What was the best special effect from Game of Thrones season 7?

Game of Thrones season 7 set a new benchmark for special effects on TV. Which made the biggest impression? Read our takes, tell us yours and vote in the poll!

RAZOR: I’m going with The Loot Train Attack, which is too big to narrow down to any one special effect. We got four main points of view throughout this 14-minute scene:

Jaime Lannister: Jaime’s biggest contribution to this battle was Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s facial expressions as he watched the Dothraki soldiers cut through his army like a hot knife through butter while Drogon burned whole battalions to ash.

Of particular interest is composer Ramin Djawadi’s score, as House Lannister’s theme mournfully plays as both Jaime and Tyrion survey the devastation. Having different perspectives from both sides of the battle humanized the Lannister forces. There really are no good or bad guys.

Tyrion Lannister: Tyrion arrives mid-battle — the aforementioned connection between him and Jaime as “The Rains of Castamere” plays nearly brings a tear to one’s eye.

Tyrion watches as Dany and Drogon burn the Lannister forces, clearly torn between the sadness he feels at watching the decimation of his own House and his allegiance to his queen.

Daenerys Targaryen: Dany’s entire PoV is from the back of her gigantic dragon, Drogon. Dany’s emotions never change in this battle. From the moment she arrives, she’s all business as she commands Drogon to bathe her enemies in flame.

Dany and Drogon carve a fiery swath through the Lannister loot train, and seem pretty much unstoppable until Bronn fires a scorpion bolt at them. Drogon easily dodges the first bolt, but before Dany can finish him off, Bronn is able to reload before that happens, and the second scorpion bolt hits Drogon in his flank. Dany clings to the falling dragon and is able to regain control before the pair hits the ground, destroying the scorpion in the process.

Bronn: Bronn gets the award for best PoV for The Loot Train Battle, in part because of the bit where first-time Game of Thrones director Matt Shakman channels “Battle of the Bastards” director Miguel Sapochnik and gives Bronn his own “Jon Snow one-shot,” as Bronn makes his way through the fog of battle.

It was Bronn who first heard the Dothraki horde’s approach, and instead of running from the battle like most sellswords would do when the odds are stacked against them, he tried to convince Jaime to leave before the Dothraki and Drogon reach them.

Before the battle started, Bronn received a huge bag of gold for his services to Jaime and House Lannister, and as the battle is joined, he tries to get to the scorpion to shoot Drogon from the sky, and loses that bag. However, instead of trying to retrieve his gold, Bronn continues his mission to get to the scorpion at any cost, killing a Dothraki rider in the process.

Bronn’s best moment was saving Jaime Lannister from certain death, just as Drogon was about to bathe him in dragon flame. Bronn was the real MVP of the battle, and his actions prove that he’s not just a sellsword anymore; he’s loyal to House Lannister…well, he’s loyal to Jaime Lannister, and possible Tyrion as well.

DAN: …Okay.

My favorite special effect from the season was also from the Loot Train Attack, and it’s something I suspect was done with practical effects, although I can’t prove it: the moment after Drogon breathes fire on a group of Lannister soldiers and we see their bodies, having been instantly turned to ash, blow away in the wind.

What an effective, terrifying image. For one thing, it’s a great way to underline the thematic thrust of this battle: as David outlined above, there are no good guys or bad guys. There’s just war and war sucks. The Lannisters may have fought the fan-favorite Starks and routed Olenna from Highgarden, but do the rank and file deserve to be vaporized as their enemy bears down on them with the medieval fantasy equivalent of a hydrogen bomb? Daenerys wants to use her power for good, but power is still power, and seen in its raw form, it’s horrifying.

And the way the soldiers hold their shields up in defense right before Drogon atomizes them! As if that’s gonna stop dragonfire. It’s heartbreakingly pitiful.

But enough about that. The effect itself is terrific — I wonder if the crew has those ash statues in a warehouse somewhere.

RICHARD: Loot Train, Loot Train, gorgeous, succulent Loot Train! I’m not worthy of the Loot Train Attack ! You know what I think of the Loot Train Attack? It was hands-down absolutely brilliant. As a cinematic, emotional and logistical masterpiece, it pretty much takes the cake in a season loaded with excellent special effects. Razor and Dan really nailed it above, so if I go on and on about it (and I’d love to) I”ll sound like yada, yada, yada, so . . .

I’ll go with Jon meeting Drogon. This scene is in many ways the exact opposite of the Loot Train Attack, with its quiet and near stillness, but it also delivers an immense sense of momentum and awe. Technically, it’s also just about perfect. Despite Drogon’s size, the shots are mostly close-ups once he confronts Jon, which means there was green screen-ing involved, and the illusion of physical contact is seamless.

Game of Thrones is normally excellent with their special effects, and, like the Loot Train Attack, they’re totally on their game here. With no jerky computerized movement at all, the breathing, purring Drogon is real for us. He is there. Jon Snow is touching and looking at a real, quivering dragon—his hands aren’t floating across something that isn’t really there, nor is the moment struggling with misaligned eye contact. Jon’s emotions (and Drogon’s) get to move center stage because the illusion is absolute: viewers get to buy into it wholesale and royally—ecstatically—cash in on years of emotional investment.

And that’s awesome, because it’s an important scene, one we realize we’ve been waiting for since the beginning of the show. Jon is bonding with a Targaryen dragon who obviously recognizes him as a Targaryen, even if he doesn’t know his true bloodline yet. A Game of Thrones story circle, woven through seven season of blood and trauma, becomes complete. I love it.

COREY: Seems like this turned into ‘let’s talk about the Loot Train Attack.’ It’s hard to argue that watching Drogon torch the Lannisters wasn’t the best special effect of season 7. And like our discussion of the season’s best new set, season 7 was packed with lots of good choices. And while I’m tempted to choose Dany’s trio of dragons torching the army of the dead, for me the fall of the Wall was the season’s seminal special effect.

As we picked up the scene at the Wall, the tension was quite high. Watching the sky above the newly arrived army of the dead, we all knew that Zombie Viserion was about to burst from the clouds. Watching the Night King flit back and forth atop Viserion was breathtaking, and when the blue flames erupted from Viserion’s jaws, we knew things had really hit the fan. Watching the detailed section of the Wall at Eastwatch crumble, be it the practical set portion or the CGI-created portion, awe inspiring. Even though we knew the army of the dead was, well, dead, the blue flames lighting their faces made me feel as if even they were in awe.

We’ve waited for years for the Wall to fall, and the moment felt big enough for the event. The army of the dead streaming through the gap, accompanied by Viserion and the Night King overhead, was an incredible shot. As the the North stretched out in front of them, the entire shot was perfect. The effects established the size of the North but also the size of the undead army. It was chilling shot to end the season.

MOLLY KATE:

(*runs in, 20 minutes late with ale*)

There were so many good special effects this season that picking just one seems insane. In fact, the only way I feel I’m able to do this is to pick my top three. I’m sorry if I get kicked out of the small council for doing this, if you cast me out, I’ll just go join another Kingdom and we’ll have our own war. You have been warned.

First of all, the Wall falling was the first thing I thought of when I heard “special effect.” First, because it had such a horrible effect on the War and anyone who was on the Wall (RIP Tormund?). In one breath, Westeros’ safety net was destroyed. It was the cliffhanger of the century. But none of that has to do with special effects. The moment landed because it didn’t look like it was all done on a computer. It looked like someone, somewhere, really did destroy a Wall.

The second effect I’d choose is Drogon…just Drogon. The special effects department has done an amazing job with the dragons since the beginning. As they grew, we grew with them, and it never really occur to me that they were a sci-fi/fantasy construct; they were just characters getting older. From burning Lannister soldiers to frying wights, Drogon did a lot this season, but my favorite part was when he greeted Jon. It felt intimate and soft and how can anyone make a CGI DRAGON GIVE SOMEONE SO MANY FEELS?!

And then, of course, the Loot Train Attack. Because it’s the Loot Train Attack. The end.