The secret MVP of the two most-discussed (and well-received) episodes of Game of Thrones season six, “The Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter,” is director Miguel Sapochnik. Since season five’s magnificent “Hardhome,” he’s the visionary who showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss want behind the camera for huge clashes and soaring dragons. So it’s a little peculiar that Sapochnik won’t be returning in season seven.

Hopefully it’s because he’ll be too busy working on a movie — to date, his only non-TV credit is 2010’s forgettable Repo Men — but while he and fellow Thrones bigwigs Michelle MacLaren and Neil Marshall are gone, the show’s in good hands. According to Entertainment Weekly, the following directors have signed on for the abbreviated next season: Alan Taylor (“Baelor” and many other early season episodes), Jeremy Podeswa (“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” and season six’s “The Red Woman), Mark Mylod (“The Broken Man” and “No One”), and Matt Shakman. That last name should be particularly exciting to fans of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia — Shakman has directed dozens of episodes of the FXX comedy (which Benioff and Weiss are huge fans of), including series highlights “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games,” “The Gang Dances Their Asses Off,” and “The Nightman Cometh.”

That’s right, the guy who gave us this…

…will be behind the camera for Game of Thrones next season. (Maybe he can slip in a troll somewhere?) Winter is here, but the Nightman is coming.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)