Some of the cast sound genuinely traumatised following the filming of Season 8’s final battle
Game of Thrones know exactly how to execute a battle scene.
The Battle of Blackwater, The Red Wedding and The Battle of the Bastards are three of the most iconic scenes in television history and a large reason for that is how incredible they look.
Certain scenes from the show feel like a live sporting event and that’s down to the effort put in by the cast to make the whole thing feel real.
But by the sounds of it, filming these types of scenes can really take its toll.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Maisie Williams, the actress who plays Arya Stark in the show, has discussed how gruelling it was to film the epic battle scene for the upcoming season.
“Nothing can prepare you for how physically draining it is. It’s night after night, and again and again, and it just doesn’t stop. You can’t get sick, and you have to look out for yourself because there’s so much to do that nobody else can do… there are moments you’re just broken as a human and just want to cry.”
This marks Williams’ first involvement in a battle scene of this magnitude, and by the sounds of that quote (and how much training she has been doing), she’s going to have a big part to play.
Rory McCann, who plays The Hound, echoed William’s words, saying: “Everybody prays they never have to do this again.”
If it’s too much for The Hound it must be bad.
Executive producer Bryan Cogman also hyped up the final battle, describing it as “completely unprecedented”.
He said: “This final face-off between the Army of the Dead and the army of the living is completely unprecedented and relentless and a mixture of genres even within the battle.
There are sequences built within sequences built within sequences. David and Dan [wrote] an amazing puzzle and Miguel came in and took it apart and put it together again. It’s been exhausting but I think it will blow everybody away.”
We assume that this epic battle scene in question will take place during the show’s finale, which will air on 19 May, when Game of Thrones will come to an end for good.
We’re just about as nervous as we are excited.
