7. Lots of Weather We're Having Today: Part 2
Episodes: Multiple Commentators: Multiple In my article about Season 1 I detailed the many ways that nature's unpredictability wreaked havoc on episodes and sets both on site and on location. Well, neither the Old Gods nor the New smiled on Season 2's production, which saw a great deal of its own weather-related challenges and travesties. Starting with the worst would bring us to What is Dead May Never Die, in which we're first introduced to Renly's (Gethin Anthony) two most important female companions: Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), the newest addition to his Kingsguard, and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer), both his bride and his gay lover's sister. That beautiful camp overlooking the ocean during Brienne's tournament win had to be entirely re-shot as a storm completely obliterated the entire set, blowing over a cafeteria tent that actually injured some crew members in the process. Some original shots remain - Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) walking up to the camp, for instance - but the vast majority of everything else had to captured again at the end of filming. Being shot in Belfast, it was also tremendously cold all throughout filming, which should elicit some sympathy on top of the lust you were likely already feeling seeing Natalie Dormer in that revealing dress. When the weather wasn't disastrous, it was inconsistent and subsequently annoying. In The Old Gods and the New, Theon (Alfie Allen), having just seized control of Winterfell, attempts to make an example of Rodrick (Ron Donachie) by publicly beheading him. So engrossed are you in the emotional scene between the young Stark boys and their loyal Master-at-Arms that you may not notice that the shots switch back and forth between heavy rain, light rain and no rain at all; one of the downsides of shooting in Belfast. In the very next episode, A Man Without Honor, Jon (Kit Harrington) travels deeper into the cold wilderness with Ygritte (Rose Leslie) in toe. The fact that their time together seems so visually consistent is a testament to the VFX team, which, according to Benioff and Weiss, had to create about '30, 40, 50' VFX shots, the vast majority of which were weather equalization since it fluctuated so drastically between rain, snow and sun in just an hour. In fact, so uncertain were Benioff and Weiss of just what weather would make the final cut that Jon's line of, 'What - right here in the mud?' was shot with 4 different variations to match whatever was included. So wild was the weather in Iceland where the scenes north of The Wall were shot that cast and crew were actually snowed into their isolated hotel during one of the shooting days. That didn't stop director Alan Taylor from improvising in Valar Morghulis though, shooting the closing scene between Sam (John Bradley), Grenn (Mark Stanley) and Dolorous Edd (Ben Crompton) at the Fist of the First Men next to a cliff that he claimed was 20 feet away from the hotel.