The drip, drip of Game of Thrones spoilers is turning into a steady pour as the season 7 premiere date inches closer. We're just over two weeks away from the return of the epic fantasy series that we've all spent the last year obsessing about, and a massive, in-depth new Time article is getting us more pumped than ever to dive back into the drama in Westeros — especially when it comes to the Mother of Dragons and her fire-breathing babies.
Time writer Daniel D’Addario visited the GOT set in Belfast in early 2017, where he got to witness several major scenes being filmed. While he was essentially sworn to secrecy about what he saw plot-wise, the little information he can divulge is telling and fascinating. "One of those big events this season is a battle whose sheer scope, even before being cut together with the show’s typical brio, dazzled me," he writes, noting that the battle was shot in a freezing Belfast locale made even colder by a "frigid North Atlantic wind." Okay, so we can expect a big, chilly-as-ice battle, which lines up with what we've gathered so far from the trailers.
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But the episode's director, Alan Taylor divulged some key information about Emilia Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen. Clarke spent over two weeks filming a single scene on the back of a mechanical bull-like machine that will, with the help of CGI magic, become a dragon onscreen. Taylor told D’Addario that filming the bit must be tiresome for Clarke after so many long hours in the saddle. “It probably feels a bit less amazing to Emilia, who sits on it for eight hours a day, six weeks in a row," Taylor said, "getting blasted with water and fake snow and whatever else they decide to chuck at her through the fans."
What's that about fake snow? Sounds to us like Daenerys — who makes it to Dragonstone this season — and her dragon are going to be joining this epic, snowy battle up north. Is she facing off against White Walkers? Joining forces with the Starks? Diving in at the last moment to save Jon Snow? It's only a matter of weeks before we find out for sure.
Game of Thrones season 7 premieres July 16 on HBO.
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