It all started here.
As always with anything related to Game of Thrones, consider this to be your spoiler alert klaxon. Send a raven to alert of spoilers. Call your bannermen to prevent spoilers from attacking your House.
You get the idea.
Much like everything in life, Game of Thrones is very much shaped by the idea of location, location, location.
Characters in The North are defined by their loyalty, toughness and ability to endure even the harshest of winters. On the contrary, we’re also told that Starks don’t fare well whenever they travel south and on a similar note, every location that’s used in the show can tell its own history.
Croatia is the home of King’s Landing, Iceland played host to that epic battle beyond The Wall, and Northern Ireland, well, that can lay a very strong claim to be the legitimate home of Game of Thrones.
With a plethora of filming locations that are scattered throughout the six counties, there’s so much Westerosi history to be discovered but one of the more intriguing locations is Tollymore Forest in Co Down.
The beautiful location that’s near the town of Newcastle features some breathtaking views of the Mourne and Slieve Croob but in terms of the show, it was an extremely popular location throughout Season 1. It hasn’t seen much filming since.
FYI, this is where the Starks all found their Direwolf pups but more cryptically, it’s also where we first encountered the White Walkers for the very first time.
Remember that scene when the Rangers of the Night’s Watch travel beyond The Wall and get massacred? Yeah, the site of that massacre happened here.
Ultimately, it’s the first time that we see these mysterious symbols emerge.
As reported by the fan site Irish Thrones, it appears that the show is going back to this very location.
PINK #GameOfThrones Irish filming location sign pointing to Tollymore Forest Park at Newcastle, County Down. pic.twitter.com/wjjJJuBnC7
— Irish Thrones (@IrishThrones) May 13, 2018
Ok, cast your mind back to Season 7 and those few scenes that took place in the caves of Dragonstone. Here’s what the GoT showrunner David Benioff had this to say on the importance of those symbols.
“It’s supposed to be something that’s very evocative of the thousands of years that have passed since these caves were first explored and the paintings were first made.”
“And also obviously something that’s quite relevant to the current storyline because it’s about how these two disparate peoples united to defeat the common enemy…One of the things we learn from these cave paintings is that the White Walkers didn’t come up with those images, they derived them from their creators, the Children of the Forrest.”
“These are patterns that have mystical significance for the Children of the Forest. We’re not sure exactly what they signify, but spiral patterns are important in a lot of different cultures in our world, and it makes sense that they would be in this world as well.”
With a return to the location where these symbols first appeared on the show, it appears that Game of Thrones might finally address the message that the White Walkers originally sent in the very first episode.
Ultimately, what do they want? We’ve speculated about that before and the concept of a ‘pact,’ but a definitive answer has been elusive.
Winter is here.
