Photos of Game of Thrones cast members in their medieval skivvies might just point to a battle for Riverrun, as Jon Snow and Sansa press their advantage and move their armies south to confront the Lannisters and the Freys.
The new set leak photos, published by the Daily Mail, capture cast members Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Daniel Portman (Podrick Payne) and Sophie Turner’s body double (Sansa Stark), outside hair and makeup. All of the cast members (excepting Sansa) are dressed in garb designed to be worn under heavy armor: Davos in a gambeson, Jon Snow and Brienne in drawstring tunics and Portman in a cooling vest to keep him from overheating in his character’s full battle garb.
The Mail also ran another picture of the Riverrun set, including the drawbridge gate where Jaime Lannister confronted Edmure Tully and ultimately secured the castle for the Lannisters and Freys (ending the life of Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully and forcing Pod and Brienne to flee back North). The Mail claims the set is being prepped as a battleground for Season 7, suggesting that Jon Snow, Sansa and Brienne will reunite and march south to reconquer Riverrun, the birthplace of their mother, Catelyn Stark.
However, Game of Thrones fan site Watchers on the Wall has another interpretation that runs counter to the Mail ’s descriptions of the leaked Season 7 set photos. According to their unnamed sources, filming on the set is taking place indoors. The presence of the Riverrun set has nothing to do with what’s actually being filmed. They surmise that interior locations on the set are being used to reconstruct the interior of Winterfell, returning Brienne and Pod to the North, but otherwise leaving Sansa and Jon Snow where they ended Game of Thrones Season 6.
We’ll see if the Riverrun battle described by the Daily Mail turns out to be a reality or a red herring when Game of Thrones Season 7 returns in 2017.