CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 8 EPISODE 3
Well, that was unexpected. After all that hyping up of the Night King and the Army of the Dead, the remainder of Game Of Thrones' final season will focus on the battle for the Iron Throne in King’s Landing. Yes, it really does look like FINAL SPOILER WARNING the Night King – and his following of shuffling corpses – is gone for good, having been given a knifey gut-punch courtesy of MVP Arya Stark. But with three 80-minute episodes still left to play out, the story is far from over. It’s a tension that makes the upcoming Episode 4 a personal favourite of Jon Snurr (sorry Aegon Targaryen) himself, Kit Harington.
“One of my favorite episodes is 4 because the characters have seemingly got what they needed,” he told Entertainment Weekly, teasing a ‘Shakespearean’ vibe. “The world is safe now. They’re celebrating and saying goodbye to lost friends. But as an audience you’re going, ‘This is only Episode 4, something’s going to happen.’ And that’s the cool thing because I think the characters are aware of this as well. There’s something twisted and uncomfortable about it. It’s so Shakespearean.”
If you needed another reason to be nervous, this one’s directed by David Nutter – the man who brought us the Red Wedding in Season 3’s ‘The Rains Of Castamere’. Nutter also helmed the opening two episodes of Season 8 – so expect this post-battle episode to be another episode focusing on conversations and character machinations than action set pieces. The episode after will bring Miguel Sapochnik back behind the camera – the director of ‘The Long Night’, ‘Hardhome’, and ‘The Battle Of The Bastards’ – so Episode 4 may end up being another set-up to a big battle. Either way, with only three instalments left, we need to savour every minute.
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