"The Dead Are Already Here": 'Game Of Thrones' Preview Teases The Biggest Battle In The Show's History
After season upon season of trudging around north of The Wall, The Night King's army of the dead has finally made it through and is ready to face off against everyone holed up at Winterfell. Last night's episode of Game of Thrones, titled "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," was all about the characters we love experiencing one final calm before the coming storm, but once the next episode begins, the bodies are going to start piling up.
Now a new preview teases next week's battle, culminating with an epic yell from Brienne of Tarth. Check it out below, along with a new in-depth behind the scenes look at the making of the most recent episode.
Game of Thrones Battle Teaser
With a plan in place to use Bran as bait in the godswood in the hope of luring the Night King, the battle begins – and what a battle it will be. This is the big one, folks – the one that took eleven weeks of night shoots to complete. This is going to be the longest battle scene ever committed to film, with the whole battle-focused episode clocking in at one hour and 22 minutes – the longest episode in Game of Thrones history.
While David Nutter has directed the first two episodes of season 8, this one will be helmed by Miguel Sapochnik, the guy responsible for episodes like "The Battle of the Bastards" and "Hardhome." I appreciate the work that goes into creating huge battle scenes, but I'm also one of those people who often finds them a little same-y and boring after a while. Thankfully, Sapochnik is doing everything he can to avoid that fatigue setting in. "One thing I found is the less action — the less fighting — you can have in a sequence, the better," he said in an interview earlier this year.
Behind The Scenes: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
While you're here, check out this extensive featurette that goes behind the scenes of last night's episode. It's crazy to see how much Winterfell has changed since the early seasons of the show (check out my report from the original filming location here!), and I'll admit I didn't notice many of the little improvements the characters have made this season, like adding shards of dragonglass to the wooden spikes in the trenches outside the castle walls and on top of the battlements. (Though, to be fair, this season has been extraordinarily dark thus far, and the battle episode doesn't look like it's going to be any different.)
There are only four episodes left. Game of Thrones returns to HBO this Sunday night with the Battle of Winterfell.