Below, Hill gives some behind-the-scenes insight on major moments in the final seasons first episode.
A lot of it is mirroring the pilot.
Instead of the kings arrival, we have the queens arrival.
Helen Sloan/HBO
We now have the budget and the crew to do it properly with a lot of crowds.
Everyone cant help but look even though what they see makes them afraid.
They have a new monarch with monsters to fight other monsters.
Sansa meeting Dany: Sansa sees her as the foreign interloper.
She trusts her family and no one else.
Shes also very pretty, and how much does that factor in?
Sansa starts off this season very suspicious and not at all friendly with Dany.
Tyrion and Sansas reunion: You have to address the elephant in the room of her abandoning him.
What did she know and when did she know it?
Arya and Jons reunion: Theyre the two Starks that had the clearest connection in the pilot.
He gave her Needle.
He knew she was back last season but couldnt do anything about it.
You have to emotionally convey that information without having to detail it.
The first two episodes, in particular, are tough because theyre so contained and have so many characters.
Ned was his idol growing up.
(Read ourKit Harington postmortem interviewwhere he reveals exactly what Jon is thinking during this scene).
Its an emotional punch that works really well.
I knew it was a scene that [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau] was absolutely going to nail.
Also,watch the trailer for episode 2and the new opening credits.
Also:Lena Headey on her reluctanceto have Cersei sleep with Euron.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau revealswhat Jaime Lannister thought when he saw Bran
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