Kit Harington teases tonight’s “spectacular” battle sequence

Tonight’s episode of Game of Thrones, for those who don’t know, will feature Jon Snow finally arriving at Hardhome, a place north of the Wall where a great many wildlings have gathered following the defeat of their army late last season. The production has long teased that the episode, appropriately titled “Hardhome,” will feature a major battle sequence, and Kit Harington recently jumped on the anticipation bandwagon when he sat down for an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Here’s what he had to say:

It was 3-to-4 weeks of shooting for a sequence that should add up to [more than] 20 minutes…We shot less than a minute a day! It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done on Thrones. I think it’s going to be spectacular.

Harington went on to say that the Battle of Castle Black, a sequence that took up almost the entirety of last season’s ninth episode, “The Watchers on the Walls,” was “the hardest thing I’ve done. This [the Battle of Hardhome] was twice as hard as that. It was exhausting.”

It bears noting that, despite Harington’s assertion that filming the Battle of Castle Black was much less involved than filming the Battle of Hardhome, the Battle of Hardhome will not be the only focus of tonight’s episode. We know from the teaser trailer and HBO’s synopsis that the new episode will also check in with, at minimum, Sam at Castle Black, Sansa at Winterfell, Cersei in King’s Landing, Arya in Braavos, and Daenerys in Meereen. That’s a lot of ground to cover, enough for any episode, let alone one that purportedly features one of the most noteworthy battle scenes in the series’ history. If the producers spent an inflated amount of time filming a battle scene that takes up less actual screentime than major battle scenes past, what kind of spectacular sights must they have packed in to it?

Kit Harington shared one other notable thought on the Battle of Hardhome with EW: “I think [HBO] has realized that to keep people engaged with this show, the big set pieces each year have to be bigger than the ones before.” That’s an interesting thought, although not necessarily one I agree with. The show practically set the internet on fire last year when it revealed the fate of Oberyn Martell (don’t click that link if you just ate). Compared to the massive Battle of Castle Black, the fight between the Mountain and the Viper generated a lot more buzz for the show, and it was done on a much smaller scale. I’m excited to see what the producers pull out for the Battle of Hardhome, but to keep people engaged with the show, it seems to me that the network should try and come up with conflicts that are more meaningful, not just “bigger,” than the ones that came before.

These are all issues to ponder between now and 8:00 PM CST, when the episode airs (chat about it here).

In other news, George R.R. Martin recently reiterated to Entertainment Weekly that he will not, in fact, be penning an episode for Season 6 of Game of Thrones. Instead, the author will be focusing on competing The Winds of Winter. “Maybe I’m being overly optimistic about how quickly I can finish,” he said. “But I canceled two convention appearances, I’m turning down a lot more interviews—anything I can do to clear my decks and get this done.” R’hllor willing, we’ll see what big set pieces Martin has cooked up before Season 6 airs.

• Published on 05/31/2015 at 4:50 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:04 PM CDT