Daeny’s invasion. Euron shows up with a plan and Cersey accepts it. Daeny may stop at Pentos to get the latest news from Varys’ little birds and Illyrio Molpatis.

    Episode 3: Daeny encounters Euron and/or the storm. Her fleet is scattered and has to land in Dragonstone/Stormlands/Dorne to regroup.

    Episode 4: Daeny looks for alliances through marriage/engagement. Tyrion goes to Jon or Jon sends someone (Sansa?) to Daeny’s camp with his own alliance proposals. Cersey marries Euron or simply has a big celebration.

    Episode 5: Daeny develops a new battle plan; Euron goes attacks the Reach/Oldtown to distract Tyrell’s army (or get the horn or whatever); Cersey sends part of her land forces to the Riverlands/Vale/North to prevent Jon from joining forces with Daeny or to lure him out of the North.

    Episode 6-7: climax (Cersey is ousted from KL by joint efforts of Daeny and Jon) and aftermath (White Walkers breach the Wall in Jon’s absence).

    Well, something like that, though I don’t know where the filming locations of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and Almodóvar del Río would fit in.

    So, my alternative would be as follows:

    Episode 1: Jamie vs Cersey/Daeny sails.

    Episode 2: Cersey retreats to Casterly Rock; Daeny lands in KL only to find out that her horde is not welcomed.

    Episode 3-4-5: Daeny copes with food shortage, pandemic of diseases in her army (a bit like in the book Meereen) and a tickling bomb of wildfire under the city + searches for a suitable bachelor, while Cersey drinks wine with a smirk in the safety of Casterly Rock and develops the plan for counterattack. She make take control over the Riverlands and threaten the Vale to cause frustrations in Jon’s camp, too. Meanwhile, Euron attacks the Oldtown to cause similar frustrations in Daeny’s camp and to find a recipe against her dragons in the Citadel.

    Episode 6-7: Daeny takes Casterly Rock and Jon comes to the aid of the Vale forcing Lannister army to surrender, but Euron takes the Old Town with all its secrets and Bran who is left in Winterfell to keep an eye on the Night’s King is caught by him in the greendream. The spells protecting the Wall are nullified. Jon joins forces with Daeny but it may be too late, because the Wall goes crashing down in the final shot.

    Such scenario has room for shooting in Iceland as well: Iceland was the place where they filmed the passage to the Bloody Gates; it can also serve for some scouting mission going beyond the Wall, whether real or virtual by means of greensight… But in general, we need much more information to make predictions: we have to know what is going to be happening at Almodóvar del Río and whether they will be filming siege scenes. If not, combination of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and Almodóvar del Río could still serve for Casterly Rock but Cersey will come their only by the end of the season to cause more problems in S8 etc.

  47. ACME,

    Thanks for the translation! So she did not necessarily say that there will be people we do not expect to see. It’s still fun to speculate 🙂 .

    Myname,

    Finally! Now Sophie and Liam need to get to Belfast too. Hopefully we will get some details once they start filming at locations.

  48. Rabblais,

    Well in season 6 appart from the finale only episode 9 was an actual 60 min and even that ended up being a bit less.I’m not talking about a couples of minutes here and there.Obviously they need to make an episode dramatically compelling otherwise they all would be an exact same length.I’m taking about the fact that I’ve seen people who think that the episodes will be 80 or 90 minutes each and I don’t think that is going to happen

  49. Sean C.,

    Actually, you must be right (and I was wrong). I just re-watched the In Production teaser: they showed us a map with a token depicting a ship in the Sea of Dorne by the coast of the Stormlans. There were two more tokens with ships in the Narrow Sea: one close to the Sea of Dorne, the other – further north, closer to Kings Landing (that one is poorly visible). Its also worth to notice, that the shapes of the ships are different on the visible tokens and that the ships looks to be opposing each other. Besides that, there were tokens showing Lannister land forces in the Stormlands and the northeastern part of Dorne: the later may hint that some of the Dornish houses will declare to Cersey or that she simply sends her army to Dorne. Anyway, the overall situation looks as follows: Daeny’s fleet is in the Narrow see and at least part of it is sailing into the Sea of Dorne, where Cersey’s fleet (Euron) is waiting by the coast of Stormlands. Another interpretation – Daeny lands in the Stormlans (part of her fleet remains afloat) and Euron comes from the side of KL.

  50. Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
    Good scenario ! It would be a nice way to mix Daenerys’s storyline with that of Aegon.

    Nevertheless, if and when Daenerys goes to the Stormlands, I doubt she will receive a warm welcome. So far, the two kingdoms who have aligned with her are those who supported the Targaryens during Robert’s Rebellion : there is historical consistency to their current allegiance to the last (known) Targaryen.
    Conversely the Stormlands were on the frontline against the Mad King during the war. So while the Storm lords may dislike or even hate Cersei, she has a half-decent claim over the region and, above all, she is not a Dragon (the enemy of my enemy…)

    It could lead to a rather interesting narrative dilemma : Daenerys likes to think of her political endeavours as “liberations” : she comes to break the wheel, to free the people from tyrants. This narrative worked very well in Meereen where she could legitimately claim the moral highground over the local elite who were all slavers.
    However, she cannot make the same case in Westeros ! If and when a region (backed up by Cersei) stands up to her and she has to fight back, hence kill Westerosis, the whole “liberation” spiel will not sound very convincing and her arrival will look every bit like a foreign invasion. Especially with Dothraki screamers (feared and hated by everyone) and Ironborn (hated by almost everyone, above all Rivermen) in tow.

    ghost of winterfell,
    No problem ! Of course, speculation is always fun : that’s why everytime the show people give us an inch, we run a mile ! 😉

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