The bloody set-piece at the heart of the most expensive episode of Game of Thrones ever was made in Australia.

The day after the season six finale aired, and a little over a week after the landmark Battle of the Bastards episode screened, Melbourne post-production house Iloura was finally allowed to share with the world its pride in having pulled the strings in the 22-minute battle sequence that saw a giant, hundreds of horses and thousands of soldiers fight it out to the bloody end as Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) and his sister Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) attempted to reclaim their family seat, Winterfell.

"Battle of the Bastards is shocking in its audacity," said the show's visual effects producer Steve Kullback in a statement. "More shocking still that we pulled it off, and so much credit for that goes to Iloura.