Winterfell, the largest castle in the North and long-time home of the Stark family, will be put through the wringer in Game of Thrones season 8, if these leaked set photos are any indication.
Not for the first time, Oakleaf Photography (h/t CBM) has relayed a batch of potentially spoiler-heavy photos from one of the show’s huge exterior sets in Northern Ireland – Moneyglass, to be specific, which has doubled as the famous Stark stronghold since the early years of HBO’s fantasy flagship.
Now approaching the end of its historic reign, Game of Thrones is clearly aiming to go out with a bang, as the following set photos show a faux Winterfell engulfed in flames. Sources close to the production suggest upwards of 200 extras were used for this particularly action-packed scene, which leaves us all the more worried for Bran, Arya, Sansa, Sam and their respective fates as season 8 begins to fall into place.
Remember, the Night King is on the march, and with the Targaryens (read: Jon and Dany) coming in from the south, it’s nigh on certain that Winterfell will play host to an epic battle scene. See for yourself:
HBO is determined to go full steam ahead with Game of Thrones‘ swan song, after reports claimed that the network is preparing to shell out anywhere between $10m-$15m per episode. Get excited, folks.
There’s also been mention of feature-length installments, which ought to ensure showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have ample time to wrap up what is arguably one of the most engrossing fantasy dramas ever to grace the small screen. And it’ll return with its eighth and final season in 2019 – April of 2019, according to Maisie Williams (Arya Stark).