Game Of Thrones - Final Fantasy

An exclusive journey behind the scenes of the top secret final season—and the brutal staging of the most epic battle of all time.

- James Hibberd

The great battle is over. The snowy ground is streaked with blood. Beloved heroes lie dead outside the castle gates. Winterfell is quiet. And then… A sudden roar from above. A gust of wind. A blur of low-flying movement. A dragon? No. An ice dragon? Worse. “F---ing spoiler helicopter just flew right over the set!” says an alarmed crew member.

This could be a disaster. It’s April 2018 on the set of the final season of Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland. The helicopter seemingly came out of nowhere and flew directly over a ridiculously sensitive scene. The production is supposed to have government-protected airspace—no planes, no drones, and sure as the seven hells no mystery choppers buzzing Winterfell. If paparazzi armed with cameras were on board, their photos would cause an explosion in the entertainment universe. Did anybody get its tail number?

The production calls the Civil Aviation Authority to track down the pilot’s identity while showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are informed of the potential breach. As usual, they are calm. You cannot command a set as sprawling and intense as Game of Thrones’ and lose your cool every time there might be a catastrophe, or you’d never stop hyperventilating.

“There’s always a crisis, there’s always an imminent disaster,” Benioff says. “You never quite know where it’s coming from, but over time you get a sense of where the real catastrophes are and which ones are probably going to be okay.”

After a tense hour, the news comes down: It was a police helicopter. So GoT’s secrets remain safe for now. All the while, the production never stopped moving. The show must go on, after all, and the HBO drama’s final season is the biggest show on the planet, spending 10 months filming just six episodes for its climactic season 8. Expectations are incredibly high.