Game of Thrones is coming to an end. Not today, not tomorrow, not even this year. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, the end of the show approaches. The seventh season may be many months away for us but, by the time we are able to watch it, the cast and crew will have begun working on a new season of Game of Thrones… For the last time. How are they handling this? Is parting ways with the show even more difficult for the actors than for fans? Today, three stars of the show answered that question… and of course hyped up season seven: Liam Cunningham, Jacob Anderson and Alfie Allen.
Interviewed by Laura Prudom for Mashable, at a preview for the Game of Thrones concert tour and at other events, the actors who bring Davos, Grey Worm and Theon to life have many things to say about their experiences filming this year’s season and the one coming next, the one which will put an end to the whole enterprise:
Cunningham confirms they’re all “feeling it on set.” After all, the end is closer for them: “You’ve yet to see the work we’ve done on Season 7. You guys have two more, we have one, we’re one ahead of you — and we’re now in the position where it must be like trying to get off drugs. We’re easing ourselves off drugs gently, and the drug is this show.”
According to Mashable, the smuggler turned knight, then turned Hand of the King (for two different kings, practically) admitted “there’s an urgency in the new installments, both on-screen and behind the scenes. Because we know we’re coming to an end, and [because of] what we’ve been filming in Season 7 — without giving anything away, things are coming to a head, so not only do we feel the passage of time … that’s also been reflected in what we’re shooting. So it can be occasionally a little odd on set; it adds to the work and adds to the tension and we can use it, but I’ve never committed to a job like this before, this length of time. I’ve got a family on this that I’m gonna miss hugely.”
On the feeling of filming season seven and looking ahead to the end, Jacob Anderson agrees with his co-star: “It doesn’t feel like a panic, but I’m panicked for people. I think, and this is true of Season 6, you can feel that things are coming to a close. It’s all getting a bit much. The show’s kind of like a pressure cooker … It’s just absolute chaos. I’m just in awe of how everybody’s managing to fit as much as there is into seven episodes, because it doesn’t necessarily feel like a normal season, it feels bigger.” The actors apparently also attributed the shorter season to this exacerbated sense of an ending. Just like us, the cast and crew must learn to relish these last dozen or so episodes.
Corroborating Anderson’s comments concerning the greater scope of this year, Alfie Allen, who was quoted from another event, elaborated that “in terms of the pace of it, it’s been pretty much the same, but there’s definitely a feeling of… ‘it’s coming to an end.’ It’s kind of crazy. It’s sad for us, because we’re not going to get to hang out as much.”
Finally, Allen teased the fans with what’s to come: “It’s gonna be a crazy season. It’s definitely going to blow a lot of people’s minds. It’s still the same running theme; characters that haven’t crossed each other’s paths before will do, and they’re gonna take it even further this time. People have loyalties that they have to examine.”
Though it’s fair to say these actors wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t promote the show, it’s still nice to see they appear to be as excited by what lies ahead in Game of Thrones as they are sad by its impending conclusion. Aren’t we all!
Hodor!
“[…] characters that haven’t crossed each other’s paths before will do, and they’re gonna take it even further this time. People have loyalties that they have to examine.”
Leaks:
Thanks for the post Luka !
Any word on when the first trailer is going to drop?
I’m getting antsy.
Irina Stark,
Cover your spoilers, please. Especially from the leaks! I did for you here.
If any of these three characters are being killed off in Season 7, they’re doing a good job of obscuring it.
LordBaelish,
The first “official” trailer for season 6 came out I believe on March 8, 2016. Since season 7 will not air until later than normal, I wouldn’t expect any actual trailer with new footage to appear until at least April or May. Doesn’t mean I’ll be right though. Who knows when it’ll come out. I’m pretty damn excited for it too
Mr Derp,
At least they had released a teaser poster featuring Jon in November 2015 itself and a teaser video with Bran and the 3eyed Raven in December. Besides that, there were those 3 videos featuring threats to houses Stark, Targaryen and Lannister.
I will settle for anything new, doesn’t have to be a full fledged trailer!
Has filming ended for everyone or does it still continue for some?
*anticipatory anxiety increases*
Chilli,
It’s probably done by now. The Mashable article says so. But it’s not confirmed otherwise, I think.
When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then then trailer will drop, and not before.
To me Davos seems like a character that will make it through alive. He has to be among those with the highest chance anyway, right?
Referring to the WotW Dragonpit post…
Clob,
Flayed Potatoes,
No, but
LordBaelish,
No official word but some sort of teaser in the next few weeks is in line with prior seasons from what I can tell. Official trailer most likely in April, or may be May depending upon when he season will air.
Luka Nieto,
Alfie didn’t actually make his comment at the concert preview. Instead, he gave the interview last week during a gaming event for Ubisoft’s upcoming game For Honor, which was hosted and live-streamed by the company. He participated at the event and played the game with a fellow GoT actor, Jason Momoa.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV-hF6l5e6c&t=1921s
Link to a buzzfeed feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFcLNopRsFA&t=94s
After the gaming event, he gave an interview to Mashable, posted here:
https://www.facebook.com/mashable.entertainment/videos/10153696016878078/
His interview starts at about 08:30 in the video, and lasts for about eight minutes. Alfie spoke at length about game of Thrones, Theon, and the seventh season, including the comment you wrote about here (but there are many other things he said).
Clob,
I think Greyworm either
Rex,
Thanks! The original article was kind of ambiguous, so I misunderstood.
Mr Derp,
Do you think there’ll be a tie-in between the GoT trailer and the premiere of the final Leftovers season on April 16th?
Clob,
hmmm I don’t know. She had more episodes than him in season 5 because he was injured.
Rex,
Thank you, Rex! It’s nice to get the right source material. I watched mashable’s Alfie Allen video interview yesterday and I urge others to watch it, too. As you said, he talks quite a bit about Game of Thrones and the upcoming season(s).
Can’t wait for an official trailer. When it’s all over I will definitely miss Liam and Alfie.
I am starting to get concerned that hbo hasn’t actually ordered Season 8 yet.
Why?
The Dragon Demands,
It’s only because they haven’t decided yet how many episodes there will be in season 8: HBO wants more and D&D want less. Better this way then the opposite.
Luka Nieto,
On behalf of The Uninfected, THANK YOU for that reminder to cover “leaks” comments.
I don’t recall reading anything RECENT from D&D about season 8 episode count. I know that before they sounded very set on the number of hours they had left. However, now that season 7 filming is ‘done’ and they’re piecing it together maybe there’s a chance that thoughts change and they see 8-10 episodes rather than 6-7. One can hope anyway…
Clob,
HBO said something about it in January: https://watchersonthewall.com/hbo-programming-president-talks-greenlighting-game-thrones-season-8/
My dream would be to have a 2 hours movie as the finale to S8…Imagine that….on the big screen….i think I would pass out
Yeah, I just meant something new and directly from them. Bloys seemed to be referring to what they had said previously…
Ah yes, I remember how we examined, re-examined and stroked every little bit of info we possibly could out of each of those HBO offerings you mentioned. We wrung each of them dry for weeks. Did Ramsay send the pink letter?; whose voice was telling Dany she was nothing? It was fun. I look forward to doing that this year, with whatever HBO deigns to fling to us out of pity regarding the new season.
Regarding Grey Worm and the Dragonpit, maybe Tyrion remembered how the ships got burned in Meereen when they didn’t pay close enough attention, so he insists Grey Worm take a contingent of Unsullied to watch over the ships. I like to think of Grey Worm making it through the end.
I was curious about Alfie’s comment saying there will be loyalties questioned. The only loyalties I can think that might be questioned would be Sansa’s to Jon and maybe Jamie’s to Cersei. Theon isn’t part of either of those two scenarios now. Are there any loyalties he, himself, would be questioning? He certainly wouldn’t question his loyalty to his sister. Or was Alfie speaking in general terms? Guess I’ll have to read the whole interview.
I’m getting antsy. This would be the time we’d be watching for teasers. I can’t believe it’s already February – the off-season went faster than I thought it would, thanks in no small part to the great staff at WotW! thanks! Now we need something to make these extra months of waiting time not dragggggg. Come on, HBO. The suspense is getting to us. Where’s Dee? She is good at voicing these pleadings. DEE come out of hiding for a bit and tell HBO we need something in your own lovely way.
I heartily agree! I was hoping for something on big-screen this year. The last two episodes of season 6 would be as good or better than a lot of movies that have been made.
This is what we got for promotion for S6:
In S6 we got a teaser pic of dead Jon snow in November also teasers but with old footage of other characters with voice overs that month, a exclusive for EW for the older Bran (pics and a article) in December also tiny amounts of new footage for the main characters. In January bigger video teasers of characters (the main houses Targaryen, Stark, Lannister), February official poster also 28 pics of the new season, March official trailer. So I’m thinking we are due for something soon.
So far we only saw the second flashes of Jon, Arya and Sansa nothing else so far. We should at least get a EW article, sometime soon. Stranger Things has gotten a teaser and a EW Exclusive and that isn’t out until Halloween.
Thronetender,
I suppose there could also be some issues with the loyalty of the ironborn that have been following Yara…
I guess we’ll just have to sit closer to the tv. 😛
You are right – that could be an issue, too. Dany had agreed to give the Ironborn their independence and install Yara as Queen. If the Ironborn bail in favor of Euron, all that goes down the drain. I only remember the part about the independence because I just did a rewatch of the season, and the scene of Yara and Theon with Dany and Tyrion was one of my favorites. “I’m up for anything, really.” “We are going to leave the world better than we found it.” Amen to that, real life and story.
Thronetender,
About “questioning loyalties”: My first thought was Tyrion. Last season he kept harping on Jamie as one of the two people in the world he trusted. Although Jamie told Bronn on the voyage to Dorne that he’d kill Tyrion if he ever saw him again, I wonder what Tyrion will do if his obligations as Hand of the Queen require him to kill his brother and destroy the Lannister family.
Unlike dealing with the Masters in Mereen, this time Daeny may very well reject Tyrion’s advice to pursue a more sensible, less drastic alternative.
(If this happens, Tyrion will find himself in the same predicament that Jamie was in when the Mad King was about to “burn them all!”)
Mel,
A little off-topic, but since you brought up last year’s image of “dead Jon Snow”….
Before we move on from S6, does anyone know if the show ever explained WHY Davos, Edd & Co. were guarding Jon Snow’s corpse? (This was before Davos came up with the out-of-left-field idea to ask Melisandre if she knew a way to bring him back to life.)
They had Jon’s body locked in a room on a slab, and seemed intent on guarding it.
Did they ever explain why?
I thought maybe they’d want to keep the body intact and prevent it from being incinerated to preserve the evidence that Jon was stabbed to death – in case Thorne and his cronies tried to pull a Ramsay and claim Jon was “poisoned by our enemies” if anybody ever asked.
But I didn’t hear any character offer up any reason for safeguarding Jon’s body, to the point that they barricaded themselves in the room and were prepared to go down fighting after Thorne gave his ultimatum to come out or die.
Did I miss something ?
Ten Bears,
I very much doubt that will happen and in the books it’s the other way around Tyrion wants to kill his brother because Jamie told him the truth about that woman Tyrion loved and almost married that he told Shae and Bronn about in that tent in the early seasons, Jamie lied she was never a whore and those men weren’t paying her they were raping her, it was a plan done by Jamie and Twyin so Tyrion wouldn’t marry someone below his standing and Tyrion also fantasisies about raping and murdering Cersei, Tyrion has no loyalty whatsoever to the Lannister family in the books.
I also think it’s going the other way, it’s Jamie in the tough situation the sister he’s in love with just did something the mad king threatened to do, the reason he killed him “she burned it down in wildfire” which also resulted in their last child’s death. I imagine Jamie is gonna be very conflicted next season, his siblings are on two opposite sides and they both want to kill each other but when it comes down to it he loves them both. After seeing the Mad King Jamie would also have to be blind to the fact his sister is also a monster.
don’t think so
If we weren’t all 100% sure that Jon would be resurrected it was basically a sign saying that he was going to be.
Ten Bears,
You kinda did miss something. I never saw it as them guarding the body. That’s not what actually happened if you follow the logic of the scene: They took the body out of the murder scene out of respect, put it in Jon’s rooms, and then they barricaded themselves in that room; to protect themselves, to protect their own lives from the mutineers, because they were Jon loyalists.
Luka Nieto,
Well, that’s what we’re suppose to see as the reason and used for the whole set up. They needed to come up with some way to buy time believably for a resolution of the mutiny and resurrection. That’s the way they chose to write it.
None of them were probably in any more danger from Alliser than the rest of the non-mutineers had they not locked themselves in that room though. They killed Jon because he was Jon and for the things he did. None of the others were killed that followed his orders or went with him to Hardhome. Sure, I guess it can be said that they moved the body out of respect. He was dead though so there wasn’t much point. They didn’t need it for proof of anything as it wasn’t a secret who killed him. Normally they just would have burned the body right away.
Hmm, now that’s food for thought. Didn’t the Mad King also demand that Jamie kill Tywin? Do you think Dany, without knowing that she’s doing exactly the same thing her father did, would actually demand that Tyrion set in motion the killing of Jamie? I can’t imagine Tyrion killing Jamie, but neither can I imagine him going against Dany. He was genuinely touched by being named Hand of the Queen; I was amazed he bent the knee to her. I believe he loves her now just as much as Jorah does, and that him having her send away Dario wasn’t only for her best interests – is was for his bit of vanity and possibly jealousy as well.
But, of course, when it’s a Lannister doing the burning, they give each other a lot of leeway, don’t they? I can’t forget that scene in Episode 6 of season 6, right after Tommen orders Jamie out of Kings Landing. Jamie is furious at the High Sparrow
J: He’s torn our family apart! How should we treat people who tear us apart?
C: (all clenched teeth and venom) We should treat them without mercy, and we will. But if you kill the High Sparrow you won’t leave the Sept alive, and without you, this is all for nothing. Stand at the head of our army where you belong, where father wanted you. Show our men where their loyalties belong, show them what Lannisters are, what we do to our enemies. … They’ve made us both stronger, all of them. They’ve no idea how strong we are, no idea what we’re going to do to them. We’ve always been together, we’ll always be together. We’re the only two people in the world.
And then, of course, the long, juicy kiss. Jamie agrees with her. They are going to take everything in the world there is to take, because they can. While a lot of people think he’s automatically going to rear back in disgust at her burning the Sept, I don’t think he will. He was already enraged enough at the HS and the sparrow entourage to want to kill them himself. He won’t be mad about her killing them. The collateral damage of dead townspeople will be forgiven because they were there to taunt Cersei anyway. So no, I don’t think that her antics with the wildfire in this instance will be what sets him against her. Nor will her making herself Queen.
Not even Tommen’s death will do it. She looked at Myrcella’s death as fulfillment of the prophesy – just as she didn’t rail at him for Myrcella’s death, he’s going to cut her slack for Tommen’s, figuring it was karma for pushing Bran out a window with intent to kill him. What they do for love, indeed.
I still don’t think he will kill her, ever, book prophesy or not. Not that I think he won’t turn against her at some point. I believe he will, but can’t imagine right now the event that will turn the tide. I think Jamie’s story is meant to take a surprising turn. Whether it is Brienne, or a quiet life alone at Casterly Rock, I don’t know. But Cersei’s antics at the end of season 6 won’t be the turning point for him. Something else she does will sadden him to the point of no return and make him leave.
Clob,
Thorne probably wouldn’t have harmed them if they followed Thorne’s rule, which, being Jon loyalists, was never going to happen. Their opposition would have forced Thorne to execute those who weren’t loyal to him.
Thronetender,
I agree. And though I had a detailed explanation that somehow got zapped from this text box, the gist of it was
• (1) Tommrn betrayed and sold out his own mother to the High Hypocrite, and was going to let her be tried and convicted by seven flunkies of the HS. By the time Tommen checked out, she had already written him off.
(And really, what kind of son sides with the geezer who tortured his mother and then paraded her naked down Main Street?) I don’t think Cersei’s actions resulted in Tommen’s death. I’d blame the High Sparrow’s manipulations of the spineless kid, whose brain was already scrambled by singular desire for more playtime with his sex kitten wife – who involved him in her “long con” of the HS
• (2) Cersei didn’t go berserk and burn down the whole city. She executed a precision, surgical strike that took out all of her adversaries in one fell swoop. And each of the characters who got incinerated either had it coming, or [to mix metaphors] should’ve known better than to kick a proud lioness when she’s down.
Even Marg sealed her own fate with that snarky comment about it being a bit too early for wine; hinting she was pregnant; and then asking Cersei if her new title would be “Dowager Queen” , “Queen Mother”, or something like that. In fact, when they first met, Cersei specifically warned Marg she’d strangle her in her sleep if she tried to call her “sister” or “mother” and told the story about the extinction of the Raynes of Castamere for trying to screw with the Lannisters
Uncle Kevin, after becoming Hand, didn’t lift a finger to try to free his niece, and later made her sit with the rabble during Tommen’s public announcement. Even though Tywin hated Tyrion, he went to war over Tyrion’s arrest solely because Tyrion was a Lannister. Tywin would’ve beheaded Kevan for betraying the family name and treating Cersei the way e did.
…….
To be cont
Fewer.
Thronetender,
… Cont. ..
As you already noted, Jamie was ready to whack the HS himself.
And for all of his fake piety and dressing up in a burlap bag with no shoes, the HS was nothing more than a power hungry hypocrite trying to seize control of the crown as puppetmaster of a maleable kid, selectively torturing and shaming whoever he felt stood in his way.
Good riddance to him and his Taliban buddies. Maybe his smugness blinded him to the reality that maybe he was f-cking with the wrong woman. Maybe he was so full of himself and reliant on his Spanish Inquisition terror tactics that he felt he had de-clawed Cersei. It was pretty shortsighted to think he could imprison, torture and publicly shame someone like Cersei, and she’d just roll over and submit to the HS’s pronouncements of the will of “the Gods.”
Lastly, he should’ve known: “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There’s no middle ground.” – CL
As for Septa Unella, it’s not like Cersei didn’t warn her. Cersei’s own “because it feels good” speech to the wineboarded Unella in E10 says it better than I could.
Lancel was another sanctimonious jerk who deserved to melt, along with all of the other forehead-carving idiots.
Finally, too bad about Olenna’s son Mace and grandson Loras. But as monstrous as Joffrey was, when you kill a mother’s son, you can’t really complain when she kills yours. Although Cersei doesn’t know Olenna and LF killed Joffrey, sometimes what goes around comes around.
The long and short of it is that Cersei did not go full-on Mad Queen, and like you noted, everything she did was exactly what she and Jamie talked about. Whatever his weird expression was in the throne room at the end of E10, I don’t see how he can conclude that what she did warrants a sword in the back.
PS. The HS’s speeches were boring anyway: fast-forward worthy filler. He deserved to fry just for them.
LOL can you come and watch all of season 7 with me? Everything you just wrote is pretty much everything I muttered at the TV the whole darned season. And Olenna didn’t help matters by telling her that everyone in KL hated her – so why the heck would Cersei care about wiping them out? Not that I’m a huge Cersei fan – a LENA fan, yes, but Cersei is not a favorite character. But you have to admire the Lannister tenacity – preferably from a safe distance.
Luka Nieto,
Thanks for the clarification. I’ll have to go back and watch this’d two episodes again.
I think I got confused because I didn’t understand how barricading themselves in the room would protect them. At some point they’d have to come out, or be forcibly evicted.
I didn’t understand the layout either. Did Melisandre have an adjoining room?
Also, after finding Jon’s body and maybe moving it from the murder scene out of respect, I figured Davos would say to himself “this might be a good time to check out of this hotel and find better accommodations,” He wasn’t a NW guy, and the murder of the Lord Commander is a pretty good sign that Castle Black isn’t a safe place to hang out anymore.
I think I was also distracted by the NW brothers’ nonchalance in accepting Thorne’s admission that he murdered their LC. Most of them got angry at first, but then kind of muttered to themselves and shrugged their shoulders, as if it were no big deal.
Looking back, I have to surmise that Jon Snow needed a PR department or CB newsletter to explain better explain his Wildling Immigration Program – especially after returning from Hardhome.
I got the impression that Jon and the NW away team that accompanied him to Hardhome didn’t adequately convey to the NW brothers the horrors they had witnessed.
Before Jon had left on his mission, the NW guys – even Edd – were grumbling about Jon’s plan to resettle the
Wildlings. His appeal to math and logic (i.e., better to deal with live Wildlings instead of adding them to the Army of the Dead) didn’t make much of an impression.
But I figured that would all change pretty quickly once
they learned what happened at Hardhome, and realized that a once-hypothetical WW threat was now an actual, imminent threat.
I know there was a scene between Jon and Sam (only) in which Jon described watching the Night King raise his arms and reanimate thousands of new wights. But I don’t recall a similar scene with all of the NW members in their clubhouse or assembly room, to tell them all what they’d witnessed. That might have impressed upon them that Jon’s policy was the right one after all.
Was there such a scene ?
Anyway, thanks again. I’ll rewatch the first few episodes. Maybe I missed some dialog the first time around.
Clob,
If Davos isn’t one of the last men standing I riot. And that is NOT a pretty sight! 😀
Lulus Mum,
I fear you rioting, especially if your cats are coming with you 😉
I support your riot if Davos dies, count on me!
Ten Bears,
Iam sorry but what did tyrion thought will happen when he decided to join dany and pledge to make her queen …didn’t he know he will eventually come to fight his own family to achieve that ..
Ten Bears,
Another question…
Why did Davos even ask Melisandre to bring Jon back to life anyway? What does he care? And I thought he hated magic as well as Melisandre. It never made sense to me that Davos of all people would want to use magic to bring Jon back.
Shy Lady Dragon,
Thank you Your Shyness (and hello sweetie *waves*), it is always good to know whose support you can count on. Bert, Ernie and I riot as one. I do any heavy lifting or things requiring a bit of thinking and/or opposable thumbs and they are the rapid response, leaping about energetically and shedding fur left, right and centre part. We are all very good at the napping bit. Always happy to expand the team! Although hopefully it won’t come to that. Looking at YOU D&D 😀
Apparently they’re haggling over an extension.
Yeah, why should I worry? If anything I’m the one arguing *for* an extension from what we currently have, it’s not like they’re arguing to *reduce* the order, so what’s the harm? I don’t know.
Flayed Potatoes,
LOL
????
Mr Derp,
Good point. That came out of left field too
Well that one’s easy. Davos knew very well about the WW threat, after all, Stannis was the only lord who had pledged to fight them. With Stannis gone and any possible route south being watched by Ramsay, Davos knew that Jon is pretty much the only person around capable of doing what needs to be done. Of course he wanted Jon back.