Last week, Game of Thrones cast members started to turn up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, long the filming capital for the show. There was Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)…

…Stark sisters Maisie Williams (Arya) and Sophie Turner (Sansa)…

…and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark).

Amazing evening of illusions at @openhousefest. I've missed you Northern Ireland. @Aimee_P_R — Isaac.H.Wright (@Isaac_H_Wright) August 25, 2016

Also, Gwendoline Christie (Brienne) was spotted on a plane heading into the city. As filming for Game of Thrones Season 7 gets up and running, we’ll likely see more cast members stream into Basfast. Yesterday, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane) posted a photo of himself enjoying a steak dinner, accompanied by the hashtags #BelfastCity and #GameofThrones. It appears that The Mountain That Rides is back and ready for action.

Steak for dinner tonight 🙏 #BelfastCity #ThorsPower #GameOfThrones A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson) on Aug 29, 2016 at 10:10am PDT

Compared to what I expected, the Mountain had a pretty low-key role in Season 6. Sure, he caved in a couple of skulls, but mostly he served as Cersei’s strong, silent protector. His part in Cersei’s plan to blow up the Sept of Baelor amounted to guarding Tommen’s door so the young king would remain safe, and that was no help in the end.

Still, I don’t think the producers would go to the trouble of showing us Gregor Clegane’s death and reanimation if he didn’t have a bigger role going forward. If Cersei is going to try and fight Daenerys, he’ll be more important to her than ever. Can the Mountain take down a dragon? It seems unlikely, but it’s better than nothing.





We’ll be on the lookout for most cast arrivals as production on Game of Thrones Season 7 gets underway.