Crew The writing staff for the sixth season includes executive producers and
showrunners
David Benioff and
D. B. Weiss, producer
Bryan Cogman, and
Dave Hill. Author
George R. R. Martin, who had written one episode for each of the first four seasons, did not write an episode for the sixth season, as he chose to resume working on the sixth
A Song of Ice and Fire novel,
The Winds of Winter. The directing staff for the sixth season was
Jeremy Podeswa (episodes 1 and 2),
Daniel Sackheim (episodes 3 and 4),
Jack Bender (episodes 5 and 6),
Mark Mylod (episodes 7 and 8), and
Miguel Sapochnik (episodes 9 and 10). Sackheim and Bender were first-time
Game of Thrones directors, with the rest each having directed two episodes in the previous season.
Writing With the end of the fifth season, the plot has reached the most recent novel in Martin's
A Song of Ice and Fire series,
A Dance with Dragons. Season 6 director Jeremy Podeswa said in August 2015, "Right now in season six, what we're shooting currently isn't based on anything in the book. It's fully based on discussions the writers have had with George Martin, because the series has now surpassed the books in terms of what's available." Actress
Natalie Dormer, who plays
Margaery Tyrell, later added that the show's writers "know where it's got to go and what [George Martin]'s intentions for the characters are. But they are just filling in the gaps." The season premiere starts off right where the fifth season ended. Material from an excerpt of
The Winds of Winter, published online, regarding a traveling theater troupe located in Braavos that stages a play called "The Bloody Hand", about the events that have taken place in King's Landing since the beginning of the series, is included in the sixth season. The budget for the sixth season increased compared to the previous seasons as each episode cost over $10 million, totaling over $100 million for the full season and setting a new high for the series. The season filmed in five different countries:
Northern Ireland,
Spain,
Croatia,
Iceland, and
Canada. Like the previous seasons, a large amount of production took place in Northern Ireland, mainly in
Belfast and on the
Causeway Coast, including film locations in the
Binevenagh,
Magilligan area, which was used to film scenes for the Dothraki Grasslands, and Larrybane Quarry and Ballintoy Harbour, both used for scenes in the Iron Islands. For the siege of Riverrun, the small village of
Corbet was used. As in previous seasons, some of Castle Black was set at the abandoned
Magheramorne quarry. During September and October, the show also filmed in Spain, specifically in
Girona,
Navarre,
Peniscola, and
Almería. Specific locations included the
Castle of Zafra in
Guadalajara, the
Bardenas Reales Natural Park in Navarre, the
Alcazaba in Almería, and the
Castle of Santa Florentina in
Canet de Mar. In August 2015, HBO announced that for the first time since
season 1 the show would not be filming any scenes in Croatia. The Croatian city of
Dubrovnik has stood in for King's Landing since the beginning of season 2; nearby cities such as
Klis,
Split and
Šibenik have been used to depict various other locations. Contradicting the statement by HBO, filming took place in Dubrovnik, where the cast of the show were seen in costume in October 2015. Only a very small portion of the season was filmed in Canada (north of
Calgary, Alberta): the scenes featuring Jon Snow's wolf, Ghost (played by animal actor Quigly). However, some of the special effects were created at Montreal's
Rodeo FX studios which has won Emmy Awards previously for its work on the series.
Casting plays
Euron Greyjoy. The sixth season saw the return of
Isaac Hempstead Wright as
Bran Stark,
Kristian Nairn as
Hodor,
Ellie Kendrick as
Meera Reed,
Gemma Whelan as
Yara Greyjoy, and
Rory McCann as
Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, who did not appear in the fifth season.
Clive Russell,
Tobias Menzies,
Patrick Malahide,
Richard Dormer, and
Paul Kaye also returned to the show as
Brynden Tully,
Edmure Tully,
Balon Greyjoy,
Beric Dondarrion, and
Thoros of Myr after not appearing since the third season. Across the Narrow Sea, Melanie Liburd plays a red priestess from
Asshai who is in
R'hllor's service. At
the Reach, House Tarly is introduced, with
Freddie Stroma joining the cast as Samwell Tarly's brother Dickon, a character so far only mentioned in the novels. Other members of House Tarly that were introduced were
Randyll Tarly, played by
James Faulkner; Melessa Tarly, played by
Samantha Spiro; and Talla Tarly, portrayed by
Rebecca Benson. Veteran actor
Max von Sydow was cast to play the Three-Eyed-Raven, Bran's trainer, After the second official trailer was released, it was confirmed that Bradley would appear in the sixth season. The sixth season also included a traveling theater troupe located in
Braavos that stages a play called "The Bloody Hand", about the events that have taken place in King's Landing since the beginning of the series.
Essie Davis and
Kevin Eldon joined the cast in this theater troupe, portraying actors playing Cersei Lannister and Ned Stark, respectively, while
Richard E. Grant was cast as the troupe's manager. Members of Icelandic indie band
Of Monsters and Men appear as the musicians of the Braavos theatre group.
Music The
soundtrack for the season was digitally released in June 2016, and on CD late the following month. The album reached No. 27 on the
Billboard 200, No. 1 on Soundtrack chart and No. 79 on the Canadian Albums chart on its digital release, with the track from the season finale "Light of the Seven" reaching No. 1 on
Billboards
Spotify Viral 50 chart. ==Reception==