WARNING! Potential SPOILERS for Game of Thrones season 8 ahead!
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Filming is now getting underway for Game of Thrones season 8 and the latest set leak hints at two major upcoming battles: one at Winterfell and another in King's Landing. Season 7 was more battle heavy than most and with season 8 only having six episodes, we should probably expect the final season to be the most action-packed yet. Sadly, Game of Thrones isn't returning until late 2018 at the very earliest, so get comfortable waiting.
This new information about season 8, however, might just help to tide fans over. The details come via the Games of Thrones fan site, Watchers On The Wall, who have photos of a serious expansion to the Winterfell set in Moneyglass, Northern Ireland. Specifically, it's grown to include the ramparts and towers which in the past have been mostly CGI. Additionally, there's more snow - both on the castle and the surrounding fields - as well as what WotW are suspecting is either a moat or trench built around the castle. This along with a trebuchet seems to suggest Winterfell is preparing for a siege, most likely from the Night King and his army who we know are now on the march south, having busted through The Wall in the season 7 finale.
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The other set currently under construction is at Titanic Studios in Belfast and it's already the largest set the series has ever built. We first reported on it when construction began, with the then rumors suggesting it was a new King's Landing location. That is now being confirmed by WotW's latest report, with new details revealing it to be a reconstruction of the city, at least a few blocks worth of streets and buildings. In the past, Game of Thrones filmed in cities like Dubrovnik, Croatia for the Westerosi capital setting, so for the series to now, in its final season, need to physically recreate King's Landing on a backlot in Belfast can only mean one thing - they're going to burn it down.
Click here to see the Game of Thrones set photos
According to WotW's sources, the set is scheduled to be destroyed as part of a huge battle sequence, specifically citing dragon fire as the cause of the destruction. This leaves two very obvious possibilities - either Daenerys comes to town with Drogon and/or Rhaegel and burns at least a section of the city, as she has once threatened to do, or the Night King rides Viserion all the way there and lights the place up. Considering that this major event (along with whatever Winterfell is preparing for) must happen in the span of six episodes, it really could be either scenario that happens.
If it's Daenerys (possibly even accompanied by Jon?) who incinerates King's Landing, why? It could be that she learns of Cersei's betrayal and feels she needs to squash that enemy first. Maybe by this time, they've already lost The North to the White Walkers and need to flee south, forcing them to fight Cersei to ensure a united front for when the Night King arrives. However, the Night King will almost certainly be bringing his own dragon, and there's just no way they defeat him before Cersei. She's not the final boss, that's the Night King.
So while burning down King's Landing sure seems like the Targaryen thing to do, it may be even more likely that the destruction of the city will come as part of the endgame battle between the living and the dead. Meaning we could see the city burning with both red and blue flames.
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Game of Thrones season 8 is expected to air on HBO in 2018 or 2019.
Source: Watchers On The Wall