New Battle Pics; Cáceres gets a makeover; and Peter Dinklage returns to Spain 

After more than three weeks of filming for a major mid-season action sequence, filming in Malpartida will come to a close in just a few days, on Monday at the latest, and the show will move on to the nearby city of Cáceres. This is as exciting for us spoiler addicts (lots of windows!) as it is sad for those locals who will no longer be able to take sweet photos with James Faulkner, who couldn’t be more unlike his terrible character if he tried. Just as the City Council promised last week, yesterday the production started to prepare the city’s Old Town for

. This ancient web of streets and squares is being made to look like a proper Westerosi city —Most likely, King’s Landing.

After the cut, we bring you the details on the preparations, including pictures of how the old streets are being dressed to look like a proper medieval city, as well as new pictures from the aforementioned battle shoot at Los Barruecos, in Malpartida.

reports on the preparations. Just as planned, work began yesterday and will continue on Thursday, all for the brief shoot in December 14 and 15. As you can see, there are some props scattered through the streets of Cáceres already:

Last week, when we listed the many locations

would use in Cáceres, many in the community were skeptical or confused, as the show is only scheduled to film in Cáceres for two mere days. However, these streets and squares are so interconnected that, if they wanted, they could film a single scene in an unbroken take from one side to another. In fact, something like that could be exactly what they may be looking for, as part of the procession scene the showrunners mentioned a long while ago. In the following map, the filming locations alone are highlighted:

You can clearly see how, together, the locations form a corridor, from the Adarve at Plaza Mayor through Plaza Santa María, Plaza de los Golfines, Plaza de San Jorge, Cuesta de la Compañía and Plaza de San Mateo, to Plaza de las Veletas. It’s a continuous line of locations, which helps to explain how they could all be used in just two days of filming.

The Spanish newspaper also reports that Peter Dinklage is back in the country: The actor who plays Tyrion Lannister is apparently now in Cáceres. We don’t know if he’s there for the last few days of filming at Los Barruecos, for the Old Town shoot, or both. Dinklage appearing in Cáceres a whole week before filming begins in the city proper points to him filming in Malpartida, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we also get to see the newly-appointed Hand of the Queen roam the streets of King’s Landing.

What about the queen that Tyrion now serves?

does make mention of unconfirmed sightings of Emilia Clarke in Cáceres, and we have heard these rumors, but there is no hard evidence yet. If Clarke is indeed in the city, she could similarly be involved in the Malpartida shoot, the Old Town one, or both.

Finally, let’s move on to the spoilers for today: The action in Malpartida may end soon, yet pictures still trickle in. Accompanied by a report with information of which the fandom is already aware,

You can take a look at the other photos in their gallery, some of which are quite striking. As you can see, there is nothing completely new here, except perhaps that we can plainly see the terrain has suffered a battle of not only men but a fire-breathing dragon.

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Maybe a secret meeting in those narrow streets?

The burnt out wagons confirm that fire will be a big part of this encounter. Whether dragon fire or something concocted by Qyburn, or both…

There also seems to be a lot of (fake) smoke on the set, which points to fiery events.

(Though, fake smoke could also be used just to give the atmosphere of confusion and battle because we, 21st century viewers, living in the age of firearms, would associate any battle with smoke (and loud bangs).)

Any sightings of Iain, Joe Dempsie, Rory etc in Belfast? When are they supposed to wrap up Wolf Hill Quarry?

I don’t think that the fake smoke is here just for the battle atmosphere and fire was used in the Middle Ages even before the invention of fire arms: there were different techniques of provoking fires in wooden and even stone castles, and on the battlefield grass could be set on fire to repel the enemy, for instance. Anyway, GoT has been using fire a lot on different battlefields and under different circumstances, so it’s OK.

But what startles me in these photos is that the Lannister banners wave clean and fresh over the burnt carriages and landscape. Can it be that Jaime makes some kind of maneuver (deliberate turning movement for instance), and reclaim the battlefield at the end of the day?

PS. Thank you, Luka, for highlighting the filming area in Cáceres Old Town. It’s very helpful to have a proper map.

Not sure why is Tyrion at the battlefield? King’s Landing could be but isn’t Davos supposed to be with him?

This battle is happening in episode 4, isn’t someone supposed to be with Jon to negotiate actually or? I don’t remember leaks if someone can clarify on this.

Good point. So far only Kit, Iain and Kristofer were seen but only Kit remained filming. Unless they’re hiding somewhere.

Inga: what startles me in these photos is that the Lannister banners wave clean and fresh over the burnt carriages and landscape. Can it be that Jaime makes some kind of maneuver (deliberate turning movement for instance), and reclaim the battlefield at the end of the day?

Yeah, I don’t know… maybe. Perhaps it’s a shot of reinforcements arriving too late and Daenerys’ troops have moved on.? Just a suggestion. shrug. We’ve been discussing the scene a lot but I don’t recall seeing anything specific about the aftermath.

The ambush is (supposedly) “close” to Highgarden according to someone’s word, but how close? We may assume that Daenerys ‘takes back’ Highgarden after the ambush and Tarly treatment, but do we KNOW that? I don’t recall reading anything in the leaks or elsewhere that specifically said that they ambush the caravan and then move on to re-sack Highgarden. Has there been anything on that? What I’m getting at is the question of whether Daenerys leaves troops in the area or if she feels the opposition is mitigated and moves them (back) toward KL or elsewhere. It does seem rather silly to defeat a large force of Lannisters in the ambush and not clear out Highgarden as well while she’s at it. They’d just send another caravan I reckon.

KIND OF SPOILERS I GUESS, BASED ON PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS SCENE

Inga, Hey you *waving as always* I can’t remember if it was you told us about

the real life battle this might be based on? Anyway, many of the participants in the real version drowned due to fleeing into the water while weighed down by armour. (I think I’ve seen book discussion of this but it’s not been spelled out in the show IIRC?) I wonder if that might be Dany’s tactic, to use dragon fire not only to kill those caught up in it but also force the Romans, er Lannsiter army, into the lake, where they’d either die or be in a position where they have to surrender? I reckon most would take their chances in the water rather than face being burned alive, it’s really not a nice way to die.

As for the ‘parade’ route, unless we are seeing some kind of Cersei’s revenge – Walk of Shame 2: Electric Boogaloo – and someone is facing a walk to their final date with destiny, my best guess is something to do with the wight. Perhaps to prove to the common people they exist?

The smoke is also a way to convey the dust raised by thousands of feet marching on, especially on a burnt field.

So I dont think “smoke in battles” is a 21st century only thing. Armies always raise dust on their trail.

Can’t wait to see who else shows up in Spain, so we have more of a idea what’s going on.

Nope, sorry. By the moment in our hotel we saw only Lannister brothers (boys). Maybe tomorrow we will see others actors

the guillotine was apparently for Still Star-Crossed, but Nikolaj and Peter have been spotted in town. So Peter’s in Spain for Oldtown filming, not to do battle scenes

Those props including the guillotine are from “Still star-crossed” which finished shooting in Càceres today: Turistas entre decorados de serie

As much as I’d like to end Cersei on a guillotine, that won’t happen ;-).

Darn holiday shoppers, trampling over the fields!

That looks like a set for Still Star-Crossed. Guillotines aren’t very medieval.

Sabeciel, thanks to your sharing, even though my graduate speciality was the mediaeval age, I’ve just learned something new. Thinking the crude guillotine in the photo was anachronistic (not that it matters), I did some research and found the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Gibbet That’s the first time I’ve included a link–hope it worked. In any case, 1286 is long before the War of the Roses, so it would have been available in the corresponding timeframe of GoT. (Ironically, Halifax Yorkshire corresponds geographically in Northern England with the area where Winterfell is in Westeros.) Could this be Chekhov’s Guillotine on the show? If they built it they will use it…but on whom? Never mind, just saw the comments about Still Star Crossed. I guess GoT did not build it.

I checked out the area yesterday to see what was going on and there was some work going on. It was mostly covering modern elements and removing a few streetlamps here and there. Some guys were talking (in English) about some higher-up lady that was suppossed to come and check out the work on the streets.

I took some shitty pictures in my phone. Behind the Guillotine I saw some architectural elements displaying what could be the Tyrell coat of arms.

Lulus Mum: As for the ‘parade’ route, unless we are seeing some kind of Cersei’s revenge – Walk of Shame 2:

Lannister Victory Tour. Tickets on sale for Flea Bottom Rally.

Excellent pics! Those are indeed Tyrell coat of arms, and the greenery on the staircases doesn’t really resemble KL at all. Could this serve as HG as well? Or perhaps Oldtown… I’m guessing we’ll need at least a couple of exterior scenes there.

Edit: actually, I see now that this may still be the previous set .

Luka Nieto, Yes, that set belongs to Still Star-Crossed. “sansaconflow Esta foto es de otra serie, lo siento jajajajaja still star crossing” ; “sansaconflow Sisi es verdad, pero hemos estado rodando ahí hoy por eso te lo decía que nada que ver con got” https://www.instagram.com/p/BNr_g4IBWSz/

Sandor would have screamed “Fuck the Queen”

Aren’t those Unsullied soldiers in the background? They are the ones usually carrying spears.

Location of the ambush battle. According to Luka, it will be so close to Highgarden that Highgarden will be visible on the background.

we know that Dany and co. will return to Dragonstone, then Tyrion will go on a suicide mission to KL, then Jon an co. will go you know where, and all will end with the parlay at the Dragonpit. So, no: it doesn’t look like Dany will re-sack Highgarden, and we haven’t seen a single shot of the Dothraki or the Unsullied on the battlements of the alleged Highgarden. I guess Jaime will retreat there with his surviving forces making the siege impossible, or the very ambush battle will turn out to be a ambush for Dany as I have been saying ever since I read about it (but it’s my idee fixe, so take it with a grain of salt). At best, I can see Dany taking control of the battlefield but failing to re-sack Highgarden, because of losses, absence of the siege equipment, fierce resistance or whatever. At best, she could use her dragons to turn the castle into ashes but even that may not be the case taking into account these right-out-of-the-laundry Lannister banners waving over the burnt battlefield.

Aye, I think it was me who mentioned the Battle of Lake Trasimene, but I did it just to help some people understand what can be the scale of an ambush battle as such (some just had some problems with understanding that an ambush battle is not some kind of robbery on the road). But by no means I was saying that the Highgarden ambush battle (I think we can call it that) will copy the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Of course, D&D may use it as some kind of blueprint just like they made the BoB taking inspirations from the Battle of Cannae and Agincourt. However, you can see that D&D reversed them: Ramsay, not Jon was using the archers (Agincourt) and encirclement/envelopment (Cannae), and in reality these smart strategical solutions brought victory to those who were drastically outnumbered and were fighting against much greater odds. So, it’s hard to predict what D&D will do with the Battle of Lake Trasimene blueprint, if that’s indeed their inspiration, and what other battle blueprints might be involved, primarily, because I don’t know what books on military history they keep on their desks. For instance, if the Dothraki are supposed to be the Mongols/Tartars, then perhaps the Battle of Legnica and Mohi (1241) or even Blue Waters (1362) or Kulikovo (1380) couldn be taken into account as well (but hardly). Some journalists could really ask D&D about what historic battles they are using as blueprints this time: that even wouldn’t even be a spoiler, because they turn everything upside down and make a mix.

as that’s the voice I hear in my head when I think “mmm could be”. Is it Sarge? No. Is it Rosemary the telephone operator? No. Is it a victory parade for Cersei to show how powerful she is and what she will do to her enemies? (Or perhaps pretend she cares about the poor and look I’ve got you supplies.) Could be! *Cue HKP music* Nice idea, I was thinking along negative lines, that it was something bad, but you could well be right. Even with the extensive spoilers we’ve had there’s still so much speculation fun and uncertainty, it doesn’t feel any different to me this year despite apparently knowing far more about what’s going to happen.

Wow you are like a mini battle wikipedia. In stead of ask Siri we’ve got ask Inga 😀

Rather odd that the best known Dwarf with his special “Dwarf Tax” would be able to simply freely roam Kings Landing

The other side of that coin though is he and Varys are quite aware of the Secret Passages etc

Makes me rather curious as to what side the “little birds” would take should Varys ever come back, though with only 7 episodes and a battle centric focus not sure there’s time to go into that sort of thing

No, I think that Little Birds will play a major part this season (season 6 was only a setup). They may not get much of the screen-time but their role should be pivotal and I don’t think it will be in Dany’s or rather Varys’ favor. Varys had some sort of a code, when he worked with children, he even said that “children are innocent” or something like that. But Qyburn threw that code into the bin and turned these children into little murderous monsters ready to kill for sweets. The moment when they killed Pycelle kind or reminded me that Hardhome moment, when children-wights killed Karsi, and I have a bad feeling that we are going to have more moments with monster-children. Maybe, the protagonists will even have to fight with juvenile WW at the end or something. But as for this season, it will be Little Birds who will be promoting Cersei’s rule or terror, IMO.

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