{"id":24060,"date":"2019-04-11T12:52:09","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T10:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/blog\/?p=24060"},"modified":"2019-04-12T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T09:41:24","slug":"game-of-thrones-season-8-6-things-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/game-of-thrones-season-8-6-things-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Game of Thrones Season 8: 6 Things You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s almost here \u2013 the eighth and final season of the long-running <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/campaigns\/view-campaign\/23\/game-of-thrones?itm_source=PriceCheck&amp;itm_medium=homepage_banner&amp;itm_campaign=got_090419&amp;itm_content=got_090419&amp;utm_source=blog.pricecheck.co.za&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=blog_Game_of_Thrones_Season_8_6_Things_You_Need_to_Know&amp;utm_content=Game_of_Thrones_Season_8_6_Things_You_Need_to_Know\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Game of Thrones<\/em><\/a> is upon us, with the first episode of the six-part finale airing on Monday, 15 April. Before we dive back into the chaotic yet captivating world of Westeros, here&#8217;s a few key facts to know about the upcoming season.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 63.2912%; height: 65px;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 100%; height: 24px;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Shop Game of Thrones goodies now!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/campaigns\/view-campaign\/23\/game-of-thrones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-21641\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.pricecheck.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers.png\" alt=\"view offers\" width=\"225\" height=\"43\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers.png 550w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers-300x57.png 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers-536x105.png 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Where are we?<\/h3>\n<p>Season 8 picks up where Season 7 left off, with the Army of the Dead having conquered the wall, and Tormund&#8217;s fate also in the air with the army now making its way to Winterfell.\u00a0Jon and Daenerys finally acted on their simmering attraction, and Sam and Bran pieced together that Jon, as the son of a married Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark (which also makes him Dany\u2019s nephew), is the true heir to the Iron Throne.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arve-wrapper\" data-mode=\"normal\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-rlR4PJn8b8I\" style=\"max-width:702px;\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\">\n<div class=\"arve-embed-container\" style=\"padding-bottom:56.250000%\"><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/rlR4PJn8b8I?iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=1&amp;autoplay=0\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" frameborder=\"0\" name sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/rlR4PJn8b8I?iv_load_policy=3&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;rel=0&#038;autohide=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autoplay=0\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 id=\"the-plot-of-the-first-episode\" class=\"bb-h2\">The plot of the first episode<\/h3>\n<p>The first episode will take place in Winterfell. It&#8217;s going to be littered with references back to the first-season pilot, with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and her army&#8217;s arrival at the Starks\u2019 ancestral home echoing King Robert and his procession&#8217;s approach almost a decade ago. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) will not be happy with the arrival of Daenerys at Winterfell, and characters who have never met before will prepare for the Invasion of the Dead side by side with characters who already share some pretty-complex histories.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"the-final-battle-will-be-bigger-and-more-epic-than\" class=\"bb-h2\">The final battle is going to be a biggie<\/h3>\n<p class=\"bb-p\">The long-anticipated face-off against the Army of the Dead will be the biggest and most sustained action scene ever made for any TV series or film, with one entire episode directed by Miguel Sapochnik who was behind the \u201cBattle Of The Bastards\u201d episode. It took 55 nights to film the outdoor battle scenes at Winterfell alone, followed by weeks in the studio to wrap it up. As producer <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/2019\/04\/09\/game-of-thrones-season-8-showrunners-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David Benioff told\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/a>, \u201cHaving the largest battle doesn\u2019t sound very exciting \u2014 it actually sounds pretty boring. Part of our challenge, and really Miguel\u2019s challenge, is how to keep that compelling\u2026 we\u2019ve been building toward this since the very beginning, it\u2019s the living against the dead and you can\u2019t do that in a 12-minute sequence.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"the-final-season-could-have-been-made-into-three-f\" class=\"bb-h2\">Season 8 will feel like 3 feature-length films<\/h3>\n<p>The final battle isn&#8217;t the only thing that&#8217;s upping the ante, as the production and detail in the eighth season is getting additional attention. The set of Winterfell was drastically expanded for the S8 episodes, along with the costumes and props getting a huge overhaul. Given the massive success of the show, HBO allocated a budget of $15 million per episode for season 8, so you can only imagine the scale we&#8217;re set to experience.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad__main ad--article ad--article-inline\">\n<div class=\"ad__block \">\n<h3 id=\"kit-harington-has-just-dropped-hints-about-the-end\" class=\"bb-h2\">Prepare to be shocked<\/h3>\n<p class=\"bb-p\">During an interview promoting his new film,\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan<\/em>,\u00a0Kit Harington\u00a0suggested that fans might not be happy with the season 8 finale, drawing comparisons between\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">Game Of Thrones<\/em>\u00a0and series with notoriously controversial endings. &#8220;My favourite TV shows are\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">Sopranos<\/em>,\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">Breaking Bad<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">The Wire<\/em>, and they all ended in a way that didn\u2019t satisfy you,&#8221; he told\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mtv.co.uk\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em class=\"bb-em\">MTV News<\/em><\/a>. &#8220;I think a TV series that\u2019s spanned eight, nine years is an incredibly difficult thing to end&#8230; I think not everyone\u2019s going to be happy, you know, and you can\u2019t please everyone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"were-in-safe-hands\" class=\"bb-h2\">The right men for the job<\/h3>\n<p class=\"bb-p\">Showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss penned this final season (something they hadn&#8217;t done since Season 5) steadily steering\u00a0<em class=\"bb-em\">Game Of Thrones<\/em>\u00a0towards its blood-stained end.<\/p>\n<h4>Are you excited for the final season of Game of Thrones? Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/campaigns\/view-campaign\/23\/game-of-thrones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PriceCheck&#8217;s dedicated GoT hub<\/a> for the best deals on memorabilia, merchandise, and collectables from the beloved fantasy show!<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/campaigns\/view-campaign\/23\/game-of-thrones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-21641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers.png\" alt=\"view offers\" width=\"325\" height=\"62\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers.png 550w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Buttons_ViewOffers-300x57.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones airs, here&#8217;s what you need to know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2849,36],"tags":[2688,4383,4385,4386,4384,2147,4387,3929],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Game-of-Thrones-S8.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24060"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24060"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24074,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24060\/revisions\/24074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}