EW gives you an inside view of the brutal battle for filming Game Of Thrones Season 8

Game of Thrones Season 8 is coming soon and bringing us unforgettable battles and action sequences as teased by many cast and crew members. While Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) had earlier revealed that the battles this season will make the iconic Battle of the Bastards look like a theme park, Entertainment Weekly has given us a brutal insight in its latest cover story.

Given the fact that Entertainment Weekly is one of the most credible sources we can trust for Game of Thrones, it’s safe to assume that we’re truly getting a bloodier Season this time with multiple character deaths. Well, they recently released 16 new cover photos featuring main cast members along with a cover story that we’ll discuss here in detail.

Well, as teased by James Hibbert from the EW, Game of Thrones this season will feature one of the longest battle sequences ever filmed in the history of television. This confirms what we’re being often told about through interviews of cast and crew members – a complete battle sequence shot for a single episode with a hell lot of hard work of 55 days!

According to David Nutter, who has returned this season to direct three of the episodes:

“The fans will not be let down…There are a lot of firsts in these episodes. There’s the funniest sequence I’ve ever shot on this show, the most emotional and compelling scene I’ve ever shot, and there’s one scene where there’s so many [characters] together it feels like you’re watching a superhero movie.”

Nutter is directing three episodes this season – episodes 1, 2, and 4. As he will be directing the premiere, James Hibbert describes this episode in a nutshell as “a calm-before-the-storm entry that might surprise viewers with its play-like intimacy.”

Hibbert also teased an episode directed by Miguel Sapochnik to be gruesome and as brutal as the Battle of the Bastards or Hardhome. Many of our favourite characters like Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, and Brienne of Tarth will be fighting for their lives, impossibly outnumbered against a supernatural enemy.

According to Co-Executive producer Bryan Cogman,

“What we have asked the production team and crew to do this year truly has never been done in television or in a movie…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.”

This episode took a lot of hard work, along with 11 weeks of continuous night shoots. Around 750 people worked all night long for nearly three months in the middle of the open rural countryside with the temperature falling to the 30s. In words of Hibbert “staging the battle was unprecedentedly brutal.”

For Maisie Williams – whom we are truly looking forward to next season, this was the first ever battle for her in Game of Thrones. She says:

“I skip the battle every year, which is bizarre since Arya’s the one who’s been training the most… This is my first taste of it. And I’ve been thrown in at the deep end.”

While the director Sapochnik had asked her train a year ago before the filming in advance, Maisie had told him:

“And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah…But 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.”

Getting to the very last, the finale which is being directed by the showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the secrecy was taken to a newer level. Some of the scenes were shot in a closed set and even the crew members with special badges were only allowed inside the sets. Dan Weiss says:

“When something has been sitting with you for so long, you have such a specific sense of the way each moment should play and feel…Not just in terms of ‘this shot or that shot,’ though sometimes it’s that as well. So it’s not really fair to ask somebody else to get that right. We’d be lurking over their shoulder every takes driving them crazy making it hard for them to do their job. If we’re going to drive anybody crazy it might as well be ourselves.”

“We want people to love it…It matters a lot to us. We’ve spent 11 years doing this. We also know no matter what we do, even if it’s the optimal version, that a certain number of people will hate the best of all possible versions. There is no version where everybody says, ‘I have to admit, I agree with every other person on the planet that this is the perfect way to do this’ — that’s an impossible reality that doesn’t exist. I’m hoping for the Breaking Bad [finale] argument where it’s like, ‘Is that an A or an A+?’”

David Benioff ends by saying:

“From the beginning, we’ve talked about how the show would end. A good story isn’t a good story if you have a bad ending. Of course, we worry.”

So, these were a few insights from the original article, which you can read here. When you think about the new season and it’s the long-awaited return on April 14 – the cravings seem minimal when compared to what we are surely getting from Game of Thrones this year? We’re now surely counting the days up to the airing date. What about you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

While we await the new season of Game of Thrones coming out on April 14 2019, HBO is bringing us a whole lot of surprises to ease up the craving for the series. While till now, we’ve been treated with two official teasers, official character posters, and the latest official trailer, (which still gives us goosebumps) HBO in collaboration with Brewery Ommegang has announced a new beer.

The latest addition of Brewery Ommegang which had released a number of beers the last year is For The Throne. By this time, we are already familiar with the campaign of HBO to build up the hype for the new season, this beverage is a co-fermented beer brewed to uphold the campaign of HBO. According to Doug Campbell, the President of Ommegang,

“Winter is here, the wall has fallen, and the final battle for Westeros is underway. With this offering, we have bent the traditional boundaries of beer-making, co-fermenting traditional ingredients with juices normally destined for fine wines, going to great lengths to create a truly unique, special beer…This style of beer, often called an ‘oenobeer,’ is a rapidly expanding area of study for us. For The Throne is our first of co-fermentation beer of 2019 and the only one we’ve launched under the Game of Thrones banner.”

Described as ‘delicate yet complex’, this beer is 9.5% ABV strong golden ale and fermented with pinot grigio and viognier grape juices. The added Champagne yeast will surely make you feel the Lannister Royalty that exists in the World of Ice and Fire.

Also, according to Jeff Peters, Vice President of Retail and Licensing at HBO,

“In the course of planning out the next beer in our amazing collaborative partnership with Brewery Ommegang we asked the brewers ‘What would Ommegang do for the throne?’”

“Their answer was to brew this exciting and innovative co-fermented beer so that our fans can raise a toast to the culmination of their beloved series this spring. Every bottle, every pour, every toast, every sip… For The Throne!”

Golden-copper in colour, the beer pours a white fluff and has been infused with the aromas of honeysuckle and toasted grain mingle with notes of pear and apricot. Brewed with pilsner and carapils malts,  dextrose, and pinot grigio and viognier grape juices, For The Throne is suitable to be served with all kinds of cheeses, roasted chicken or turkey and smoked fish. This also works fine with desserts, macerated berries and fresh whipped cream.

With flavours of sweet malt and honeydew, the finish of the beer is clean and dry, giving it a vibrant effervescence. To be sold throughout the peak month of Game of Thrones i.e. April on Ommegang’s distribution network the beverage will come in 750 ml bottles in a wrap with a golden artwork.

Where can I buy Ommegang Game Of Thrones beer?

We are sure you must be having this question in your mind after reading this article. Rest assured, Ommegang has made it easier by adding a beer finder section on their site. In addition to that, you can also check Drizly if you want the beer delivered to your house.

Join the trail as we wait for the new season of Game of Thrones and watch out as Ommegang begins the distribution of the beverage on its network. And, let’s begins the preparation #ForTheThrone.

It’s been close to 2 years since Game Of Thrones season 7 got over and now it’s time to rejoice as the final season is releasing soon and now HBO has released the trailer for season 8 and it is simply spectacular! The last 2 days have been simply amazing for the fans of the show as we got to see new posters for the characters which was followed by cover photos being shared by EW and now we finally have the trailer and I am literally shaking after watching it.

The trailer starts with an injured and scared Arya Stark who is running around the hallways in Winterfell. Is she running from the White Walkers?!! We then see Lord Varys and others hiding in the crypts beneath Winterfell, while Arya and others are fighting above.

The trailer further shows Euron bringing the Golden Company to Westeros and we get to see Tormund and Beric Dondarrion who have survived the  Night King’s attack on the Wall. We then see more characters and then we get a better look at Jon and Daenerys arriving at Winterfell with the Dothraki, Unsullied and the Dragons.

The trailer then gives us a glimpse of the battle at Winterfell after the White Walkers finally arrive. Watching this trailer has given me goosebumps. Without wasting any time, take a look at the Game Of Thrones Season 8 trailer below:

We will be back very soon with an in-depth analysis of the trailer to share things that you might have missed while watching it.

Game of Thrones dropped its much-awaited official trailer on Tuesday with a number of easter eggs, teasing a bloodier, and jaw-dropping Season 8. The trailer featured almost all main characters of the series along with the Golden Company who are new to the series. Then, while I was watching the trailer again, I noticed that we didn’t see the Greyjoys at all.

This is one of the many questions that come to the mind, especially when we saw Theon Greyjoy in the last season undergoing a redemption and setting out to save his sister in the last season. While we probably saw a glimpse of their usurper uncle Euron Greyjoy along with Harry Strickland – the leader of the Golden Company in the King’s Landing Courtroom, Theon and Yara completely went on missing from the trailer.

Yet, in our in-depth analysis we acknowledged two different set of Greyjoy fleets with different Kraken-painted sails. For this we’re are cent per cent sure that the three ships down below featured in the trailer are from the fleet of Yara Greyjoy and that we will surely see Theon trying to save Yara in the new season.

Recently enough, Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) and Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbaek) were also featured in the freshly released cover images from Season 8 by Entertainment Weekly. Yet, there wasn’t any sign of Yara Greyjoy. Does this mean…?

Before we dive deep into the speculation territory we get a new update from the actress who plays the role (Gemma Whelan) that she couldn’t appear in the photo-shoots as she was pre-occu11pied with her infant. She told this to a fan via Twitter who felt sad not seeing her in any of the promotional photos. She replied:

Aah you’re kind to worry…but fear not! ? having a baby and filming schedule clashes meant I couldn’t make the photo shoots…;) I’m gutted not to be on them! Can’t wait for you to see the final season! I can’t wait to see it!!!

— Gemma Whelan (@WhelanGemma) March 4, 2019

Gemma’s reply to a fan thus, confirms that she’s surely returning in the final season of Game of Thrones. And, we pray to the Drowned Gods that Theon, who is on an expedition to rescue his sister, reaches his destination – before it’s too late!

Game of Thrones Season 8 airs in less than 40 days on April 14 and we can’t stop thinking about it since the official trailer dropped. What about you? Tell us in the comments how excited do you feel?