Peter Dinklage Says 'GOT' Season 8 Will Top Battle Of The Bastards, So Get Ready

Game of Thrones Season 8 will only be six episodes, the shortest season of the series. Most seasons have been a full 10 episodes, with last year's Season 7 coming in at seven installments. But even as the season length has shrunk, the battles have grown. Season 1 didn't have a battle sequence, because their budget couldn't afford it. Season 6 and 7 had two of the most complex combat sequences to date. But Peter Dinklage's quotes about the Game Of Thrones Season 8 forthcoming battles suggest fans ain't seen nothing yet.

The biggest jump in how the battles in Game of Thrones were staged came first in Season 5 when director Miguel Sapochnik took the helm to create the Massacre at Hardhome in Episode 8. The next year, HBO was so impressed, when showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss asked for a larger budget for Sapochnik to do Episode 9's "Battle of the Bastards," they actually gave it to them.

This sequence is now considered the gold standard for a ground battle staged in a TV fantasy series (or any TV series). The question on everyone's mind for the last season is if the show will be able to top themselves one more time.

Actor Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, seems confident of it. At the premiere of his new film I Think We're Alone Now, he was asked the following by a reporter:

On Game of Thrones, one question, can the Battle of the Bastards possibly be topped?

Dinklage answered:

Oh my god, and then some. You are in for it. Truly.

Those who have been following filming believe Dinklage is referring to the massive battle Game of Thrones filmed for nearly two months solid. The shooting sequence went on for 55 consecutive nights, and took place in three locations, including Moneyglass (which usually stands in for Winterfell), Magheramorne Quarry (which is where the production usually sets up large-scale greenscreen sequences, like "Hardhome") and Saintfield (which is where "The Battle of the Bastards" was filmed, and often stands in for the lands around Winterfell).

No battle sequence has ever taken this long to film before. "The Battle of the Bastards" took the better part of 25 days. "Hardhome" took slightly longer at almost a month. Season 2’s “Blackwater” and Season 4’s “The Watchers on the Wall” took 3 weeks apiece.

With the series closing out the story for the final installment, it's natural they would like to go out with the biggest and most expensive battle ever produced for TV anywhere, one able to stand shoulder to shoulder with something filmed for the big screen. Dinklage seems to believe the work on this battle has been enough to do so.

As for the rest of us, we won't find out until at least 2019 when the show returns to HBO. the best guess for when is later in the spring, around May sometime, so this battle can air as close to Emmy voting as possible. Until then, all fans can do is wait.