This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8.
We’ve known for some time that not everyone (or everything) will make it out of Game of Thrones’ final season unscathed, but thanks to a new interview from one of the show’s actors, we now have a better idea of when it will all hit the apocalyptic fan.
Although the cast and crew have been mum on what takes place in season 8 apart from hints about the season premiere and a major battle, Vladimir Furdik, who’s played the Night King on Game of Thrones since season 6, has been a little more open about it. Appearing at a Hungarian fan convention, Furdik confirmed that the major battle—which will take place at Winterfell—will happen in episode 3.
“In the third episode of the last season, there is a battle that the creators intended to be a historic moment in television,” Furdik said.
He also reaffirms previous reports of the battle’s scope, noting that the battle will encompass nearly an entire episode. (According to one Game of Thrones producer, the battle took 11 weeks to shoot and included “55 consecutive nights” of filming.)
“Almost the full episode will be about the battle, it will take about one hour,” he added.
Historically, major battles on Game of Thrones have taken place toward the end of the season (usually the penultimate episode), but both the story and the number of episodes have shifted that narrative; one major battle in “The Spoils of War” fell right in the middle of the season. The major battle that Furdik is referring to would fall right near the middle of Game of Thrones’ final six-episode run.
It also gives us a better idea of how season 8 will shape up, at least up in the North. We already know that the season 8 premiere will feature Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen arriving at Winterfell to a chilly reception from Sansa Stark. It will take the better part of two episodes for the Night King and his cohorts to make it down from the Wall (with potential pitstops to destroy castles closer to the Wall) to Winterfell before the battle begins in earnest. Whatever the outcome may be, our heroes then have three more episodes to fight another day (and potentially stop the Long Night) and fight over something as trivial as who gets to sit on the Iron Throne. And that doesn’t even include the wildcard of Cersei Lannister’s determination to keep Daenerys from getting the throne or any of the tumultuous Targaryen family drama that will probably play out.
No pressure, though.
H/T Mashable
